I'm sure there's a word coined for these 'death of Apple' posts.<p>It is true that my 2020 Macbook Pro 16 is not as much better than the competition as my 2011 Macbook Air was.<p>But it is still definitely the best laptop I've ever owned. I keep my laptops, and I can reach for whichever one I want: 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018 in Air, 13", 15" and now 16" form factors, and I choose the 2020. I also daily reject a number of windows and Chromebook pieces of hardware in favor of the MBP16.<p>When I don't choose it, I most often choose my iPad pro at times or my iPhone.<p>A thorough and hard ecosystem-level look at realistic competitors just doesn't turn up anything that even comes close in terms of just "working".<p>Probably the closest would be an XPS developer running Ubuntu, but that is a completely different experience than the 'it just works' world I get to live in with my Macbook. And, by "it just works", I include a decent package manager with homebrew, a very solid neovim or spacemacs development environment, a fully working highdpi environment without 'quirks', ... the list goes on. And, Windows has no Unix underneath it plus it contains ads in the start menu. For me, it's just not a serious option for real work.<p>In all, I'd say that most people agree with me; the market seems to prefer this hardware.
I recently (3 weeks ago) switched from OS X to Ubuntu 20.04 after a decade of using macs as my primary desktop for software development.<p>I hadn't used desktop linux in about 15 years and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Everything that I remembered being difficult was straightforward. My AMD graphics card worked out of the box with dual monitors. Bluetooth, wifi, HiDPI (two 5K displays), USB plug and play, volume buttons on my keyboard, all seamless.<p>There are still a few quirks here and there (mainly HiDPI in some apps like Spotify, which there are workarounds for), but I'm happy with my setup and don't plan on moving back.<p>With Firefox, VS Code, Slack, Spotify, and 1Password X all being cross-platform my workflow didn't even change.
I went through the same cycle or frustration from apple products, I've bought 6 laptops in the past year trying out all of the competition. The truth is, all of the alternatives, as frustrating as apple products can be, are just not as good. And that's by a very very long shot. However fucked apple products are, the competition is FAR behind. So I just swallow it and keep biting the bullet.<p>That only applies if you want a LAPTOP, if you can live in with something fixed to a desk, there's plenty of viable better alternatives out there.
If the touch bar (which I agree is useless, or worse, actively counterproductive) is the worst thing he's annoyed by, then Apple is doing pretty well for a computer manufacturer selling 20M units annually, don't you think?<p>I think we have to have some self-realization that the gripes that appear here generally are so specialized (the MacOS Catalina notarization problem just today) that if you sit here you think the world is coming to an end. Yet millions of people purchase and seem to get along just fine with buying what Apple is offering.<p>Now, admittedly, one of the great selling points of Apple Mac is that its power features are (were) designed exactly for developers and professionals to be easy and high-performing, so they need to pay attention to it. But they generally do, don't they? The notarization problem above, let's revisit in 1 month and see if it got some attention?<p>I'm just saying that it's easy for your threshold for what's unacceptable has a tendency to keep on rising, and you get unhappy with smaller and smaller things. It's important to keep a perspective about it.<p>If it is truly horrible what Apple is doing or becoming, well of course you know that Mac / Chrome / your favorite app or hardware were all born out of being unhappy with what someone else built, and going out to build something new themselves.<p>Everyone is absolutely free to go and invent the next better thing and displace the old and tired.
If you really believe that a company can churn out nothing but perfect products over and over again without making any mistakes, then maybe you have been drinking too much of Apple’s Kool-Aid. Every top company has good and bad generations of products, and Apple is no different.<p>This type of post complaining about Apple losing its soul and dying has been coming out regularly for at least the decade since I’ve been following Apple, and probably back way farther than that.<p>Something about Apple makes it an irresistible target for this kind of criticism for some reason. Check out the MacRumors forums for examples.. it’s a group of people who track every move Apple makes, yet overwhelmingly complain about every potential flaw.<p>That’s not saying that there aren’t flaws to criticize about Apple’s products, which there certainly are. But the level of vitriol is extreme compared to what I see directed towards most other companies (except video game companies.. gamers are a tough crowd).
