I'm not at all sold on the Surface Pro concept. At least Microsoft is pushing their products forward. The Mac is standing still. (I know... maybe better to be standing still than moving forward in the wrong direction, but from a marketing standpoint, standing still is deadly)
Apple seem to be sold on it. Since the Surface, Apple have made a big thing of adding pen support and an easily docked keyboard to their iPad line. We have even had articles claiming an iPad can replace a laptop. I know a keyboard was available with the original iPad but it wasn't heavily featured.
Well, excepting that the iPad has a mobile operating system that is compatible with iPhone apps, with a large developer base, and MS has almost no mobile market at all. Of course MS will push a hybrid solution against a combined iPad/Mac Book Air/Mac Book Pro; that's all they have left to sell.
Apple can continue to build on its mobile lead, including in the enterprise where the iPhone and iPad Pro are doing very well. At the same time, Mac Book and Mac Book Pro's will see a solid upgrade coming up with better collaboration features with mobile.
At what point does an iPad Pro with an attached keyboard w/trackpad match a Surface for usability? It's the point where x86 isn't a requirement for a majority of users, which, in a shrinking PC market, may not be that far off.
Why does Microsoft keep comparing their stuff to the MBA, a product that everyone know is probably being phased out.
It's a poor attempt at some kind of divide and conquer first compare the SP4 to iPad Pro and show how it's not a real computer ( which off cause it was never really meant to be) and then comper SP4 to MBA and show how it's not a real tablet (which again is not the purpose of the Air ) all in hopes that customers will be fooled enough to make an ill-informed purchase, the flaw with this underhanded scheme favored by highly incompetent and inadequate dweebs being thrashed daily by Apple is that after customers buy this inferior product they will quickly discover how much shirt it really is and just return it with a scorn and inconsolable hatrad of MS and a solemn vow never to buy anything from them ever again. It is always possible to make a bad product better but you can't fix customer disownment, that should be the first thing learnt at entrepreneur school.
I'm not at all sold on the Surface Pro concept. At least Microsoft is pushing their products forward. The Mac is standing still. (I know... maybe better to be standing still than moving forward in the wrong direction, but from a marketing standpoint, standing still is deadly)
Except for Windows, which doesn't interest me at all, I'm not sure what's not to like.
I'd love a MacBook product which was essentially the bottom half of a MacBook with the upper half being a hybrid iPad. When docked, it becomes the display for the MB, when removed, it becomes a functioning iPad. When removed the MB can still be used with AirPlay as a functioning Mac. When docked, the MB could have direct access to the iPad storage for accessing files in a hierarchical manner, another plus for transferring media between Mac and iOS.
Touch OSX would be great sometimes, but definitely not essential, and in some cases possibly problematic for software not designed for it. But with the Apple Pencil, definitely much more practical than before that becomes an option.
But primarily, I'd love the convenience. Carrying one device on a trip rather than two. If Apple sold this, I'd buy it. I'm not saying they need to, just that I would. I'm certainly content to wait until Apple merges Mac OS and iOS, rather than Microsofts compromised solution.
You make good points. I certainly can't argue with the benefits of carrying one device instead of two -- I don't want to carry two devices either.
When I travel I typically carry an iPhone and an iPad. I don't own a portable Mac. Instead, I have an old 2009 Mac Pro at work and a newer 5k iMac at home.
This setup is not perfect. There are times when I would rather have a Mac with me while traveling. For those times, the question is -- can the iPad be improved enough to meet those needs, or do I need a Mac version of the surface pro?
I'm inclined to prefer improving the iPad to the point that it can meet my needs in those situations. But -- I don't know that will happen and I don't know that it would meet everyone's needs. So I guess I can't rule out the possibility that the device you propose might be optimal. And often there is no one true answer -- many ideas can work, and the best implemented idea is the one that will win.
With the Surface Pro, at least Microsoft is trying to implement an idea. Apple is moving the iPad forward, but there are still plenty of needs unmet by the iPad that are met by a Mac. With regards to the Mac, Apple seems stuck in neutral. I'm hoping that Apple has something up their sleeves for later this year that will show up and shut up whiners like me....
My company jumped on that bandwagon for a bit, it was the trendy accessory for the corner office types. After about six months, they gradually disappeared.
Surface Pro 4 never made a dent; by that time, IT had moved everyone has moved to MBP hardware (dual boot of course).
