Which is why they still offer the macbook pro and for now macbook air
That is certainly true but the problem I see here is that they did not think about the reality of the single port completely. At the very least they could have broken out the USB and video ports at the charger (I don't see any sign of this being done). That would have solved so many problems with the design that I don't think we would have seen such a strong negative reaction to the machine.
Many people (i.e. the students i see with macs) use their machines for paper writing, youtube, facebook, and iTunes. this new macbook is really all they need and, excepting maybe thumb drives, I never see anything plugged in ever (besides [obnoxious beats] headphones). No need for 2 thunderbolt ports and 3.3 ghz quad i7 to watch cat videos and use Pages in a starbucks.
I guess it depends upon the students and the college. If we are talking a liberal arts institution that may be the case, at an engineering school you will see a completely different use case.
of course, its expensive for students, but that'll change in the next year or two.
Well it had better get cheap quick because honestly one would have to be nuts to pay list price for this machine as it stands now.
Specs are important, it is just that you have to focus on the right specs. This is perhaps Apples greatest failing with the Mac Book, they don't seem to realize that ports (a spec) are important to many. So are things like processor performance which in this case is totally unknown.
You seem to be comparing the Mac Book with existing products. It's fair for you to do that, certainly, but it is also fair for Apple to be "skating to where the puck will be".
I find that many people haven't yet thought through weaning themselves of physical connections, but be assured that Apple and third parties will have you covered in a short time.
As for processor performance, perhaps future real world tests and reviews will put you at ease for the Mac Book's use case. Even then, it might not be what you are looking for, but for many people, just the weight reduction will be reason for purchase.
It all depends upon your goals and needs. From my perspective the real issue with those laptops isn't the hardware per say but rather the operating system.
I would think (but not expect) that many, if not most people would demand a good, quality product that can survive more than a year of use without it falling apart, or downright failing, or becoming useless. The latter being either from failed hardware, or Windows bogging down so much it requires a yearly (or twice-year) OS re-install to speed it back up.
And lets not forget all the crapware and spyware that these jerks install which requires hours and hours of my time to remove and cross my fingers that it doesn't corrupt my system.
I came from using WinTel laptops for a decade before buying my first Mac - a 2nd-gen MBA. Never looked back. These guys selling $300-$600 laptops are barely making any money from them, and only because they are in the cahoots with crapware vendors to pay them money to put sh!t on their machines, and waste the consumers' time.
No matter how cheap, thin, and ummm... cheap these losers make their products they are all universally crippled by being based on a hemorrhoidal operating system. You know how the saying goes, it's like comparing Apples to beaver turds, or something like that.
The bottom line is that customer loyalty is very high among Apple customers. Moving from an Apple product to a non-Apple product is nearly incomprehensible for many Apple customers. Is a pathetic poke from a company selling Chock-Full-O-Crapware products that few Apple customers respect going to induce an Apple customer to change allegiances, devolve to a more primitive form of usability and utility, and cast aside their current app investments? Unlikely.
So who are these pokes aimed at and what is their purpose?
If they want to make themselves seem more relevant to themselves, well, there's nothing stopping them from engaging in such forms of self gratification and glorification. But it won't impact their bottom line. It's much more likely the new Macbook will hit a sweet spot with some current Windows PC users who aren't feeling the love of the floppy keyboarded and kick standed Surface, the glut of oddball convertibles, touchy touchpads, and the horror that is Windows and will find the new MacBook a perfect fit. After all, very many notebook and laptop users never attach anything other than a charger to their devices or convert from mobile mode to desktop mode through what is effectively a single port docking connector.
Take a screenshot of these tweets so that 12-18 months from now when every one of these same vendors has a virtual clone of the new MacBook in their catalog we can remind them of how little credibility they have once again have demonstrated. This of course assumes these companies are still in business. If Microsoft has its way these cloners will find out that their once benevolent provider of all things Windows has eaten their lunch and driven them out of business in its quest to take on Apple one-on-one.
