FWIW I switched to Linux on ThinkPad X220 on the day of the MBP announcement. I've added 16GB ram and a SSD. I can't think of any reason to go back.
FWIW I switched to Linux on ThinkPad X220 on the day of the MBP announcement. I've added 16GB ram and a SSD. I can't think of any reason to go back.
You are reaching, I don't think there are all that many developers abandoning them. I don't know of a single one personally. I've heard of some vocal critics on the internet, but that's hardly representative of a movement.
Apple has lost the plot and their greed and control issues and outdated product features and lack of innovation make it just a terrible platform to try to get excited about as a developer.
Counter-anecdotally: In the small company I work for, every single developer wants a better machine (some of us use 2012-2013 models), but nobody wants the new models, and watched the announcement with disappointment. Everyone is either holding out for something new in 2017, or considering a non-Apple Windows/Linux laptop. More than anything, people want faster, more powerful machines.
Conversely, people also watched the Surface launch and were super impressed. The Surface range overall is underpowered compared to most of the new MacBook configs, of course, and it's Windows, but it seems like Microsoft suddenly understands computer users better than Apple, which is an odd and surprising reversal.
Apple's abandonment of displays was also a source of disappointment. People want sleek, Apple-designed, large "retina"-style screens. The new LG 5K isn't too bad, but the fact that it requires a new, underpowered MBP moved the announcement down to just "meh" on the scale of impressiveness, as opposed to "hey, wow".
Edit: FWIW, I bought the MBP 2016, then returned it after a week, for many of the same reasons in the article. Commented about it here [1].
true! i guess you can look at it this way: apple is not a computer company anymore, it's a luxury goods company. microsoft has become a computer company again after years of being an 'enterprise software' company, for lack of a better term.
So I'm sticking with Apple, as I've been using them since the Mac Plus days. But now I'm wondering what to buy? Wait for Apple to hopefully fix this model in a refresh or by a used or refurbished 2015 Retina model.
I've considered switching to Windows/Linux but I don't relish the thought. I don't use Adobe creative apps any more so I could switch.
This is the first time I've returned an Apple product.
I just got my 13" MBP with Touchbar and actually love it. The overall experience is not that different anyway, but i actually really like the keyboard, despite trying it in a store and being not really convinced. I also love the display, compact size/weight and TouchId is pretty cool as well. The thing i find a bit annoying is the touch-ESC button and the Spotify stuff you already mentioned but it's not a major dealbreaker for me.
Likewise i know two other devs who recently got one and they all seem really happy.
But I'm annoyed Apple is forcing users to get the Touch Bar model if they want Touch ID, four TB3 ports, slightly faster RAM, and slightly faster WiFi.
I know a handful of people who normally upgrade every refresh and are flat out refusing this time. A couple (that aren't locked in by being iOS devs) have picked up other laptops instead.
I disagree with your assessment that it's a "great product." I bought a spec'ed out one myself that I eventually returned.
Not claiming either one of us are the majority but I wanted to add my side and not state it as ultimate fact and certainly not present it argumentum ad populum.
Apple fanboy after reading a new blog post on how developers with a huge followership give up their MBP, which are ranking in the top of HN every day since the announcement in Oct 2016: "These developers are only a minority. There's definitely no trend here whatsoever. 100%. Trust me. It's based on my opinion."
This is not synonymous with upgrading their MB/MBP.
My biggest dilemma is not whether or not to upgrade my aging 2012 MacBook Pro Retina with a 2016 model. It's whether or not I should buy the 2015 version while it's still available in some stores.
"If you don't like Trump, leave the country". "If you don't like the video, don't comment, just ignore it"...And then what? Let's all just shut down threads that crticise anything at all, because, of course, if I don't like it, I can just move on.
Apple would be foolish to believe this. A lot of the MBP's "sex appeal" is the fact that it is so widely used among developers and creatives. Similar to professional athletes all using one brand of tennis shoe. The effect is that the masses will see it as the top quality product and want to buy it. If everyone shows up at conferences next year with Thinkpads (although I wouldn't count on it) they might start noticing.