I need to get a laptop for my son (high school). I'm having a hard time choosing between macbook air and the surface pro 4. Of course we want it to last through high school and beyond. I know this is pro Apple comments but some good advice would be appreciated.
I'm not at all sold on the Surface Pro concept. At least Microsoft is pushing their products forward. The Mac is standing still. (I know... maybe better to be standing still than moving forward in the wrong direction, but from a marketing standpoint, standing still is deadly)
Apple seem to be sold on it. Since the Surface, Apple have made a big thing of adding pen support and an easily docked keyboard to their iPad line. We have even had articles claiming an iPad can replace a laptop. I know a keyboard was available with the original iPad but it wasn't heavily featured.
The message I'm getting from Apple is that they are confused. They don't seem to know how to advance the Mac, and so they just aren't. They want the iPad to be used for work, and so they are trying everything they can to make that happen..... but it feels more like a "throw stuff against the wall to see what sticks" approach rather than a coherent strategy. Given how well Apple usually communicates its strategies, I take a lack of clear communication to mean a lack of clear strategy.
But hey... prove me wrong, guys -- prove mew wrong!
I need to get a laptop for my son (high school). I'm having a hard time choosing between macbook air and the surface pro 4. Of course we want it to last through high school and beyond. I know this is pro Apple comments but some good advice would be appreciated.
The Apple laptop lineup is in a major need of refresh. It's a terrible time to buy a new Apple laptop. And nobody outside of Apple really knows when the refresh will come. This creates a tough dilemma for somebody in your situation.
I think the strongest case to be made for buying the Mac is that you're not just buying a Mac, you're participating in the larger Apple ecosystem. If your son has an iPhone or other apple devices, then I think it makes sense to get the Mac. The integration among Apple devices (messages, photos, airplay, etc) makes it appealing to have all devices be Apple devices. The whole of the Apple ecosystem is, at least to me, greater than the sum of its parts.
But if your son doesn't have an iPhone or any other Apple devices (and doesn't want to get any), then you might as well get the Surface.
blastdoor said: When I travel I typically carry an iPhone and an iPad. I don't own a portable Mac. Instead, I have an old 2009 Mac Pro at work and a newer 5k iMac at home.
When the iPad first came out it was intended to lighten the load, but for me it had the opposite effect. I like the iPad for casual browsing and light messaging/email, but it can't replace my MBP 15" for the type of work I do. Lot of graphics and publishing in CC and a lot of heavy duty web code for database back ends, etc. When I travel I am tempted to leave the iPad at home but never do. I have the same two Macs that you have but in the opposite locations. I just upgraded my Mac Pro with all new components and it is really fast again. New Xeons, GPU, SSD, 32 gigs of RAM, USB 3 card, running Yosemite. with a 30" Cinema it should meet my home needs for quite a few years. It is only running CS 5.5 but with IDML exporting it is pretty easy to move inDesign projects back and forth to and from CC.
I need to get a laptop for my son (high school). I'm having a hard time choosing between macbook air and the surface pro 4. Of course we want it to last through high school and beyond. I know this is pro Apple comments but some good advice would be appreciated.
The Apple laptop lineup is in a major need of refresh. It's a terrible time to buy a new Apple laptop. And nobody outside of Apple really knows when the refresh will come. This creates a tough dilemma for somebody in your situation.
I think the strongest case to be made for buying the Mac is that you're not just buying a Mac, you're participating in the larger Apple ecosystem. If your son has an iPhone or other apple devices, then I think it makes sense to get the Mac. The integration among Apple devices (messages, photos, airplay, etc) makes it appealing to have all devices be Apple devices. The whole of the Apple ecosystem is, at least to me, greater than the sum of its parts.
But if your son doesn't have an iPhone or any other Apple devices (and doesn't want to get any), then you might as well get the Surface.
The Apple eco system, and the OS. I would not buy into another OS just to get the latest hardware, but I am a very long time MacOS user.
I'm not at all sold on the Surface Pro concept. At least Microsoft is pushing their products forward. The Mac is standing still. (I know... maybe better to be standing still than moving forward in the wrong direction, but from a marketing standpoint, standing still is deadly)
Apple seem to be sold on it. Since the Surface, Apple have made a big thing of adding pen support and an easily docked keyboard to their iPad line. We have even had articles claiming an iPad can replace a laptop. I know a keyboard was available with the original iPad but it wasn't heavily featured.
