lorin schultz

Last week I posted to Facebook and LinkedIn asking my contacts whether their Apple purchasing patterns have changed in the last year or two. Are they buying more Apple products, fewer, or about the same? If they purchased more or less, what was the reason?

I only got a few responses, but they were all the same: Buying less, not because they don't WANT new Apple products, but because they think new Apple products are too expensive now.

I don't know why Apple's prices are going up so much, but I'm not sure the reason matters. The bottom line is I just can't afford current prices. So far this year we've skipped three planned purchases in our house -- a 15" MacBook Pro and a pair of iPhones. We've been on a three-year upgrade cycle, but the difference between what we paid last time and what those items cost now is enough to interrupt that inertia.

SnapStan said:

Question: Could the T2 improve real world performance of the SSD such that the processor diff. makes no difference?

For storage-intensive tasks it may be faster. For processor-intensive tasks it will be slower. The latter is much more common than the former, so I'd say "no."

MauiMac5341 said:

I have tested the keyboards (but don't own one yet - still happy with my 4 yo MBP), and they seem fine, any new keyboard takes a bit to get used to, but that takes a few days, then you are over it.

That's what I was hoping when I ordered my 2016 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar two years ago. That hasn't been the case.

I don't have any problem with the way it feels or sounds, but rather how it works (or doesn't). My typing accuracy is significantly lower with the butterfly keyboard compared to the other Macs in the house. I don't know why, maybe because the keys are larger and thus closer together. I thought I was just getting sloppy until I worked on the external keyboard for a few days. As soon as I went back to the butterfly, instant increase in typos.

I could tolerate that, as annoying as it is, but I am sick to fucking DEATH of keys that only respond if you hit them exactly the right way with the right amount of force, stop working completely no matter HOW you press them, or repeat on their own. It's not difficult to remedy -- I just turn the machine upside and spank it -- but it sure sucks the joy out a $5000 purchase when I have to do that every couple days, while people with much less expensive hardware never give the keyboard a second thought.

Mostly I still love this machine and would buy it again, but that love is in SPITE of the keyboard. It sucks.

BigDann said:
[...] The Real MacBook Pro would have what the engineering, code & web development and lastly music editing pro's want. Ports (no dongles), MagSafe and performance the i9 could offer if it had the needed cooling the current MacBook Pro's don't have do to the size. As well as a bigger battery option. 

With complete respect for your own needs and preferences, I am an audio pro and the 2016 MacBook Pro was pretty much exactly what I wanted. The newer ones are even better. I don't want single-purpose legacy ports. I don't want different power supplies for every device I own. I don't want to lug around a 5kg computer. There's a lot to love about this machine.

Rayz2016 said:

[...] In this case, folk want a machine that is a laptop and a tablet, so they don't have to buy both.

Fair enough, but if that form factor is such a big wow, then how come none of these hybrids seem to be outselling the iPad?

Maybe hybrids aren't outselling tablets because most people don't use their computers to create TV shows, apps, etc.? The "creators" market is not as large as the pool of "consumers."

Some forms of interaction -- like a mouse/trackpad -- are unnecessary for what MOST people do with their computer, so touch-only is a viable approach. That doesn't mean they're unnecessary for ALL people. For some, like the author of the article, it would make a big difference, and he explained how and why.

If we're targeting only the largest market, then touch-only is fine. But Apple professes to also be targeting a much smaller market -- creators -- and that set will, in certain circumstances, need things the masses don't.