I completely agree with all of this. From the costly obsession with creating an ever-thinner MBP at the expense of usability, to the demonstrably hostile removal of Target Display Mode in the iMac and beyond, it’s pretty clear Apple stopped designing their “pro” products for their pro users some time ago.<p>They’ve gotten way too comfy with their position in the personal computing space and I too am regularly looking at the alternatives. If the last 5 years are any indication of how the rumored ARM migration is going to be, then we’re in for a really rough ride.
I just started writing up a big spiel about the constant daily agonies I endure while using my older Apple hardware, but after a half an hour of it, I abandoned it.<p>It would take me a few days to write out the list of grievances that started when the iPhone arrived, and how Apple splitting its attention between desktop and mobile began the long, slow decline, and how it is reminiscent of the old Apple/Macintosh internal wars that almost brought down the company.<p>Basically what it comes down to is that Apple has a trillion dollars, and that's great and everything, but it means that it's the establishment so it can't innovate anymore. The bottom line is now its top priority.<p>For Apple to save its reputation in the eyes of geeks everywhere, it would have to listen to any geek anywhere. It would have to stare at the ground quietly as the grievances are aired, and then have the maturity to grok what it's heard and do something about the problems.<p>I know it has teams of engineers working on this stuff day and night, and even has a great CEO and everything else. But sometimes in spite of all of that stuff, companies flounder. It's just especially tragic when it's this dream company that got countless millions of people interested in tech initially.<p>Seriously, take a break Apple. Put all the grand plans aside for a while and listen. I guess that's it. Sorry this came out kinda harsh, I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed.
I don't disagree with the thesis, but I was disappointed to see yet another rehashing of tired power-user nitpicks about MBPro hardware details, some of which have even been phased out already. The opening made me hopeful I was about to read a thoughtful piece about what's changed in Apple's soul, but instead all I got was an unoriginal rant.
The Apple I cared about died when the Macintosh arrived. Or was it when the rainbow logo was replaced by chrome? Or was it when they abandoned Hypercard?<p>Or when I had to spend hours researching how to tweak the serial port to do 31250 bps I/O MIDI? Or when the serial ports disappeared and my n x $1000 of serial-port hardware meant I should buy a new Mac.<p>By the time it released mobile phones with hard-wired batteries, the good Apple was a distant memory. Borged.
Mention of Stockholm Syndrome, in the article, is the key.<p>Current customers are self-selected as willing to endure any degree of degradation, provided it is arrived at via sufficiently small steps.<p>Apple is fully equipped and enabled to provide well-above-average quality products and admirable service by the high premium they charge, but instead they pocket the difference, every time. Customers are left with the dubious benefit of price-signaling, which is increasingly shading into sucker-signaling.<p>I get that, looking only at Microsoft, it is hard to imagine stepping down. But that was never the only alternative.
Pretty much how I feel, except I have less sadness and more anger. I haven’t bought a Mac laptop since 2015, and I bought 4 PC ones to test my migration path to Linux, even if it proceeds glacially due to having other things to do, and in any case 15 years of workflow takes a while to switch.
After 15 years of using Apple exclusively for my "creative" work (music, photo, video), I've switched back to Windows 10 for those needs. Paid work is still 100% Linux (including the laptop I'm typing this on), but I ain't payin' $6K for a workstation, sorry Tim. Especially if I can't use an NVIDIA GPU in it. And HP Z32 4K monitor costs $200 less than the Apple _display stand_.
I thought everyone knew that you waited at least a year on Apple hardware and software. I'm still on 10.14 and have no problems with it.<p>That said, I don't get the hate on number of ports. USB type-C is a godsend - single cable to my monitor which provides power and USB hub.<p>I'm probably also in the minority on this one- I just got a new 16" Macbook Pro work laptop, and I much prefer the keyboard on my 2018 15". The esc/touch ID now being buttons are great. The speakers are amazing.
