
Backlash against Apple’s new MacBook Pro from its core users is unprecedented - ghosh
http://www.recode.net/2016/11/7/13512322/apple-macbook-pro-backlash-power-users
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SaberOne
After 32-years of buying from Apple, I'm done once my brand new devices get
relegated to my kids.

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carlivar
"I suspect Apple will have to think hard about how to please those who want a
portable yet ultrapowerful machine, which is really the even narrower segment
that has been criticizing the new MacBooks. The portability/power tradeoff it
has made in the new machines seems to be fine for the mainstream, but that’s
the one thing that seems to be creating the most problems for the hardcore
base, and it’s worth addressing."

I have an idea. They could have a line of Macs for those that care about
lightness and thinness and little else. Perhaps they could call it the "Light"
or the "Air".

The consumer-class Macs intended for the mainstream could just simply have
"MacBooks" with no suffix. The new MacBook Pros actually seem just like this.
If Apple is worried about too many product lines, the "Light/Air" and the
plain "MacBook" could merge.

But for the professionals, don't worry about weight so much and put a nice
variety of ports and great specs on a "Pro" line of MacBooks.

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spronkey
I'm not sure that the portability/power tradeoff is suitable for the
mainstream. Specifically, I am referring to the value proposition of the
machine.

There are three reasons for this - firstly, the mainstream cares a lot about
price. Apple's new machines are expensive, and it stands to reason that a
portion of the added expense is in the engineering efforts required to e.g.
redesign the SSD card factor, battery, casing etc) to accomplish the size and
weight.

Secondly, Apple's BTO upgrade pricing is extremely high when compared to off
the shelf parts. The lack of upgradability, and with respect to batteries,
serviceability hurts mainstream users, but they may not notice this at the
time of purchase. I know many users with Macs who I would would consider
"mainstream" (i.e. not technophiles, people that don't work in IT industries
etc), and the vast majority have either upgraded parts in their machine at
some stage via a local computer store, or wanted to do so in preference to
replacing it outright.

The old MacBooks and MacBooks Pro could be purchased with minimal or required
specs at the time of launch, and then upgraded with off the shelf, standard
parts by basically any mediocre technician, for a fraction of the cost of
buying a new machine and selling the old one on the second hand market, giving
them another year or two of usable life. The new Macs cannot, and Apple isn't
exactly generous on specs for the lower end models (RAM perhaps, but SSD and
CPU not at all).

Third, because of the lack of upgradability, the second hand market for Macs
is now extremely fragmented and difficult to navigate. Those people who buy
second hand Macs (myself included on occasion) have a much harder time now
with the various unchangeable combinations of i.e. 2GB ram / 128GB SSD. If
you're looking for an Air with 8GB RAM (almost a necessity these days) and a
256GB or 512GB SSD, you'll be looking for a long time or paying a big premium
- whereas a non-retina Pro of similar vintage can be purchased without fear,
and upgraded easily and cheaply - often to specifications well beyond that
ever available with the machine at purchase. 2TB SSDs, anyone?

