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Professional Mac Users' Complaints List Grows After 'Disappointing' Apple Event

Wednesday November 2, 2016 3:57 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
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". 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. My Retina MacBook Pro is almost 4.5 years old. I've been wanting to upgrade it for a while and
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No Apple Media Event on September 7th

Friday August 12, 2011 11:57 am PDT by Eric Slivka
Late yesterday, a report broke on Japanese site Kodwarisan claiming that Apple will be holding its annual fall media event on September 7th. Apple for the first time is expected to introduce new iPhone hardware at the event. But sources have now flatly denied to the well-connected Jim Dalrymple of The Loop that any such media event will take place on that date.Reports began to surface yesterday that Apple would hold a special event on September 7 to launch the new iPhone, but that’s not happening. According to my sources, Apple will not have an event or launch the next iPhone on September 7. It’s hard to say how that specific date was chosen by the sites that started the rumor, other than it fits into the timeline of previous Apple events.Dalrymple is known to have solid sources at Apple, and has occasionally appeared to be an unofficial outlet for the debunking of rumor
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iPhone 5 Not Actually Launching in June?

Tuesday April 5, 2011 10:23 am PDT by Arnold Kim
The trickle of information is continuing to come on the next major iPhone release. Earlier today we posted a sketchily sourced story out of Korea about the possibility of an iPhone-specific media event in the 4th week of June. While we did have some doubts about the story, Loop Insight has received word from their sources that the iPhone 5 will not launch in June. Reports on Tuesday suggest Apple will unveil the iPhone 5 at the end of June. This is not true. My sources said today that rumors of an iPhone 5 release at the end of June were completely false.Previous reports have suggested a Fall or even later product release, while multiple sources have indicated that no iPhone will be introduced at Apple's WWDC
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No Hardware Announcements at WWDC 2011? [Updated: No New iPhone Until FY 2012?]

Monday March 28, 2011 7:12 am PDT by Eric Slivka
In what would likely be a major surprise to many Apple followers, The Loop's Jim Dalrymple reports that Apple is not planning to introduce any new hardware at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, scheduled for June 6th through 10th. The conference has been consistently used to introduce new iPhone hardware over the last several years, with the company occasionally introducing other hardware as well. Apple closed the door this morning on any speculation that it would announce new hardware at its Worldwide Developers conference saying it would focus on iOS and Mac OS. Apple's apparent focus on software in its WWDC announcement backs up what my own sources are saying about the annual conference. That is, expect a software show in 2011, not a hardware event.While a focus on software is not unusual for Apple's WWDC promotional materials given its primary positioning as an event for developers, Dalrymple notes that the 2011 materials do nothing to contradict what he has already been hearing from sources: namely, no new hardware this year. It is also important to note that Dalrymple has not specifically claimed that new iPhone hardware won't be introduced in the same general timeframe as WWDC, merely claiming that any introduction won't occur at the event itself. One analyst report from late last month indicated that a September launch for the fifth-generation iPhone seemed to be the likely scenario. Those rumors were turned into claims of "delays" that were refuted by Dalrymple himself and other sources. The difference may have been in semantics, however, as
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No iOS 4.3 Until Tomorrow?

Tuesday March 8, 2011 8:36 am PST by Eric Slivka
Earlier today, BGR reported that Apple will release iOS 4.3 today, three days ahead of the previously-announced Friday launch date. But according to The Loop, the early release will actually occur tomorrow. The speculation of iOS coming early seems to be solid, it's just the day that's off. If I were sitting waiting for iOS 4.3 to hit, I'd be ready tomorrow.Potential support for the notion of a release tomorrow comes from a MacRumors reader who just asked an Apple chat representative about the release and was informed that it will indeed be tomorrow. While Apple's sales staff is usually not kept up to date on the company's product and software release plans, it is possible that Apple has provided the information about the upcoming free update in order to assist its customers. Not all chat support representative are offering the same information, however, as one representative we just asked claimed that the release is coming on Friday as originally scheduled. Regardless, BGR's report claimed a release time of 1:00 PM Eastern / 10:00 AM Pacific today, the company's usual time for iOS releases, so we should know in less than half an hour whether iOS 4.3 is coming
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Apple Cutting Some Software and Peripherals From Retail Store Displays?

Monday March 7, 2011 10:14 am PST by Eric Slivka
The Loop reports that Apple is planning to cut significant numbers of software titles and peripherals from its retail store sales floors, moving to free up space to accommodate the more extensive Personal Setup service for Macs launched in January. Among the products that will no longer be displayed in the retail stores are printers, scanners and possible some hard drives. These peripherals will still be stocked in the store and available if a customer requests them. At the point of sale, the Apple salesperson will still recommend the customer purchase one of those peripherals if they feel it fits in with the customer's purchase. According to my sources, Apple is also getting rid of up to 32 game titles from its retail locations. That would reduce the number of games being displayed in the stores to around 8 per store.We previously reported that Apple is looking to eventually discontinue all boxed software sales from its retail stores in favor of the Mac App Store, and the upcoming changes may be the first step down that
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Rumors of iPhone 5, iPad 2 'Delays' Called Untrue [Updated]

Tuesday February 22, 2011 7:30 am PST by Eric Slivka
Over the past day, a pair of analyst reports have suggested that Apple's second-generation iPad and fifth-generation iPhone will see their launches delayed beyond their previously-planned windows, due in part to design changes and other "issues" with production. But according to The Loop's Jim Dalrymple, these claims are simply untrue. While Dalrymple is careful to note that he doesn't know when the next-generation versions of Apple's popular iOS devices will ship, he says that any claims that Apple is experiencing internal "delays" are false and that everything is on time according to Apple's schedule. From what I've heard this morning both products are on schedule and will ship when they are supposed to. Only Apple knows exactly when that will be, but the products are not delayed.Reuters is also reporting that claims of iPad delays are "not true". In his report, Dalrymple goes on to note the phenomenon of "delays" for products that haven't even been announced. Consequently, it is important to differentiate between the expectations of the media and customers, which are widely discussed, and those of Apple's internal plans, which are much less well-known. It seems amazing that rumors of Apple missing product deadlines are running rampant when Apple hasn't even announced the product yet. The only deadlines that have been set are by the media, not Apple. Having said that, the iPhone 5 and iPad 2 are not delayed.Many observers have been looking forward to an iPad release in the same March-April timeframe seen last year, with the next-generation iPhone set to follow
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