Apple's Beats brand in April unveiled the Powerbeats Pro, a redesigned wire-free version of its popular fitness-oriented Powerbeats earbuds.
Professional Mac Users' Complaints List Grows After 'Disappointing' Apple Event
Less than a week ago Apple unveiled its new MacBook Pro line-up, with the focus of its "Hello again" event centering on the OLED Touch Bar that replaces the function keys on the company's 13-inch and 15-inch flagship models.
Initial media reaction to Apple's event was positive, and most journalists in attendance were impressed after their limited hands-on time with the new machines. "There's all kinds of love for the new MacBook Pro," reported The Loop the following morning, in a post citing quotes from several leading tech sites.
Over the weekend, however, evidence mounted of a backlash within sections of the online Mac community in response to Apple's latest announcements. In a blog post on his site titled "New MacBook Pros and the State of the Mac", developer Michael Tsai collated and linked to the most commonly aired grievances. The post has since become a common point of reference in the blogosphere for negative sentiment toward Apple following last week's event.
In his original post, Tsai said he was "disappointed" with Apple's announcements for the Mac, which made him feel as if Cupertino had either "lost touch" with what developers and creative professionals want, or Apple "simply doesn't care about those customers".
On Monday, both The Loop and Daring Fireball highlighted Tsai's post, noting its growing inventory of criticisms. The Loop said the list contained "a lot of fair complaints" that are "insights... worth paying attention to". Daring Fireball's John Gruber called the extent of the backlash "astounding" and described Tsai's collection of quotes as "must-read stuff".
In another widely shared article titled "How Apple could have avoided much of the controversy", developer Chuq Von Rospach wrote that while much of the criticism ignores "a lot of the positives" in Apple's latest announcements, the company should have at least mentioned upcoming updates to the rest of its product line, which would "have muted a lot of the anger".
Von Rospach goes on to speculate about what those updates might be, broaches some of the issues regarding Apple's new notebooks (the 16GB RAM ceiling, an increase in dongles) and concludes by suggesting that creative professionals need to realize the Mac line has become a "niche product" in a world driven by market forces where Apple technology has gone mainstream. The full article can be read here.
The impassioned online debate comes at an important time for Apple, which hopes to boost interest in a lukewarm computer market this holiday season, following the company's first reported full-year revenue decline since 2001. Its Touch Bar enabled 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro notebooks are expected to ship in late November. Meanwhile, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro sans Touch Bar is already shipping to customers and more comprehensive reviews of Apple's lower-spec notebook are expected this week.
Initial media reaction to Apple's event was positive, and most journalists in attendance were impressed after their limited hands-on time with the new machines. "There's all kinds of love for the new MacBook Pro," reported The Loop the following morning, in a post citing quotes from several leading tech sites.
Over the weekend, however, evidence mounted of a backlash within sections of the online Mac community in response to Apple's latest announcements. In a blog post on his site titled "New MacBook Pros and the State of the Mac", developer Michael Tsai collated and linked to the most commonly aired grievances. The post has since become a common point of reference in the blogosphere for negative sentiment toward Apple following last week's event.
In his original post, Tsai said he was "disappointed" with Apple's announcements for the Mac, which made him feel as if Cupertino had either "lost touch" with what developers and creative professionals want, or Apple "simply doesn't care about those customers".
There's nothing particularly wrong with what Apple announced. I like Thunderbolt 3. The display looks good. I'm not crazy about Touch Bar, but it does seem potentially useful. The problem is that the MacBook Pro is not a true Pro notebook.The subsequent catalog of grievances largely mirror Tsai's own complaints, which include the "premium price" of a "Pro" MacBook limited to 16GB RAM, the prioritization of "thinness and lightness" over CPU and graphics performance, and Apple's "neglect" of other sections of its Mac product line. Tsai concludes: "It has seemed clear for a while that the CEO doesn't really understand the Mac, or simply doesn't like it that much, and that's a problem for those of us who do."
My Retina MacBook Pro is almost 4.5 years old. I've been wanting to upgrade it for a while and was planning to do so today. After seeing what was announced, I'm no longer sure that I want a MacBook Pro as my main computer.
