5 ms·

Apple Products and Planned Obsolescence

54 points by mef 7y ago

rmellow 7y ago
For this and other reasons I switched to a KDE distro and saved >$1000 on hardware. Yes it's not as pretty and takes some getting used to. But there was no tangible benefit to paying extra to be in the Apple ecosystem. I can code just the same as before. Perhaps what I miss a little is the trackpad. Those are nice.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- jammygit 7y ago
  I miss my old MacBook keyboard and trackpad. My xps runs Linux great though
  - rmellow 7y ago
    Also on an XPS :) The trackpad yes, but considering modern MacBook keyboards, I think I'm better off with the XPS. When I'm on my work MacBook I completely ignore the Touchbar as much as I can. It looks cool, but functionally it's just a gimmick. I want to keep my eyes on the screen as I'm typing, not the keyboard.
- jadbox 7y ago
  Sadly the 2016 macbook pro camera doesn't really function on Linux unless you're willing to patch much older kernels. Trying to patch the newer kernels work, but it ends up breaking sleep mode and detecting closed lid.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
DavideNL 7y ago
Apple decided Sidecar (an iPad as second screen) isn't available on my Macbook Pro 2015 in macOS Catalina; Luckily i found http://dev.zeppel.eu/luca/SidecarCorePatch http://dev.zeppel.eu/luca/SidecarCorePatch which patches the SidecarCore framework and now it runs just fine.
- jc__denton 7y ago
  In fairness, they "obsoleted" machines whose CPUs didn't have the features to support a good experience with Sidecar[1]. I wanted to wait until the 16" MBP rolled out before replacing my 2015, but I opted to go with a 2019 and couldn't be happier. [1]: http://dev.zeppel.eu/luca/SidecarCorePatch/issues/29#issuecomment-223 http://dev.zeppel.eu/luca/SidecarCorePatch/issues/29#issueco...
- trollied 7y ago
  The CPU in your machine probably doesn’t support native video encoding extensions, thus taking a massive performance hit encoding the video stream for Sidecar. I believe that’s why Apple did this. Happy to be corrected on this, by the way.
  - threeseed 7y ago
    No you're 100% right. Only the 2016+ generation of Macs support hardware accelerated HEVC encoding/decoding. My guess is that OP's computer would struggle to use Sidecar with an app like Photoshop (a primary use case for this feature).
    - js2 7y ago
      Ah, I wonder if this is why Google Hangouts is so awful on my 2015 MBP.
      - woah 7y ago
        Google Hangouts is awful on most devices, while webrtc demo apps work fine
coldtea 7y ago
A decision not to release a feature (AirDrop) on older machines, is taken as an example of Planned Obsolescence. Sorry, that's not what planned obsolescence means. The machine wasn't made to be less capable over time for what it was originally sold for. Features (software or hardware) weren't decided to suddenly break. It would just not get some new features in future OS even if it could (which is debatable). It might could (according to the dev) but give a subpar experience, or eat into the battery, etc. One can say "that should be for the user to decide" but that's not how Apple works, nor has ever been part of their value proposition. Their value proposition is "we think of most of those things for you". In the end, even if the older machines could support the feature just fine, not releasing it for them is standard practice to entice people to a new model, and has nothing to do with "planned obsolescence". If anything Apple has a great track record on both: 1) Getting new iOS releases to older machines. Most Android vendors were horrible at that, abandoning machines even at the first release after being sold. 2) Having machines (including iPhones) keep their resale value high. That's the opposite of planned obsolescence.
- FireBeyond 7y ago
  This is some double speak. > not releasing it for them is standard practice to entice people to a new model, and has nothing to do with "planned obsolescence". That's literally exactly what it is. "You could have that, but because we've thought it better for you that you don't have it, but if you get newer hardware you could have it". It's obsolete, because it's artificially not compatible with current feature sets.
  - coldtea 7y ago
    >That's literally exactly what it is. Not really. Not getting new features doesn't make an existing product worse.
    - FireBeyond 7y ago
      It does when it arbitrarily reduces interoperability with current products. Even more so when it's done to "entice new product purchase". Beside that, using your definition of "products getting worse" would make the whole concept of planned obsolesce almost a minuscule sliver of any issue with any product.
threeseed 7y ago
In case people missed this: "The rumor, and I mean rumor, was that there may have been 2008 Mac Pro's sold with a different Airport card than most had" Which if true meant that Apple could have been subject to class action if they stated that the feature was available for 2008 models.
- FireBeyond 7y ago
  He also says later: > _But I never seen it_, and there's no reason why OS X couldn't just say upgrade the airport card. So instead they blocked the entire line rather than this supposed older Airport card _that none of us were even familiar with_. i.e. I believe he was basically implying that it was a bullshit reason that would pass plausible deniability tests.
akersten 7y ago
This poster is braver than me. They're almost certainly identifiable based on the projects they worked on, and they admit to insubordination at best and industrial sabotage/CFAA violations at worst. Not that I agree with that interpretation, but if it were me I wouldn't have mentioned the bit about sharing a hack on Mediafire.
- Apocryphon 7y ago
  Apple’s star has not been in the best position as of late, at least among the hacker community. If he was to experience retaliation, here’s hoping that the community here, on Reddit, and elsewhere will rally around him for exposing their practices. At the very least he will likely have no problem securing crowdsourced funding for the legal fees.
npv789 7y ago
pressure from shareholders

