The new MacBook Air proves Apple uses software to limit features

[gusping]

To be fair to Apple, I think it's likely they chose to segment things as they did to drive sales to "Pro" models, and now have worked to find a way to bring the external displays feature down the line due to the uproar about it.

I don't like that it went how it did, but I'll give them credit for hearing the feedback at least

Now ... about those RAM & SSD upgrade prices...

Credit for listening to feedback? LOL. The weakest Intel CPUs have been able to drive multiple displays for ages. Stop being an Apple sympathiser.

 

[Basic75]

Not the first time Apple dropped features in a transition only to add them back later. Just ask any Final Cut Pro X user. Or people running 64bit PPC applications. Or people with 1TB RAM in their Mac Pro that are still waiting!

 

[MagicBird]

Credit for listening to feedback? LOL. The weakest Intel CPUs have been able to drive multiple displays for ages. Stop being an Apple sympathiser.

You guys should read the full thread and perhaps read up on computers 101.

This is not about the CPU, or Apple malisciously limiting functionality in SW. It is about the capabilities of all subsystems accountable for sending high bandwidth display data from the frame buffer to the display. If the buses and main board components cannot sustain that traffic you cannot drive the displays, no matter the CPU or GPU.

Read some of this, educate yourself

Thunderbolt 3 vs Thunderbolt 4 and the M1 Max and M1 Pro Macs

We clear up the confusion around the difference between Thunderbolt 3 vs. Thunderbolt 4, especially regarding the new M1 Macs.

eshop.macsales.com

Finally, like any properly run business Apple probably know that the majority of their MBA customer base has no use for multi-mon so it makes sense for them not to prioritize this or e.g. introduce this as the price difference between previous gen and more capable versions of all required components becomes negligible.

 

[the*architect]

For ecological reasons, it might be a great idea to use software limitation on a larger scale.

I'm thinking about the recent approach from HP to rent out printers. How about apple would produce let's say an M3 Pro I-Mac with 64 GB RAM and 2 TB Storage and rent them out to customers. Apple could give the customers the option to save on costs by choosing a rental plan with limitation to M3 Standard, only 8GB RAM and 512GB of storage. For the customer it would not matter whether he would buy a machine which only has 8 GB RAM or rent a machine which was limited down to 8GB.

But let's say in four years from now, the customer might need a better computer. If the customer would have had bought an 8GB machine, he would need to buy a new machine. But with a rental plan, he could just upgrade to a better plan with e.g. 16GB. The advantage of this, is that computers could be used way longer. Let's say during the period of 15years a basic customer would buy and sell 3 machines. With a rental plan with limited high-end computers, it might be possible to only use two computers. This would greatly reduce the electronic waste if it’s done on a large scale. It also would reduce the total production and shipping costs, which could lead to lower prices.

The key for the success to this proposal would be the rental price. Of course, It should be high enough so that apple can make its profit, but also low enough that it is a cost saving offer for the customer.

What’s your opinion?

 

[mectojic]

@the*architect uh don't know why you're "quoting" me there, I didn't say that. I assume that's your own post?

Anyway, to answer it: yeah, that just feels really scammy to me. Consumers were outraged when they bought cars that you had to pay subscriptions to get heated leather seats.
Just imagine how ripped off you would feel if you bought a computer, but its features were limited purely because you didn't spend extra on it?

I mean, I feel fine knowing that someone else's Mac has double my Ram. But that's because they paid for it, and felt like they needed it. It's not that we both had the same machine. That would just be crazy.

Apple could rent out units, I don't mind that, but they shouldn't rent out higher-specs and then degrade them.

 

[MagicBird]

Apple could rent out units, I don't mind that, but they shouldn't rent out higher-specs and then degrade them.

And what exactly makes you imply they do?

 

[artifex]

This isn't anything new.

Remember when Apple "offered" to sell us a software patch to enable the 802.11n compatibility that we already had on our hardware?

2007 blackbook enters the chat

Not really related, but: when they replaced my superdrive or whatever they were calling the dvd recorder at the time, under warranty, they put in a model that only was supported in the next OS version, then updated my OS. But back then OS updates still cost money, so when I wiped and reinstalled I didn't have entitlement to that in the store. Luckily I knew someone who had a physical copy, because I wasn't going to pay for what was effectively a botched warranty repair.

