Thinner is NOT Better

[jasnw]

Interesting engineering look at the Samsung exploding battery issue:

https://www.instrumental.ai/blog/20...used-samsung-galaxy-note-7-battery-explosions

So, maybe jamming everything together in order to make it smaller/thinner is not such a good idea after all?

 

[thats all folks]

Thinner is NOT Better

eh, you haven't met my wife. no, just kidding. I'm alone, all alone.

but that is potentially terrifying. ignoring known principles of design and manufacturing to squeeze another millimeter out of the phone. essentially it was engineered to be a bomb. probably a case of poor and blocked communications between department heads and upper management in an attempt to not disappoint or accept responsibility for the fact that what was being asked couldn't be done. now they can all be dissapointed together. reminds me of the story behind the Challenger explosion. sad.

but we know Apple wont do that, they just reduce battery life.

 

[macmee]

Apple refuses to listen to us that we don't want fricken' thin DESKTOPS like the iMac if it means they overheat and throttle (which they do), and macbooks with 2 hour battery life (which they now have).

 

[Galacticos]

Interesting engineering look at the Samsung exploding battery issue:

https://www.instrumental.ai/blog/20...used-samsung-galaxy-note-7-battery-explosions

So, maybe jamming everything together in order to make it smaller/thinner is not such a good idea after all?

Isn't the MacBook Pro evidence enough alone for this?

 

[frankgrimes]

hopefully Samsung finally gets back on track give me a bigger notebook, smartphone with a bigger battery and more power in my mind this will always be more important than thinness for me

 

[phrehdd]

There seems to be a fair amount of people becoming quite frustrated and disillusioned with Apple's freak obsession with thin. It is this manifestation of form over function that is driving people away from various Apple products as well as Apple's attempt to force various feature sets (abandoning audio jack as example, reduction of ports on various computer/laptop models) and somehow, adding insult to injury with IOS and "MacOS" becoming more and more bloated and clumsy as compared to the "this is fun and useful" of Mac OS's of yore.

I, like a few friends are happy using our Apple products we have but have made zero effort to get anything new. We are waiting until our items are no longer of use or something truly better comes out and when that time comes, I'll put even money it wont be from Apple and thus, I bid farewell at that time.

 

[Galacticos]

There seems to be a fair amount of people becoming quite frustrated and disillusioned with Apple's freak obsession with thin. It is this manifestation of form over function that is driving people away from various Apple products as well as Apple's attempt to force various feature sets (abandoning audio jack as example, reduction of ports on various computer/laptop models) and somehow, adding insult to injury with IOS and "MacOS" becoming more and more bloated and clumsy as compared to the "this is fun and useful" of Mac OS's of yore.

I, like a few friends are happy using our Apple products we have but have made zero effort to get anything new. We are waiting until our items are no longer of use or something truly better comes out and when that time comes, I'll put even money it wont be from Apple and thus, I bid farewell at that time.

I think this is a good summary. The general apathy toward Apple products from a lot of long time customers is definitely growing. But once again we see Tim Cook double down on how much the customers love the underwhelming products and how great the pipeline is. Shame on you for your lies tim, and shame on customers who fall for it time after time

 

[maflynn]

Apple refuses to listen to us that we don't want fricken' thin DESKTOPS like the iMac if it means they overheat and throttle (which they do), and macbooks with 2 hour battery life (which they now have).

It makes no sense to produce a thinner iMac, and while it can be beneficial (or at least it was), to make laptops lighter and thinner, we're at a point of diminishing returns, i.e., 2 millimeters in the MBP, cost us a larger battery and now the battery performs worse then the 2015 model.

With that said, if people keep buying the product, that's enough validation for Apple to continue. So its less about not listening to us, but rather, they're seeing customers buy the laptops. If and when sales start sagging, then we may very well see some them alter course. As the saying goes, money talks.

 

[Galacticos]

It makes no sense to produce a thinner iMac, and while it can be beneficial (or at least it was), to make laptops lighter and thinner, we're at a point of diminishing returns, i.e., 2 millimeters in the MBP, cost us a larger battery and now the battery performs worse then the 2015 model.

With that said, if people keep buying the product, that's enough validation for Apple to continue. So its less about not listening to us, but rather, they're seeing customers buy the laptops. If and when sales start sagging, then we may very well see some them alter course. As the saying goes, money talks.

Yes but..

Shouldn't a computer company keep the computer alive and well. Not whimsically chase profits with super thin super light products that nobody has asked for. When people say the sales are telling Apple to keep doing it, can't we consider what the sales would be with a thicker heavier but better product?

