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Agree. So many people online (not just reviewers) complaining that it's just a spec-bump, demanding a new design. I remember the time people were (rightfully) c

by ebbi 1y ago

Agree. So many people online (not just reviewers) complaining that it's just a spec-bump, demanding a new design. I remember the time people were (rightfully) complaining that the update schedules were slow for Macs, mainly because of Intel's limitations. Now we get yearly refresh, they complain that it looks the same. I don't think they appreciate the cost of redesigning and retooling. Echo your thoughts and hope Apple doesn't listen to this feedback. Imagine more expensive laptops because some people want more frequent design changes!

wmf 1y ago
Intel released new CPUs every year; they shouldn't be blamed when Apple refused to update.
- al_borland 1y ago
  I remember reading about an aging Mac Pro not seeing an update because the Xeon chips it used hadn’t seen an update from Intel. I’m sure Intel had some releases each year, but did they have the right ones to make it possible for Apple to release an update?
- stetrain 1y ago
  Intel had multiple years of promising that their new next-gen more efficient 10nm CPUs were coming very soon, and then those kept being delayed. The chips they did release in that time period were mostly minor revisions of the same architecture. Apple was pretty clearly building chassis designs for the CPUs that Intel was promising to release, and those struggled with thermal management of the chips that Intel actually had on the market. And Apple got tired of waiting for Intel and having their hardware designs out of sync with the available chips.
  - close04 1y ago
    > and those struggled with thermal management of the chips An ironic mirror of the PowerPC era when every version of the G5 was struggling with high power consumption and heat generation when operated at any competitive frequency/performance level. The top end models like the 2.5GHz quad-G5 needed water cooling, consumed 250W when idle, and needed a 1kW PSU. Intel's offering at the time was as revolutionary as the M-series chips.
    - stetrain 1y ago
      Yep, it was a very similar situation where Apple wanted to keep their hardware cadence but were beholden to a third party on the chip roadmap. These days they're still somewhat beholden to TSMC continuing to make progress on nodes etc, but I think they have a closer partnership and a lot more insight into that roadmap so they can keep their hardware plans in sync.
- rsynnott 1y ago
  Indeed. There was a significant period where they, er, weren't really better than last year's, though. Remember Broadwell? Followed by Skylake, which took about two years to go from "theoretically available" to "actually usable". And then Skylake's successors, which were broadly the same as Skylake for about four years.
tpmoney 1y ago
Apple is the company where every new iPhone release is both simultaneously boring, not worth it and a sure sign of their impending collapse and also somehow a vicious treadmill which forces people to upgrade every year, throwing out their old phone and contributing to e-waste. They could announce a cure for cancer tomorrow and within a month people would be back to asking what have they innovated recently. People just like to complain.
- nativeit 1y ago
  Maybe I'm a weird one, but I'm still quite happy on my iPhone 12.
  - vishnugupta 1y ago
    Add me to the group. I’m on iPhone 11 and I couldn’t be happier. I do follow their new launches and then look at what I have. It looks and works like new, have absolutely no complaints. 6+ years and going strong.
  - edu 1y ago
    iPhone 12 mini here, I replaced the battery last year, and still going strong. Actually, I fear the day I'm forced to upgrade due not having the mini size available anymore...
    - molszanski 1y ago
      Replaced 12 mini with 17 pro. Not worth it. Will go back. Too big too heavy
  - f1shy 1y ago
    I changed my iPhone 8 about 1 year ago. Now I have a 16, which I will probably be using in 2031
- NaOH 1y ago
  People quickly become accustomed to common occurrences that are not threatening (like extreme weather events). Apollo 8 was the first time humans reached the moon, just orbiting it. Sixteen months later, in a time with much less media and information than we have now, US TV networks chose not to broadcast an en-route feed for Apollo 13 because this was no longer seen as interesting. We often seem spoiled, we often seem prone to complaining, and we often seem more enamored with something new. Yet there are so many remarkable things we take for granted.
KolibriFly 1y ago
I'd much rather Apple put their energy into performance, battery life, and long-term reliability than chasing novelty for novelty's sake
tolien 1y ago
> So many people online (not just reviewers) complaining that it's just a spec-bump, demanding a new design. If ever there was a case of "be careful what you wish for" - whether it's the Touch Bar, deleting ports or the butterfly keyboard, a redesign isn't necessarily a positive.
- strbean 1y ago
  I loved the touch bar once I realized all the first party applications actually had useful customizations for it. When you used the Terminal app, there was literally a "man" button that would open the relevant man page (for whatever command you currently had typed) in a new window. Actually an awesome feature if application authors got on board. Making the power button part of the bar instead of a physical button sucked though.
- ebbi 1y ago
  You know, I would not be mad if the Touch Bar made a return sitting above the function row keys. If they had done that from the beginning, I think the reception to Touch Bar would have been a lot more positive.

