State of Macbooks (rant)

I really don't care for the current macbook pro offerings from Apple. 13in is way to small of a screen, 16in is better but its waaaayyyy overpriced. I like my current 15in 2016 with the task bar, but the chip architecture can't support a browser with 80 tabs open on chrome. The battery last about 2 hours or less using chrome. I wish the 16in had a taskbar or at least a touchscreen. I think a more reasonable price for it would be $999. Apple is always disappointing but what other choice do we have?? They need to lower prices or step up their game.

So you think Apple should price the flagship MacBook Pro at the same price as the older M1 MacBook Air? Yeah, that's not going to happen 🤣 They're priced the way they are because that's what they're worth in the market. In other words, more people disagree with you than agree with you among Apple's target market for these machines.

When people say an Apple product is "overpriced" what they really mean is that either they personally don't see the value in it or that it's over their budget. If they were truly "overpriced" in the economic/market sense, they wouldn't sell many (of course, they might not sell well for any number of reasons--price is only one potential factor).

Remember, you can always save money by buying used or refurbished.

A couple of weeks ago, I bought the base M2 MBA for $1,049 on sale at BB. It is one heck of a nice computer. My needs are simple: Mail, Messages, Notes, Safari, Photos, iWork, MS Office, FaceTime, etc.. I am retired, but I spend some time working on the family real estate business. It is perfect for my needs. I will probably keep it 4-5 years, then get a few hundred dollars trade-in credit when I replace it.

So, let see: ($1,049-$300)/5yrs = $150/year or ~$12.50/month....that's less than the standard Netflix subscription of $15.99/month. For my purposes, it's a pretty good value

Mac's have never been a value leader in terms of upfront costs. They are a value leader if you keep them long enough. This is where Apple products have proven their worth. People generally keep their Mac's longer than Windows laptop because of several reasons.

The fact that Apple won't sell crappy hardware is one reason they last longer and People use them longer. They have to charge more because they have less turn around on their user base.

To me, that is actually a better way to make a product. It makes the user experience better during the lifetime of the product.

I understand that you would like a larger screen at a budget price and I would love to see a 15.6" Air and rumors suggest maybe next year they will.

However if cost is a concern then the M1 MacBook selling new offer the most value Apple has ever delivered in a laptop. The M1 Air can be had for $799 and I am sure during the holidays will go even lower. M1 MBP is also discounted as is the M1 MBP 14". None of them are "cheap" but compared to an equal value Windows laptop they are often times a better value and you should get many years of support and performance.

If you keep your Mac long term as the above poster said your cost of ownership with trade in or resale makes them very affordable.

The trick is to buy every 3 years minimum and more like 5 years and your cost of ownership is pretty low. The problem is that many people with 2 or 3 year old Mac's have Intel processor's and they aren't aging well compared to Apple silicon. Once you make the jump to Apple silicon you should be good for many years.

Mainsail said:

A couple of weeks ago, I bought the base M2 MBA for $1,049 on sale at BB. It is one heck of a nice computer. My needs are simple: Mail, Messages, Notes, Safari, Photos, iWork, MS Office, FaceTime, etc.. I am retired, but I spend some time working on the family real estate business. It is perfect for my needs. I will probably keep it 4-5 years, then get a few hundred dollars trade-in credit when I replace it.

So, let see: ($1,049-$300)/5yrs = $150/year or ~$12.50/month....that's less than the standard Netflix subscription of $15.99/month. For my purposes, it's a pretty good value

I giess I could sell my MB Pro for 500-$600 and upgrade to this: thats a decent deal and it has mag safe, these usb -c outlets in regarding to charging are a disgrace to the human race.

Technerd108 said:

Mac's have never been a value leader in terms of upfront costs. They are a value leader if you keep them long enough. This is where Apple products have proven their worth. People generally keep their Mac's longer than Windows laptop because of several reasons.

The fact that Apple won't sell crappy hardware is one reason they last longer and People use them longer. They have to charge more because they have less turn around on their user base.

To me, that is actually a better way to make a product. It makes the user experience better during the lifetime of the product.

I understand that you would like a larger screen at a budget price and I would love to see a 15.6" Air and rumors suggest maybe next year they will.

However if cost is a concern then the M1 MacBook selling new offer the most value Apple has ever delivered in a laptop. The M1 Air can be had for $799 and I am sure during the holidays will go even lower. M1 MBP is also discounted as is the M1 MBP 14". None of them are "cheap" but compared to an equal value Windows laptop they are often times a better value and you should get many years of support and performance.