All fair in love and war. Certainly their claimed competitive advantages are no less fair than the former Mac vs. PC campaign.
It's all good. I want Apple to have good competition. It forces them to compete more aggressively. Of course, the competition didn't mention that their machines are heavier (which is more important - weight or size? - I would maintain weight) and don't use either the new keyboard technology or have the equivalent of Force Touch.
For some people, those other machines might be a better choice. Who cares? Buy the machine that's right for you. But having said that, the competitors' approaches to posting on social media reeks of desperation. If those other machines didn't run Windows, I actually might consider one.
Really? Why? They are defiantly inferior hardware, not really even in the same league
Ugly little plastic crap trays inferior in virtually every way but the -one- they are touting, and you would buy it if it ran OS X?
And... there was a fundamental difference in the Mac vs. PC campaign, most all of the windows faults mentioned were, actual, fundamental and non-inconsequential problems. This is a very different thing.
That is certainly true but the problem I see here is that they did not think about the reality of the single port completely. At the very least they could have broken out the USB and video ports at the charger (I don't see any sign of this being done). That would have solved so many problems with the design that I don't think we would have seen such a strong negative reaction to the machine.
I guess it depends upon the students and the college. If we are talking a liberal arts institution that may be the case, at an engineering school you will see a completely different use case.
Well it had better get cheap quick because honestly one would have to be nuts to pay list price for this machine as it stands now.
Nonsense. I'm sure Apple did "think" about that single port on the Macbook. For you to imply they didn't just shows arrogance.
If it bothers you so, stick with a Macbook Air or the rMBP. It's not like those machines are suddenly obsolete now.
The Macbook is not meant to be a desktop replacement. We've had this same argument when the first Macbook Air came out and people complained about it not being a good gaming machine. Are we going to re-hash this ages-old argument?
The macbook is a great machine. If it had the extra horsepower, I'd certainly consider it. With all the free cloud storage options, and being able to use AirDrop to swap files between people in the immediate vicinity, there's becoming less-and-less of a need to have USB sticks. Heck, I can count the number of times on one hand that I've needed to plug in a USB stick, let alone any USB device into my rMBP. Chances are, by the time I need to do that again, USB-C sticks (or whatever) will be common.
The whole "can't run OS X" argument is convenient for us, but the only reason that it won't run on non-Apple products (without some hacking) is because Apple wants it that way. It's not a technical fault of the PC hardware, even if much of that hardware is of a lower build quality.
As a consumer, I don't care about technicalities.
Is it possible for me to install OS X on these machines? No. End of discussion.
The price of the base model for €1,499 is just a bit too steep for me. I would have also loved to have seen a second USB-C charge port on the other side as well. Even for charging alone it would have been very useful. I cannot wait to see a 14" version of this computer with 2x USB-C ports.
And I think for the next MBP revision Apple should move to 14" and 16" displays.
Surely Apple will never create another "luggable" laptop over the current 15" chassis. If 16" can fit in there, maybe, but otherwise no.
Anything over the current 13" chassis, and even the 13" chassis, has a hard time on airplanes and shared tables. They're also heavier. With the 12" being able to drive a 4K monitor, I think Apple is demonstrating that general computing can be both mobile and desktop when necessary. I suppose the competing Windows machines do, too, but not with the same style for retail purchases.
I don't understand why one of these makers doesn't build a laptop that isn't easily Hackintoshed? Or at least without ever explicitly stating so, intended to be Hackintoshed.
I don't understand why one of these makers doesn't build a laptop that isn't easily Hackintoshed? Or at least without ever explicitly stating so, intended to be Hackintoshed.
Because Macs are a small percentage of actual computer sales, and a hackintosh group would be yet smaller, and there would no return on investment.
I don't understand why one of these makers doesn't build a laptop that isn't easily Hackintoshed? Or at least without ever explicitly stating so, intended to be Hackintoshed.