The message I'm getting from Apple is that they are confused. They don't seem to know how to advance the Mac, and so they just aren't. They want the iPad to be used for work, and so they are trying everything they can to make that happen..... but it feels more like a "throw stuff against the wall to see what sticks" approach rather than a coherent strategy. Given how well Apple usually communicates its strategies, I take a lack of clear communication to mean a lack of clear strategy.
But hey... prove me wrong, guys -- prove mew wrong!
My own opinion on the Mac is that Apple is hamstrung by Intel, and x86. Most of the potential updates that Apple could have made to the Mac would have required custom solutions for USB 3.1 Type C 10 Gb and Thunderbolt 3. Now, the only issue expected is that TB 3 won't support greater than a 4k screen per port because Intel hasn't adopted the latest HDMI/DP standards. I get that Apple wants to let the "river flow to us" rather than create custom interface solutions for Intel processors.
At the same time, Apple has demonstrated tremendous capability for advanced design of there Mac Book and Mac Book Pro hardware, so expect some leading edge technology, especially on storage and memory bandwidth.
As for the Pencil, most users would describe it as the closest to actual analog tools. I expect that Apple will add functionality to the Pencil over time, and as they master the miniaturization of the electronics package, more battery life. Hardly a throw it against the wall strategy, and the Pencil has likely been on the roadmap since the inception, waiting for the technology to allow the best experience, and keyboards have been available from the first release of the iPad. Not seeing much "throw stuff at the wall" here.
My own opinion on the Mac is that Apple is hamstrung by Intel, and x86. Most of the potential updates that Apple could have made to the Mac would have required custom solutions for USB 3.1 Type C 10 Gb and Thunderbolt 3. Now, the only issue expected is that TB 3 won't support greater than a 4k screen per port because Intel hasn't adopted the latest HDMI/DP standards.
I get that some people want to use their Mac portables as their single computer, but it was designed as a portable not a powerful desktop. I have a MBP that is a few years old and it is plenty fast. I use it as a portable and rarely hook it up to external monitors or external drives, so it meets my needs perfectly. Sure all of those new interfaces will be great when they arrive, but if someone needs a new Mac portable, they should just buy one, rather than sitting around waiting for the latest and greatest future technology to arrive. Mac portables last a long, long time, so it is not like you are replacing it every two years. I would still be using my old MBP if it wasn't obsolete due to 32 bit boot kernel which limited it to OS X Lion. Still, I gave it away to a friend's 10 year old and he uses it just fine.
I'm not at all sold on the Surface Pro concept. At least Microsoft is pushing their products forward. The Mac is standing still. (I know... maybe better to be standing still than moving forward in the wrong direction, but from a marketing standpoint, standing still is deadly)
There is more to marketing than just trying to showcase "what is new or neat or cool" to drive near term sales. There is also brand marketing, which takes years/decades, to cement an image of the company and its products. I would argue that most don't buy a Mac because of "what is new", but rather because of the brand value Apple has created - high end industrial design, integrated package, included apps and ecosystem, longevity / quality, resale value, with good specs, etc. My iMac is 7 years and going strong (with a new HDD last year), but I will buy another one when the time comes. The line has proven its worth to me.
I don't disagree that the pace of changes on the broader Mac line has been slow the last few years, but sometimes that is how technology goes. It isn't like Intel is hitting it out of the park with processor improvements that Apple is ignoring. And there has been innovation with the iMac 4/5K, and in scaling down to the MacBook form factor. We seem to have some rumours of some pretty big changes to the MacBook Pro line coming, so hoping for a bit of a leap forward there.
As to standing still...well, thankfully Apple waited out the Netbook craze.
blastdoor said: When I travel I typically carry an iPhone and an iPad. I don't own a portable Mac. Instead, I have an old 2009 Mac Pro at work and a newer 5k iMac at home.
When the iPad first came out it was intended to lighten the load, but for me it had the opposite effect. I like the iPad for casual browsing and light messaging/email, but it can't replace my MBP 15" for the type of work I do. Lot of graphics and publishing in CC and a lot of heavy duty web code for database back ends, etc. When I travel I am tempted to leave the iPad at home but never do. I have the same two Macs that you have but in the opposite locations. I just upgraded my Mac Pro with all new components and it is really fast again. New Xeons, GPU, SSD, 32 gigs of RAM, USB 3 card, running Yosemite. with a 30" Cinema it should meet my home needs for quite a few years. It is only running CS 5.5 but with IDML exporting it is pretty easy to move inDesign projects back and forth to and from CC.
