WWDC 2019 Live discussion - Was: Sooo umm Apple just released new MacBookPros (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

It's not for you. It's for military, science and ultra high end video production houses. Put it on a $199 VESA mount if you must and you have $6k to blow on a monitor as an individual. For the right customers it's a good deal.

 

[Ted Todorov]

It's not for you. It's for military, science and ultra high end video production houses. Put it on a $199 VESA mount if you must and you have $6k to blow on a monitor as an individual. For the right customers it's a good deal.

The problem isn’t the price of the stand or the monitor- it is that Apple didn’t *also* release the exact same retina monitor it uses in the non-Pro iMac as a $1,000; 27” Apple Cinema Display.

Nobody would complain- people could buy it as an external display for MacBooks or MacMinis, or people buying the MacPro for functions that require its raw speed or expansion but don’t need the stunning display (developers, non-software engineers, scientists, musicians)

Meanwhile the filmmakers and high end photographers will be ecstatic to have the high end display for a mere $7K instead of blowing $20 to $40K for a clearly inferior Canon or Sony display

 

[DaveF]

Apple remains a weird place in terms of user-facing branding for "pros". The new Mac Pro and display combo is a distinct beast for the very specific niche market of movie and TV creators. Other pro users who might benefit from the power of a Mac Pro, such as those doing computational physics or machine learning, are not buying its mated $5000 - $7000 "XDR" monitor. Instead, high-power pros with a $6,000 to $50,000 Mac Pro will have their daily user experience mediated through a Dell or LG monitor. That's madness, from a branding and marketing perspective.

Setting that aside, as some blogger wrote: Apple's biggest customer group is software developers. And their biggest Mac product line for developers are laptops. So all those developers buying laptops are plugging them into ... Dell and LG monitors. Because there's no Mac monitor. Even more craziness from a marketing perspective, even if you argue that Apple can't make a better $500 - $1000 monitor than Dell or LG.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Count me in as one who was hoping Apple would release its own line of consumer monitor(s).

Right now I am using a Samsung curved 55" 4k TV, that sits on my desk, as my monitor.

It's not bad. The only thing is, I really hurt my neck looking up at it sometimes.

I was hoping to switch out to the new LG 45" (think that is the size) monitor. However, there was a wealth of compatibility issues being reported with the 2018 MacBook Pros. Also, it uses a lot of GPU power.

I can certainly live with what I have now, but Apple surely had to know the demand for new monitors.

 

[Thomas Newton]

The problem isn’t the price of the stand or the monitor- it is that Apple didn’t *also* release the exact same retina monitor it uses in the non-Pro iMac as a $1,000; 27” Apple Cinema Display.

Apple already sells a similar display: the $1,299; 27" LG UltraFine 5K Display. Same size, same resolution, IPS, DCI-P3 color gamut as the iMac 5K display. Works at full resolution with all current Macs except for the 12" Retina MacBook and the 2013 Mac Pro.

Presumably it will work with the new Mac Pro.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207448

 

[DaveF]

Right now I am using a Samsung curved 55" 4k TV, that sits on my desk, as my monitor.

It's not bad. The only thing is, I really hurt my neck looking up at it sometimes.

That stands to reason...

 

[Clinton McClure]

I use a 24” Dell monitor with my 13” MacBook Pro. I’ve also recently started using a Magic Keyboard (with 10-key pad) and a Magic Mouse 2. It works great for what I do but I’m also not a per se “Pro” user or a software developer. I just like a clutter-free workspace.

 

[Cranston37+]

After a consumer line monitor, Apple needs to get back into the router business. For all they do with privacy it's stupid to have all of your products be Apple but leave the actual connection to the internet open to another company... and in the case of Eero one owned by Amazon.

 

[DaveF]

I think it's easy to guess why Apple left the router business: it's a very small business and their competitors completely out-Apple'd with the mesh networks.

But yes, especially with the announcement of firmware updates to Amazon-owned Eero for HomeKit privacy, it’s pretty stark how Apple has let go of a privacy lynchpin in its product lineup.