 

[Contact_Feanor]

The new Macbook Air supports 2 external displays in clamshell mode, compared to just 1 on the M1/M2 Airs.
There was nothing that the M3 added that would've enabled this; the M1 and M2 already had plenty of raw CPU/GPU power to do this.

It's purely a software decision.
Apple uses software to make their entry models worse.

Yeah, they've actually done this for decades now, but it's still sad. It's 2024, we should be living in the future, and instead we get artificial roadblocks.

(On that note, Apple's noise-cancelling software for the Airpods Pro could easily be brought to regular Airpods, and even to wired Earpods... would be nice to have a wired option.)

One video out channel of the M1 was hardware locked to the internal display. There was no software-based limitation there. For the M2, maybe. But there's a difference between "we didn't develop the feature" and "we purposefully made locks that prevented it". Do you have evidence it's the latter?

 

[nt5672]

Back when Apple was struggling, we got fantastic products for good prices, now that Apple is successful we get mediocre products for astronomical prices. Go figure. Time to take Apple down a notch.

 

[Zest28]

The M3 MBA is still limited to 2 displays in the end, as you have to turn off the internal display.

 

[steve123]

Back when Apple was struggling, we got fantastic products for good prices, now that Apple is successful we get mediocre products for astronomical prices. Go figure. Time to take Apple down a notch.

What we need are strong competitors that motivate Apple to improve.

 

[Mainsail]

What we need are strong competitors that motivate Apple to improve.

Said another way: The MBA is best in class, and until someone builds something better for the everyday portable laptop market, Apple will continue to sell millions of them to satisfied and loyal customers.

Not sure if it is true, but I saw one reviewer mentioned that the MBA is the most popular laptop in the world.....so, Apple must be doing something right.

 

[Bug-Creator]

Spinning conspiracy theories about Apple fixing a minor issue on their consumer laptops that 99.9% of people buying them never heard of or wouldn't care about if they did.








AND I AM OUT OF POPCORN !!!!!!!!!

 

[JustAnExpat]

Back when Apple was struggling, we got fantastic products for good prices, now that Apple is successful we get mediocre products for astronomical prices. Go figure. Time to take Apple down a notch.

Wait what? What products did we get for good prices compared to WinTel?

 

[bcortens]

It's difficult to forget every MacBook Air prior to November 2020 supported dual external monitors without this clamshell nonsense. This includes the Intel-based MBA launched in March 2020. It also includes $159 Chromebooks available today at Best Buy.

If you were born in a world without proper dual monitor support, M3 behavior might seem acceptable to you. But for people who are familiar with it for the past 20 years, the M3 is not normal. It's like living in a world where Coca-Cola costs $5 per can. To put it simply, Apple hasn't done enough.

As another thread points out, the display engines in the M series are huge to save power. I think the tradeoff of power vs having 3 simultaneous displays is a good choice for this market, you can disagree but that doesn't make Apple's decision objectively bad. Apple could of course add more transistors to add another large display engine, but that would likely mean the price has to go up to pay for those transistors.
If you want a worse quality product, with a "bad" display engine that is worse than the other ones that's fine but I (personally) don't think Apple should make such a thing.

 

[MagicBird]

2007 blackbook enters the chat

Not really related, but: when they replaced my superdrive or whatever they were calling the dvd recorder at the time, under warranty, they put in a model that only was supported in the next OS version, then updated my OS. But back then OS updates still cost money, so when I wiped and reinstalled I didn't have entitlement to that in the store. Luckily I knew someone who had a physical copy, because I wasn't going to pay for what was effectively a botched warranty repair.

Exciting!

And also really off topic…

 

[artifex]

Exciting!

And also really off topic…

true for the second part, though I thought perhaps the only difference was probably a kext or something similar, which fits in with the idea of software-based feature binning.

...but, for the first part, I did pay for the 802.11n patch that rampancy mentioned.

