Put the knife down and take a green herb, dude. (c) Ruffin Bailey 2001-2021

You can thank me for the MacBook Pro update, since I bought an Air on June 14th. It was too difficult to keep waiting, and most of my “if only” excuses were essentially removed during the Air’s 2017 update. The entry level got a slightly faster processor and 8 gigs of RAM on the bottom end, just enough to get by. And look at all the ways it’s better than a MacBook Pro…

USB-A ports.
SDXC card for cameras
Magsafe
DisplayPort
A reliable keyboard

The last sticking point for me was the price. At $1000, it’s too steep. But Best Buy had a sale June 14th for the bottom of the line Air for $700 plus tax. You can’t beat that. That’s competitive.

I’d been holding out for a new MacBook for literally years now, having gotten a Lenovo gaming laptop to use as my programming rig back in 2016 when I thought Apple had created a MacBook that wasn’t really for Pros with this new generation of MacBooks. Phil Schiller said as much, when he claimed the new 13“ Pro could replace the Air, and Walt Mossberg agreed, saying that ”if these new MacBooks simply didn’t carry the Pro label, we’d all have a lot less to complain about". Wow. This is a consumer laptop.

You might recall my comparison of bottom of the line MacBook processors. Even after last month’s update, nothing’s changed there, at the low end. The MacBook Pro “Escape” 13“ still has a crappy i5–7360U, with a top-end only about 80% higher than the Air. The 12” MacBook is only 6% faster. None of these are speed demons. You’ve got to pay $1799 to get to the new processors in the latest refresh.

Neither step up from the Air are worth the price. The calculus said that I’m much better off spending $770 after tax on an Air, and putting the difference between the Air and Pro (even when the Escape was on sale at B&H for $1200 (which was tempting)), towards a new desktop or a future MacBook. In a sense, I can get an Air to bide me over now, and bank over $400 of my budget to put towards my next MacBook.

Marco agrees

Heard a lot of my reasoning coming out of Marco Arment’s mouth on the most recent episode of The Talk Show. He basically said that laptops are optimized to run [predominantly] at a nice, low clock speed that sips power. You can get this low-power mode from an Air or the most powerful 15" Pro. Your compilations will suffer, but as I said when I talked about my $100 Lenovo S100, small computers with great battery life are a lot more useful than you’d think. Work on headless tasks in console apps (rather, make your tasks into many headless programming tasks), and you’ll be surprised how much you can get done.

Laptops – all laptops – are made for low power tasks. If you want as much power as you can carry, sure, max something out. But unless you’re okay with a “tall” gamer laptop (Marco actually talks about this) with the requisite fans and sorry battery life (hello, Lenovo Y700!), you’re not going to be able to cool your proc, no matter who you are.

You really want power? Stay at home and get a desktop.

At some point, I’d settle for a quality mini upgrade, which sounds like it could happen soon, but I’m hopeful the new Mac Pro will have an entry level that’s worth a look.

But you get the point. If I want portable macOS, the answer was and, I think, remains the Air on sale. It’s cheap, convenient, and reliable. Even after the update, it’s not worth paying $300 more for a ~~8250U i5~~ 8210Y (4141 score) and a Retina screen. Instead, I’ll pocket that cash and hope for something that makes sense later.

To date, the only thing I really dislike is that HDMI out (via DisplayPort adapter) is limited to 1920x1080. You have to use DisplayPort input on your monitor if you want higher resolution. This has been a Mac hardware limitation for a while that I’ve never really understood.

Labels: apple, bargain, benchmarks, best buy, hardware, lenovo, mac pro, macbook, macbook pro, marco

AppleInsider | Best Buy rumored to add Apple Genius Bars, display more Macs in stores:

Best Buy later this year may update its Apple store-within-a-store boutiques to feature a larger display of Macs in addition to staffed Genius Bars that would mirror those found in every Apple retail store.

I'll admit that I've had a horrible experience looking at the new MacBook Air in a Best Buy. The guy knew nothing, wouldn't listen to me, and acted like he was selling me a used car. I've purchased two Macs and three iPods in the last two years, and been responsible for at least one more, I think. This isn't how you treat your best customers.

Still, I don't think I'm compensating by saying that making the Apple store larger in Best Buy is a little too much. Admittedly, that sort of Circuit City experience is part of the problem -- you can't control the Apple experience within a Best Buy. Circuit City, CompUSA, and now this: There is no store within a store. It just doesn't work. The host pawns off too much affect onto the remora.

And I'm not sure Macs are quite yet ready to burst. I wouldn't be surprised to see Macs slowly crawl upwards in PC sales, especially if the AppleTV as TV is released in the next few years. But as soon as Apple goes from boutique to line slop and doesn't produce line slop, eMachine numbers, somebody's going to be upset. If Apple was the main PC being purchased, they could conceivably turn the feel of a Best Buy into a positive Apple experience, the type that converts buyers. As a niche player, they're wasting their sway on footage that's not going to be useful.

Perhaps the Genius Bar in a Best Buy is meant to counteract the Best Buy affective dominance, but it's a losing battle. When Apple fights battles it wholly controls, it wins. You can't win inside of a Best Buy.

I ramble.

