spheric

danvm said:
I agree with you that the issue with ports is overblown, but that's based in my line of work and workflow.  Like I posted before, I'm looking forward to have a MBP 13", since most of the things that were removed don't affect my workflow (all but the awful keyboard).  But you can't ignore when other people, in a different line of work with different needs, including professional users, are affected when USB 3.0 or the SD reader was removed from the MBP.  It's clear that USB-C is far more capable and it's the future, but looks like people wasn't ready to switch to it in an instant.

What's funny to me is that the keyboard on this 2016 MacBook Pro is the best keyboard I've ever owned since the original ADB Extended Keyboard I got in 1989 (never liked the soft bottom of the ADB Extended Keyboard II that everybody raves about). 

I didn't much like the 2016 MacBook keyboard when I tested it, but this thing (Pro)…sooo good. 

I'll admit that it took me about a day to get used to it, though. 

I remember well when the SD slot was added and PRO users were up in arms about how ridiculous it was to remove an actual professional interface (the PC card slot) in favor of the toy standard SD card used by consumer equipment (all pro gear at the time was on Compact Flash). I'm pretty sure that those whose workflow involves an SD card reader are equally dependent upon USB-A ports, so a $20 dongle that does both is a great solution, problem solved, end of story. 

And no, requiring a dongle is not "unprofessional" — all of us media pros carry around a bag of various cables and adapters at all times, and have for decades. Fact of life. 

I also remember when the whole hoo-hah about glossy screens hit the fan in late 2008, this one customer came into the store about six or eight months later when new models dropped to take a quick look. He was obviously very pressed for time, but he made a point to stop and tell me that he was a sports photographer, making a rather good living with his machines and cameras, and that "all this crap" about the glossy screens was total bogus. Best screen he'd ever used, and best laptop he'd ever used. He was just so busy making money that he had no time to drop in and dispute all the crap he'd read online. 

Every design decision, even a minor refresh, is going to affect somebody's special needs. 

Most of us just weigh our options, and when the usual "Cupertino giveth; Cupertino taketh away" happens, we just take a deep breath, reconsider, and then start rebalancing our budgets. 


Side note: How brilliant is it that I can use a single power supply to power the Mac, the iPad, AND the iPhone? Yeah, I had to buy a USB-C to Lightning cable. So what.

tyler82 said:

I agree with statements above that the Mac and idevices lineup is too cluttered. Reminds me of the Performa/ Power Mac/ Quadra/ LC days. When Steve saved apple he gave us a Power Mac G3, then a PowerBook, then iMac, and then iBook, and that's the way it was for many years. The Macbook/ Macbook Air/ Macbook Pro models are making the product lineup very convoluted.

Where "many years" = "TWO YEARS". The G4 Cube was introduced in 2000. 

There has been a tendency since 2011 to take ANY decision Apple makes that one happens to disagree with, and flat-out claim that this sort of thing was different or never happened under Steve Jobs. 

It's almost always bullshit. 


If you're really confused by Apple's product palette, you're probably not trying, but here it is: 

MacBook - low-end laptop, 12"
MacBook Pro - high-end laptop, 13" or 15"
(MacBook Air is a placeholder until Apple is able to drop MacBook prices below $1000 entry-level)

Mac mini - low-end desktop
iMac - mid-range desktop, 21" or 27" display. 
iMac Pro - high-end desktop, 27" display. 
Mac Pro - workstation, high-end. 

iPad mini - small iPad. 
iPad - entry-level, 9.7"
iPad Pro - higher-end, pencil support, 10.5" or 12.9"

anantksundaram said:

andyring said:

Interesting on the logo pin. Probably a gay rights thing is my guess.

Are you an idiot? https://9to5mac.com/2014/05/19/fancy-a-piece-of-apple-history-apples-original-rainbow-logo-signs-being-auctioned/

I wouldn't be surprised if he's right. 

Why would they reuse a logo they retired twenty years ago?

It's not like Cook's Apple has been shy about taking a stand. 

No.

Current issues:

Post formatting doesn't work on iPad AFAICS. 

Blocked users are still visible on iPad. 

I can't edit posts.