MacBook Pro has gotten boring

[TinyMito]

Let me preface this by saying I understand that the notebook market is fully mature product and we should expect amazing innovations year after year but it still seems like the MacBook Pro has gotten very boring and changed very little.
My first MacBook Pro was a maxed out 2012 MacBook Pro, the first with retina screen and it just seems like not much at all has changed in the 12 years since its release. The current 16" MacBook Pro is almost exactly the same in form factor, size, materials, port selection as the 2012 model. Sure USB-A ports have been replaced by USB-C, the screen is Mini-LED, and components have incrementally gotten better but the only real innovation has been the addition of Touch-ID for authentication. I'm sure everyone will point out the transition from Intel to ARM chips but honestly that change is transparent doesn't really change the use case for the machine. My 2012 MacBook Pro could run all my workflows the same was the M3 model.
Every other PC manufacturer have introduced touch screens, different form factors, facial recognition, etc. but Apple has stubbornly stuck with the same design and have gotten well, boring.
Maybe foldable designs rumored to be coming in a few years will change this.

Generally, MacBook Pro to me is a tool. Adding more features may lead to more problem. It's working, ain't broke, don't fix it.

- Notch doesn't bother me, I usually connect to big screen if I want more real estate for studio works.
- I don't want touch screen, too much cleaning to do if I do and I would prefer a tablet / iPad if I want to draw.
- Boring means matured product, unlike those products I used to own Asus laptops are changing yearly like an unstable teenager.

 

[SerchSSS]

I tend to agree with this. My Macs are tools. They help me get the job done. I don’t need, want or have time for all of the new-fangled whiz-bang add-ons that don’t make getting my work done easier. Touch-ID works really well on my M3 MBA. I don’t need Face-ID or a touchscreen.

If y’all want that stuff, lobby for it. It wouldn’t bother me if they were config options, but I don’t need or want them.

All computers are tools. Touch ID slows down laptop usage, it asks for password every five minutes, multi screen support is lacking compared to windows, there´s not ethernet port which is lame for a laptop advertised as a professional workstation (most work enviroments require access to a wired network and shared storage solution). They are good basic laptops even the Macbook pros but they really are boring when compared to a similarly priced windows laptop. Now you can get systems with amazing OLED screens, pen input on track pad and touch screen for creative apps or even 3D screens for modeling and simulation on the Windows PC space.
All those things are tools too that can get the job done as well or even better than Macs, the only advantage for me is portabilty and battery life but that will change soon with the ARM SoCs coming to windows laptops in the coming years.

 

[AZhappyjack]

All computers are tools. Touch ID slows down laptop usage, it asks for password every five minutes, multi screen support is lacking compared to windows, there´s not ethernet port which is lame for a laptop advertised as a professional workstation (most work enviroments require access to a wired network and shared storage solution). They are good basic laptops even the Macbook pros but they really are boring when compared to a similarly priced windows laptop. Now you can get systems with amazing OLED screens, pen input on track pad and touch screen for creative apps or even 3D screens for modeling and simulation on the Windows PC space.
All those things are tools too that can get the job done as well or even better than Macs, the only advantage for me is portabilty and battery life but that will change soon with the ARM SoCs coming to windows laptops in the coming years.

Yeah, all computers are tools, but adding all of the extras make them toys for some - more gadgets to fail or be tweaked or played with. No thanks.

Buy what works for you. TouchID doesn't slow me/my M2 MBA down. I get asked for a password maybe twice a week. Still don't need/want touch screen, pen input, 3D screens or the burn in from OLED screens. Just give me the computer and let me get my work done.

But you do you and I'll do me.

 

[ThailandToo]

Let me preface this by saying I understand that the notebook market is fully mature product and we should expect amazing innovations year after year but it still seems like the MacBook Pro has gotten very boring and changed very little.
My first MacBook Pro was a maxed out 2012 MacBook Pro, the first with retina screen and it just seems like not much at all has changed in the 12 years since its release. The current 16" MacBook Pro is almost exactly the same in form factor, size, materials, port selection as the 2012 model. Sure USB-A ports have been replaced by USB-C, the screen is Mini-LED, and components have incrementally gotten better but the only real innovation has been the addition of Touch-ID for authentication. I'm sure everyone will point out the transition from Intel to ARM chips but honestly that change is transparent doesn't really change the use case for the machine. My 2012 MacBook Pro could run all my workflows the same was the M3 model.
Every other PC manufacturer have introduced touch screens, different form factors, facial recognition, etc. but Apple has stubbornly stuck with the same design and have gotten well, boring.
Maybe foldable designs rumored to be coming in a few years will change this.