Labels: apple, best buy, hats of money

title: Put the knife down and take a green herb, dude.	descrip: One feller's views on the state of everyday computer science & its application (and now, OTHER STUFF) who isn't rich enough to shell out for www.myfreakinfirst-andlast-name.com Using 89% of the same design the blog had in 2001.
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Tuesday, August 07, 2018
Why I bought a MacBook Air in 2018 You can thank me for the MacBook Pro update, since I bought an Air on June 14th. It was too difficult to keep waiting, and most of my “if only” excuses were essentially removed during the Air’s 2017 update. The entry level got a slightly faster processor and 8 gigs of RAM on the bottom end, just enough to get by. And look at all the ways it’s better than a MacBook Pro… USB-A ports. SDXC card for cameras Magsafe DisplayPort A reliable keyboard The last sticking point for me was the price. At $1000, it’s too steep. But Best Buy had a sale June 14th for the bottom of the line Air *for $700 plus tax. You can’t beat that. That’s competitive. I’d been holding out for a new MacBook for literally years now, having gotten a Lenovo gaming laptop to use as my programming rig back in 2016 when I thought Apple had created a MacBook that wasn’t really for Pros with this new generation of MacBooks. Phil Schiller said as much, when he claimed the new 13“ Pro could replace the Air, and Walt Mossberg agreed, saying that ”if these new MacBooks simply didn’t carry the Pro label, we’d all have a lot less to complain about". Wow. This is a consumer laptop. You might recall my comparison of bottom of the line MacBook processors. Even after last month’s update, nothing’s changed there, at the low end. The MacBook Pro “Escape” 13“ still has a crappy i5–7360U, with a top-end only about 80% higher than the Air. The 12” MacBook is only 6% faster. None of these are speed demons. You’ve got to pay $1799* to get to the new processors in the latest refresh. Neither step up from the Air are worth the price. The calculus said that I’m much better off spending $770 after tax on an Air, and putting the difference between the Air and Pro (even when the Escape was on sale at B&H for $1200 (which was tempting)), towards a new desktop or a future MacBook. In a sense, I can get an Air to bide me over now, and bank over $400 of my budget to put towards my next MacBook. Marco agrees Heard a lot of my reasoning coming out of Marco Arment’s mouth on the most recent episode of The Talk Show. He basically said that laptops are optimized to run [predominantly] at a nice, low clock speed that sips power. You can get this low-power mode from an Air or the most powerful 15" Pro. Your compilations will suffer, but as I said when I talked about my $100 Lenovo S100, small computers with great battery life are a lot more useful than you’d think. Work on headless tasks in console apps (rather, make your tasks into many headless programming tasks), and you’ll be surprised how much you can get done. Laptops – all laptops – are made for low power tasks. If you want as much power as you can carry, sure, max something out. But unless you’re okay with a “tall” gamer laptop (Marco actually talks about this) with the requisite fans and sorry battery life (hello, Lenovo Y700!), you’re not going to be able to cool your proc, no matter who you are. You really want power? Stay at home and get a desktop. At some point, I’d settle for a quality mini upgrade, which sounds like it could happen soon, but I’m hopeful the new Mac Pro will have an entry level that’s worth a look. But you get the point. If I want portable macOS, the answer was and, I think, remains the Air on sale. It’s cheap, convenient, and reliable. Even after the update, it’s not worth paying $300 more for a ~~8250U i5~~ 8210Y (4141 score) and a Retina screen. Instead, I’ll pocket that cash and hope for something that makes sense later. To date, the only thing I really dislike is that HDMI out (via DisplayPort adapter) is limited to 1920x1080. You have to use DisplayPort input on your monitor if you want higher resolution. This has been a Mac hardware limitation for a while that I’ve never really understood. Labels: apple, bargain, benchmarks, best buy, hardware, lenovo, mac pro, macbook, macbook pro, marco posted by ruffin at 8/07/2018 06:46:00 PM

Monday, January 10, 2011
As Apple starts to top out: Overexpanding into Best Buy AppleInsider \| Best Buy rumored to add Apple Genius Bars, display more Macs in stores: Best Buy later this year may update its Apple store-within-a-store boutiques to feature a larger display of Macs in addition to staffed Genius Bars that would mirror those found in every Apple retail store. I'll admit that I've had a horrible experience looking at the new MacBook Air in a Best Buy. The guy knew nothing, wouldn't listen to me, and acted like he was selling me a used car. I've purchased two Macs and three iPods in the last two years, and been responsible for at least one more, I think. This isn't how you treat your best customers. Still, I don't think I'm compensating by saying that making the Apple store larger in Best Buy is a little too much. Admittedly, that sort of Circuit City experience is part of the problem -- you can't control the Apple experience within a Best Buy. Circuit City, CompUSA, and now this: There is no store within a store. It just doesn't work. The host pawns off too much affect onto the remora. And I'm not sure Macs are quite yet ready to burst. I wouldn't be surprised to see Macs slowly crawl upwards in PC sales, especially if the AppleTV as TV is released in the next few years. But as soon as Apple goes from boutique to line slop and doesn't produce line slop, eMachine numbers, somebody's going to be upset. If Apple was the main PC being purchased, they could conceivably turn the feel of a Best Buy into a positive Apple experience, the type that converts buyers. As a niche player, they're wasting their sway on footage that's not going to be useful. Perhaps the Genius Bar in a Best Buy is meant to counteract the Best Buy affective dominance, but it's a losing battle. When Apple fights battles it wholly controls, it wins. You can't win inside of a Best Buy. I ramble. Labels: apple, best buy, hats of money posted by ruffin at 1/10/2011 05:17:00 PM

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