Apple's Most Devoted Fans Once Again Take Center Stage in a New Edition of 'The Cult of Mac'

[juanm]

buying a brand new MBP with enough RAM and SSD to cover your imaginable near future needs is ridiculously Apple taxy.

Same. I have stopped recommending Mac to friends and family who ask me which computer to buy, even when they specifically ask which Mac. SSD and RAM are very cheap now, and Apple still has 2010 prices. As files and apps are getting bigger and bigger, I can’t honestly recommend a Mac that has soldered its obviously insufficient drive and RAM.

 

[Kabeyun]

I loved converting people to the Mac back in the day... I don't do it anymore. Both OS X and iOS are more confusing than ever. The road to simplicity has become a complex wormhole. "It looks better." has replaced "It looks better AND functions better."

Apple used to understand that "design" is how it looks AND works

Now their products largely just look good.

Same here, being an IT professional, I'm often asked what laptop to buy, and I used to always say Mac hands down, but now I'm like, well, look for a second hand 2015 or older MBP or MBA running High Sierra... or just buy a new Windows laptop, Microsoft, HP, IBM, Dell all seem to make nice ones...

Sounds like many of us miss the days were it was easy to recommend Apple products. Just yesterday I was having a conversation about form vs. function, and I didn't have much ammo like back in the day.

I think what we’re experiencing is the fact that, predictably, the rest of the industry has caught up, largely by taking Apple’s example of a non-industrial look and feel of both hardware and software. The second thing is that every OS has become more complex. It’s had to. Evolution happens, and we do insanely more with our circuits than we used to. Back with System 7, you’d type a paper (using justified, font-driven black letters on a white screen...wow!) or play Dark Castle, and it was easy to stand out from the crowd. I don’t think Apple‘s operating systems are any more complex or buggy than Windows, and what household uses Linux fcol? This does mean that it’s easier to consider non-Apple stuff, but: especially in mobile the cost gap has closed, still need to consider ecosystem integration as computerization expands into more things to use it for, and, again especially in mobile, who will you trust with your data? I still go with Apple.

We could probably have a forum subsection here called "cult of Mac"

It would be a place for the small minority of MR Apple fans to hang out!

 

[ipponrg]

I'm waiting for them to release The Cult of MacRumors: Book of Trolls. It'll need to be a multivolume release.

Definitely. It’d have the blind fanboy trolls, the hater trolls, and the financial trolls for the first 3 volumes ?

 

[Polymorphic]

I would have once considered myself part of the Cult of Mac, but agree with others here that I generally no longer recommend Macs to family and friends. They don't "just work" anymore in a way that justifies the premium prices. I recently talked a friend out of switching his entire household to Macs (at least four computers) after it became clear that he was just going to be trading one set of problems for another, more expensive set of problems.

 

[ElectricPotato]

...what household uses Linux fcol?

Is fcol Debian based?

 

[Duane Martin]

Big yikes. Let's not forget what we're talking about here. A corporation. It's totally cool to like a product. It's totally cool to go to midnight releases, etc. They're fun! But at the end of the day, it's a problem when you're basically treating a company like a sports team, like your tribe. You pay them thousands of combined dollars for their products. And you follow them blindly... why? So you can pay them thousands more? They're a business. This goes for any company, by the way.

Sorry but how is this different than a sports team? Sports teams are businesses to which fans pay thousands of dollars to be entertained. Though I understand the argument that people should not be fanatical about “things“ I am just saying it is the equivalent of being a sports fan. Given the nature of human beings as social animals that need to belong to a group I am not convinced the argument is going to change behaviour.

My first computer was an Apple ][e and I have owned only Apple computers ever since (though I have used Windows and Linux for work). I have stood in a couple late night lines and visited both 1 Infinite Loop and Apple Park (both business related but I won’t lie, it was cool being there). I even have a slightly amusing story about how I missed meeting Steve Jobs. Like more than a few I am less evangelical about Apple now than I used to be but some of that is just maturity. All that said, I will be buying this book if for nothing else but the nostalgia.

 

[Kabeyun]

It's only a running joke because Apple keeps using it as an excuse. From this article:

Apple disputed the results and in a statement, said that the testing was inaccurate "due to the test setup not being in accordance with procedures necessary to properly assess the ‌iPhone‌ models."

I see. So Apple may never state that any test result is invalid because it wasn’t performed properly. Handy.

Is fcol Debian based?

Hah! No idea, For Crying Out Loud.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I would have once considered myself part of the Cult of Mac, but agree with others here that I generally no longer recommend Macs to family and friends. They don't "just work" anymore in a way that justifies the premium prices. I recently talked a friend out of switching his entire household to Macs (at least four computers) after it became clear that he was just going to be trading one set of problems for another, more expensive set of problems.