54 points by mef 7y ago

For this and other reasons I switched to a KDE distro and saved >$1000 on hardware. Yes it's not as pretty and takes some getting used to. But there was no tangible benefit to paying extra to be in the Apple ecosystem. I can code just the same as before. Perhaps what I miss a little is the trackpad. Those are nice.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
jammygit 7y ago
I miss my old MacBook keyboard and trackpad. My xps runs Linux great though
- rmellow 7y ago
  Also on an XPS :) The trackpad yes, but considering modern MacBook keyboards, I think I'm better off with the XPS. When I'm on my work MacBook I completely ignore the Touchbar as much as I can. It looks cool, but functionally it's just a gimmick. I want to keep my eyes on the screen as I'm typing, not the keyboard.
jadbox 7y ago
Sadly the 2016 macbook pro camera doesn't really function on Linux unless you're willing to patch much older kernels. Trying to patch the newer kernels work, but it ends up breaking sleep mode and detecting closed lid.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

DavideNL 7y ago

Apple decided Sidecar (an iPad as second screen) isn't available on my Macbook Pro 2015 in macOS Catalina; Luckily i found http://dev.zeppel.eu/luca/SidecarCorePatch http://dev.zeppel.eu/luca/SidecarCorePatch which patches the SidecarCore framework and now it runs just fine.

jc__denton 7y ago
In fairness, they "obsoleted" machines whose CPUs didn't have the features to support a good experience with Sidecar[1]. I wanted to wait until the 16" MBP rolled out before replacing my 2015, but I opted to go with a 2019 and couldn't be happier. [1]: http://dev.zeppel.eu/luca/SidecarCorePatch/issues/29#issuecomment-223 http://dev.zeppel.eu/luca/SidecarCorePatch/issues/29#issueco...
trollied 7y ago
The CPU in your machine probably doesn’t support native video encoding extensions, thus taking a massive performance hit encoding the video stream for Sidecar. I believe that’s why Apple did this. Happy to be corrected on this, by the way.
- threeseed 7y ago
  No you're 100% right. Only the 2016+ generation of Macs support hardware accelerated HEVC encoding/decoding. My guess is that OP's computer would struggle to use Sidecar with an app like Photoshop (a primary use case for this feature).
  - js2 7y ago
    Ah, I wonder if this is why Google Hangouts is so awful on my 2015 MBP.
    - woah 7y ago
      Google Hangouts is awful on most devices, while webrtc demo apps work fine

coldtea 7y ago

A decision not to release a feature (AirDrop) on older machines, is taken as an example of Planned Obsolescence. Sorry, that's not what planned obsolescence means. The machine wasn't made to be less capable over time for what it was originally sold for. Features (software or hardware) weren't decided to suddenly break. It would just not get some new features in future OS even if it could (which is debatable). It might could (according to the dev) but give a subpar experience, or eat into the battery, etc. One can say "that should be for the user to decide" but that's not how Apple works, nor has ever been part of their value proposition. Their value proposition is "we think of most of those things for you". In the end, even if the older machines could support the feature just fine, not releasing it for them is standard practice to entice people to a new model, and has nothing to do with "planned obsolescence". If anything Apple has a great track record on both: 1) Getting new iOS releases to older machines. Most Android vendors were horrible at that, abandoning machines even at the first release after being sold. 2) Having machines (including iPhones) keep their resale value high. That's the opposite of planned obsolescence.

FireBeyond 7y ago
This is some double speak. > not releasing it for them is standard practice to entice people to a new model, and has nothing to do with "planned obsolescence". That's literally exactly what it is. "You could have that, but because we've thought it better for you that you don't have it, but if you get newer hardware you could have it". It's obsolete, because it's artificially not compatible with current feature sets.
- coldtea 7y ago
  >That's literally exactly what it is. Not really. Not getting new features doesn't make an existing product worse.
  - FireBeyond 7y ago
    It does when it arbitrarily reduces interoperability with current products. Even more so when it's done to "entice new product purchase". Beside that, using your definition of "products getting worse" would make the whole concept of planned obsolesce almost a minuscule sliver of any issue with any product.

threeseed 7y ago

In case people missed this: "The rumor, and I mean rumor, was that there may have been 2008 Mac Pro's sold with a different Airport card than most had" Which if true meant that Apple could have been subject to class action if they stated that the feature was available for 2008 models.

FireBeyond 7y ago
He also says later: > _But I never seen it_, and there's no reason why OS X couldn't just say upgrade the airport card. So instead they blocked the entire line rather than this supposed older Airport card _that none of us were even familiar with_. i.e. I believe he was basically implying that it was a bullshit reason that would pass plausible deniability tests.

akersten 7y ago

This poster is braver than me. They're almost certainly identifiable based on the projects they worked on, and they admit to insubordination at best and industrial sabotage/CFAA violations at worst. Not that I agree with that interpretation, but if it were me I wouldn't have mentioned the bit about sharing a hack on Mediafire.

Apocryphon 7y ago
Apple’s star has not been in the best position as of late, at least among the hacker community. If he was to experience retaliation, here’s hoping that the community here, on Reddit, and elsewhere will rally around him for exposing their practices. At the very least he will likely have no problem securing crowdsourced funding for the legal fees.

npv789 7y ago

pressure from shareholders