Why I Think I've Stopped Buying New Apple Products

Apple General
#1

I’ve owned a number of Macs purchased new. Starting in 2005, every two or three years I would buy a new Mac. In my case, Mac Mini or MacBook. It was never the best, usually it was the lowest model, and I spent a little extra money to upgrade it to max ram or a bigger harddrive on my own to save money. I also always did my research so that I knew what I had would last me a few years.

My refresh cycle has gotten longer and longer and longer, however. In 2005, I bought an Mac Mini G4. In 2008, I bought a MacBook white. In early 2011, I bought a 13" 2010 MacBook Pro. That lasted me until March of 2015, when I purchased a 13" 2012 MacBook Pro, still my daily driver. In fact, it still has Apple Care (and thank goodness for it, I’m on my second battery and my third magsafe adaptor, and I still have Apple Care until March 2018). I have taken extremely good care of it, and it’s in near perfect condition, save for my A and my E keys which are worn from use. I have really strong nails, and I usually destroy E keys very quickly, even when I try to keep them cut. But it’s a minor thing to replace them.

Of course, I have owned a wide variety of used and rescued systems (like G4 Towers, a second Mac Mini, and my current Mac Pro 3,1, but those are not my primary machines).

You’d expect that in 2018, I would replace the 13" 2012 MacBook Pro according to my previous refresh cycle. So a new MacBook Pro something or other, except…

  1. The MacBook Pro 13" 2012 is still a capable machine: Honestly, while the CPU and RAM are maxed out (it’s the Intel dual-core Ivy Bridge i5 with 16GB of RAM), and works very well already, my next step is going to be to toss in a second Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD in Raid 0.

  2. I want to be able to change parts out: Frankly, that can’t be done on recent MacBook Pros, so my plan is to actually go from the 13" 2012 to a 17" Late 2011, and put my 16GBs of RAM and my Raid 0 SSDs in it. I will then sell the 13" 2012 in some kind of configuration.

Desktops:

I’m not doing anything with Apple desktops until I’m done updating my 2008 Mac Pro.

iPhone:

Not only is my iPhone 6S still perfectly fine for me, I’m also jailbroken on iOS 9 and have kept it there for specific reasons. I see no reason to get a new phone at this time, and if I do get a new phone, given my specific feature demands, I may finally switch to an Android phone.

iPad:

At this time, I probably don’t need or want an iPad. I was one of the first in line for the iPad 1 in 2010, and I only sold it very recently. Given the great disparity between the most recent iPads and the iPad 1, I am sure I can get a “wow, this seems really fast” feeling from an older iPad.

Honestly, at this point, have we reached a stage where there’s no real strong reason for a prosumer like me, who does a little bit of everything, but nothing to a professional standard, to purchase a new product from Apple? My feeling is we have. And given the seemingly limited nature of future “proofing” the current systems, there’s not even anything I feel I really want.

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#2

I have three reasons for not upgrading:

  1. Price;
  2. Price; and
  3. Price.
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#3

I’m still rocking my 2013 MBP, Core i7, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD. It’s possible to upgrade the SSD but I manage quite nicely with 512GB (with a NAS in the house for mass storage). Unless this machine dies it’s staying for the foreseeable future as it really does everything I need (and then some). At $4k+ to replace it with a similar spec current gen model I just can’t see the value.

My wife is still happy on her 2011 MBA with it’s i5, 8GB RAM and upgraded 512GB SSD. While it stresses the fans out when she’s playing with photos, it’s fast enough for her pretty minimal use these days.

While it’s price that’s stifling the upgrade bug, the reality is that for the last 5 years + computers of all kinds really have gotten fast enough for a large chunk of the market. Unless they fail there is little incentive to upgrade them.

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#4

Yeah, that’s how I pretty much feel, too. I think most users just don’t need the kind of power most new devices are putting out. Heck, my mother has a 2015 iMac and she barely uses it.

I’ll probably end up inheriting it, because honestly, she does most of her tasks on her iPhone and actually thinks that she’d be better off with an iPad pro. She does make greeting cards and things, but these days you can do that on an iPad and send to a wireless printer. Otherwise it’s all email, video, and web. And she doesn’t really need the iMac for that.

It seems to me that business, creative professional, and gamers are pushing technology. I actual do graphics work and video editing, and it’s hard for me to imagine I would really need some of this speed because it’s all part time freelance stuff. I’m a secondary teacher as my primary job, and that means even if I do sometimes make money from gigs, it’s not my real career.

Also, I’ll be adding that second EVO for speed, not for storage because:

Screen Shot 2017-09-07 at 19.29.17.png698×300 29.3 KB

Yeah. No problem there.