I have stated such… that Apple is giving customers what they ask for not something better or more innovative for the future.

The SD card slot is useless to most. I do photography and most my video work is done on CF Express cards not SD cards!

The USB C whiners have me completely dumbfounded. The port mixed with Thunderbolt is so much more capable than the old USB.

The HDMI was a joke with version 2.0. HDMI 2.1 actually has some usefulness as it allows higher bandwidth than USB C was in the M1 Macs.

Now let’s talk notches. This is dumb as can be. Symmetry is beautiful! Apple has used design language to ensure people know oh that’s an iPhone look at the notch. Then they think oh we can do it with the MacBooks! What’s next, Apple ruins the iPad with a sideways notch!

So R&D was blown on a car project that was pure waste when AAPL could have bought Tesla for $50B in cash! The SoC is great, but it didn’t result in less expensive Macs at all. R&as should be spent to rebuild the lead MacBooks had. They were amazing compared to Windows PCs. Now, there are plenty of Windows-based laptops made really well.

The major problem is Tim got rid of all of the product people. He got rid of Scott Forestall, and anyone who was a threat to his annual $100m stock gift! So now AAPL needs a designer who has vision to make strides again. Tim believes in Vision Pro but the tech isn’t small enough.

The executives are all older men who don’t really get anything except growing the value of the stock by taking advantage of cheap labor basically held as slaves in China. It’s a one-way flow of money from the free world to China and wealthy investors pockets. The top 1% and China make out like bandits over the last 15 years!

Finally, Tim wants to sell us an ecosystem that only works with AAPL products which is by itself anticompetitive. Give me one product with an M-Series SoC as my powerhouse and the rest should be far less expensive deals as add ons. Look at the iPad Pro. Same technology as in a MacBook but hamstrung by software limitations that make zero sense!

I want the rest of the world to do what Europe has done and break up the monopoly. A mega corporation that acts like AAPL deserves to be torn apart. They are like a bunch of thugs not leaders of what should be a great company in the free world.

I love my iPhone. As far as the rest of it, I could be done with it today… Now if Apple starts acting like a good steward to the world, not just Tim’s pocket and idea on what it should be, then sure. But right now I would love to boycott them in a movement.

 

[Jim Lahey]

Or the ability to see the battery charge level without turning on or opening up the laptop...

Yep. There's another dollar saved.

 

[ikir]

I enjoy mine everyday, speak for yourself

 

[wanha]

I agree. 100%. But the notch is actually even more annoying, since I need to use a lot of apps that have menubar icons, and they tend to not show because the notch gets in the way. It doesn't help that Apple keeps adding more menubar items too. It's just really bad design all around.

Have you considered using Bartender to sort your menubar items? It's so good Apple should really ship it as part of MacOS... I won't use a Mac without it

 

[spamabyss]

Also whoever made the decision to delete the pulsing sleep LED should be arrested and charged with crimes against computers. Probably Cook trying to save a dollar per unit.

Haha, now that you mention it I remember the days when I had to put books in front of my gfs MacBook Pro back in 2007 because the pulsing sleep LED would annoy me at night when the computer was sleeping on her desk 😅

 

[Richu]

Let me preface this by saying I understand that the notebook market is fully mature product and we should expect amazing innovations year after year but it still seems like the MacBook Pro has gotten very boring and changed very little.
My first MacBook Pro was a maxed out 2012 MacBook Pro, the first with retina screen and it just seems like not much at all has changed in the 12 years since its release. The current 16" MacBook Pro is almost exactly the same in form factor, size, materials, port selection as the 2012 model. Sure USB-A ports have been replaced by USB-C, the screen is Mini-LED, and components have incrementally gotten better but the only real innovation has been the addition of Touch-ID for authentication. I'm sure everyone will point out the transition from Intel to ARM chips but honestly that change is transparent doesn't really change the use case for the machine. My 2012 MacBook Pro could run all my workflows the same was the M3 model.
Every other PC manufacturer have introduced touch screens, different form factors, facial recognition, etc. but Apple has stubbornly stuck with the same design and have gotten well, boring.
Maybe foldable designs rumored to be coming in a few years will change this.