Because Macs are a small percentage of actual computer sales, and a hackintosh group would be yet smaller, and there would no return on investment.
Not sure about that one...
My reality check is the number of glowing apple's I see at conferences (even the windows developer conference;-), in coffee shops and in airports worldwide. My "real world" count says MacBooks are very common, easily the -most- common brand laptop I see.
Comments
Well it had better get cheap quick because honestly one would have to be nuts to pay list price for this machine as it stands now.
Specs are important, it is just that you have to focus on the right specs. This is perhaps Apples greatest failing with the Mac Book, they don't seem to realize that ports (a spec) are important to many. So are things like processor performance which in this case is totally unknown.
You seem to be comparing the Mac Book with existing products. It's fair for you to do that, certainly, but it is also fair for Apple to be "skating to where the puck will be".
I find that many people haven't yet thought through weaning themselves of physical connections, but be assured that Apple and third parties will have you covered in a short time.
As for processor performance, perhaps future real world tests and reviews will put you at ease for the Mac Book's use case. Even then, it might not be what you are looking for, but for many people, just the weight reduction will be reason for purchase.
It all depends upon your goals and needs. From my perspective the real issue with those laptops isn't the hardware per say but rather the operating system.
I would think (but not expect) that many, if not most people would demand a good, quality product that can survive more than a year of use without it falling apart, or downright failing, or becoming useless. The latter being either from failed hardware, or Windows bogging down so much it requires a yearly (or twice-year) OS re-install to speed it back up.
And lets not forget all the crapware and spyware that these jerks install which requires hours and hours of my time to remove and cross my fingers that it doesn't corrupt my system.
I came from using WinTel laptops for a decade before buying my first Mac - a 2nd-gen MBA. Never looked back. These guys selling $300-$600 laptops are barely making any money from them, and only because they are in the cahoots with crapware vendors to pay them money to put sh!t on their machines, and waste the consumers' time.
So it's more than just a crappy OS.
I may actually consider a ZenBook to run Linux!
No matter how cheap, thin, and ummm... cheap these losers make their products they are all universally crippled by being based on a hemorrhoidal operating system. You know how the saying goes, it's like comparing Apples to beaver turds, or something like that.
The bottom line is that customer loyalty is very high among Apple customers. Moving from an Apple product to a non-Apple product is nearly incomprehensible for many Apple customers. Is a pathetic poke from a company selling Chock-Full-O-Crapware products that few Apple customers respect going to induce an Apple customer to change allegiances, devolve to a more primitive form of usability and utility, and cast aside their current app investments? Unlikely.
So who are these pokes aimed at and what is their purpose?
If they want to make themselves seem more relevant to themselves, well, there's nothing stopping them from engaging in such forms of self gratification and glorification. But it won't impact their bottom line. It's much more likely the new Macbook will hit a sweet spot with some current Windows PC users who aren't feeling the love of the floppy keyboarded and kick standed Surface, the glut of oddball convertibles, touchy touchpads, and the horror that is Windows and will find the new MacBook a perfect fit. After all, very many notebook and laptop users never attach anything other than a charger to their devices or convert from mobile mode to desktop mode through what is effectively a single port docking connector.
Take a screenshot of these tweets so that 12-18 months from now when every one of these same vendors has a virtual clone of the new MacBook in their catalog we can remind them of how little credibility they have once again have demonstrated. This of course assumes these companies are still in business. If Microsoft has its way these cloners will find out that their once benevolent provider of all things Windows has eaten their lunch and driven them out of business in its quest to take on Apple one-on-one.
They are all expendable, and they know it.
All fair in love and war. Certainly their claimed competitive advantages are no less fair than the former Mac vs. PC campaign.
It's all good. I want Apple to have good competition. It forces them to compete more aggressively. Of course, the competition didn't mention that their machines are heavier (which is more important - weight or size? - I would maintain weight) and don't use either the new keyboard technology or have the equivalent of Force Touch.