#5

I still just laugh (/cry) when I walk into JB / Myer etc and see the prices of Macs these days. I know I’ve only purchased a couple of Macs brand new… (LCIII, TAM, eMac, MBP) But I don’t see a new Mac coming into our household for many years to come now.

I’m really not liking the form-over-functionality of modern Macs, and sadly also am starting to think that the generation I was considering moving up to (last of the DVD iMacs) are getting too old now… (considering I’m currently using an 09 model, and it’s pissing me off with crashes 3-5 times a week…)

#6

I’ve been quite happy with my macbook (white) mid 2010 but I wouldnt mind having a slightly later version… I was silly to sell my MBP, thats really what I want. However, given the prices even on the refubr store, its not going to happen. If ever I decide to move the macbook on, it will be going without the SSD, I’ll put the old HD back in, and probably install the SSD into my mac mini. I dont think the new RAM is much good for anything else, and the new battery of course will go with the machine.

However, in spite of having the macbook, I tend to use my iPad Air2 when mobile. shrug. I doubt I will buy much more Apple stuff unless i can get it second hand at a really cheap price.

#7

I think part of the reason is that the life of hardware is a lot better these days. I.E. the performance gains of new hardware are not that great anymore. So you can run a computer for a lot longer without needing to upgrade.

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#8

I think we’ve reached a point of diminishing returns in consumer technologies. We don’t need new machines because the current and previous generations are already powerful enough. That’s created an interesting problem for Apple because while overall demand has slowed, at the same time Apple have increased their prices in several markets. That makes a new computer purchase harder to justify than ever, and machines like the MacBook Air continue to sell because while they’re an older design, they’re priced at least somewhat within reach of the average buyer.

That and there aren’t many compelling features or improvements to justify the purchase. How many people would be convinced that a Touch Bar, Touch ID or USB-C ports across the board is worth spending AU$3,000+ for over their existing machine?

Speaking from my own experience, most new computers I’ve sold over the last few months came about as a result of an equipment failure. Mostly 2011 15" MacBook Pros and 27" iMacs with defective video chips, where Apple has discontinued the supply of replacement parts and owners have no choice but to buy a new computer. Almost none have been because the prospective buyer actually wants the features the newer machine has to offer.

It would be interesting to see sales figures from a major Apple retailer like JB Hi-Fi to see what the wider market trends are and what machines are moving in volume.

For me, even my scrappy MacBook Air continues to serve my needs. It doesn’t even feel like a compromise compared to a new machine. It works, it’s fast, it’s reliable, easy to service and replacement parts are plentiful, it has the connectivity I need, at the speeds I need, and in terms of functionality it’s all still current and supported for the foreseeable future.

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#9

The most recent new product I bought was a Late 2016 MacBook Pro which I ended up selling as I was so underwhelmed by it.

My MacBook Pro is a 17-inch 2011 antiglare (bought from here!) which I consider one of the most perfect laptops ever made. For what I want from a laptop, it’s amazing. My desktop is a Mac Pro 2009 with lots of upgrades (CPU, GPU, RAM, SSD, eSATA, USB3 w/ C connectors, etc. etc.). Unless the new Mac Pro next year is blow you away good, I can’t see myself upgrading for a while given this machine has probably cost me all of $1200 total vs. what will inevitably be $5k+ for just the tower in the new model.

I use an iPhone 7+ Jet Black which is hands down amazing. I bought it new this year after being convinced of the + size by a second hand 6S+. I don’t think I’ll be upgrading to the new iPhone, however, unless Apple’s keynote is mind-blowing on Tuesday.

I was looking forward to upgrading my watch next week, but if they keep the current form factor (as seems the case from the recent leaked images), I probably won’t bother upgrading my Series 0. I don’t need GPS and I don’t need LTE. My phone is always with me. I do, however, want a thinner / lighter version which keeps the same straps. I’m amazed that in the one product that would actually benefit from being thinner, Apple haven’t managed to do so. :joy:

I guess my point was … there are some products I’m happy to upgrade to new ones. But it’s only in the watch/phone space, and not the computer space. Buying second hand computers is so much better value than brand new.

#10

Yeah, probably I’ll be getting that model MacBook Pro exactly. With Raid 0 SSDs and 16GBs of RAM, it should scream. And it has all the ports I regularly use. Why would I get anything else.

On the Mac Pro 2008 front, lordy lord did that GeForce GTX 660 make a difference in editing, rendering, and exporting. It’s a significantly better experience than on my Mid-2012 13" MacBook Pro, because the MBP has the integrated intel graphics. Also, while editing, I never used more than my 55% of 10GBs of ram, and I ran IRC, VLC running AMVs, Chrome, three monitor out puts (one from each of my video cards, DVI from the ATI rage, VGA to my Epson projector from the GT 710, and HDMI running 4K from the GTX 660), monitoring programs, LINE, Mail… Maybe something else. I can just imagine how ridiculously fast it’ll be (to me) with Raid 0 SSDs in a PCIe card and like double the RAM?