If you keep your Mac long term as the above poster said your cost of ownership with trade in or resale makes them very affordable.

The trick is to buy every 3 years minimum and more like 5 years and your cost of ownership is pretty low. The problem is that many people with 2 or 3 year old Mac's have Intel processor's and they aren't aging well compared to Apple silicon. Once you make the jump to Apple silicon you should be good for many years.

Click to expand...

fair response

usagora said:

So you think Apple should price the flagship MacBook Pro at the same price as the older M1 MacBook Air? Yeah, that's not going to happen 🤣 They're priced the way they are because that's what they're worth in the market. In other words, more people disagree with you than agree with you among Apple's target market for these machines.

No, I think the other macs such as the macbook air, should be priced at $400. Its basically no better than a crappy chromebook.

LA_Surfer said:

No, I think the other macs such as the macbook air, should be priced at $400. Its basically no better than a crappy chromebook.

Ok, so this is clearly not a serious thread then.

If you want a 16" laptop for $999 then cheap Windows laptops with cheap components are that way --------->
You can do it. But the screen would probably have to be 1080p.

LA_Surfer said:

No, I think the other macs such as the macbook air, should be priced at $400. Its basically no better than a crappy chromebook.

Go buy a Chromebook then. Seriously, as an Apple investor I urge you to do it. Enjoy.

LA_Surfer said:

No, I think the other macs such as the macbook air, should be priced at $400. Its basically no better than a crappy chromebook.

My wife has an M1 MBA, my son has a school-issued Chromebook. Nope. Not even close.

LA_Surfer said:

No, I think the other macs such as the macbook air, should be priced at $400. Its basically no better than a crappy chromebook.

Ohhh, so we aren't supposed to take you seriously. Gotcha.

LA_Surfer said:

I really don't care for the current macbook pro offerings from Apple. 13in is way to small of a screen, 16in is better but its waaaayyyy overpriced. I like my current 15in 2016 with the task bar, but the chip architecture can't support a browser with 80 tabs open on chrome. The battery last about 2 hours or less using chrome. I wish the 16in had a taskbar or at least a touchscreen. I think a more reasonable price for it would be $999. Apple is always disappointing but what other choice do we have?? They need to lower prices or step up their game.

And yet, you decided to "voice" your opinion that no one asked for.

Good thing you don't care about it, right?

planteater said:

Go buy a Chromebook then. Seriously, as an Apple investor I urge you to do it. Enjoy.

straw man argument

WoodTableFromIkea said:

And yet, you decided to "voice" your opinion that no one asked for.

Good thing you don't care about it, right?

1st amendment

look it up

profcutter said:

My wife has an M1 MBA, my son has a school-issued Chromebook. Nope. Not even close.

They basically do the same thing, internet browse etc

LA_Surfer said:

1st amendment

look it up

Sorry, I'm not aware of your constitutional rights. There's a whole world outside your little bubble.

LA_Surfer said:

They basically do the same thing, internet browse etc

Your opinion is yours but your comparison is vastly incorrect.

Chrome OS is not even a full operating system in the typical sense. There is a very limited amount of software available.

The hardware on even high end chromebooks is rather inferior to any MacBook. Many still use EMMC as storage and Intel Pentium chips.

The M2 MBA has the fastest browser speed of any laptop. The M2 chip has vastly superior single core performance and GPU performance than 99% of Chromebooks.

It is such a ridiculous claim that most people are going to dismiss you completely. I have to ask at this point what do you expect to get from your post? If you like to argue over your opinion that doesn’t make a ton of sense other than you don't feel Macs offer much value?

I would say cheap laptops in general don't offer much value because the inferior build quality, components and materials lead to a sub par experience which leads to buying a new device often all the while never really enjoying what you have in the first place, poor resale value which means you pay more for each new device. Ultimately cheap costs more in the long run.

Just my opinion.

Technerd108 said:

Your opinion is yours but your comparison is vastly incorrect.

Chrome OS is not even a full operating system in the typical sense. There is a very limited amount of software available.

The hardware on even high end chromebooks is rather inferior to any MacBook. Many still use EMMC as storage and Intel Pentium chips.

The M2 MBA has the fastest browser speed of any laptop. The M2 chip has vastly superior single core performance and GPU performance than 99% of Chromebooks.

