USB C Inputs a new standard?

$2500 is an awful lot to pay for a laptop - no matter how special the Retina display is. Apple know how to charge.

 

$2500 is a lot for a laptop. To be fair, a similarly speced out Dell XPS 15" laptop with a 3840 x 2160 display (but not an IPS display) is over $2500. But Dell also offers an Inspiron version with 15" display 3840 x 2160 IPS display for around $1500. There are uses where the features and specs of a $2000+ laptop are necessary to do what you need. And cases where the Mac is the better choice. But sitting in a Starbucks writing your blog isn't one of them.

The imminent availability of USB 3.1 does have me waiting on my next desktop PC purchase. I'm not expecting USB-C to be available soon on an affordable desktop mobo. But the regular USB 3.1 ports should be. Windows laptops though with the USB-C ports are probably going to be a little be of a longer wait.

 

I think they will be here sooner than you might think. Google already has Chromebooks announced. Of course the$700 Windows laptop market does tend to lag behind.

As to the value of a Mac laptop, much like many other products, value is in the eye of the beholder. As I've stated before, most folks that think a cheap laptop is fine, likely don't drag them around all day and use them in less than pristine environs. So mny think a Mac is a piece of artwork, but I use them because they are the best built and provide the best combination of performance, durability, and battery life.

 

The $2500 MacBook Pro is a quad-core i7 with a 512GB SSD and two video cards. It's fun such things are offered for those who want them, but that's by no means the "normal" MBP.

I probably wouldn't have ended up with a MacBook Pro had I not been given them at work for years. Once you drink from that well there's just no going back.

 

I messed with the latest Dell XPS13 and it was nice as well, but still a good bit flimsier than the comparable Mac - and about the same cost. One thing missing from every Windows PC I've seen is the amazing PCIe SSDs.

 

Here's an article explaining a little about what's going on:
Explaining the “USB 3.1 Gen 1” port in the Retina MacBook
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/03/explaining-the-usb-3-1-gen-1-port-in-the-retina-macbook/

The new USB port on the MacBook is just a USB 3.0 port in disguise with a new name.

 

Not quite. It also includes the "USB Power Delivery" and "alternate Mode" which allows bi directional power, video, and other signals besides USB3 to be passed through the cable. That article is just speaking to the USB specs for the interface.

 

I refuse to buy consumer grade laptops for that kind of money, which I can't upgrade. And designed not to be repairable easily. Which are born to early obsolete. In Dell, I'll take my Latitude over any Inspiron or XPS, from the 5000 series upwards, you can't beat them for good performance and durability. For what Apple wants for this MacBook, I'll take Spastic Proof. Gimme a year old Full Rugged Panasonic ToughBook. It will be running after the average Apple owner is on their 4th MacBook anything. And will take use cases which eat laptops for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

 

That would be nice to play with.

 

Though I use my macbook all day every day, I find the Apple model to be customer unfriendly. There are times when I wish a smaller company would come up and eat their lunch. Apple is too arrogant these days.

 

Do you break a lot of laptops? I've never managed to seriously damage one. The ToughBooks are obviously as large and bulky as they come, it's hard to imagine the actual use case these are designed for. Before purchasing the new one I'm using currently last month I was still on a 2009 MacBook pro that was working beautifully for me. Have you ever used a MacBook Pro as your "daily driver" before? I've used them alongside TOTL Lenovo T-series laptops for the better part of a decade, and don't agree with many of your critiques of them relative to PC hardware.

 

ToughBooks are designed for the very thing called real life. I have used MacBook Pros. And for me, they are semi professional grade. The best Mac laptops ever built in recent times were the 2009-2011 MacBook Pro. I love OSX, I also like laptops which don't have to be extreme babied when I have something called work to do either. Your 2009 MacBook Pro as hardware is superior to the new ones. That was a good era for MacBook Pro build quality. Which is what I still have for my Mac. The new MacBooks is where I have issues with their build. The newest MacBooks aren't as good as our older models.

 

I prefer a desktop as my main computer, and use an iPad (or even iPhone) when I need portability so I'm not the target market for the MacBook Pro. Regardless, I'm all for USB C and look forward to it trickling down/out to other devices/manufacturers.