On Monday, both The Loop and Daring Fireball highlighted Tsai's post, noting its growing inventory of criticisms. The Loop said the list contained "a lot of fair complaints" that are "insights... worth paying attention to". Daring Fireball's John Gruber called the extent of the backlash "astounding" and described Tsai's collection of quotes as "must-read stuff".
In another widely shared article titled "How Apple could have avoided much of the controversy", developer Chuq Von Rospach wrote that while much of the criticism ignores "a lot of the positives" in Apple's latest announcements, the company should have at least mentioned upcoming updates to the rest of its product line, which would "have muted a lot of the anger".
Von Rospach goes on to speculate about what those updates might be, broaches some of the issues regarding Apple's new notebooks (the 16GB RAM ceiling, an increase in dongles) and concludes by suggesting that creative professionals need to realize the Mac line has become a "niche product" in a world driven by market forces where Apple technology has gone mainstream. The full article can be read here.
The impassioned online debate comes at an important time for Apple, which hopes to boost interest in a lukewarm computer market this holiday season, following the company's first reported full-year revenue decline since 2001. Its Touch Bar enabled 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro notebooks are expected to ship in late November. Meanwhile, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro sans Touch Bar is already shipping to customers and more comprehensive reviews of Apple's lower-spec notebook are expected this week.
Related Roundup: MacBook Pro
Tags: loopinsight.com, John Gruber
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Pro (Buy Now)
[ 1140 comments ]
Top Rated Comments
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35 months ago
Just post this under every news article until everyone gets it
[MEDIA=youtube]_1rXqD6M614[/MEDIA]
[MEDIA=youtube]_1rXqD6M614[/MEDIA]
35 months ago
What Tim and Apple are doing is absolutely right for the company. Those complaining and hating on Apple and Tim are broadly speaking living in the dark ages.
Those complaining and hating on Apple and Tim are mainly the people that create all the ****ing content people are consuming in this glorious post-PC era.
35 months ago
Might sound silly of me, but I really hope this Macbook Pro flops, it would be a great lesson for Apple.
35 months ago
[MEDIA=youtube]I4pJTsBUwa8[/MEDIA]
Back when Apple tried to make innovative products that were better than the competition, instead of just trying to convince us to have the courage to buy dated hardware at inflated prices.
Back when Apple tried to make innovative products that were better than the competition, instead of just trying to convince us to have the courage to buy dated hardware at inflated prices.
35 months ago
The mainstream media is TOO SCARED to write anything against Apple or else they won't get tickets to next Apple event. But now their credibility is at stake. So what will those media houses like iAnandtech or iVerge choose? Apple or their website readers?
35 months ago
The MacBook Pro is just too expensive for what you get from a "Pro"-perspective...
35 months ago
snip.. where the market for high-end traditional computer products is a niche within an already tiny niche.
you can't be serious
+Titan Black
ps
I do not game at all
35 months ago
Consumers are lucky you're getting a computer at all. If I were apple I would have doubled the MacBook prices to increase their profits even more
With that attitude why not multiply the iPhone prices by 2 as well, then went bankrupt some months later...A lot of these people are living in the past. We are where Steve Jobs predicted we'd be, living in a post-PC era where the market for high-end traditional computer products is a niche within an already tiny niche.
What Tim and Apple are doing is absolutely right for the company. Those complaining and hating on Apple and Tim are broadly speaking living in the dark ages.
With 16 gb max ram it is hardly high-end!
35 months ago
I'm a pro user and to me the new macbook pro is rather disappointing.
Don't understand why apple charge €240 for 8GB of RAM when the actual cost is €40, same for che CPU and SSD upgrades.
The touchbar sounds like something that could be cool for 1 hour, and then become something completely useless to me.
Also the price is far too high, the entry macbook pro starting at €1799 and to get only 8GB of RAM and an i5 dual core?
I honestly can't justify that price tag for such an underpowered machine.
Don't understand why apple charge €240 for 8GB of RAM when the actual cost is €40, same for che CPU and SSD upgrades.
The touchbar sounds like something that could be cool for 1 hour, and then become something completely useless to me.
Also the price is far too high, the entry macbook pro starting at €1799 and to get only 8GB of RAM and an i5 dual core?
I honestly can't justify that price tag for such an underpowered machine.
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