by ebbi 1y ago

wmf 1y ago

Intel released new CPUs every year; they shouldn't be blamed when Apple refused to update.

al_borland 1y ago
I remember reading about an aging Mac Pro not seeing an update because the Xeon chips it used hadn’t seen an update from Intel. I’m sure Intel had some releases each year, but did they have the right ones to make it possible for Apple to release an update?
stetrain 1y ago
Intel had multiple years of promising that their new next-gen more efficient 10nm CPUs were coming very soon, and then those kept being delayed. The chips they did release in that time period were mostly minor revisions of the same architecture. Apple was pretty clearly building chassis designs for the CPUs that Intel was promising to release, and those struggled with thermal management of the chips that Intel actually had on the market. And Apple got tired of waiting for Intel and having their hardware designs out of sync with the available chips.
- close04 1y ago
  > and those struggled with thermal management of the chips An ironic mirror of the PowerPC era when every version of the G5 was struggling with high power consumption and heat generation when operated at any competitive frequency/performance level. The top end models like the 2.5GHz quad-G5 needed water cooling, consumed 250W when idle, and needed a 1kW PSU. Intel's offering at the time was as revolutionary as the M-series chips.
  - stetrain 1y ago
    Yep, it was a very similar situation where Apple wanted to keep their hardware cadence but were beholden to a third party on the chip roadmap. These days they're still somewhat beholden to TSMC continuing to make progress on nodes etc, but I think they have a closer partnership and a lot more insight into that roadmap so they can keep their hardware plans in sync.
rsynnott 1y ago
Indeed. There was a significant period where they, er, weren't really better than last year's, though. Remember Broadwell? Followed by Skylake, which took about two years to go from "theoretically available" to "actually usable". And then Skylake's successors, which were broadly the same as Skylake for about four years.

tpmoney 1y ago

Apple is the company where every new iPhone release is both simultaneously boring, not worth it and a sure sign of their impending collapse and also somehow a vicious treadmill which forces people to upgrade every year, throwing out their old phone and contributing to e-waste. They could announce a cure for cancer tomorrow and within a month people would be back to asking what have they innovated recently. People just like to complain.

nativeit 1y ago
Maybe I'm a weird one, but I'm still quite happy on my iPhone 12.
- vishnugupta 1y ago
  Add me to the group. I’m on iPhone 11 and I couldn’t be happier. I do follow their new launches and then look at what I have. It looks and works like new, have absolutely no complaints. 6+ years and going strong.
- edu 1y ago
  iPhone 12 mini here, I replaced the battery last year, and still going strong. Actually, I fear the day I'm forced to upgrade due not having the mini size available anymore...
  - molszanski 1y ago
    Replaced 12 mini with 17 pro. Not worth it. Will go back. Too big too heavy
- f1shy 1y ago
  I changed my iPhone 8 about 1 year ago. Now I have a 16, which I will probably be using in 2031
NaOH 1y ago
People quickly become accustomed to common occurrences that are not threatening (like extreme weather events). Apollo 8 was the first time humans reached the moon, just orbiting it. Sixteen months later, in a time with much less media and information than we have now, US TV networks chose not to broadcast an en-route feed for Apollo 13 because this was no longer seen as interesting. We often seem spoiled, we often seem prone to complaining, and we often seem more enamored with something new. Yet there are so many remarkable things we take for granted.

KolibriFly 1y ago

I'd much rather Apple put their energy into performance, battery life, and long-term reliability than chasing novelty for novelty's sake

tolien 1y ago

> So many people online (not just reviewers) complaining that it's just a spec-bump, demanding a new design. If ever there was a case of "be careful what you wish for" - whether it's the Touch Bar, deleting ports or the butterfly keyboard, a redesign isn't necessarily a positive.

strbean 1y ago
I loved the touch bar once I realized all the first party applications actually had useful customizations for it. When you used the Terminal app, there was literally a "man" button that would open the relevant man page (for whatever command you currently had typed) in a new window. Actually an awesome feature if application authors got on board. Making the power button part of the bar instead of a physical button sucked though.
ebbi 1y ago
You know, I would not be mad if the Touch Bar made a return sitting above the function row keys. If they had done that from the beginning, I think the reception to Touch Bar would have been a lot more positive.