 

We're apparently in very different lines of work when a toughbook is required for "real life" and "something called work" requires a laptop to be babied. My world of white collar business involves taking laptops in and out of my backpack and putting them on desks, which I'm guessing is fairly normal use case for laptops and not actually an outlying situation. I've certainly never babied a laptop, nor could I answer the question of why a solid block of milled aluminum would require a delicate touch.

That and as best I can tell "upgradability" and "build quality" are synonymous to you, because there's no other possible way a 2009 Macbook could be considered better built then the current line, none at all. It's about twice the weight and the display can't hold a candle. I've used every single model of laptop to bear the marquee "macbook pro", and there's been a clear progression of improvement in every single iteration. I know there's a conspiracy theory that says non-modular components are to force customers to upgrade more often, but open the hood on one and it's quite clear that the design allows them to make the devices thinner, the exact way that making smartphones without removable batteries or SD card slots results in slimmer products.

 

For me, build quality means a laptop which does 4-6 years of service when needed and travelling. Solid aluminum does dent easy when not in a case or in a student's backpack. The MacBooks and similar UltraBook PC needs special care to stay nice. The 2009 MacBook Pro can easily have RAM upgraded if need be, it can have a larger drive if need be, you can even replace the battery. The new MacBook or the Air can not. What you bought, is what you get. Battery replacement if yours is due for replacement, is a service depot job. Same goes for some PC UltraBooks too. Consider that, these machines due to that will often be less than graceful with a few years on it. And it does affect total cost of ownership. The older full service MacBook Pro is a longer lasting machine as it can be upgraded on Storage, RAM, and can easily get a new battery if yours needs replacement, or a second battery if desired.

 

Asus just announced a new series of gaming laptops with PCIe SSDs.

 

I have to completely disagree. I've used every generation of MBP since 2007 and the 09 machine is not even close to the current models in any reasonable aspect. It is pretty difficult to dent the unibody. The older thin formed aluminum was much easier to scratch or worse, crease. Ad to upgradability, the SSD can be easily upgraded and is at least 4 times faster than the older unit even with the 3G SSD. As to the battery, battery life is not even close on the old machine compared to the latest, and while I replaced the battery every two years on the removable battery, my first unibody is still fine.

What's more, my mac not only lives in the real world doing real work, but it's about 50/50 between being on my desk doing 3d modeling of lighting systems and the rest sitting on a transformer in an electrical room on some jobsite. Yes it does live in a clamshell case, but it still looks like new. Add the blazing speed on the quad core i7 on my 15" or even the dual core on the 13" and performance is just not even close.

And don't get me started on the quality of the retina displays compared to laptops of five years ago.

 

That's good news, hopefully it will be in a format that can get into the more portable units. I have an employee that does nothing but high end modeling and she works from her home on one of the big 11lb ASUS gaming beasts. It's a great option and a portable machine she can bring into the office when necessary, but it's certainly not something usable in the field.

 

I want to see bigger and less expensive SSD storage.

 

Don't we all, I have 1tb on my MBP and it's plenty, but I don't keep a lot of big files like video on it, and I keep a lot of data on Dropbox as I have an unlimited business account and my MacPro at home has a 12tb thunderbolt array.

 

The Verge is harshing my excitement about this new magic port

The new MacBook's single port comes with a major security risk
http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/16/8226193/new-apple-macbook-usb-type-c-security-risk-badusb

Same USB security risk from USB we've known before. Nothing I didn't know before. But dang, this sort of news takes the fun out of anticipating all the goodness and potential of the new port.

 

I trust no cloud I don't own or control physically.

 

My MBP is still going strong. I bought in 2008. Don't forsee replacing it for at least another 2 years. It's not some piece o'crap plastiky PC laptop. The iBook I had before lasted almost as long and only went down due to a cracked screen (dropped).

 

I have a mid-2010 model and it's the best one I've ever owned. I've never had any sort of hardware failure with Apple products but I have no intention of replacing this one. I'm hoping it will last forever. I did replace the 500GB hard drive with a 1TB one a while ago, but other than that it's been smooth sailing. And I bought it used!

-edit- and just to clarify, it's my 6th Apple computer and 5th laptop. All the previous ones I've sold or given to family members just to upgrade. I see no further reason to upgrade at this point though.

 

I wouldn't either if it was not synced to one of my local computers.