rcfa

What nonsense! Nobody has to use the nanoSIM for the primary line; particularly since it’s a lot less likely to find an eSIM somewhere while traveling than a standard nanoSIM.

oh, yeah, and my primary line is an eSIM.

The one thing that is missing: ECC RAM, otherwise, particularly in combination with an eGPU, this is a killer machine.

Apple customer satisfaction is more a function of ease of use and fundamental quality of the products, it has little to no bearing on Apple’s repair policies.

Apple e.g. refuses to even look at my MacBook Air for repair because it has “a dangerous third party battery” in it. Nothing about that battery is dangerous, the battery that’s dangerous was the Apple supplied original, that with only 32 cycles became so bloated one couldn’t close the lid properly anymore, necessitating the emergency repair with a third party battery (which was all that was available within a useful time period). The damage the notebook has (only works without crashing if something is attached to the TB port), is likely the result of some minor damage to the main board due to the bloating.

Similarly, until Apple finally acknowledged issues with certain iPhone 6 and 6s batteries and created the repair program, they refused to replace the batteries at a reasonable price. Going to a third party means that Apple will refuse any repairs, including the battery, because it has a third party battery in it.

Apple’s repairs are generally much too expensive, particularly battery replacements.

This is ridiculous, Apple undermines ownership of a device.

Further, I don’t buy the security argument: few people carry nuclear secrets around in their machines, and with FileVault on, a criminal would still need to first get physical access to the machine, AND be savvy enough to decrypt an encrypted file system. 

Apple is also refusing to service a system with a non-Apple battery. So you replace a laptop battery, and then later on you need service; Apple won’t provide service, because it’s a third party battery, and a third party can’t provide service, because they don’t have the software.
So in short, you may have to toss an expensive machine if you realize this after the fact, and if you’re aware of it, you’ forced to buy Apple’s totally overpriced batteries, just to prevent the risk of having later an unserviceable machine.

The argument, that this isn’t an issue, as otherwise people would leave the Apple platform, is a stupid one: most people toss a broken machine, because either the computer is old, and they figure before they waste money on (Apple’s expensive) repairs, they use that money to make the down payment on a newer, faster one, or the machine lasts without repair until people replace them.

the fact that Apple builds high-quality machines, which for most people work without breaking until they are replaced for new computers, doesn’t contradict the fact that Apple’s repairs are overpriced and that their repair policies suck big time, if you’re in a position where you need to get an older machine repaired.

case in point: got an 2012 MBA 11”. The original batter got bloated, which I noted when a few days before a trip I couldn’t close the lid properly anymore.
I’d had to send in the computer to get it serviced in Ireland (not sure how safe it would be to have the machine transported in that state!), and it wouldn’t have been back in time for the trip. Shipping aside, Apple’s repair was way expensive.
For less than $50 I got a battery over the internet, put it in myself, and it lasts to this day.
One thing the bloated battery did, was introduce some contact problem, somewhere: if a TB cable is plugged in, the machine works great, if not, it crashes within minutes.
So after I got a new MBP and didn’t rely on the MBA for my daily work, I wanted Apple to fix the issue their bloated battery caused.
Not only would they not repair the damage for free, they wouldn’t even to the $500+ repair to swap the motherboard because I have “a dangerous non-Apple battery installed” (the Apple original was dangerous and almost blew up, not this one!)
Fast forward to an independent repair shop: they quoted my about $70 to fix the contact issue, if they can find it, and about $200 to replace the motherboard with refurb one from a computer with a damaged display.
So third party repair gets me in total for under $250 fixed what Apple’s bad battery destroyed, and for which Apple would have charged around $700+

<sarcasm>But, yeah, having to throw out repairable machines to stuff Apple’s coffres is awesome, because Apple can do no evil, and everyone who criticizes Apple is automatically a troll...<\sarcasm>

When I read “loud” and “booming” I’m disheartened, might as well describe it as Ghettoblaster.

What I was hoping to read is detailed imaging, powerful, effortless, clean, well controlled sound with depth and proper imaging.

There is notably nothing written about combining two or more into a stereo or surround setup, neither anything about using the built-in Bluetooth to hook up computers, phones, video projectors, etc. which are capable of using BT speakers or hands free devices.

Disappointing, not just that these capabilities are lacking, but also that similarly lacking is a roadmap of features to be added by future software updates.