Welcome to mature product categories. Pretty much every tech product enters this slow moving stagnant phase after a while.

Until the next disruption happens… but they tend to come randomly decades later from unexpected players.

Apples issue is that they built a brand about when they caught lightning in a bottle a few times 15 years ago. So consumers expect this crazy market disruption on a regular basis - which historically doesn’t happen for any company.

 

[jchap]

Let me preface this by saying I understand that the notebook market is fully mature product and we should expect amazing innovations year after year but it still seems like the MacBook Pro has gotten very boring and changed very little.
My first MacBook Pro was a maxed out 2012 MacBook Pro, the first with retina screen and it just seems like not much at all has changed in the 12 years since its release. The current 16" MacBook Pro is almost exactly the same in form factor, size, materials, port selection as the 2012 model. Sure USB-A ports have been replaced by USB-C, the screen is Mini-LED, and components have incrementally gotten better but the only real innovation has been the addition of Touch-ID for authentication. I'm sure everyone will point out the transition from Intel to ARM chips but honestly that change is transparent doesn't really change the use case for the machine. My 2012 MacBook Pro could run all my workflows the same was the M3 model.
Every other PC manufacturer have introduced touch screens, different form factors, facial recognition, etc. but Apple has stubbornly stuck with the same design and have gotten well, boring.
Maybe foldable designs rumored to be coming in a few years will change this.

From time to time, I've felt that perhaps the MacBook Pro could use some subtle design changes, a splash of color here and there, maybe some more ports or a touch panel, something that's, well... more stimulating to jazz up my day, and infuse my computing life with a breath of fresh air.

Ha!

As you probably know, the MacBook Pro has undergone some design changes over the years. You said:

The current 16" MacBook Pro is almost exactly the same in form factor, size, materials, port selection as the 2012 model.

Actually, there was no 16-inch MBP until 2019, only the 13- and 15-inch models.

the only real innovation has been the addition of Touch-ID for authentication.

Physically, perhaps. (Touch ID was implemented for the first time back in the MBP 2016 model, as I recall.) Different things have been tried, though. The butterfly keyboard (in all its painfully problematic glory), the Touch Bar (with its lovers and haters), the Force Touch trackpad, the full switch to USB-C (as you pointed out). There is a reason why with the exception of Force Touch and USB-C, Apple has doubled back on some of those newfangled changes to the MacBook Pro. There were enough users who simply didn't like, use or need them. And so Apple returns to... the classic design. They used to have MagSafe charging on the MBP, then they didn't... and now they do again. Back to the classic design. That says something, perhaps. To me, it says that they did something right the first time, and that taking changes on a new design that wasn't quite as usable or simply added unnecessary frills only highlighted that the original design choice was correct, for most users, at least.

Every other PC manufacturer have introduced touch screens, different form factors, facial recognition, etc. but Apple has stubbornly stuck with the same design and have gotten well, boring.

The issue of touch screens has been talked about in many other places on MacRumors and elsewhere. I actually started feeling like having a touch screen would really spiff up my workflow and make me ultra-productive and give me so many more options... so I tried out a Surface Pro some time ago. (Ever tried a PC with touch or pen-based input?) I found that actually, I really never used touch much, since I was so used to the trackpad and mouse. Other people's mileage will certainly vary.

The fact that Apple cleanly divides its product lines into touch-based devices (iPhones and iPads) vs. non-touch-based devices (Macs) says something about its standing philosophy. Would having touch input really offer a big improvement in your daily workflow on the Mac? If you think so, try going with a Windows computer with a touch screen for a while, and see how it goes. Considering how stubborn Apple has been about not implementing touch screens on the Mac (unless you count the Touch Bar, which is... well... another thing entirely), I would be surprised if they ever decided to break that dividing line.

As others have posted, you can always put stickers (or skins) on your MacBook Pro if you feel that it just needs a facelift. This isn't going to make you more productive or make the machine any "better", but it might make you feel a little better. I've got Wraplus skins on my two MBAs, and it does add a little charm to the otherwise minimal design, if that's what it ever needed.

Maybe being "bored" with tech suggests that we have other issues in life to address...