Yeah, I can see how a big chunk of your work can't be done on an iPad.
My work is a combination of MS Office and R (the statistical programming language/environment). I can do e-mail and light Office work on my iPad. I have to just live with the fact that I can't do the R work. For the most part, that's ok. But there's the occasional situation where I really would like R with me on the road. Apple would probably need to change some App Store rules in order for R to work on an iPad Pro. And even then it would take a fair bit of work to make it happen. Until then... I'll either just accept that I can't take R with me, or maybe I'll buy a MacBook for occasional road use (I kind of hate to spend money on something that I'll rarely use, though).
Cool that you've managed to breathe life into your Mac Pro. I need to come up with something to replace mine, and I don't think I'm going to dive in and try to replace the ancient Xeons that I have with medieval Xeons. I want something that is actually new. If Apple doesn't come up with a Mac Pro that meets my needs within the next year I suspect I'll replace my Mac Pro with a combination of an iMac and a headless Linux box that will be devoted entirely to running R. I'd much rather spend that money on a Mac, but that just might not be possible.
I'm not at all sold on the Surface Pro concept. At least Microsoft is pushing their products forward. The Mac is standing still. (I know... maybe better to be standing still than moving forward in the wrong direction, but from a marketing standpoint, standing still is deadly)
Apple seem to be sold on it. Since the Surface, Apple have made a big thing of adding pen support and an easily docked keyboard to their iPad line. We have even had articles claiming an iPad can replace a laptop. I know a keyboard was available with the original iPad but it wasn't heavily featured.
The message I'm getting from Apple is that they are confused. They don't seem to know how to advance the Mac, and so they just aren't. They want the iPad to be used for work, and so they are trying everything they can to make that happen..... but it feels more like a "throw stuff against the wall to see what sticks" approach rather than a coherent strategy. Given how well Apple usually communicates its strategies, I take a lack of clear communication to mean a lack of clear strategy.
But hey... prove me wrong, guys -- prove mew wrong!
My own opinion on the Mac is that Apple is hamstrung by Intel, and x86. Most of the potential updates that Apple could have made to the Mac would have required custom solutions for USB 3.1 Type C 10 Gb and Thunderbolt 3. Now, the only issue expected is that TB 3 won't support greater than a 4k screen per port because Intel hasn't adopted the latest HDMI/DP standards. I get that Apple wants to let the "river flow to us" rather than create custom interface solutions for Intel processors.
At the same time, Apple has demonstrated tremendous capability for advanced design of there Mac Book and Mac Book Pro hardware, so expect some leading edge technology, especially on storage and memory bandwidth.
As for the Pencil, most users would describe it as the closest to actual analog tools. I expect that Apple will add functionality to the Pencil over time, and as they master the miniaturization of the electronics package, more battery life. Hardly a throw it against the wall strategy, and the Pencil has likely been on the roadmap since the inception, waiting for the technology to allow the best experience, and keyboards have been available from the first release of the iPad. Not seeing much "throw stuff at the wall" here.
My view is that Apple should not allow itself to be hamstrung by Intel. Apple has the financial and technological resources needed to move the Mac forward without waiting for Intel. There should be a standalone 5k 27" monitor from Apple right now, today, along with a lineup of Macs that can support it. Apple could make that happen, but instead they sit around like some brain-dead Dell or HP and wait for Intel to do the work for them. Lame.
Also, there are plenty of useful things that could be added to the Mac that have nothing to do with Intel. TouchID is one example. OLED-touch controls is another.
I like the idea of the pencil. But it feels "throw against the wall" in the sense that it doesn't come with the iPad Pro, which cuts it off at the knees in terms of developer support. It's a good idea that Apple isn't fully getting behind. It's like they introduced both the pencil and the keyboard as optional extras because they'd didn't really know which was the future of the device, so they're just going to let people decide. In my view, the pencil is the logical "pro" UI upgrade for the iPad, not the keyboard. Apple should have made the pencil standard, they should have put a lot of resources into first-party support as well as fostering third party support, and they should have made the keyboard the optional extra for the people who really need it. Meh.
