News Apple refreshes MacBook Air, Mac Mini, iPad Pro ranges

I didn't think they could screw up this much, but they did. The Mini and Air are atrociously priced, and I say this as a long time Apple user, typing this from my Macbook Pro.

 

Given the Mac Mini it's replacing is older than God '5x faster than the old one' is hardly a high bar.

MacBook Air... anaemic spec [it's still only a 2c cpu] that becomes a progressively a progressively worse proposition over time given it won't be updated for god knows how long? About par for the course.

...and would making the iPad 1mm or so thicker overall so you didn't have the sticky out camera really have killed you?

 

I think Apple's designers all have brain damage from smacking into those glass walls. It's the only explanation I can think of for a tablet that can't lay flat.

I wonder how this generation of iPad Pro will fare with performance degradation, the last two have gone from blazing fast to slower than my 2014 Note 10.1 in under a year, which I find as hilarious as my buddy who draws on them found frustrating (it totally replaces a Cintiq mate, seriously you have to believe me...).

 

A lot put them in a case so the sticky out camera is a non issue.

 

Maybe they could offer them free: https://www.macworld.com/article/1152751/iphone4_antenna_freecase.html

 

And even at the silly new price they neglected the opportunity to stick an i7-8809G into the Mini

 

The camera bulge is for marketing purposes.

It lets them advertise a thinner device since "device thickness is measured at the thinnest point", as the tiny footnote at the bottom of the ad says.
If the entire case had to be thick enough to accommodate the camera sensor and optics, that could add an ENTIRE TWO MILLIMETERS to the design.

 

The worst part of all this is the fact that the sheep out there will still run to the next Apple store to rip the new stuff off the shelves and throw their money at Apple.

 

The prices are better in Japan, even with the fairly poor exchange rate right now. I'm sufficiently annoyed with my Android tablet that I'm seriously considering an iPad Pro. I must be crazy...

 

I must admit I was quite tempted to update my wife's 2015 Macbook Air until I saw the starting price. Far too close to the starting point of a pro and way above the (admittedly low) £620 we for hers for in the first place.

Meh, she uses it primarily for novel writing anyway so doesn't exactly need an upgrade for that.

 

The keyboard on the new air [and the rest of the MacBook line] would probably do her head in.

 

Yeah your are probably right about that. The reason we got any air at the time was for the keyboard. I recall, for the price, nothing could touch it.

It's still going strong though (enough performance and crazy good battery life) so no real reason to upgrade beyond the "shiny" aspect.

 

I recently faced a blown-up battery on my 2011 MacBook Pro and I gladly invested <160 Euros for a new battery plus the necessary bending of the chassis instead of getting a new laptop. Even though I could've easily used this as an excuse to upgrade. Apart from being quite proud of myself for resisting I am also exceedingly happy to not have to pay the new Apple prices, especially given the new keyboard (which apparently still sometimes fails, even with the new membrane) and the lack of ports.

 

For some reason, Apple India refuses to charge me for repairs to my 2011 MBP-15. I think something was added to my file 'in the system' that's since been misinterpreted to mean I get a free ride for everything. I'm in the same boat as you, glad my over-specced 2011 beast still runs, because I refuse to pay for the ******** new MBPs at their insane prices.

 

I was shocked... The old iPad pros are fine even by today's standards and the fact they have a square screen is perfect for its intended uses. These round corners are balls. Given how limited the system is to apps designed for it (unlike a surface pro) I think at these new price points it's just madness.

I recently swapped out to android and for the first time since the original iPhone I've not had the latest version.

Android is going places as is windows 10. The likes of the Note 9, the S9, Huawei mate 20 pro, the pixel range and the one plus devices are leaving apple behind.

Apple may sell more devices than any other brand but if you combine the other brands together on android and again on windows it's plane to see who the dominating force is and it's Microsoft and Google. Their growth out strips apples and I wish them the best of luck in pushing that trend.

 

Only when it comes to tablets, in phones Samsung has them licked (despite a monstrous price premium over other Andriod phones) and the lead Apple has in tablets is mostly due to many Android brands barely bothering with Android tablets because between big screen phones and small Windows touchscreen laptops there isn't enough space.

 

Well, you say that. But Samsung actually includes all Galaxy phones in their sales statistics, including the Ax models. And the price is bad, yes. But just look at the Pixel phones.

 

Mac Mini is so expansive for the power and features it deliveres. Dont know what their thoughts were on this one.

 

just so expensive now..