 

[Anaxarxes]

Let me preface this by saying I understand that the notebook market is fully mature product and we should expect amazing innovations year after year but it still seems like the MacBook Pro has gotten very boring and changed very little.
My first MacBook Pro was a maxed out 2012 MacBook Pro, the first with retina screen and it just seems like not much at all has changed in the 12 years since its release. The current 16" MacBook Pro is almost exactly the same in form factor, size, materials, port selection as the 2012 model. Sure USB-A ports have been replaced by USB-C, the screen is Mini-LED, and components have incrementally gotten better but the only real innovation has been the addition of Touch-ID for authentication. I'm sure everyone will point out the transition from Intel to ARM chips but honestly that change is transparent doesn't really change the use case for the machine. My 2012 MacBook Pro could run all my workflows the same was the M3 model.
Every other PC manufacturer have introduced touch screens, different form factors, facial recognition, etc. but Apple has stubbornly stuck with the same design and have gotten well, boring.
Maybe foldable designs rumored to be coming in a few years will change this.

Another perfect example of requesting change, for the sake of change. I used multiple of these new technologies you mention in my work laptop over the course of 8 years.

• 2-in-1 laptops where you reverse the screen to have a tablet
• Detachable screen laptops
• Surface Pro
• IR equipped face recognition webcam

All of them failed to deliver decent experiences for me. I preferred these machines when I'm with clients (showing something quickly on the screen), for my personal use or when I feel like working away from my desk.

Terrible experience for the tablet mode as Windows was horrific in this scenario, freezing and acting weird. Detachable ones were the worst as I had BSOD even sometimes when they're being detached.

I never ever used the touchscreen function of the laptop other than scrolling. A good multi-touch touchpad offers exactly the same experience.

Surface Pro was an overheating piece of s**t, not usable for any high performance work environment. Our company delisted them in 2 years.

IR webcams with facial recognition was actually OK but got disabled by IT as for enhanced 2-factor security needs. Bu this could actually be good for future of MacBooks, I'll give you that (most likely not being used because of extra hardware required (Flood Illuminator, IR Cam etc)

All these are gimmicks, gadgets that do nothing useful in terms of effectiveness or speed of using a laptop compared to any substantial improvement on architecture, use of memory and battery life. So where it truly mattered, Apple invested and got (for me) the best business laptop ever. I use an MBA for work now and did not look back for one second.

 

[forced-to-have-a-username]

If you want touch, foldable get an iPad. Touch ID is sensitive to dirt yes but mostly works great.

What else are you asking for? My M1 Pro is good for years to come, it's a great Laptop. Laptops are meant for work, right?
I get it I'm an Apple Fanboy nonetheless I too get exited if they bring out something new... But somehow a laptop is supposed to be boring, to just get the work done. And I think MacBooks do a very good Job at that. They are by far the best package all around, and for what they deliver they are fairly priced. I agree that RAM and storage upgrades are expensive for no reason but thats about it (and if you need these you are mostly a business, so apple just assumes you got cash piled to the ceiling). Try and get a Windows Laptop with the same specs for that price (of a base mac). Even if you find one, the OS sucks anyways lol

Edit: theres one thing I wish for though: lit ports 😅 Imagine having a laptop and the only flaw is that the port are not lit...

 

[Marbles1]

There's not much apple could (obviously) do with the MacBook Pro...

But in terms of differentiators, they really should lean into design. Desktop Macs should be the most beautiful looking piece of hardware you can buy. MacBook Pros should be up there in looks but should have great engineering and longevity.

I bought one in 2010 and it lasted ten years. I bought another in 2020 and it's going strong 4 years in. Maybe in 6 years time I'll buy one more.

As has been said, they're tools.

One area for innovation that is lagging behind is the operating system itself. Apple could do a lot more with it, provide more around included applications, make it more feature rich, open up areas like software development - really push hard with generative AI and low code development to make them a more accessible platform to make things.

And then there's a big gaping hole around gaming. Nothing is stopping apple using some of their spare billions to - like they do with TV and movies - launch their own first party studio and produce amazing games/entertainment experiences to make MacBooks the best gaming laptops. But right now they're not choosing to.

 

[ignatius345]

Apple stuff DOES "just work" and while that should be enough, the ever updating cycle of products makes boredom a huge deal. Plus where is the innovation?

The innovation is the fact that you can buy a blisteringly fast MacBook that generates very little heat with true all-day battery life. That wasn't really possible 5 years ago. You have the luxury of being "bored" because MacBooks have become so incredibly capable that you don't have think about how hot your laptop is or where you're going to sit so you can make sure it's plugged in.

Where are the bells and whistles? A glowing apple when you have email, perhaps... anything to make it interesting.