I'm not at all sold on the Surface Pro concept. At least Microsoft is pushing their products forward. The Mac is standing still. (I know... maybe better to be standing still than moving forward in the wrong direction, but from a marketing standpoint, standing still is deadly)
Apple seem to be sold on it. Since the Surface, Apple have made a big thing of adding pen support and an easily docked keyboard to their iPad line. We have even had articles claiming an iPad can replace a laptop. I know a keyboard was available with the original iPad but it wasn't heavily featured.
The message I'm getting from Apple is that they are confused. They don't seem to know how to advance the Mac, and so they just aren't. They want the iPad to be used for work, and so they are trying everything they can to make that happen..... but it feels more like a "throw stuff against the wall to see what sticks" approach rather than a coherent strategy. Given how well Apple usually communicates its strategies, I take a lack of clear communication to mean a lack of clear strategy.
But hey... prove me wrong, guys -- prove mew wrong!
I really don't know what you mean by throwing stuff against the wall -- Apple moves slowly and cautiously as usual.
their stratgey with ipad is clear, Schiller said quite plainly they hope we use iPhones when we need phones, iPads when we need tablets, MacBooks when we need notebooks, and macs when we need desktops. there's not much mystery about it.
as for demanding that they telegraph you their intent, roadmap, etc...I think you must be talking about some other company since that's never been Apple's M.O.
I need to get a laptop for my son (high school). I'm having a hard time choosing between macbook air and the surface pro 4. Of course we want it to last through high school and beyond. I know this is pro Apple comments but some good advice would be appreciated.
The Apple laptop lineup is in a major need of refresh. It's a terrible time to buy a new Apple laptop. And nobody outside of Apple really knows when the refresh will come. This creates a tough dilemma for somebody in your situation.
I think the strongest case to be made for buying the Mac is that you're not just buying a Mac, you're participating in the larger Apple ecosystem. If your son has an iPhone or other apple devices, then I think it makes sense to get the Mac. The integration among Apple devices (messages, photos, airplay, etc) makes it appealing to have all devices be Apple devices. The whole of the Apple ecosystem is, at least to me, greater than the sum of its parts.
But if your son doesn't have an iPhone or any other Apple devices (and doesn't want to get any), then you might as well get the Surface.
a terrible time to buy a Mac? dear god. don't you realize that you're part of a very very small minority of tech nerds wringing their hands over chipsets? normal people don't give a fuck. if they need or want a Mac, they go buy one. they don't know Intel chipset roadmaps.
a kid in high school is going to be fine with any MacBook. he's not doing intense 3D renders all day or driving a bunch of 4K displays to edit on. I'm a developer and my desktop is a 2011 iMac and my notebook is a 2014 MBP, and I make my living on them.
lastly, even without the ecosystem I still wouldn't push anyone to Windows because it generally sucks. decades of playing tech support for friends & family have driven this home. OS X is just less hassle.
I'm not at all sold on the Surface Pro concept. At least Microsoft is pushing their products forward. The Mac is standing still. (I know... maybe better to be standing still than moving forward in the wrong direction, but from a marketing standpoint, standing still is deadly)
Apple seem to be sold on it. Since the Surface, Apple have made a big thing of adding pen support and an easily docked keyboard to their iPad line. We have even had articles claiming an iPad can replace a laptop. I know a keyboard was available with the original iPad but it wasn't heavily featured.
The message I'm getting from Apple is that they are confused. They don't seem to know how to advance the Mac, and so they just aren't. They want the iPad to be used for work, and so they are trying everything they can to make that happen..... but it feels more like a "throw stuff against the wall to see what sticks" approach rather than a coherent strategy. Given how well Apple usually communicates its strategies, I take a lack of clear communication to mean a lack of clear strategy.
But hey... prove me wrong, guys -- prove mew wrong!
My own opinion on the Mac is that Apple is hamstrung by Intel, and x86. Most of the potential updates that Apple could have made to the Mac would have required custom solutions for USB 3.1 Type C 10 Gb and Thunderbolt 3. Now, the only issue expected is that TB 3 won't support greater than a 4k screen per port because Intel hasn't adopted the latest HDMI/DP standards. I get that Apple wants to let the "river flow to us" rather than create custom interface solutions for Intel processors.
At the same time, Apple has demonstrated tremendous capability for advanced design of there Mac Book and Mac Book Pro hardware, so expect some leading edge technology, especially on storage and memory bandwidth.
