Comment by arihant | Hacker News Reader

Comment by arihant | Hacker News Reader

I'm extremely put off by Apple line up getting frustratingly confusing. The devil is in the details here. There was a time, where you could simply trust that an Apple product is built like a tank, that a technology once introduced (like, say, glass screens, or force touch) will always at least be default in the upcoming models.

But it is frustrating that Apple started removing fundamental features in a random fashion, even from flagship products with no intimation of them. Retina Macbook Pro does not have a glass screen. Users did not realize that until the staingate issue cropped up. It feels even blowing air on the screen will pull off coating. In this iPad, they conveniently removed the lamination.

I cannot even imagine Apple doing that back in the day. Imagine a version of iPhone, let's call it 4E, which does not have 3G.

It feels like I have to do a spec comparison about everything before deciding which Apple product to buy. Because there is no knowing what they silently removed.

Wait, what? What's "Staingate"? My screen isn't glass? I'm confused.

I took a (1 generation older) rMBP to the Apple Store a few months back to get a keyboard replaced. I had a stuck pixel or two (I'd dropped it about 30-40 times) and the guy at the store told me there was a screen coating issue (he pointed to the black side of the screen) and said I could get a free screen replacement if I wanted it. Is that "Staingate"?

Different problem, but probably why it was still offered to you: http://www.staingate.org/

If you have a 2015 rMBP, we have the same model. There is no additional glass on top of the LCD, which every unibody model always had. One can argue LCD itself is made of glass substrate, but that's about it and that's not what Apple meant by glass screen on unibody macs.

Poke your screen lightly and poke screen of any other macbook. You'll see by distortion on the screen that you directly poked the LCD.

I've had every MBP (or equivalent) Apple has made going back to the Titanium Powerbook. I was worried after all the noise about the 2016-2017 rMBP (the new thin one). I bought the non-Touchbar version; it's the best Macbook I've ever owned. But then, I've said that about basically every Apple laptop I've bought.

I do not doubt "staingate" is a real thing. What I doubt is that it's a harbinger of declining quality. There have always been things like this on every Apple product. The first generation of Intel Macbooks had (frankly: gross) case discoloration problems so bad an aftermarket sprang up for products to cover the parts of the case your hands rest on.

I'd argue that moving from "iPad Air 2" to "iPad" is a step in the right direction, but I agree with your sentiment.

"iPad Mini 4" is the most confusing title in the lineup currently, but I expect them to eschew its version number as well at some point.

I prefer the "Mid YYYY" style of versioning Apple uses on other products.

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