 

[jasnw]

With that said, if people keep buying the product, that's enough validation for Apple to continue. So its less about not listening to us, but rather, they're seeing customers buy the laptops. If and when sales start sagging, then we may very well see some them alter course. As the saying goes, money talks.

And this is a big fallacy of market-driven product development in a narrow marketplace with few competitors. If you want (or need) a MacOS computer you have two options: buy one from Apple or build/maintain a Hackintosh. Most people, myself included, see life as too short to take on the additional burden required to keep a Hackintosh going (that's why I left the Linux world), so there really is no second option. Apple knows this, and knows that they can do damn near anything they want to their computers up to whatever straw on the camel's back makes their market collapse. Keeping the customer satisfied appears to be very low on Apple's list.

 

[maflynn]

If you want (or need) a MacOS computer you have two options

The third option is to move back to windows. I'd say for many people, OS X is a personal preference. I'm not a creative professional, so my computing needs are fairly generic, and such I can easily move to Windows. I prefer OS X, but I'm not married to the platform, and if I don't see value in the purchase, I won't buy it.

I opted to buy an iMac last year, but I saw value, but conversely I found that I'd get more bang for my buck if I opted for a windows laptop which I did

 

[Galacticos]

And this is a big fallacy of market-driven product development in a narrow marketplace with few competitors. If you want (or need) a MacOS computer you have two options: buy one from Apple or build/maintain a Hackintosh. Most people, myself included, see life as too short to take on the additional burden required to keep a Hackintosh going (that's why I left the Linux world), so there really is no second option. Apple knows this, and knows that they can do damn near anything they want to their computers up to whatever straw on the camel's back makes their market collapse. Keeping the customer satisfied appears to be very low on Apple's list.

The problem for long time Apple fans is this isn't an explosion, it's a decay, and the customer base will collectively wake up and realise the apple is rotten and the products could be too far gone by then

 

[phrehdd]

The problem for long time Apple fans is this isn't an explosion, it's a decay, and the customer base will collectively wake up and realise the apple is rotten and the products could be too far gone by then

You may be right about this. For phones, it only takes one really creative or inviting idea by a non-iPhone phone maker to put a dent in Apple's pocketbook. It wont take much to eclipse Apple's computers if/when Microsoft gets its act together and simply cleans up their Windows OS to be something akin to "OSX" or Linux's better desktops and match it up with the offerings of MS "Studio" hardware of HP's Z series of desktops and laptops. As for software, Apple already gave up its potential when it started degrading some, dropping others and over all not giving a ... about end users. What a darn shame.

 

[OS6-OSX]

We have almost met our objective. We will get our laptops to be thin as this penny! If any of you think we are pinching what's in the upper right corner, you are just an Apple hater!

 

[macmee]

We have almost met our objective. We will get our laptops to be thin as this penny! If any of you think we are pinching what's in the upper right corner, you are just an Apple hater!

woah was there a macbook in your picture? It was so thin I HARDLY EVEN NOTICED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Zirel]

Interesting engineering look at the Samsung exploding battery issue:

https://www.instrumental.ai/blog/20...used-samsung-galaxy-note-7-battery-explosions

So, maybe jamming everything together in order to make it smaller/thinner is not such a good idea after all?

That's not because it's too thin. It's because Samsung build quality is a mess.

You don't need to be an engineer to see the quality of construction of the Samsung is vastly inferior to that of the iPhone, just by looking at it.

 

[macmee]

That's not because it's too thin. It's because Samsung build quality is a mess.

You don't need to be an engineer to see the quality of construction of the Samsung is vastly inferior to that of the iPhone, just by looking at it.

iPhone > Samsung in production quality every day of the week.

But the Mac lineup? These days Apple is basically just duct taping a bunch of s*#& together and slapping aluminum around it. Especially in the last 3 years of Macs, I have never seen worse build quality for "premium" devices in my life.

 

[Sam_S]

It's a shame, I certainly think the last generations of rMBPs were the ideal compromise in preformance and size. Not to mention were well priced, had lots of I/O and MagSafe!! These new devices just seem like a flashy device to go with the Apple Watch and are not a functional device anymore.

I'm sick of iOS10. I believe that iOS6 was the best of all the versions (overlooking the maps app) lightweight, fast and responsive! I didn't mind the new look iOS7 but it hasn't aged well and the performance is a joke the spotlight search hardly ever works on my iPhone 6.
Not to mention the iPhones have lacked innovation in recent years. Again for me the iPhone 5 was probably my favourite iPhone and to me it's been all downhill since then.

