4 ms·

I happened to write an email to Tim & Phil today (or whomever reads those public addresses) saying: - My maxed out 2012 rMBP is going to be obsolete soon.

by cdolan 9y ago

I happened to write an email to Tim & Phil today (or whomever reads those public addresses) saying: - My maxed out 2012 rMBP is going to be obsolete soon. - The laptops available have unsatisfactory trackpads and keyboards. - Those same laptops have poor I/O for professional use cases. - There is no reasonable desktop solution either (I don't consider Late 2017 iMac Pro to be as good of an answer as a 2003 Mac Tower design with upgradable components, or just a custom Windows PC). If they continue to sacrifice sleek design and limited I/O on laptops, and provide what I think is a lackluster long-term desktop solution, I have no clue what I'll buy when this machine bites the dust (someday)

pjmlp 9y ago
They are still quite powerful for doing Objective-C and Swift related development, the developer audience Apple cares about.
- cdolan 9y ago
  That may be true, but what about the millions of laptops Apple sells to other professionals? Limiting the scope of Apple's pro laptops to developers is really excluding a big part of the pie. Google, Tesla, Facebook, and tens of thousands of other businesses purchased the 2012-2015 rMBP form factor for a reason - its a great laptop. The number of people who use the laptop that do not code in Swift far outnumber the number who do code Swift. Still, a greater number use Macbooks casually, and I'm sure the standard Macbooks are great for home and recreational use. To clarify, my focus is on a professional use found in a standard business setting.
  - greglindahl 9y ago
    As a non-Swift-using professional programmer who loves Macs because they're a lot like Unix and nothing like Windows, the latest MacBook(Pro)? laptops are great. All the complaining about things that don't really matter is pretty tiresome.
Helloworldboy 9y ago
Sounds like Apple computers just aren't for you then and you should switch to some other hardware. Personally I love my 2017 MBP, the keyboard, trackpad, and USB-C ports.
- dawnerd 9y ago
  I’m with you there. Small gripe with the keyboard is when it heats up the clickiness changes or goes away - like the keys stick. Since all of their modern laptops have this issue there’s no point in returning it like everyone suggests. No idea what op was complaining about with the trackpad. It’s simply the best on the market.
  - Helloworldboy 9y ago
    Hmm, i haven't noticed that. I didn't;t like he first generation of the "butterfly" switch, but i really like the second gen ones on mine and yeah, the touchpad is honestly amazing. I can't go back the the old smaller one, which was already better than anything else on the market.
  - SpikeDad 9y ago
    If you're talking about the keyboard on the MBP 2016 or 2017 I don't know what you're talking about. My keyboard works fine all day long - so does my office mate who has the same keyboard and who codes on it all day.
    - dawnerd 9y ago
      2017 for sure. The MacBook has the same problem. Run the run until it throttles and tap the keys around the middle right.
- cdolan 9y ago
  Perhaps, I grew up on them though and have only ever owned an Apple computer (starting with iBook clamshell in like 2001?) Edit: And in reality how do you like the USB C ports? What headphones do you use? Did you have to buy $500 of new cables? Don't take this with an off-putting tone, I genuinely don't know if its worth buying thousands in new accessories and adaptors to replace things like HDMI, USB-A form factors, etc. Edit #2 - The Trashcan Mac Pro was built on the theory of daisy chaining Thunderbolt, and not 3 years later we see a new standard port in USB-C. I know its a niche audience, but my point is, what if USB-D is out in 24 months, and your $3,000+ of cables/monitors/harddrives/adaptors to use an SD card with your camera.... are all obsolete? Edit #3 after reading the rest of the thread: Seems you are in the minority and others echo my complains of post-2015 Macbook hardware being extremely underwhelming and not worth the frustration.
valuearb 9y ago
You just emailed them to tell them that the best selling MBPs they've ever made aren't good enough for you? I'm sorry, but I doubt they are going to change what's worked so well.

by cdolan 9y ago

pjmlp 9y ago

They are still quite powerful for doing Objective-C and Swift related development, the developer audience Apple cares about.

cdolan 9y ago
That may be true, but what about the millions of laptops Apple sells to other professionals? Limiting the scope of Apple's pro laptops to developers is really excluding a big part of the pie. Google, Tesla, Facebook, and tens of thousands of other businesses purchased the 2012-2015 rMBP form factor for a reason - its a great laptop. The number of people who use the laptop that do not code in Swift far outnumber the number who do code Swift. Still, a greater number use Macbooks casually, and I'm sure the standard Macbooks are great for home and recreational use. To clarify, my focus is on a professional use found in a standard business setting.
- greglindahl 9y ago
  As a non-Swift-using professional programmer who loves Macs because they're a lot like Unix and nothing like Windows, the latest MacBook(Pro)? laptops are great. All the complaining about things that don't really matter is pretty tiresome.

Helloworldboy 9y ago

Sounds like Apple computers just aren't for you then and you should switch to some other hardware. Personally I love my 2017 MBP, the keyboard, trackpad, and USB-C ports.

dawnerd 9y ago
I’m with you there. Small gripe with the keyboard is when it heats up the clickiness changes or goes away - like the keys stick. Since all of their modern laptops have this issue there’s no point in returning it like everyone suggests. No idea what op was complaining about with the trackpad. It’s simply the best on the market.
- Helloworldboy 9y ago
  Hmm, i haven't noticed that. I didn't;t like he first generation of the "butterfly" switch, but i really like the second gen ones on mine and yeah, the touchpad is honestly amazing. I can't go back the the old smaller one, which was already better than anything else on the market.
- SpikeDad 9y ago
  If you're talking about the keyboard on the MBP 2016 or 2017 I don't know what you're talking about. My keyboard works fine all day long - so does my office mate who has the same keyboard and who codes on it all day.
  - dawnerd 9y ago
    2017 for sure. The MacBook has the same problem. Run the run until it throttles and tap the keys around the middle right.
cdolan 9y ago
Perhaps, I grew up on them though and have only ever owned an Apple computer (starting with iBook clamshell in like 2001?) Edit: And in reality how do you like the USB C ports? What headphones do you use? Did you have to buy $500 of new cables? Don't take this with an off-putting tone, I genuinely don't know if its worth buying thousands in new accessories and adaptors to replace things like HDMI, USB-A form factors, etc. Edit #2 - The Trashcan Mac Pro was built on the theory of daisy chaining Thunderbolt, and not 3 years later we see a new standard port in USB-C. I know its a niche audience, but my point is, what if USB-D is out in 24 months, and your $3,000+ of cables/monitors/harddrives/adaptors to use an SD card with your camera.... are all obsolete? Edit #3 after reading the rest of the thread: Seems you are in the minority and others echo my complains of post-2015 Macbook hardware being extremely underwhelming and not worth the frustration.

valuearb 9y ago

You just emailed them to tell them that the best selling MBPs they've ever made aren't good enough for you? I'm sorry, but I doubt they are going to change what's worked so well.