It is such a ridiculous claim that most people are going to dismiss you completely. I have to ask at this point what do you expect to get from your post? If you like to argue over your opinion that doesn’t make a ton of sense other than you don't feel Macs offer much value?

I would say cheap laptops in general don't offer much value because the inferior build quality, components and materials lead to a sub par experience which leads to buying a new device often all the while never really enjoying what you have in the first place, poor resale value which means you pay more for each new device. Ultimately cheap costs more in the long run.

Just my opinion.

Click to expand...

You’re debating someone incapable of objective thought.

Save your breathe.

LA_Surfer said:

They basically do the same thing, internet browse etc

false equivalence

look it up

LA_Surfer said:

straw man argument

No. Just wishing you a good experience with your cheap Chromebook. If that’s how you derive value for your money, then all the best.

Most of us on this forum derive value in other ways and have come to the conclusion that MacBooks perform better, last longer, and meet out needs better. It’s great to have choices. You couldn’t pay me to use a Chromebook, but you do you.

LA_Surfer said:

I really don't care for the current macbook pro offerings from Apple. 13in is way to small of a screen, 16in is better but its waaaayyyy overpriced. I like my current 15in 2016 with the task bar, but the chip architecture can't support a browser with 80 tabs open on chrome. The battery last about 2 hours or less using chrome. I wish the 16in had a taskbar or at least a touchscreen. I think a more reasonable price for it would be $999. Apple is always disappointing but what other choice do we have?? They need to lower prices or step up their game.

Why not just by a used 2019 MacBook Pro 15"? Get one loaded up and it will be well maybe 600-800. Done...

LA_Surfer said:

No, I think the other macs such as the macbook air, should be priced at $400. Its basically no better than a crappy chromebook.

I will be charitable and assume you have not used an M1 or M2 Macbook Air. They are incredible machines and nothing like a chromebook. It would absolutely destroy your 2016 15" MBP. Quickly checking geekbench, the 15" scores 789 in single-core and 3196 in multicore. The M2 MBA gets 1887 single core and 8725 in multi.

But your suggestion that the 16" MBP should retail for $999 indicates to me that you're on another planet. That 2016 machine you're using retailed for $2,399 when it was released. And that was an awkward product with a whole lot of compromises (heat, processor throttling, mediocre battery life, middling GPU, faulty keyboard, no function keys). The current 14" and 16" Macbook Pros are uncompromised monsters with market-leading performance, excellent thermals, and all-day battery life. The Mac laptop lineup has never been anywhere near as good as it is now.

If your budget is $999, and with absolutely no knowledge of your needs, I'd suggest getting either the M1 Macbook Air, because it's an amazing computer, or a second-hand late model Intel macbook pro. Just be aware that Intel Macs will probably stop getting OS updates in a few years' time.

Grubster said:

Why not just by a used 2019 MacBook Pro 15"? Get one loaded up and it will be well maybe 600-800. Done...

I have a 2016 now its actually a POS, it decides when it wants to charge courtesy of a few bad usb-c charge ports, and it holds a charge for about 2 hours max because the chip architecture is not good enough to handle google chrome. Why buy another POS that can't even handle chrome tabs?

tlab said:

I will be charitable and assume you have not used an M1 or M2 Macbook Air. They are incredible machines and nothing like a chromebook. It would absolutely destroy your 2016 15" MBP. Quickly checking geekbench, the 15" scores 789 in single-core and 3196 in multicore. The M2 MBA gets 1887 single core and 8725 in multi.

But your suggestion that the 16" MBP should retail for $999 indicates to me that you're on another planet. That 2016 machine you're using retailed for $2,399 when it was released. And that was an awkward product with a whole lot of compromises (heat, processor throttling, mediocre battery life, middling GPU, faulty keyboard, no function keys). The current 14" and 16" Macbook Pros are uncompromised monsters with market-leading performance, excellent thermals, and all-day battery life. The Mac laptop lineup has never been anywhere near as good as it is now.

If your budget is $999, and with absolutely no knowledge of your needs, I'd suggest getting either the M1 Macbook Air, because it's an amazing computer, or a second-hand late model Intel macbook pro. Just be aware that Intel Macs will probably stop getting OS updates in a few years' time.

Click to expand...

I would get a MB air if they had a 15" or 16"

13" is too small