As for the Pencil, most users would describe it as the closest to actual analog tools. I expect that Apple will add functionality to the Pencil over time, and as they master the miniaturization of the electronics package, more battery life. Hardly a throw it against the wall strategy, and the Pencil has likely been on the roadmap since the inception, waiting for the technology to allow the best experience, and keyboards have been available from the first release of the iPad. Not seeing much "throw stuff at the wall" here.
My view is that Apple should not allow itself to be hamstrung by Intel. Apple has the financial and technological resources needed to move the Mac forward without waiting for Intel. There should be a standalone 5k 27" monitor from Apple right now, today, along with a lineup of Macs that can support it. Apple could make that happen, but instead they sit around like some brain-dead Dell or HP and wait for Intel to do the work for them. Lame.
Also, there are plenty of useful things that could be added to the Mac that have nothing to do with Intel. TouchID is one example. OLED-touch controls is another.
I like the idea of the pencil. But it feels "throw against the wall" in the sense that it doesn't come with the iPad Pro, which cuts it off at the knees in terms of developer support. It's a good idea that Apple isn't fully getting behind. It's like they introduced both the pencil and the keyboard as optional extras because they'd didn't really know which was the future of the device, so they're just going to let people decide. In my view, the pencil is the logical "pro" UI upgrade for the iPad, not the keyboard. Apple should have made the pencil standard, they should have put a lot of resources into first-party support as well as fostering third party support, and they should have made the keyboard the optional extra for the people who really need it. Meh.
But don't you think that Apple would be forcing the product to be a niche as in actively targeted at people who'd have a need of a pencil ? The fact is that most people just don't use the iPad that way it's mostly pro illustrators who really benefit from the pencil selling it with the iPad would add cost and an extra accessory that only worked with a single product that most people won't use, the iPad regardless of the pro moniker is still an iPad mostly used the very same way you use it as you mentioned, I think Apple made the correct decision by referring to the pencil,as an "accessory" as that's what it truly is an addition for those with that particular need, the device already contains hardware that most won't even use in the form of high density touch layer making the product unessesarily costly. This I think is the mistake sumsung is still making with the s pen, stylist aren't very good UI devices for most use cases.
I do fully agree with you on the point of Apple not allowing it's product development to be determined by anyone but apple, imagine where the iPhone would be if the A series chips were developed externally, you would think apple would have handled this by now, oh well the huge revenue of the iPhone compered to the Mac make this a non issue at Apple, kinda sucks though, for most hardcore fans Mac is the reason
Comments
Really? It doesn't have "any"? Exaggerate much?
Apple can continue to build on its mobile lead, including in the enterprise where the iPhone and iPad Pro are doing very well. At the same time, Mac Book and Mac Book Pro's will see a solid upgrade coming up with better collaboration features with mobile.
At what point does an iPad Pro with an attached keyboard w/trackpad match a Surface for usability? It's the point where x86 isn't a requirement for a majority of users, which, in a shrinking PC market, may not be that far off.
When I travel I typically carry an iPhone and an iPad. I don't own a portable Mac. Instead, I have an old 2009 Mac Pro at work and a newer 5k iMac at home.
This setup is not perfect. There are times when I would rather have a Mac with me while traveling. For those times, the question is -- can the iPad be improved enough to meet those needs, or do I need a Mac version of the surface pro?
I'm inclined to prefer improving the iPad to the point that it can meet my needs in those situations. But -- I don't know that will happen and I don't know that it would meet everyone's needs. So I guess I can't rule out the possibility that the device you propose might be optimal. And often there is no one true answer -- many ideas can work, and the best implemented idea is the one that will win.
With the Surface Pro, at least Microsoft is trying to implement an idea. Apple is moving the iPad forward, but there are still plenty of needs unmet by the iPad that are met by a Mac. With regards to the Mac, Apple seems stuck in neutral. I'm hoping that Apple has something up their sleeves for later this year that will show up and shut up whiners like me....
My company jumped on that bandwagon for a bit, it was the trendy accessory for the corner office types. After about six months, they gradually disappeared.
Surface Pro 4 never made a dent; by that time, IT had moved everyone has moved to MBP hardware (dual boot of course).
But hey... prove me wrong, guys -- prove mew wrong!
