It's not that Apple's admitting it's wrong about the future of laptops. It's probably still right about it. The problem is this is Apple remembering what a Pro

It's not that Apple's admitting it's wrong about the future of laptops. It's probably still right about it. The problem is this is Apple remembering what a Pro user is, and as a result, what a Pro laptop should be. Or to put it another way, this is Apple remembering that they can't just sell farmers a faster and more expensive car. It still needs to sell them trucks. The Pro (or the Powerbook before that) line distinguished itself from the non Pro, Air and iBook lines not just through price and power, but also, very significantly, by providing everything it's fairly niche and specialized users needed. This used to include stuff like optical audio in/out, FW 400/800, SD Card readers, etc. Because that's what their Pro users needed, and Apple wanted to create a device that gave them everything they could without making them buy other stuff, making it a great user experience. Once their Pro users' needs changed, so for example, once FW became far less popular even among pro users than it used to be, it was then that they changed their device. With the USB-C transition Apple had to have known that it would take years, if not decades for their Pro users to completely change their workflow. So eliminating ports that they used daily was extremely user hostile.