For some people, those other machines might be a better choice. Who cares? Buy the machine that's right for you. But having said that, the competitors' approaches to posting on social media reeks of desperation. If those other machines didn't run Windows, I actually might consider one.
Really? Why? They are defiantly inferior hardware, not really even in the same league
Ugly little plastic crap trays inferior in virtually every way but the -one- they are touting, and you would buy it if it ran OS X?
And... there was a fundamental difference in the Mac vs. PC campaign, most all of the windows faults mentioned were, actual, fundamental and non-inconsequential problems. This is a very different thing.
That is certainly true but the problem I see here is that they did not think about the reality of the single port completely. At the very least they could have broken out the USB and video ports at the charger (I don't see any sign of this being done). That would have solved so many problems with the design that I don't think we would have seen such a strong negative reaction to the machine.
I guess it depends upon the students and the college. If we are talking a liberal arts institution that may be the case, at an engineering school you will see a completely different use case.
Well it had better get cheap quick because honestly one would have to be nuts to pay list price for this machine as it stands now.
Nonsense. I'm sure Apple did "think" about that single port on the Macbook. For you to imply they didn't just shows arrogance.
If it bothers you so, stick with a Macbook Air or the rMBP. It's not like those machines are suddenly obsolete now.
The Macbook is not meant to be a desktop replacement. We've had this same argument when the first Macbook Air came out and people complained about it not being a good gaming machine. Are we going to re-hash this ages-old argument?
The macbook is a great machine. If it had the extra horsepower, I'd certainly consider it. With all the free cloud storage options, and being able to use AirDrop to swap files between people in the immediate vicinity, there's becoming less-and-less of a need to have USB sticks. Heck, I can count the number of times on one hand that I've needed to plug in a USB stick, let alone any USB device into my rMBP. Chances are, by the time I need to do that again, USB-C sticks (or whatever) will be common.
Just stop.
As a consumer, I don't care about technicalities.
Is it possible for me to install OS X on these machines? No. End of discussion.
The price of the base model for €1,499 is just a bit too steep for me. I would have also loved to have seen a second USB-C charge port on the other side as well. Even for charging alone it would have been very useful. I cannot wait to see a 14" version of this computer with 2x USB-C ports.
And I think for the next MBP revision Apple should move to 14" and 16" displays.
Surely Apple will never create another "luggable" laptop over the current 15" chassis. If 16" can fit in there, maybe, but otherwise no.Anything over the current 13" chassis, and even the 13" chassis, has a hard time on airplanes and shared tables. They're also heavier. With the 12" being able to drive a 4K monitor, I think Apple is demonstrating that general computing can be both mobile and desktop when necessary. I suppose the competing Windows machines do, too, but not with the same style for retail purchases.
I don't understand why one of these makers doesn't build a laptop that isn't easily Hackintoshed? Or at least without ever explicitly stating so, intended to be Hackintoshed.
Because Macs are a small percentage of actual computer sales, and a hackintosh group would be yet smaller, and there would no return on investment.I honestly think the new MacBook could be a flop... like the G4 Cube
I don't understand why one of these makers doesn't build a laptop that isn't easily Hackintoshed? Or at least without ever explicitly stating so, intended to be Hackintoshed.
Because Macs are a small percentage of actual computer sales, and a hackintosh group would be yet smaller, and there would no return on investment.
Not sure about that one...
My reality check is the number of glowing apple's I see at conferences (even the windows developer conference;-), in coffee shops and in airports worldwide. My "real world" count says MacBooks are very common, easily the -most- common brand laptop I see.
I have a couple of Asus accessories.
They work well.
They ain't Macs.
There is no support for LINUX from Dell and the other lessors.
Dell has Linux-certified models in both their consumer and enterprise lineups. http://liliputing.com/2015/02/dells-offer-ubuntu-linux-xps-13-precision-m3800-laptops.html
Funny that they do not boast that fact.
I can see it now, 2nd gen MacBook with A9 chips.