On the other hand, Ballmer was perhaps cartoonish but not idiotic when he trampled around the stage yelling "Developers!". Software developers are hugely important, and should be to Apple. It's trite but worth repeating: no one wants to use an operating system. People want to use the software that runs on the operating system.
You know what all my graphic designer friends are losing their shit over? The new Microsoft Surface Studio.
The excitement my visual artist and graphic artist friends have for the Studio and Dial should terrify Apple. But Apple seems to have forgotten who their influencers are.
A good friend is a videographer who uses everything apple. He's seriously concerned by the lack of ports.
I run an online business, write and make videos. I'm also concerned by the lack of ports and by the lack of a consistent set of keys on the touchbar.
Neither of us are thinking of switching, but we're in "wait and see". I bought a macbook pro for a project last year, and was planning to upgrade when the new model came out. Haven't - the new one doesn't seem compelling.
And people have bought macs and iphones due to my influence. Apple is foolish to ignore the professional demographic.
People who care about how it looks won't be getting thinkpads, but dell's xps 13, or lenovo's yoga line.
I'm still entirely sceptical that this is happening. There's been a lot of noise for sure, but I have yet to know a developer directly who has done this, and I don't live in a bubble.
Ordered it with ubuntu, because I hope that helps to have Dell decide to continue making the developer edition. Installed fedora though, which just works without the need for extra drivers.
Got it in silver but applied a matte black skin from dbrand which makes it look pretty awesome.
It sucks, but I don't blame manufacturers for pulling back from laptops, the money and market aren't what they used to be. The good news is that it looks like the laptop divisions of most companies are becoming more enamore with "developer" editions and ultra books as developers are increasingly a noteworthy share of the marketplace. Can Apple really be blamed for pulling back a bit from a retrenching market?
That market share is partially created by developers using the platform. It stands to reason that Apple's bad decisions will create a new "market share" elsewhere as developers abandon the platform.
And partially created (and probably more so) by having a customer base willing to spend money on apps. Developers will go where the money is.
Unfortunately for app developers, the gold rush for the App Store is long over and these days it is getting harder and harder to get a return on selling your apps. This is not surprising actually, given that most apps are shit. Seriously, in case you haven't noticed, besides a handful of apps that are actually useful and a handful of games that are somewhat fun, all other are shit.
I still remember when VLC was banned from the iTunes App Store, supposedly due to some patents stuff, leaving in place dozens of click-baits shamelessly using VLC's name. I actually bought a video player app in the hope that I'll find a suitable replacement, but you guessed it, it was shit. So then I returned it, after searching on Google for how.
As both an Android and iOS user spending money on both, in my case especially for games due to my son, you begin noticing that Android's free apps are better, Android having an actual open-source ecosystem. Of course, things aren't perfect and for iOS at least I found and bought a decent RSS reader, but then I ended up paying for Newsblur and using it on Android which also counts.
The point I'm trying to make is that: (1) iOS will probably not make your app sell better if your app is shit and if your app is any good, it will sell well on Android too and you'd be a fool to not release it on both and (2) if people buy more apps on iOS, it doesn't necessarily reflect well on iOS.
Well, ok, I have an iPhone SE (nobody makes a decent small android phone) -- but I'm a regular 'consumer' as far as smartphones go :).
My current laptop is a 14" Dell Latitude running Fedora. It's reasonably portable while still having a decent CPU (quad-core i5, rather than a low-power ultrabook processor). If you avoid the consumer-grade Dells and stick with the Latitudes and Precisions you'll get a solid, durable machine that's actually upgrade-able.
I am thinking about switching to Linux too. I am no iOS developer, and I find their OS upgrade also goes to the same dead end of prioritizing flashy look above usability. After all, why paying a premium only to be ignored and told by believers that my opinion doesn't matter, at all? Time to vote with foot.
