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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2021-04-28, 16:21

Yeah, I always wonder about that too. They have plenty of products where they round up or down to get a nice, clean screen size figure. That 12.9" thing just always makes me chuckle...it's so close to 13, just call it that already. Keeping that 12.9 makes it sound like they're about to come out with a 12.8" model, and maybe a 13.1", and a 12.6", etc., and they have to get really specific in their packaging/marketing. In a world where there is nothing else in that 12-13" space, 12.9" just seems a little unnecessary, for sure.

I know all the reasons for including those ports. I just don't think Apple cares.

But we'll see. I think this redesign we're getting this year will be sticking around for a good while, so I'm betting whatever we see soon is how it's going to stay.

But you're right...uncharacteristically, they did fix those goofy keyboards (finally, after a thousand years).

I think the departure of a certain person/mindset had as much to do with that as anything. The pride (arrogance?) that prevents folks from copping to a bad idea/design is strong. They may have to couch it in other terms/reasons, but, big picture, that butterfly keyboard came up short. They went back (for the most part) to what worked great before.

That was the most encouraging thing I've seen from them in ages. They were obviously listening (or just sick of all the whining, replacements, repair programs, etc.).

I like that they seem open to fixing definite, unasked-for goofs on their end.

I just don't know if they'd consider anything other than four Thunderbolt ports a "goof". And if they put on HDMI and an SD, then you're going to get a thousand users come out of the woodwork demanding even more niche, specialized ports for their profession/workflow.

I just think Apple can eliminate any "pick and choose" hassles and make it easy. It'll be a small annoyance to some, but everything Apple does is a small annoyance to somebody, somewhere. This is the kind of thing that Steve would get up on stage and sell as a good thing, somehow. And for those who weren't convinced, he just wouldn't give a shit.

I kinda miss that part of Apple sometimes. Nobody's standing up there making me want to sell body parts to buy anything. That hasn't been the case in, literally, a decade now. They lost their master showman and the Great Convincer, and nobody's even come close to filling that role. There really was an element of "you gotta have this, and you know you do...even if you can't fully state why just yet" that is absolutely missing from Tim & Co. You can't learn or practice that sort of thing, for sure. You just have it or you don't, and that's what I've come to miss more than anything. It's just stuff now. Good stuff, even great at times. But none of it has meant much to me because it didn't have that carnival barker in a turtleneck doing all he could to make it look like something you couldn't be without.

That's what Apple has been lacking/missing, for 10 years now. And it's bittersweet when you think back on the best of those years.

Another thing I remember, years back, when Apple would actually include a few useful adapters in the box of their notebooks? This might've even been the PowerBook G4 days, but I remember that some basic little white plastic adaptors/dongles would be in the box. While that goes against everything Apple seems to stand for now, it would be cool if they just tossed in an HDMI and card slot dongle. Design something, in-house, that is a card slot, HDMI, USB A(?) and include it in 14" and 16" MacBook Pro packaging. A "meet halfway" gesture, if nothing else. Still isn't perfect and ideal, but if they decide not to go back to those things built into the sides of the machines, there's wiggle room to consider.

"Yes, we're stripped all the useful ports out you'd love to have. But we're not going to make you buy adaptors for these 2-3 common ones. You're welcome".





Talk about a pipe dream.

The reason they're sitting on $959,345,435,349,544,440,359,449,345,334,532,237 is because they don't give shit away. They're not in the friend-making business.

Last edited by psmith2.0 : 2021-04-28 at 16:41.
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