2016 is supposed to be a year for me to upgrade my iPhone and MacBook, but sadly this is not happening. I am still keeping my 2 years old iPhone 6 and my 3 years old MacBook. Dear Apple, what happen this year? I am a Apple fan no doubt but Apple is truly uninspiring this year.
First the iPhone 7…
I am a very satisfied user of the iOS. Having both an iPhone 6 and an Android Xperia Z5 premium, I have constantly rate my iPhone as a better performer in many aspects; LTE connectivity, Wifi connectivity, emails, calendar, camera, music and many more.
Sure iPhone 6s is suppose to be a minor upgrade. Faster Touch ID, 3D Touch, better camera. None of these appeals to me when iPhone 6s comes out. And by the way, 3D Touch, it is rather hard to use unless you have a great sense of how much force to apply. I’m a person who just gently tap on the screen. Applying force on the screen just seems unnaturally for me. Not to forget it can be a bit tiring too. So no updates for me when iPhone 6s came out and I gingerly waited another year for iPhone 7 which based on Apple’s release cycle should have a major upgrade over iPhone 6.
Then it happened. iPhone 7 looks almost identical to iPhone 6! The plus version has a dual lens telescopic camera. Cool but what else. Beside faster this and better that, there is absolutely nothing I find enticing enough for me to buy an iPhone 7! I just couldn’t part with the money just to get a better camera. New Jet Black colour? It’s just the color. I could just get a jet black casing and slap it onto my iPhone 6 Plus. And no 3.5mm port? I’m sure to lose that tiny lightning to 3.5mm adapter.
Initially I was tempted to buy the new iPhone 7 Plus. I was so close to parting that $1000 plus after watching the iPhone event. Life will be better with the new iPhone, I thought. Alas, it is constantly out of stock and I just couldn’t get it even after waiting a month for it. During this time, I realized how good my iPhone 6 is and came to my senses. Maybe iPhone 8 will be better. So I’m shelving the plan for a new iPhone. After all, the new MacBook Pro is going to be announced soon, I can spend my money on that instead to get a better machine.
Then came the announcement of the new MacBook Pro…
First thing in the morning when I woke up to the news of the new MacBook Pro, I was all hyped up to find out when I could buy it. Yes finally I can get a new gadget for myself this year!
But no. Apple has again made it hard for me to part my money.
Where are my ports?
New MacBook Pro (15 inch model) comes with 4 ultra fast thunderbolt/USB-C port. And surprise! I have zero USB-C devices! I connect my current MacBook to a USB 3 portable HDD for Time Machine and an external display using HDMI. My previous MacBook has no HDMI port and I bought a thunderbolt to HDMI connect. Also, I have invested in a thunderbolt to Ethernet connector. After all, my MacBook is full of thunderbolt port. It will be a worthwhile investment.
The new MacBook Pro will have no HDMI or even the old Thunderbolt port. This means I have to first buy a USB-C to HDMI (I have already bought a Thunderbolt to HDMI) and then buy another USB-C to traditional USB hub. My Thunderbolt to Ethernet and Thunderbolt to HDMI are next to useless for this new MacBook.
The new butterfly keyboard is also what that irks me. Having tried out the keyboard before, I was always so glad that my MacBook Pro keyboard feels so good to type on. This new MacBook Pro comes with second generation of this butterfly keyboard. I don’t think it is just not going to work as well as the keyboard of the current Macbook Pro.
Wait did I mention no Magsafe? The one thing about Macbook that I boast to my friend and the connector that save my Macbook multiple times when someone trips over the power cable. In the new Macbook, it is gone. Is USB-C that important for Apple to remove Magsafe? Is that why Apple Care cost more for the new Macbook?
The price…
The giant touchpad is definitely a plus. And the Touch Bar actually looks sexy and useful. So maybe I can just buy more adapters for this new machine, it may not be so bad after all. So, I went to the online Apple Store and tried to find a comparable machine to my current one.
Close to SGD4000! If I remember correctly, I bought my current laptop of comparable spec at least 200-300 less. With Apple Care and a processor upgrade it costs SGD4700 plus! For my previous MacBook, even with Apple Care I paid at least 500 less. Back in 2013 when I bought it, it was the highest available spec and comes with SSD of 512GB. This set also comes with 512 GB SSD. I was expecting at least 1TB.
The increase in price is a big big turn off. Couple with the fact that I need to buy so many adapters, it just doesn’t make sense any more. My current MacBook will do just fine. In fact it may now worth more given the ports that are available on it. Did I mention it still have a SD card slot?
New MacBook is for early adopter
I have come to the conclusion that this new MacBook is for early adopter who really have the extra money to splurge. After going through the ‘Thunderbolt is the future’ And bought all the thunderbolt adapters, I’m not going to place my bet on ‘USB-C is the future’. I will let others have a go first.
Apple please up surprise me next year…
[This article first appear on http://www.jaxxie.me/2016/10/apple-i-wanted-you-to-take-my-money/]