Guess you missed the iPhone's lack of Flash support and copy/paste?
But it is hardly a backlash. The users complained at the time, most of them simply didn't have a iPhone. It is more likely people saying, I won't buy a iPhone because of A/B/C.
While the new MacBook gets complains from its EXISTING user base, who feel that Apple is taking features that are useful to them away and making the product worse.
There is big difference between not giving what your user want and stripping what they are happy with.
As is the case for the Touch Bar.
Apple is used to getting blowback; it is not unusual, and it is sometimes warranted. When it is, later models address the complaints.
I mean, just compare the initial reaction to the very first MacBook Air, to how people feel about that model line now.
It is way too early to know how the new MacBook is going to do. It's way too early to know if the Touch Bar is better UI than function keys.
It's not early, most things in UI design are actually very scientific and can predict in advance how fast you can use something. Basically touch bar is harder if not impossible to use without thinking and looking because it breaks consistency and is also slower to use because targets are smaller, i.e. you have to be more careful not to touch other targets, etc.
Most users can't touch-type the function keys, so having to look isn't much of a departure for the vast majority of their audience.
I cannot say whether Apple have designed and rigorously tested the Touch Bar with UX in mind but they do have a fairly strong reputation for doing such in the past.
Hyperbole? The had similar backlash when; they switched from 68K processors to PowerPC, licenced Mac OS to third parties, un-licenced Mac OS, Dropped OpenDoc, dropped ADB, dropped 30-pin, dropped the floppy drive, dropped the CD/DVD, dropped the headphone jack. Heck, they even got the same when they switched to Intel! It has been ever thus.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
Every day there is something not posted here, on Reddit, or Twitter by another developer not moving anywhere.
And by the very same token, it doesn't mean they are! Can we keep the fallacies out of this please?
They are what? Happy Apple doesn't sell high end hardware? I don't get what you are trying to say.
Apple defined functionality combined with beauty. Now they are putting beauty before functionality.
And as for "not a priority demographic anymore"... Were they ever? I think it was more an accident of being a better Unix. And it still is, so I'm sticking with it.
Can't wait to swap out my 2012 15" MBPr 256GB SSD / 8GB ram brick for a nice 13" with more storage and RAM, dongles be damned. They're a minor inconvenience for being able to use a good OS.
But yeah, developer adoption usually predicts adoption by power users and the remainder of the market share. In a way, non-power users are switching to mobile progressively and using/upgrading/consuming on their PCs less and less.
IMO this just means you're somehow a "simple" user ("just" console tools, etc)
"You're not a professional user" has been implied way too damn often lately. It seems that the new MacBook Pro has brought out the worst in our community, where people now need to measure their self-worth based on the hardware specs of other people's work laptops. It started with people saying "The new MacBook Pro is not a professional laptop", with the hidden implication that anyone who uses one is not a professional user. If it's not a professional laptop and I use one, I can't be a professional. Simple as that.
But now with you coming right out and saying "if you don't use the tools I do, you must be a simple user", you've exposed it for what it really is. It's a pissing contest. To be a real professional, you have to use tooling that requires an i7 with 32GB of RAM and software that only runs on my preferred platform. If you don't use my tools and my hardware, you're "simple".
It's not just Apple fans, it's not just Linux fans, it's not just Windows fans. It seems pervasive. If you use macOS in 2017, you're not a professional. If you use Linux in 2017, you're simple. If you use -blank- in 2017 you're -blank-. Because my hardware, my software, my tooling is better. And actually in the Mac world, it's gotten to the point where if you aren't using a 2013 or 2012 MacBook, you're part out of the "out" crowd. The older the better.
Whatever happened to the good old hacker mentality of "if it works, it works"? When the answer to "why" was "why not"? And since when did someone using "just" console tools mean they're a "simple" user?!
Many people that complain about Linux commonly want Photoshop, support for games, cad tools like Altium, some specific font rendering, etc...