I think the strongest case to be made for buying the Mac is that you're not just buying a Mac, you're participating in the larger Apple ecosystem. If your son has an iPhone or other apple devices, then I think it makes sense to get the Mac. The integration among Apple devices (messages, photos, airplay, etc) makes it appealing to have all devices be Apple devices. The whole of the Apple ecosystem is, at least to me, greater than the sum of its parts.
But if your son doesn't have an iPhone or any other Apple devices (and doesn't want to get any), then you might as well get the Surface.
At the same time, Apple has demonstrated tremendous capability for advanced design of there Mac Book and Mac Book Pro hardware, so expect some leading edge technology, especially on storage and memory bandwidth.
As for the Pencil, most users would describe it as the closest to actual analog tools. I expect that Apple will add functionality to the Pencil over time, and as they master the miniaturization of the electronics package, more battery life. Hardly a throw it against the wall strategy, and the Pencil has likely been on the roadmap since the inception, waiting for the technology to allow the best experience, and keyboards have been available from the first release of the iPad. Not seeing much "throw stuff at the wall" here.
I don't disagree that the pace of changes on the broader Mac line has been slow the last few years, but sometimes that is how technology goes. It isn't like Intel is hitting it out of the park with processor improvements that Apple is ignoring. And there has been innovation with the iMac 4/5K, and in scaling down to the MacBook form factor. We seem to have some rumours of some pretty big changes to the MacBook Pro line coming, so hoping for a bit of a leap forward there.
As to standing still...well, thankfully Apple waited out the Netbook craze.
My work is a combination of MS Office and R (the statistical programming language/environment). I can do e-mail and light Office work on my iPad. I have to just live with the fact that I can't do the R work. For the most part, that's ok. But there's the occasional situation where I really would like R with me on the road. Apple would probably need to change some App Store rules in order for R to work on an iPad Pro. And even then it would take a fair bit of work to make it happen. Until then... I'll either just accept that I can't take R with me, or maybe I'll buy a MacBook for occasional road use (I kind of hate to spend money on something that I'll rarely use, though).
Cool that you've managed to breathe life into your Mac Pro. I need to come up with something to replace mine, and I don't think I'm going to dive in and try to replace the ancient Xeons that I have with medieval Xeons. I want something that is actually new. If Apple doesn't come up with a Mac Pro that meets my needs within the next year I suspect I'll replace my Mac Pro with a combination of an iMac and a headless Linux box that will be devoted entirely to running R. I'd much rather spend that money on a Mac, but that just might not be possible.
Also, there are plenty of useful things that could be added to the Mac that have nothing to do with Intel. TouchID is one example. OLED-touch controls is another.
I like the idea of the pencil. But it feels "throw against the wall" in the sense that it doesn't come with the iPad Pro, which cuts it off at the knees in terms of developer support. It's a good idea that Apple isn't fully getting behind. It's like they introduced both the pencil and the keyboard as optional extras because they'd didn't really know which was the future of the device, so they're just going to let people decide. In my view, the pencil is the logical "pro" UI upgrade for the iPad, not the keyboard. Apple should have made the pencil standard, they should have put a lot of resources into first-party support as well as fostering third party support, and they should have made the keyboard the optional extra for the people who really need it. Meh.
their stratgey with ipad is clear, Schiller said quite plainly they hope we use iPhones when we need phones, iPads when we need tablets, MacBooks when we need notebooks, and macs when we need desktops. there's not much mystery about it.
as for demanding that they telegraph you their intent, roadmap, etc...I think you must be talking about some other company since that's never been Apple's M.O.
a terrible time to buy a Mac? dear god. don't you realize that you're part of a very very small minority of tech nerds wringing their hands over chipsets? normal people don't give a fuck. if they need or want a Mac, they go buy one. they don't know Intel chipset roadmaps.
a kid in high school is going to be fine with any MacBook. he's not doing intense 3D renders all day or driving a bunch of 4K displays to edit on. I'm a developer and my desktop is a 2011 iMac and my notebook is a 2014 MBP, and I make my living on them.
lastly, even without the ecosystem I still wouldn't push anyone to Windows because it generally sucks. decades of playing tech support for friends & family have driven this home. OS X is just less hassle.
I do fully agree with you on the point of Apple not allowing it's product development to be determined by anyone but apple, imagine where the iPhone would be if the A series chips were developed externally, you would think apple would have handled this by now, oh well the huge revenue of the iPhone compered to the Mac make this a non issue at Apple, kinda sucks though, for most hardcore fans Mac is the reason