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I disagree, I think Apple is still rather committed to the Mac even if it is no longer their #1 priority. Even if it's a small part of their profits, it's a big

by jrs95 8y ago

I disagree, I think Apple is still rather committed to the Mac even if it is no longer their #1 priority. Even if it's a small part of their profits, it's a big source of the strength of their brand (visually speaking, a Mac stands out against a PC far more than an iPhone stands out against any other smartphone), and that's something that's crucial for all of their products. Bad press about the Mac damages the brand, and if they don't continue to put out a good product (and correct their recent mistakes) they are going to keep getting bad press. I would argue that the Watch and Air Pods are more in the category of the Apple TV than they are the iPhone, because they're just a means of pushing up the average value of each iPhone customer. The Mac both does this and serves as a "halo" which is crucial even if it's less profitable. Honda certainly isn't making much money on NSX sales but that doesn't mean it's not still vital for them to produce it just for the sake of the brand (although I admit that's a bit of an extreme example).

exelius 8y ago
Sure; but users stopped buying computer hardware on specs last decade (or at least the mass market Apple is chasing). Macs aren’t even any more expensive than top-end PC laptops. They’re just a brand choice.
- jrs95 8y ago
  They definitely aren’t usually buying them because of typical CPU/RAM specs or whatever, but I think things like battery life, trackpad, keyboard, display, general build quality are all still very relevant aspects of hardware that people pay attention to. The slow upgrade cycle is definitely hurting things and generally slowing everything down, but it’s not as terrible as it’s often made out to be. It’s been a few years since the 5K iMac launched and it’s still a great desktop. The Mac Pro was botched but at least they’re fixing it. We’ve only had 2 years of weak MacBook Pro releases, and it’s very possible that the next release later this year will address both major issues: a bad keyboard and no 32GB RAM option. The keyboard will matter more for most people, but the added RAM plus 2 more CPU cores and Vega graphics will be a big win for true pro users. I don’t think they’ve necessarily “coasted” on Macs just because the last couple years have been weak. It’s more accurate IMO to say they’ve just fucked up a couple times in the last 5 years — specifically with the Mac Pro and the butterfly keyboard devices.
  - exelius 8y ago
    Oh I agree; Apple’s brand carries a ton of heft in the laptop market because they generally get the “product” features (keyboards, battery life, screen quality, etc) right. It’s only so noticeable because their track record has been so good — we would still have plastic laptops and trackpads with mushy membrane keyboards without Apple’s industrial design incorporating metal and glass. And honestly, their desktop line looks very similar to many PC companies. They make the Mac Mini (aka the Apple NUC), the all-in-one iMac, and the Mac Pro (ok, the Mac Pro sucks and there’s no excuse for it). Anyone doing serious workstation tasks these days is likely using a cloud-based solution. There are a few specialized exceptions (ML development stands out to me), but none big enough to build a product around. Especially when doubling the entire PCs and Laptops category wouldn’t move the needle for Apple at all.
Karunamon 8y ago
The big signal for me that Macs are becoming second class citizens is if they ever start supporting Xcode on something that isn’t MacOS. That is the only thing keeping app developers on their platform, and if/when that changes, you know the final nail is in.
- exelius 8y ago
  I would be surprised if Apple doesn’t throw in with Microsoft soon around mobile development. There’s a lot of symbiosis there — Apple and Microsoft don’t really compete in very many markets against eachother anymore. Visual Studio is actually an awesome development platform (I’m including VSTS in this). There’s not much secret sauce in Xcode to threaten Apple’s App Store revenue — it’s just a bunch of signing keys that Apple controls and manages. I do think Apple will make a strategic decision to diversify from core Mac OS soon. The ever-shrinking space allocated to traditional computers at the Apple Store has convinced me of that. They have more floor space allocated to the Apple Watch than they do the Mac these days.

by jrs95 8y ago

exelius 8y ago

Sure; but users stopped buying computer hardware on specs last decade (or at least the mass market Apple is chasing). Macs aren’t even any more expensive than top-end PC laptops. They’re just a brand choice.

jrs95 8y ago
They definitely aren’t usually buying them because of typical CPU/RAM specs or whatever, but I think things like battery life, trackpad, keyboard, display, general build quality are all still very relevant aspects of hardware that people pay attention to. The slow upgrade cycle is definitely hurting things and generally slowing everything down, but it’s not as terrible as it’s often made out to be. It’s been a few years since the 5K iMac launched and it’s still a great desktop. The Mac Pro was botched but at least they’re fixing it. We’ve only had 2 years of weak MacBook Pro releases, and it’s very possible that the next release later this year will address both major issues: a bad keyboard and no 32GB RAM option. The keyboard will matter more for most people, but the added RAM plus 2 more CPU cores and Vega graphics will be a big win for true pro users. I don’t think they’ve necessarily “coasted” on Macs just because the last couple years have been weak. It’s more accurate IMO to say they’ve just fucked up a couple times in the last 5 years — specifically with the Mac Pro and the butterfly keyboard devices.
- exelius 8y ago
  Oh I agree; Apple’s brand carries a ton of heft in the laptop market because they generally get the “product” features (keyboards, battery life, screen quality, etc) right. It’s only so noticeable because their track record has been so good — we would still have plastic laptops and trackpads with mushy membrane keyboards without Apple’s industrial design incorporating metal and glass. And honestly, their desktop line looks very similar to many PC companies. They make the Mac Mini (aka the Apple NUC), the all-in-one iMac, and the Mac Pro (ok, the Mac Pro sucks and there’s no excuse for it). Anyone doing serious workstation tasks these days is likely using a cloud-based solution. There are a few specialized exceptions (ML development stands out to me), but none big enough to build a product around. Especially when doubling the entire PCs and Laptops category wouldn’t move the needle for Apple at all.

Karunamon 8y ago

The big signal for me that Macs are becoming second class citizens is if they ever start supporting Xcode on something that isn’t MacOS. That is the only thing keeping app developers on their platform, and if/when that changes, you know the final nail is in.

exelius 8y ago
I would be surprised if Apple doesn’t throw in with Microsoft soon around mobile development. There’s a lot of symbiosis there — Apple and Microsoft don’t really compete in very many markets against eachother anymore. Visual Studio is actually an awesome development platform (I’m including VSTS in this). There’s not much secret sauce in Xcode to threaten Apple’s App Store revenue — it’s just a bunch of signing keys that Apple controls and manages. I do think Apple will make a strategic decision to diversify from core Mac OS soon. The ever-shrinking space allocated to traditional computers at the Apple Store has convinced me of that. They have more floor space allocated to the Apple Watch than they do the Mac these days.