I tried a world without Apple and lasted 2 months. I switched to a top of the line Pixel phone (which is now in a box) and top of the link thinkpad. (Sold it for next to nothing).<p>Overall I am glad we have choices. Everyone should make the ones that work for them.<p>Give Google can’t make a decent android phone or watch after significant acquisitions and investments, building real amazing things that make your life better is hard.<p>I’m glad lots of people still are trying hard.
I disagree.<p>On ports, 4 is enough. At home and at work, I use standard Thunderbolt docking stations, so ports on the laptop are irrelevant. When traveling, I typically use at most 2 HDDs, so 4 ports is plenty. I’d honestly rather have the battery life than the ports.<p>On the keyboard, they’ve fixed it in the new laptops. I agree it was awful for a long stretch there.<p>On the annoying prompts, they are there for security, and I think they made the right call generally. Everyone thinks security is so annoying, right up until they get rooted.<p>On the Touch Bar, I think they missed the mark, but I appreciate the fact that they are innovating. And in the end it’s an OK replacement for the function keys (now that there is a physical escape key).<p>On the OS phoning out before running executables etc, I agree that it sounds like a poor implementation overall. That said, I’ve never noticed any delays from it in my 2016 MBP.<p>All that said, I always think it’s a good idea to try new things, and there is no harm in switching brands/OS’s/etc. As others noted, so much software is cross platform these days that switching is much less of a commitment than it used to be.
Apple is a phone company that has a side business in personal computers. This is good for Apple, because the personal computer business as a whole has been pretty stagnant for a long time. The article would have been much improved by at least making a nod to the fact that their beloved computer make was now in fact primarily making other devices
>it’s becoming increasingly obvious that the Apple I once loved is moribund<p>If there is anything more pathetic than an adult expressing love for a publicly traded corporate entity regardless of what they make or where they're from or how cool their marketing is, I haven't found it.<p>edit: Never mind-- writing a 1600 word essay about the lover-who-must-file-10Qs who is disappointing you and then publishing it online is definitely more pathetic.<p>Compare and contrast:<p>1. it's increasingly obvious that the White Rock Beverage Company, Inc. I once loved is moribund (followed by a SIXTEEN HUNDRED WORD ESSAY about how they changed the recipe of Sioux City Root Beer and it sucks now)<p>2. it's increasingly obvious that the Apple, Inc. I once loved is moribund (followed by a SIXTEEN HUNDRED WORD ESSAY about how their laptops suck now)
Hmm. The way I see it, Apple still seems to have the same basic attitude of high-value of aesthetics over function and a "my-way-or-the-highway" attitude, backed by just a bit less creativity in innovating actual function.<p>It doesn't seem that much different, but a little less satisfying, ultimately.
I rarely use the mac that my company issued to me, but I couldn't place my finger on why exactly. It's a general feeling that everything about it is obnoxious and cumbersome. Probably the sum of all the little things (and more) mentioned in this comment.<p>This was curiosly not the case the last time I was issued a mac, which I used pretty much all the time and not just for work; essentially replacing my personal (Linux) device. That was a 2016 model, when this trend had already started, so I guess everything has exacerbated in the three years since.
Apple is not alone in making janky laptops since 2015. Most of them are junk. They all get too hot, have too much brittle plastic, and low rez displays unless you want to pay a high premium. I've been liking the Chuwi laptops for $200. At least if you get a cheap laptop, pay a cheap price.
> I bought a refurbished mid-2015 model which I love. From a utility perspective, it’s the best laptop they’ve ever made, with a bunch of stuff that you’d reasonably expect to find on a "pro" Apple laptop: namely, 8 ports/slots<p>Only two of which are actual USB ports.<p>I'd still have to carry around a hub to use it with my mobile music production setup.
I had a similarly emotional schisms with Apple, but back in 1997. I finally became aware of Apple's penchant for designing "road apples" to fuck cost-conscious consumers. I worked hard as a teen to buy my 62XX Performa, but later when I found out that it was a piece of shit because Apple deliberately designed it as a piece of shit... well, fuck them, really. No respect for their buyers.<p>I switched to Windows in 1998 and didn't look back.<p><a href="https://lowendmac.com/2014/road-apples-second-class-macs/" rel="nofollow">https://lowendmac.com/2014/road-apples-second-class-macs/</a>