The issue here is very simple. Stop buying them. When I realized that this problem is gonna exist like forever with dGPU models I had to make a decision. I even considered Windows machines, but from my experience with Windows I am not in the mood to get back to those headaches. Yes, Windows 10 is less bad, but still with time it crushes any hardware you throw at it until you have to format and start fresh.
So no Windows for me. Two solutions - go for 13", which I find too small to use standalone anyway or buy a rMPB 15 with iGPU. I went for the latter.
If Apple wants to release a 16 iGPU this year I will analyze it with much interest, if this (for me) stupid idea of cramming a dGPU thinking that the 16 is only for creative audio/video professionals on the era of eGPU continues I really hope my current machine can last forever ?
Apple dropped the ball on users. Poor software. Unreliable keyboards. Unrepairable systems. Cost of acquisition and ownership.
My colleagues at my university are holding to their 2012-2015 machines as long as they can. I am sick of this iphone-priority approach, I still rock a X and hope it will last at least two more years. In my vision Apple has to come up with real innovation to win costumers. This is not 2000s anymore and the "last and best" is not tempting. Especially when the "best for the best" is this.
People want tools that work, they don't want problems. That is why I left Windows 12 years ago, because Apple was creating things that work. I was willing to pay double for the same electronics for this. Now as I write on my trusty 2015 15" model I see no reason to pay premium price for new products that give such headaches to users.
I've seen some on these forums writing about AMD processors. I am not a fan of that approach since we are at this stage because of an AMD chip. I still think Intel has power/thermals advantage even using 14nm. I hope I am wrong and AMD can and will be used on future Apple products. Everybody likes choices.
Stopping the rant, how can Apple present solutions? Here is a couple of approaches to begin with:
- 16" iGPU only or consider the more power-efficient Nvidia chips. Companies exist because clients exist. I've seen Nokia fall because they didn't want to use Android and went for WM. Clients disappeared and so the company from the mobile phone market
- Upgrade 13 to 14 ASAP. Use this to differentiate from MBAir
- stop selling machines with 128GB SSD that cannot be upgraded. This is 2020, not 2010. Even the iPhone starts at 64GB
- Remove BF keyboards once and for all and offer heavily discounted prices to everyone who wants to go to new unaffected machines because of this. Remember the iPhone 4 antennae gate? it was just one model, one year. This has being going on for almost five years. Other actions must be in place, not just scrap under the mattress with a 4-year replacement program that replaces with same design. Maybe they should offer 4-year replacement options and not repair
- stop the "every year new version" thing on OS. It is not serving us users, so stop it and work on quality
- Reduce BTO options price to market prices. Stop asking the price of the whole component for just a replacement
A user that upgrades because he's excited versus one that is forced are completely different users. Moreover when the upgrades come from "downgraded machines" and it has no compelling reason to buy the new stuff, something is definitely very wrong.