Right there with you..

The ironic part is that my desktop Hack causes me ZERO issues and I sort of chuckle (and cry a little inside) reading about all the issues with the MacBooks over the last few years.

(I know - Hack isn't for everyone, but when you build it right, it's AMAZING and tremendous value)

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

I don't doubt it. You clearly know more about the numbers than me, but as someone that's a casual American football watcher, even I'm dumbfounded by the kinds of numbers I see thrown around. The salaries, the amounts of money that games bring in, the costs of the stadiums, it's really a behemoth of an industry.

It's the size of the cardboard box industry - if all sports leagues in the US were part of a single company, I don't think that company would be large enough to qualify for the S&P 500.

The amount some of the stars make is rather large for an individual (although not really... there's tens of thousands of people making more than any of these stars are making) but add the team and the stadiums up and its kind of small compared to, say, Netflix.

 

[TsMkLg068426]

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Now this is a real Apple fan

 

[Icaras]

Like everything else, it should be renamed to Cult of Apple.

And MacRumors really ought to be AppleRumors by now. I bet more than half of this site's visitors don't even come here for Mac news.

 

[Kram Sacul]

It wouldn't be a tribute without this guy.
View attachment 881164

The only memorable thing about that ad.

 

[iShater]

Care to share a few examples?

Sure, other than "I like OSX" there is nothing hardware related in the MBP that makes it a better HW choice than the Dell Precision station that many of my colleagues use (the rest we are a mix of 2015MBP die hards, and folks who switched to the 2018 15" MBP). On the contrary, they can still use their mouse and the USB-Ethernet adapters, and I have to get a dongle to just continue to use them. It is the same stuff you hear all the time about folks who miss the 2015 MagSafe as a superior plug, the multi-port availability, etc.

Today's MBP are just like any other laptop, they don't have anything "revolutionary" or "different" that makes them a better design of value in terms of function. On the contrary, they offer "less" function than some of the other high end laptops.

You can say that the touch-bar is the new innovation (some like it some hate it), but nothing else stands out anymore.

 

[ipponrg]

Sure, other than "I like OSX" there is nothing hardware related in the MBP that makes it a better HW choice than the Dell Precision station that many of my colleagues use (the rest we are a mix of 2015MBP die hards, and folks who switched to the 2018 15" MBP). On the contrary, they can still use their mouse and the USB-Ethernet adapters, and I have to get a dongle to just continue to use them. It is the same stuff you hear all the time about folks who miss the 2015 MagSafe as a superior plug, the multi-port availability, etc.

Today's MBP are just like any other laptop, they don't have anything "revolutionary" or "different" that makes them a better design of value in terms of function. On the contrary, they offer "less" function than some of the other high end laptops.

You can say that the touch-bar is the new innovation (some like it some hate it), but nothing else stands out anymore.

Agreed. If OSX was “officially” supported for PCs, many of us wouldn’t consider MacBooks even an option.

 

[nerdAFK]

T☰SLA is the new 

 

[chucker23n1]

Right there with you..

The ironic part is that my desktop Hack causes me ZERO issues and I sort of chuckle (and cry a little inside) reading about all the issues with the MacBooks over the last few years.

(I know - Hack isn't for everyone, but when you build it right, it's AMAZING and tremendous value)

Unless you’ve found a genius way to put your “Hack” in a bag pack and give it multi-hour battery life, your comparison makes little sense.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Unless you’ve found a genius way to put your “Hack” in a bag pack and give it multi-hour battery life, your comparison makes little sense.

For me it does because I used to use a 17" PB and then 15" MBP with a monitor/dock setup as my "desktop" simply for optionality....which I realized eventually that I didn't need, particularly when iPad's came along and got really good in 2010, 2011, 2012 (though I'd argue they only got really good around 2012-2013).

I'm commenting in context to my own usage.

 

[justsayin']

I loved converting people to the Mac back in the day... I don't do it anymore. Both OS X and iOS are more confusing than ever. The road to simplicity has become a complex wormhole. "It looks better." has replaced "It looks better AND functions better." It may very well function better than anything else on the market, but now the nagging feeling of "I can't wait for them to fix this" is everywhere.

Anyway, back to waiting on iOS 13.3 to disable my never used, but marked frequently used Memoji stickers.

Couldn't agree more. IT JUST DOESN'T WORK......and when it does it requires more taps/steps to perform less functionality.