Apple has sort of… Provided such great hardware for my category (not average user, but not really full professional), that they’ve essentially removed me from the consumer demographic for the foreseeable future.

#11

Unless you need 17-inch I’d recommend getting a mid 2012 15-inch (non retina). The 2011’s have an issue with their GPUs. I actually run mine as integrated only graphics in order to try and prolong it’s life! :slight_smile: (I don’t do anything GPU intensive on my laptop).

#12

Does the Mid-2012 15" (non-retina) have the same processor but just a different GPU? And no, I don’t need the 17" for size, I just thought it had a more powerful i7.

#13

Yeh, the 2012 has an NVIDIA not AMD video card, and an Ivy Bridge i7, and USB 3 too.

#14

I second the 15" Non Retina (Mid 2012). Ivy Bridge architecture and processor, 1600MHz memory, USB 3, NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M, and extremely reliable to boot.

There’s a common misconception that the 15" 2012 is also affected by GPU Issues, but that only applies to the Retina models.

#15

Yep, I’m running one of them and don’t see any real need to upgrade as the newer MacBooks are upgrade disabled and iMacs are just too darned expensive and, with the exception of the 27", also upgrade disabled. As a self professed computer geek I need (oK, maybe want) to be able to upgrade memory and storage as I see fit and non of the new machines allow this so I think when the MacBook Pro finally dies I’ll most likely move back to a Windows based machine and save myself thousands of dollars - I love Apple gear and OS X but it simply is not worth the premium price for OS X given the almost total lack of upgrade ability.

#16

The other related problem though, is the built in obsolescence of the OS. I’m running a 2009 MacBook Pro and it’s a beautifully built machine that’s still going strong. But I’m unable to upgrade to Sierra unless I go through jiggery pokery outside of the App Store. I can understand Apple not wanting to support the newest OS running on an aging machine but it would be nice if they allowed me to be stupid enough to do it myself and suffer any consequences.

But it does mean that even if we don’t want to and/or don’t have to upgrade our hardware, we’ll eventually be limited by the software we can or will be allowed to run on it.

#17

There isn’t any reason why Sierra shouldn’t run on these machines. I do believe though you can hack it on fairly easily. If not, Microsoft will probably support you for years to come.

#18

Also thinking along these lines but I’m probably going to see what can be hackint0shed. I used to do that to my netbook when I had one. Research at 0sx86 iss required.

#19

As I’ve discovered, there is a limitation of the Mac that does interfere with the ability to run some newer operating systems - UEFI. The UEFI 2.0 specification was released on January 31st, 2006, but Apple computers continued to use the outdated UEFI 1.1 specification through until sometime in 2014.

When Microsoft introduced UEFI boot compatibility into their operating systems with Windows 7, it was assumed that any computer booting into Windows on UEFI would support the UEFI 2.0 specification. This was true, with the exception of the Mac. Hence why Boot Camp starts the computer into a BIOS mode emulation state in order to boot Windows.

If you attempt to boot Windows in UEFI mode on a Mac, chances are you will encounter problems. For me, I noticed that Windows was unable to correctly write to Serial-ATA attached devices, and would copy the Windows installation files but fail to update the boot configuration data, rendering Windows un-bootable. When I imaged the Windows install from another supported machine and placed it onto my MacBook Pro (15-inch Mid 2012), Windows would start to boot, but would lose video soon after because Windows and the NVIDIA drivers were expecting some 2.0-specific calls in the UEFI firmware to be present.

So, correct, Microsoft will continue to support these machines for years to come, or at least as long as BIOS support is still included. When the industry starts introducing OSes with UEFI-only boot support, then the process of making those operating systems run on our Macs will become a lot harder.

Not that I intend to let that defeat me. I’ll install a Linux distro on that machine if I have to.

#20

Jiggery pokery as Abbadon calls it is really minor. It’s a couple of point and clicks in a GUI that changes some of the “check Mac type” files on the install “disc” (if we still call it that these days, as it’s not on physical media) and produces a copy that doesn’t do this. You also run a program in the modified diskutil, I think, but again, it’s point and click in the menu bar. Took me mere minutes on the Mac Pro 3,1 and it worked perfectly. It also works with High Sierra, so far, and I don’t think Apple will pursue it, as it’s only people like us who are interested in this stuff, which means I suspect the HS Gold or public final release will work the same.

The ONLY thing stopping Sierra/High Sierra from being installed without “jiggery pokery” is a few lines of code in a config file. I could teach my 70 year old parents how to do it. It’s that simple.

http://dosdude1.com/highsierra/