I'm glad Apple has mostly held the line against design gimmicks, myself. They don't age well. Besides, the gaming world is full of crap like this if you really want it.

 

[TechnoMonk]

Its kind of funny that when the processors in MacBooks Pros get more efficient, Apple makes the bodies significantly thicker. It seems like the M-Series chips should be able to thrive in the 2016-2019 enclosures in ways that the Intel chips at the time couldn’t.

No. The 2019 MBP 16 inch was the worst laptop I ever owned. I will take function over form, especially the 16 inch which is pushing in to workstation territory.

 

[turbineseaplane]

There's not much apple could (obviously) do with the MacBook Pro...

Why is it "obvious" that this is all they can really do with a MBP?

 

[Jumpthesnark]

My employer provides me with a MBP and it does what it needs to. I don't want superfluous design additions and "features" I will never use. And (though this thread started with complaints about design and then the usual gripes about RAM and storage pricing began almost immediately), I don't think people want to pay for frivolous trendy add-ons either.

Touch screens? Buy an iPad. I deal with images and don't want fingerprints on my MBP screen. I have Touch ID so who needs facial recognition? I literally need to touch my laptop to use it, so there's no problem with touching that key to get started. Apple laptops are elegant in their simplicity.

If you find the design "boring," and it's not enough of a fashion statement for you, then put some glittery stickers on it. It's a tool.

 

[Colpeas]

Although I sort of agree that there is no "wow effect" coming with new macbooks, I still gotta ask - what do you expect?

I've had MacBooks since the pre-unibody, pre-iphone era circa 2007 and the use case for those machines hasn't changed a bit since mid 2000's. If anything, the current-generation MBP reminds me of PowerBook G4's more than anything else - and that's a design literally over 20 years old. Sure there's a significant speed bump with each generation now, but apart from unibody design in 2008, retina displays in 2012 and touchbar in 2016 (which I guess was an attempt to revolutionize the way people interact with their laptops, though the idea did not stick), there is nothing new in this field lately. If anything - with the Magsafe making a comeback, touchbar being ditched and previously omitted i/o put back - the technology has made a full circle going through innovation and gimmicks back to where it was at the beginning.

I dare to say that it's very hard to improve something that's already perfected, especially when people don't like changing their habits. Just look at ASUS, they are steadily coming up with all kinds of weird futuristic devices, yet none of them had made any significant impact on the industry. And yet MacBooks are so far ahead of the rest of the industry in terms of ergonomy and features even though they've been mostly the same for decades now. In fact, modern MacBooks have proven to be such great machines that Apple has to obsolete them by dropping software support for otherwise perfectly capable machines to make people upgrade. As sad as it is, there is no real competiton to the macs on the market today.

And that's coming from somebody who is frankly pretty annoyed of being handcuffed to apple's ecosystem.

 

[CraigJDuffy]

Let me preface this by saying I understand that the notebook market is fully mature product and we should expect amazing innovations year after year but it still seems like the MacBook Pro has gotten very boring and changed very little.
My first MacBook Pro was a maxed out 2012 MacBook Pro, the first with retina screen and it just seems like not much at all has changed in the 12 years since its release. The current 16" MacBook Pro is almost exactly the same in form factor, size, materials, port selection as the 2012 model. Sure USB-A ports have been replaced by USB-C, the screen is Mini-LED, and components have incrementally gotten better but the only real innovation has been the addition of Touch-ID for authentication. I'm sure everyone will point out the transition from Intel to ARM chips but honestly that change is transparent doesn't really change the use case for the machine. My 2012 MacBook Pro could run all my workflows the same was the M3 model.
Every other PC manufacturer have introduced touch screens, different form factors, facial recognition, etc. but Apple has stubbornly stuck with the same design and have gotten well, boring.
Maybe foldable designs rumored to be coming in a few years will change this.

The new MBPs are incredible machines and apple silicon was the most exciting innovation in computing since SSDs in my opinion.

Sure, they have plateaued (and I’d like to see faceID on macs) but they’ve stuck with the same design because it’s pretty much perfect.

Beds are boring because they mostly all have the same form factor, same with cars, they do this because it’s a form factor which works.

 

[CraigJDuffy]

The Dell XPS 13 has an "Edgefinity" display. It's bezels are thinner than the MBP. They managed a camera, without a notch too.

The 12" PowerBook had an edge-to-edge keyboard that I thought was fantastic.

