Hello Again. Bye Bye Desktops.
Comments on the event itself.
Apple deciced to reveal their new Accessibility web site as the opening item of the keynote. I’m happy for all people who can use Apple products because of accessibility features. It is an important focus of attention for Apple and they want them to tell the world about it. The update part was essentially a recap of features and quotes from reviewers of the iPhone 7 or iOS 10. No sales figures on iPhone 7 or Apple Watch. Nothing about the next generation Apple Store. Just boring stuff.
The segment on Apple TV was out of place. Don’t you think the TV.app should have been the default interface of the Apple TV from day one ? I think so. Maybe it wasn’t a great idea to port the other iOS device home screen to the TV after all. To me, this is one of the many example where Apple missed the occasion to really re-invent the television. Will the new TV app replace Movies app on iOS ? Confusing if not. TV App could be used to play locally stored content. TV App join the list of things available in limited number of countries like News.
“Apple spent the entire event comparing itself to its own past, rather than showing us the future, “ — Owen Williams
Apple is looking back quite often these days. They spent quite some time on previous generations of Mac portables. Many wanted Apple to look forward and show us the future. Oh, and the first portable wasn’t the PowerBook but the Mac Portable. Just to set the facts straight.
How many times Apple referred to Pro users? Quite often. The message was crafted to make them happy and forget about the Mac Pro blunder. The message is clear. Apple is done with the desktop. The future is portability. Mobility. Wireless. Period. Don’t expect a Cinema Display. Don’t wait for an external keyboard with Touch Bar.
Asking troubled Twitter to come on stage to show new stuff for Apple TVn the same day they announce they will shutdown Vine is a loser move. MLB at Bat would have been a clear win. Oh, and this DJ demo wasn’t really good because the music created wasn’t really good.
Many reactions to the new MacBook Pro relates to pricing, ram capacity and the lack of upgrade to desktop Macs. This event was all about portability, not the desktop.
On the MacBook Pro Touch Bar
On the outside, these machines may look a lot like the previous generation, but they are pretty solid upgrade on many fronts. The touch Bar is the main selling point here. The screen gets a much needed upgrade by supporting wide color gamut. But, on the inside, there is something new: the T1 chip. The Touch Bar running its own operating system and working in coordination with macOS which is pretty amyzing stuff. Touch ID for user switching is cool. I love the keyboard of this machine. Customizing the Touch Bar with the touch and dragging to the touch bar is pretty cool.
On the MacBook Pro the bad and the ugly
I know, users will be able to use any of the USB-C ports to charge their Mac. But, MagSafe was fixing a real problem. Why get rid of this? Apple couldn’t come up with a solution combining USB-C and MagSafe? This is a step backward.
Max 16 GB of ram in a Pro portable? According to Phil Schiller himself, it was a power consumption issue.
Try plugging your iPhone 7 on this MacBook Pro to do stuff… adapter required. Is this a real issue? These days, people with iPhones don’t necessarily have a MacBook. But those with a MacBook have an iPhone. MacBook could have included a dongle for this in the box.
Bye bye glowing Apple logo in cafés. Hello again “MacBook Pro” in front of your eyes all day long. Samsung put their name at the top of the screen on their smartphones. Why should Apple do the same for their laptops? Less distraction to the user is more.
Previous generation MacBook Pro are still on sale at the same price. Why do they keep them in the lineup? Because Apple certainly expect people to ask for traditional USB ports for quite a while. But, keeping them at the same price is indecent to say the least.
Oh, and one more thing: there was no “one more thing”.
This keynote was not the greatest in recent memory. It was pretty short and the MacBook Pro was the sole focus on the event. Are just “blazé” now? May be. In a mature market with a mature product like the MacBook, innovations come in the form a vertical improvements that focuses on specific problems. Time to introduce a game changer in this space is over.
