Below is what I wrote a few months ago over at macrumors after someone complained about the continual grief on the threads there. It is even more so now as Microsoft is clearly going after the graphics crowd with the Surface Studio.
"The people complaining in thread after thread aren’t Apple haters. They are Apple lovers.
There was a time when Apple was surfing near the top of the early adoption curve: not the first attempts of a new device class that dwell at the bottom of the upward point of the curve; Apple surfed up near the crest. In fact, Apple would make the curve accelerate upward, building the height of the curve in any product class it entered. Apple at its best. These ‘Apple haters’ loved that Apple.
More recently under Cook it has become a mature company, selling mature products. Its product curve is flat. The focus is on all on the supply chain and margins. The aim of upgrades is iterative, designed to keep the product bumping along the flat top of the curve just that little bit longer, the aim of updates is to stave off decline at the far right of the curve just that little bit longer, and the aim of introducing upsell features to maintain margins just that little bit longer. It allows the Board and executives to enjoy the good life without too much pressure, and indulge in activities not related to the purpose of the company. In short, Apple has lost focus. These ‘Apple haters’ hate that Apple.
The make or break will be the next version of the MacBookPro when they finally, at long last, arrive. If these disillusioned Apple lovers don’t like them, if they aren’t insanely great, the company will be dropped with all the extreme prejudice former lovers are wont. It won’t be pleasant. Sure, these days Apple is an iPhone company, but it’s evangelists, its true believers, aren’t purely iPhone users. They are Mac users looking over the fence at HP Spectres et al."
