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from the renewed-interest-in-Compaq-Portable-computers dept.
Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd
The pursuit of thinner, lighter laptops, a trend driven by Apple, means we have screwed ourselves out of performance.
Over the last few days we’ve seen outcry about Apple’s new MacBook Pro, which offers an optional top-end i9 processor, and how its performance is throttled to the point of parody as the laptop heats up over time.
Sparked by a video from YouTuber Dave Lee, who demonstrates that the only way to get Apple’s quoted performance from the MacBook Pro is by keeping it in a refrigerator, the outcry has been brutal.
Thousands of comments on the video say things like “Wow if it cant even maintain stock speeds that's pretty sad” and “Apple should offer a fridge that goes with the Macbook i9,” but the sobering reality is that this practice is normal across laptops—we’re just starting to see it more often.
[...] If Pro users really were Apple’s target market, the company could redesign these laptops to use the older, thicker MacBook Pro form factor from 2015. With that available space, and improvements in processor design, it would be able to better cool the same hardware and squeeze out more performance—but it’ll never happen. Thicker laptops would mean admitting failure.
Thinner and lighter is great, and if we’re honest, we’re all sucked in by the allure. The unfortunate reality for those of us that need these machines for work is that it’s just not good enough, and we’d welcome thicker machines in exchange for hardware that isn’t constrained by heat. Apple insists these new MacBooks are for ‘pro users,’ and while it has some of the best-in-class hardware design out there today, it simply doesn’t hold up if you push them hard enough.
The MacBook Pro isn’t designed for pro users at all, it’s a slick marketing machine designed to sell to the wealthy ‘prosumer’ that wouldn’t notice anyway. That much has been clear since the introduction of the Touch Bar and death of the SD slot—and it’s making a ton of money anyway.
Source: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/9kmkve/thinner-and-lighter-laptops-have-screwed-us-all
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Wednesday July 25 2018, @02:53PM (3 children)
My experience is that thinner, when made of plastic, also equates to more fragile. Once a crack appears the thing will start to disintegrate over a few months. The thermal problems make the accumulation of dust all the more serious as well, given the cooling is marginal to begin with.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Wednesday July 25 2018, @05:19PM
At Apple, fashion is king.
All other considerations are secondary.
* performance
* efficiency
* usability
* cost
* fitness for
porpoisepurposeIt doesn't have to work good, it must look good. Behind glass. Under track lighting. Against a beautiful backdrop.
Apple once was a tech company. Jobs was stripped of his power when he wouldn't let the Mac have practical things like, a realistic amount of memory, color displays (yes, really), expandability, slots, scsi, etc. Apple was tech and usability focused, and everyone else was trying to keep up. (BYTE magazone: the history of the microcomputer industry has been an effort to keep up with Apple.) When Jobs came back to Apple, it became a different company, different products. I have fond memories of the old Apple, and what it might have been. But I hope for the new Apple to be put out of our misery.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday July 25 2018, @07:24PM (1 child)
We got a very nice Samsung notebook a couple of years ago - thin, light, powerful enough, doesn't overheat, but... that ultra-thin design comes with a very small power connector which breaks. a lot. The replacement power packs are only $20 each, but we're on number 4 in 2 years, 2 completely non functional and the 2 we have are touchy / have to hold it just right for it to make contact. We'd gladly spend $50 on a powerpack that doesn't fall apart in a year, but that doesn't seem to be an option.
I love to hate Dell, but at least they have sensibly sized power plugs.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by toddestan on Friday July 27 2018, @02:54AM
The problem with Samsung is that they really, really want to be Apple. They aren't as bad as Apple when it comes form over function, but there's still quite a bit of stuff that could have been done better, but wasn't because it wouldn't look as cool.
Also like Apple their stuff just isn't designed to last. Even things like monitors and TV's which should last a while, they still cheap out on things like the power supply.