Can't remember the last time I thought "hmmm, if I just had some purple unicorn emojis to send". What are they thinking? How does that take priority over 1) phone crashes every time when trying to email video 2) syncing phone through finder takes hours instead of minutes 3) maps won't stay on satellite view no matter how many times you change it 4) apple care having no solutions, literally knowing less about it than I do and forget senior advisors, the one today doesn't even use an iphone

it happened gradually, but it's flipped......they're now appleSoft

 

[Stevie jobz 2.0]

A sports team is a corporation too so I don't see any difference between a team's fans and Apple fans.

If you cant see the difference, theres really no point in trying the explain the obvious...

 

[chucker23n1]

Big yikes. Let's not forget what we're talking about here. A corporation. It's totally cool to like a product. It's totally cool to go to midnight releases, etc. They're fun! But at the end of the day, it's a problem when you're basically treating a company like a sports team, like your tribe. You pay them thousands of combined dollars for their products. And you follow them blindly... why? So you can pay them thousands more? They're a business. This goes for any company, by the way.

People spend a ton of money to watch the latest Star Wars film (and get the merch), watch sports in a stadium (and get the jersey), drive a fancy sports car. Why should computers be any different?

It's on competitors to become as desirable a brand as Apple, not on Apple to be less so.
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If you cant see the difference, theres really no point in trying the explain the obvious...

True. With a sports event, you really don't have any lasting value beyond a few hours. With an Apple product, you get to use a computer for several years.

 

[Kendo]

Would something like this be okay on a Kindle vs the hardcover?

 

[katbel]

I loved converting people to the Mac back in the day... I don't do it anymore. Both OS X and iOS are more confusing than ever. The road to simplicity has become a complex wormhole. "It looks better." has replaced "It looks better AND functions better." It may very well function better than anything else on the market, but now the nagging feeling of "I can't wait for them to fix this" is everywhere.

I did it too, a lot: other times, other people, other software and systems (oh yeah!), other CEO ..

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

I think what we’re experiencing is the fact that, predictably, the rest of the industry has caught up, largely by taking Apple’s example of a non-industrial look and feel of both hardware and software. The second thing is that every OS has become more complex. It’s had to. Evolution happens, and we do insanely more with our circuits than we used to. Back with System 7, you’d type a paper (using justified, font-driven black letters on a white screen...wow!) or play Dark Castle, and it was easy to stand out from the crowd. I don’t think Apple‘s operating systems are any more complex or buggy than Windows, and what household uses Linux fcol? This does mean that it’s easier to consider non-Apple stuff, but: especially in mobile the cost gap has closed, still need to consider ecosystem integration as computerization expands into more things to use it for, and, again especially in mobile, who will you trust with your data? I still go with Apple.

Um, no. Apple products have decreased in quality, and increased in cost (as in, total cost of ownership, eg due to soldered RAM and SSD, you now need to predict your near future needs and pre-upgrade enough for that, and have to buy the pre-upgrades at extraordinarily inflated prices, rather than wait a year or two until you actually need them and buy at competitive prices from anyone, and when prices have dropped due to Moore's Law. Thus the price you end up paying is massively more than Apple of old). And no, other brands have not caught up with Apple of old either, but they have partially caught up with Apple of new.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Same. I have stopped recommending Mac to friends and family who ask me which computer to buy, even when they specifically ask which Mac. SSD and RAM are very cheap now, and Apple still has 2010 prices. As files and apps are getting bigger and bigger, I can’t honestly recommend a Mac that has soldered its obviously insufficient drive and RAM.

Yep exactly. And I haven't only stopped recommending Mac to friends, I've stopped buying it myself. I'm still hanging onto my 2015 MBP, but I don't know what I will do when it dies. The 16" pro finally seems to have sorted out the most horrible issues of the 2016-2019 models, but due to lack of upgradeability, I would want to get 32GB RAM and 2TB SSD at a minimum, but then the price is just ridiculous, I simply can't afford it. The only way I can see myself sticking with Apple is if my 2015 holds on for a few more years and I upgrade it to a second hand 16".

 

[Kabeyun]

Um, no. Apple products have decreased in quality, and increased in cost (as in, total cost of ownership, eg due to soldered RAM and SSD, you now need to predict your near future needs and pre-upgrade enough for that, and have to buy the pre-upgrades at extraordinarily inflated prices, rather than wait a year or two until you actually need them and buy at competitive prices from anyone, and when prices have dropped due to Moore's Law. Thus the price you end up paying is massively more than Apple of old). And no, other brands have not caught up with Apple of old either, but they have partially caught up with Apple of new.

Um no. “Extraordinarily” inflated prices? Extraordinarily “inflated” prices? Prices are “massively” more than Apple of old? (A IIe cost $5000 in today’s dollars.) Prices are more expensive now than before yet decrease by waiting? Prices drop in a year due to Moore’s Law??

I don’t think even you know what you're saying.