I don't know how much depth it would add, but they could put in a non-chiclet mechanical keyboard.

I think the bigger issue is that the current MBP looks like the 16" Intel MBP, which looks remarkably like the original unibody MBP's from "late 2008" - silver body, black bezels, black keyboard. The only major design differences from 2008 to 2024 (that's 16 years!) are the keyboard base is black now, instead of silver, and they added a notch.

The notch is good though, great place to put the menu bar. Why is it so large for a machine without FaceID and a relatively crappy webcam though?

 

[Colpeas]

The Dell XPS 13 has an "Edgefinity" display. It's bezels are thinner than the MBP. They managed a camera, without a notch too.

The 12" PowerBook had an edge-to-edge keyboard that I thought was fantastic.

I don't know how much depth it would add, but they could put in a non-chiclet mechanical keyboard.

I think the bigger issue is that the current MBP looks like the 16" Intel MBP, which looks remarkably like the original unibody MBP's from "late 2008" - silver body, black bezels, black keyboard. The only major design differences from 2008 to 2024 (that's 16 years!) are the keyboard base is black now, instead of silver, and they added a notch.

There's a limit to the practicality of thin bezels on laptops. I get it - the thinner the bezel, the more screen real estate you can squeeze out of the same footprint. But at the same time, the thinner the bezel, the more prone to damage the screen is. It already doesn't take much to bust a screen on a macbook and you know it's not a cheap fix.

Yes the 12" PBG4 had an amazing keyboard - in the end, the 12" MacBook had it too, with full-size keys. However the speaker quality on both sucked bad as there was no space to fit a pair of decent speakers.

Mechanical keyboard in a notebook that's meant to be portable is absolute nonsense. For one, imagine how bulky it would have to become to accommodate the switches (as if the current gen. wasn't chubby enough without it). And second, that sound. I think I belong to the vast majority of users who absolutely hate how noisy mechanical keyboards are. Can you imagine sitting in a quiet cafe, enjoying your hot beverage, with a dude writing his blog on a macbook with a mechanical keyboard right next to you? I can't even...

Word, my man!! Although they take a number of design clues from the older pre-unibody MacBooks and Powerbooks, too, e.g. rounded edges. Which, all in all, make the current gen look about as bulky as those ~2005-era machines...

 

[257Loner]

I don't necessarily always want innovation. Sometimes I just want quality. I want a...wait for it...deep keyboard! Too bad those are going away...

 

[ProbablyDylan]

Mechanical keyboard in a notebook that's meant to be portable is absolute nonsense. For one, imagine how bulky it would have to become to accommodate the switches (as if the current gen. wasn't chubby enough without it). And second, that sound. I think I belong to the vast majority of users who absolutely hate how noisy mechanical keyboards are. Can you imagine sitting in a quiet cafe, enjoying your hot beverage, with a dude writing his blog on a macbook with a mechanical keyboard right next to you? I can't even...

It's worth considering that mechanical does not equal noisy. I have the same mechanical keyboard at home and at work, the only difference is that the board at home has silent switches and the one at the office has louder clicky switches because it makes me feel more productive.

That being said, users that prefer a different feel can always use an external keyboard. The average person (Apple's main clientele) doesn't think about the keyboard to the extent that an enthusiast does.

It would be nice if they offered additional switch options in the configurator. Give me the option for heavy and tactile scissors and I'll gladly shell out another $100.

 

[jb310]

This is entirely subjective, but I think the 2019 MacBook Pro is the best looking laptop I've ever seen, and I wish Apple kept that design and just changed the internals to add Apple Silicon.

 

[dmccloud]

It's worth considering that mechanical does not equal noisy. I have the same mechanical keyboard at home and at work, the only difference is that the board at home has silent switches and the one at the office has louder clicky switches because it makes me feel more productive.

That being said, users that prefer a different feel can always use an external keyboard. The average person (Apple's main clientele) doesn't think about the keyboard to the extent that an enthusiast does.

It would be nice if they offered additional switch options in the configurator. Give me the option for heavy and tactile scissors and I'll gladly shell out another $100.

First of all, if you want mechanical switches, you'd have to ditch the scissors keys in favor of mechanical keys. Second, Apple would have to increase both the thickness and weight of the MBP to accommodate said switches. Unless you're selling massively overpriced gaming laptops, the market is not going to jump all over big and bulky notebooks just for a mechanical keyboard.