Unfortunately this announcement to me reinforces that Apple is out of the router market with no intention to return. I think it’s just too small money for them.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I think it's easy to guess why Apple left the router business: it's a very small business and their competitors completely out-Apple'd with the mesh networks.

But yes, especially with the announcement of firmware updates to Amazon-owned Eero for HomeKit privacy, it’s pretty stark how Apple has let go of a privacy lynchpin in its product lineup.

Unfortunately this announcement to me reinforces that Apple is out of the router market with no intention to return. I think it’s just too small money for them.

I agree. There is no reason for Apple to reconsider going back in the router business.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

So reports are rampant that a new 16-inch MacBook Pro is on the way this fall..

https://9to5mac.com/2019/06/24/new-16-inch-macbook-pro-rumored-to-launch-in-fall/


As a current owner of a 2018 MBP, I would consider upgrading, but these would be my concerns:

1. No OLED. I was hoping for an OLED screen and this may be the deciding factor to hold off till 2020.
2. Redesigned keyboard. No more butterfly keyboards. This is my second MacBook Pro where I am experiencing keyboard issues.

 

[Clinton McClure]

The keyboard is the main reason I’m still using a 2012 MBP. I refuse to suffer a bad keyboard design just to have a new laptop.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

The keyboard is the main reason I’m still using a 2012 MBP. I refuse to suffer a bad keyboard design just to have a new laptop.

Yeah, Apple has to fix these keyboards. As I type this response now I am getting too many double "e" presses. Had this issue with the 2018 laptop as well. These keyboards suck! I won't get another MacBook Pro until Apple does something about them.

Going to take MacBook Pro to the Apple Store as soon as I can to get this fixed. However, I don't know if they put in the new 2019 keyboard or they do something else to fix the issue. I will keep you updated.

 

[DaveF]

“One of the most troubling is the lack of high-quality Catalyst apps from Apple itself. The four apps included with Mojave – News, Home, Voice Memos, and Stocks – are not great Mac apps and have barely been touched since last fall when macOS was released.”

https://www.macstories.net/stories/catalyst-can-rescue-the-mac-and-grow-the-ipad/

An interesting essay on Catalyst and why it is a mostly hopeful turn for the Mac. But I am anxious that Apple themselves can’t use — don’t even seem interested in trying to use — their own Catalyst to make a quality Mac app

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Making the new Mac Pro in China may not be the best move. Time will tell.

https://arstechnica.com/information...moves-mac-pro-production-from-texas-to-china/

The discussion of the lack of screws to build the then-new 2013 Mac Pro is very troubling from a manufacturing organizational perspective. Insisting on custom-spec screws appears to be asking for trouble.

 

[DaveF]

If building the super niche Mac Pro in China is a problem, it is truly the least of Apple’s problems in that branch of the multiverse.

 

[DaveF]

The discussion of the lack of screws to build the then-new 2013 Mac Pro is very troubling from a manufacturing organizational perspective. Insisting on custom-spec screws appears to be asking for trouble.

This post addresses the most likely cause
https://arstechnica.com/information...moves-mac-pro-production-from-texas-to-china/

Apple was used to manufacturing in China where screws are available. In America it’s a limitation. So they’re moving back to China where a $50,000 computer isn’t hamstrung by lack of a simple screw.

 

[Sam Posten]

Been using it for the past three years with no issues.

Hey, I meant to round back on this for last few weeks, this excellent article reminded me I needed to do that. Bottom line, if you are are using tracking pixels for personal email you are a bad person. Please stop. Said with love.
https://mikeindustries.com/blog/archive/2019/06/superhuman-is-spying-on-you

CC @DaveF @Thomas Newton @Carlo Medina @JohnRice

 

[Carlo_M]

I remember you mentioning that but I've never used anything other than standard outlook from our Corporate Office 365 account, and I have no signatures/images/tracking pixels/etc. I even use the web version vs. the client so literally all that's available to me is what's on their default web client.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Closer...Closer...

https://www.imore.com/apple-receive...feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+TheIphoneBlog+(iMore)