As a business that gets a lot of different tech come across our desks, we strive to remain impartial to all of the brands that we see. Not only because it’s good for business, but in order to give fair reviews of things it’s a must. We understand that there are no companies out there that are trying to make bad products. I mean, what kind of business objective would that be? Not a very good one, that’s for sure. By the nature of the beast, there are bad products out there. There’s just no real way to avoid them. As of late, Apple has really begun to make people angry with some of their computing products.
We see all kinds of brands in our field of work and Apple has always been one of our favorites. They are by far and away the most well-built brand on the market. That’s undeniable on many levels, there’s just no one out there that builds a physically better device that is sleek and trim but always very durable as well. That’s not in question. Many of us in the office have Apple products or at least iPhones. That doesn’t make us a whole bunch of fanboys, that just makes us among the millions that prefer the Apple ecosystem and build quality above the others.
Since we do get all kinds of products it’s up to us to review the ones we feel the best about in order to give you, the customer, a better idea of what it is you’re potentially buying. However, using all of these products also has given us a better idea of how Apple, in some ways is just coming up short. As previously mentioned, Apple has the best-built products in the world, but it’s when you open them open that things begin to waver in quality.
If you have been paying attention to how the course of things have gone in 2018, you would notice when you open up the MacBook Pros, you’re just not getting the most current nor the best internals that are available.
Let’s take a look at the MBPs first, I’ll discuss the late 2017 13-inch and 15-inch models. They are both using 7th generation Intel processors. The 13-inch MacBook Pro is using a U processor and the 15-inch is using the HQ processor. The U is a weaker version while the HQ is the stronger version. But what does any of that matter when the entire tech space has moved on to the 8th generation processors?
The problem with Apple using 7th gen in an 8th gen world is quite simple. The 8th generation CPUs are much faster than the 7th gen. Of course, most of the power differences I’m talking about here comes to those that need really intensive processor power for video editing and the like, so arguably this won’t affect most people, but the entire industry has switched over the 8th gen processors while Apple is hanging out in the wake of the 7th gen still. That means since about November of 2017 they could have upgraded their 13″ model to an 8th gen processor, but they didn’t and in April of 2018 they could have upgraded their 15″ MBP and didn’t. So, anyone that wants an 8th generation chip now has to go to a Windows platform until Apple decides to get with the times.
To me, this just seems like a bad business model to follow. This is punishing the user base. If you’re an Adobe user and you’re looking at a MacBook Pro, you’re wrong. That’s the wrong device for you at this point still in July of 2018. Right now you need to buy a Windows laptop because the difference in performance between a 7th gen and an 8th gen CPU is huge.
Another thing to look at is how the drives in an Apple are soldered on, and you’re forced to purchase the touch bar that most people don’t find very useful. This just feels aggressive by Apple really for no reason. Keep in mind that I love the Mac OS platform and prefer to use it any day over Windows, but Apple is still forcing me to use dated hardware that feels significantly dated and slower than the Windows hardware.
This also applies to iMac Pros. The base model 8 core iMacs are actually running slower than the 6 core Windows laptop in Adobe Premiere. Not only that but with the iMac, you’re forced to buy things like the ECC memory and Xeon processors and 5K panels that many people just don’t need. A new Windows laptop is rendering videos faster than a $5,000 iMac that just looks really good.
Apple’s entire computer line-up now feels overpriced and under-performing. Even more so than the average Apple kind of price premium that we are used to paying, strictly because of the huge performance difference between the 7th and 8th gen CPUs.
Now let’s talk a bit about the iPhone. If you happen to crack your iPhone X‘s body, you’re going to have to ante up about $550 to replace the back of your phone. Now, that’s mainly because they have to swap out all of the internals to replace the back, but the phone already costs $1,000, and of course cracking the back of it is considered an “out of warranty” repair. I guess if you want to pay $1,200 you could select to have AppleCare and it’ll be covered, but c’mon, a $1,000 phone is just getting ridiculous in price, then adding another $200 to make it $1,200… No man, not me. Just think, for $550 you can buy a brand new One Plus 6 and have money left over. Let that sink in.
The bottom line is this: Apple’s entire lineup from older generation CPUs to exurbanite phone repairs, has just gotten out of line. The customer base across the board is taking the shaft on a daily basis right now. I don’t know what the answer is, but until things get up to speed or prices come down considerably, I just won’t be buying any Apple any time soon. That’s an easy fix for me, Case closed.
