retrogusto

mrstep said:

dewme said:

On the naming front, I'm in total agreement with those who don't see a reason for dragging along the "Air" moniker any more when simply calling it a MacBook is totally sufficient. Same thing on the iPad side of things. The early versions of the Air named products were somewhat niche because you knew you're were giving up a little something just to put maximum focus on lightness, portability, and minimalism. 

The whole Air moniker makes no sense.  They had the 12" MacBook that was 2 lbs while the 13" Air is 2.8 and the 13" MBP is 3.0, and the 14" MBP 3.5.  I was hoping for a 12-13" M2 Air that came in at around 2 lbs again - and could have outperformed the 16" Intel MBP that had been 4.3 lbs.  The fact that the 16" M1 gained weight ending up at 4.8lbs doesn't fill me with high hopes for a 15.5" Air, best case we could end up just over 4 lbs based on the other machines in the lineup.

I loved my 12" MacBook as a portable - just toss it in a bag without worrying about whether it's worth bringing along - and with an M2 it would have been a killer replacement and machine in general. 🤷‍♂️ (I really like my 14" MBP too, fantastic machine, but as a portable the 12" MacBook was just perfection.)

The “Air” designation is even sillier with iPads, where the Air is only 5 grams less than the Pro with the slightly larger screen, 16 grams less than the standard iPad. If you’re buying the Air for the weight savings, that’s almost $10 per gram of savings, ($4,536/lb.)

By flipping the structure of the optics by 90 degrees, you can increase the focal length by expanding the structure from, say, the top towards the bottom of the phone, or from side to side, instead of from the front to the back, so you don’t need to increase the phone’s thickness to increase its focal length. 

The point for those who object to this decision is that Apple is intentionally removing a feature that is meaningful for a minority of users, presumably to force them to do things in a way that is beneficial to Apple, but it only really benefits Apple if it succeeds in inconveniencing some customers. The removal of the jack may save a few pennies on each $449+ device, but we all know that’s not why Apple is doing this. Courage? Haha. It’s to encourage the purchase of AirPods, which probably have excellent margins and have to be replaced every few years because they contain batteries that don’t last forever. Some of us would rather spend the money on something that probably sounds better and will be enjoyable for many years to come. Even wired earbuds that cost more than AirPods probably end up being less expensive over the life of the product.

Of course, there will always be some people who won’t understand why other people like to do things their own way. Apple used to even market itself as the brand for people who like to do things their own way.

hmlongco said:

So I've always wondered... if you buy such a thing.... how do you know that you've bought such a thing?

I mean, the second you unwrap it to make sure there's actually a phone in there you've killed off half the value.

Maybe take it to an office building with x-ray machines at the entrance and ask security to confirm it for you?

I had a lot of trouble with batteries expanding and leaking, 6 batteries across two MBPs and two iPhones. The first time it happened, my trackpad stopped working and it took me a long time to realize that the battery was pressing it from below. When I finally bought that first replacement battery (older model with user-replaceable battery), the guy at the Apple Store told me that MacBook Pros should not be left plugged in when they’re not actively charging. Which of course I didn’t believe given that all of the laptops in the store were plugged in.