 

[Ipadfever]

What I really find extremely disturbing is when I have not changed a single thing in my daily use for years and then things start to slow down or stops being supported. I am not sure why this is acceptable and why more people aren't more vocal about such actions. Lets be real here, nothing drastically has changed in terms of computer use, it still doesn't make me breakfast or go to work for me until then I find this to be robbery!!

 

[tonykariotis]

I suspect this is actually just an oversight - the idea of using two external and not the internal probably never crossed their minds. Why it has to be in clamshell mode vs just turning off the internal screen though, that's a mystery (overheating when closed is a real thing).

The mystery is easy to solve! It's so you can buy another Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse!

But aesthetics and awkwardness could also be a reason, using your laptop as just a keyboard and mouse with the screen off would mean you have to deal blank screen blocking your view. I bet that would eventually become a complaint, since you can't tilt the screen far back.

 

[nt5672]

Wait what? What products did we get for good prices compared to WinTel?

I said "good" which really means "not bad" for the functionality. I did not say "cheap", which is what WinTel prices were for hardware that barely worked, was easy to get malware, etc. Real WinTel products were in line with Apple's prices.

 

[za9ra22]

"The new MacBook Air proves Apple uses software to limit features"

That is what software does. Otherwise, I'd want to complain that I can't edit my latest video in Word, or use Messages to produce a cost/benefit analysis spreadsheet.

 

[applepotato666]

Stinks that the only external display with proper scaling is more than the laptop itself.

Not long ago I got a used LG Ultrafine 5K which has the same panel as the Studio Display (and 5K iMacs) for very cheap. Half the price of a MacBook Air.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Back when Apple was struggling, we got fantastic products for good prices, now that Apple is successful we get mediocre products for astronomical prices. Go figure. Time to take Apple down a notch.

Apple hasn't struggled since the 1990s. They made great products then but they were fairly expensive. Now we get fantastic products and good prices. If you don't think prices are good, compare inflation adjusted prices to ones now and get back to me.

For example, here was the 1993 Quadra/Centris 610: https://everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_centris/specs/mac_centris_610.html

It was an entry level midline computer that started at more than $2500 (although everymac lists it also available for about $1800). At the low end ($1800), that's about $4000 now.

What about the basic Mac Classic II? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Classic_II

Also about $1800, which is about $4000 now. What do you get for $4000 now? You can get the Mac Studio with the M2 Ultra (personally I'd wait for the next model to release), 64GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. Not too shabby. Or, you can get 16" MBP with the M3 Max, 48GB of RAM, and a 1 TB SSD.

Both of those are terrific products for the same cost as what you could get during the struggling days of Apple. Both are much better quality than what Apple offered then (I've been using Apple products since 1982).

 

[bcortens]

Apple hasn't struggled since the 1990s. They made great products but they were fairly expensive. Now we get fantastic products and good prices. If you don't think prices are good, compare inflation adjusted prices to ones now and get back to me.

I think that the products would be better if they doubled storage and memory (even if it meant a $100 increase to the base price) but otherwise you’re correct, the products are much better, and inflation adjusted value is even better still!

 

[nt5672]

Apple hasn't struggled since the 1990s. They made great products then but they were fairly expensive. Now we get fantastic products and good prices. If you don't think prices are good, compare inflation adjusted prices to ones now and get back to me.

For example, here was the 1993 Quadra/Centris 610: https://everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_centris/specs/mac_centris_610.html

It was an entry level midline computer that started at more than $2500 (although everymac lists it also available for about $1800). At the low end ($1800), that's about $4000 now.

What about the basic Mac Classic II? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Classic_II

Also about $1800, which is about $4000 now. What do you get for $4000 now? You can get the Mac Studio with the M2 Ultra (personally I'd wait for the next model to release), 64GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. Not too shabby. Or, you can get 16" MBP with the M3 Max, 48GB of RAM, and a 1 TB SSD.

Both of those are terrific products for the same cost as what you could get during the struggling days of Apple. Both are much better quality than what Apple offered then (I've been using Apple products since 1982).

If you're going to compare, then compare to the competition without time shifting. The whole industry has changed and today Apple vs the competition, Apple does not make better products. Sure they have hardware that performs better in benchmarks, but that hardware can only be used for email and TikTok because most Apps no longer work on Apple hardware.