All of my devices are due for a refresh (and my MacBook is about to die) but I honestly don't know what I'm going to do. Is anyone else as confused as me.

 

[Galacticos]

It's a shame, I certainly think the last generations of rMBPs were the ideal compromise in preformance and size. Not to mention were well priced, had lots of I/O and MagSafe!! These new devices just seem like a flashy device to go with the Apple Watch and are not a functional device anymore.

I'm sick of iOS10. I believe that iOS6 was the best of all the versions (overlooking the maps app) lightweight, fast and responsive! I didn't mind the new look iOS7 but it hasn't aged well and the performance is a joke the spotlight search hardly ever works on my iPhone 6.
Not to mention the iPhones have lacked innovation in recent years. Again for me the iPhone 5 was probably my favourite iPhone and to me it's been all downhill since then.

All of my devices are due for a refresh (and my MacBook is about to die) but I honestly don't know what I'm going to do. Is anyone else as confused as me.

I don't feel confused so much, just obligated to include non apple alternatives in buying decisions

 

[Zirel]

But the Mac lineup? These days Apple is basically just duct taping a bunch of s*#& together and slapping aluminum around it. Especially in the last 3 years of Macs, I have never seen worse build quality for "premium" devices in my life.

Ahah, nice meme.

 

[AidenShaw]

All of my devices are due for a refresh (and my MacBook is about to die) but I honestly don't know what I'm going to do. Is anyone else as confused as me.

Has Apple's reputation for long-lasting (that is, "good investment") systems taken a nose-dive?

My company has a policy of buying laptops with the three year or four year warranty (standard on Dell and Thinkpad, AppleCare optioned on the Apples). (Our corporate bulk purchase agreements with Dell and Lenovo include four year support in our discount.)

Lately I've had a lot of requests for early replacement of Apples - the 2013 MacBook Pros (like yours) are becoming almost unusable (according to the whiney PhD researchers in my group). Mostly GPU-related issues (imagine that, an Apple with GPU problems).

Got a handful of new MBPs this week, and the initial responses have been underwhelming (except for the emergency trip to the Apple store to buy new dongles to connect them to what people already had on their desks).

Meanwhile, the people with four year old ThinkPads ask "there's nothing wrong with my laptop, why do I have to upgrade?" when their systems hit the warranty mark.

"It just works" is an historical footnote. And perhaps Jony Ive's obsession with "thin" is a root cause.

 

[Tech198]

Actually its users problems...

We want thinner devices, and as a result manufactures have to meet that...

They could easily say 'no' (if they only knew these problems would cause) but they can't do that... They gotta give in to customers.

Not limited to Samsung but any company including Apple.. The real difference is how Samsung did it. As if it was just pure "piling too much in a battery" then why don't we see it with other companies? as they do exactly the same thing with same technology.

We have almost met our objective. We will get our laptops to be thin as this penny! If any of you think we are pinching what's in the upper right corner, you are just an Apple hater!
View attachment 676778

Hopefully that's what will be in store for us ... You can do the iSight camera in the display, and all u need visually is a small light to show the indication. And if Apple thinks i'm pushing them for this...
... then Good..... I'm glad.

 

[phrehdd]

Thank you Apple for making everything go "thin." With this great form over function mindset, you have inspired me to look at other computers, laptops and devices. What you have done is help me learn how to not make my wallet "thin" by buying Apple "thin" products.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

We want thinner devices, and as a result manufactures have to meet that...

Citation needed. Seriously. I don't see anyone complaining that the old MBP is too thick, and they need the new MBP because of how much thinner it is. At best, you see people complementing its thinness, but not, I don't believe, in lieu of of its performance.

 

[Tech198]

Citation needed. Seriously. I don't see anyone complaining that the old MBP is too thick, and they need the new MBP because of how much thinner it is. At best, you see people complementing its thinness, but not, I don't believe, in lieu of of its performance.

It's not all user demand.. only.... its also because other companies do it, users see what they like, and Apple has do do it.

If Apple can turn around and say "no, we don't want to go thin", there there would be no problem... People would go elsewhere.. So the question is 'Why hasn't Apple said no'? Apple doesn't wanna drive people away, and that's what will happen since the majority look at thin products.. Not everyone likes it, but if 90% didn't like it, why has Apple still got those customers?