The discontinuation of the 17 inch MacBook Pro
The soldered in ram.
And the final one was with the last refresh where they held the top of the line model at 16GB of ram.
As a note these where probably all sound business decisions they just chip away at my ideal machine. Which is a large screen machine, with a lot of horse power so that I can simulate an entire network environment locally to eliminate variables as well as use in a disconnected environment.
Why would Apple want to drive developers away?
Soldered in ram was a decision to reduce the overall size of the MBP to make it thinner. Again this probably appeals to the large consumer market.
I don't know the reasoning for not moving the line up to at least 32GB of ram but I would assume their cost to produce to market segment came to a higher profit calculation by not doing it, maybe it offset the cost of the touch bar but that is speculation but I assume they had their reasons.
I don't think it is an intentional effort to drive developers away, rather calculated attempt to chase the largest market segment.