sennen

I’ll be getting a Studio Display (regular stand, regular screen finish) later this year, I think. I don’t find anything compelling on this Samsung monitor (or any other 5K monitors on the market) that can beat the build quality, longevity, image/colour quality and support (if required) of the Studio Display.

My Thunderbolt Display lasted more than 10 years before I replaced the LCD panel, it’ll go another 10 though I actually need the 5K now as my editing workflow finally moves to 4K. (Also still using a couple of 23” Cinema Displays in our household that must be pushing 16-18 years of use, still excellent image quality).

ivanh said:

fallenjt said:

Damn, my Mini 2011 won’t make the cut...:(. I can’t believe I’ve used a this Mac Mini for 7 years and it still works great!

Not just Mini 2011. The best MacBook Pro I’ve used is MBP Early 2011.  
Apple should continue releasing security patches of macOS High Sierra, or the last upgrade versions for older intel-based Macs.

ElCap is still getting security updates, and even Yosemite as far as I know, so you'll have a few years of support on Sierra and High Sierra left yet.

eightzero said:

neilm said:

mac_128 said:

macxpress said:

And its not like your Mac just stops working just because you're not using Apple's latest version of macOS. You can still easily use your Mac with High Sierra for at least 2-3yrs if you choose to do so. 

Heck my company forces the Macs to run on El Capitan, despite being able to run High Sierra, and this will likely continue until their next scheduled replacement in 5 years.

Wow, that's incredibly shortsighted of them. Whoever implemented that policy should be fired on security grounds alone.

What do they do about replacements for failed units, or new Macs for new positions? Those are going to come with High Sierra, and most won't work — one exception is the Mac Mini, which of course isn't what you'd call "new" — with El Cap.

Has Apple dropped support for El Cap? No future security updates for that? 

Last night I downloaded a ElCap security update (dated June 01, 2018) for my now home-bound 2008 Mac Pro. I don't ask that much of it or my old 2009 17" MBP these days, but ElCap runs perfectly on them for home/casual use.

My MBP17 will be 9 years-old in a few months - still fine for everyday home use, however I have replaced it as a 'multi-media hub' at home with an even older 2008 Mac Pro (retired from work duty) which handles video, especially online video, a bit more elegantly and quietly. A refurb 2015 MBP took over work duties in Dec 2016 and I managed to pick up a second hand thunderbolt display for a song as well - no regrets in not choosing the 2016 MBP.

Several years ago I picked up a maxed-out 12" Powerbook on eBay for $50 that is still in almost-perfect cosmetic and functional condition - though it struggles with the modern web and has to run TenFourFox. I can still plug in the old mini-DV camera and fire up FCP, though - hehe! I've been fighting temptation for a few years to waste $80 on a PATA-ssd drive just so it will boot and run a tad snappier!

My mother was having issues with her PC about 3 or 4 years ago so I got her a 2007 15-in MBP from eBay for a couple of hundred dollars, it suits her purposes just fine and is still going well on Yosemite.

We have an original iPad Mini (wifi) that is used as a traveller, no problems even if it is a couple of iOS versions behind now. My wife's old iPhone 5S is now 4 and a half years old and has been passed to the youngest member of the family as a camera (we'll start using it as a phone again next year when she starts at school).

My old 4S is still 100% functional - I used it for 4 years before upgrading to a 6S+ - and it still gets some use as an audio recorder with an external mic plugged in.

I'd love to upgrade to the rumoured 2018 Plus-sized iPhone, but I simply have no issues with the 6S+ to justify it. I think I might try to go 2 more years.

Generally, I'd say Apple products are long-lived.

doggone said:

rogifan_new said:

Mike Wuerthele said:

brucemc said:

Thank god!  Hopefully this means less complaining from the hard core Mac side of the house, and stalls any further "Apple can't deliver" talk on the forums.

You and me both. That said, there are already posts here, in this thread that heavily lean in that direction.

I’m not a pro user. Just curious the reason for completely sealing the machine. Apple wants to force pro users to pay their upgrade pricing? If it’s an engineering reason then does that signal bad design descisions? As we saw with the trash can Mac Pro Apple sometimes gets it wrong. Why do you think Apple made this decision?

In reality these machines will be low volume sales.  Therefore Apple is breaking even on the development costs.  One way to make up the money is to limit the upgradability and force users to buy RAM etc from Apple at purchase.  
Personally, I think flexibility in a high-end Mac is important.  First it opens up the machine to more customers and therefore increases sales.  Second, having a screen that is not ideal for graphics limits the utility of a machine. A headless machine is a better approach with the ability to upgrade RAM, SSD, and GPU.  Selling an high end iMac will split sales for the MacPro when it eventually comes out.

The flexibility is on the order page. Any professional grader will use a grading monitor. Plenty of graphics professionals and video editors on the other hand use the iMac's built-in monitor, I see them in virtually every studio I visit. I think Apple has made the right call in re-instating the modular Mac Pro which will suit some (though just wait for the complaints upon release), however many 'professionals' don't have the time nor the inclination to open up their workstation and tinker around, these are designed to take in to an approved technician for repairs.

I'm guessing that the RAM will actually be able to be upgraded post-purchase by taking it in to a service centre - but we'll have to wait for the iFixit teardown to know about that for sure.