Did hackintoshing lead you to buy from Apple again?

[Vendetta]

Biggest nuisance about Apple is how they've changed.

In 2005 Jobs stood up at his Keynote, announced the move to Intel and said (looked it up just to get the exact wording): "We want to constantly be making the best computers for you, and the rest of our users." Around 1:20.

Now I don't know if they still stand by that, but honestly: The stuff we get is no longer "the best," in terms of speed, at least. USB 2.0, SATA II, no Blu-Ray even Build-To-Order Options, low-end SSDs which decrease in quality over time (so people report), non-modifiable computers with custom screws so that they're almost 100% tamper-proof. They're soldering stuff onto the Motherboard so we don't mess with it.

These days you can barely even upgrade the Hard Drive. OCZ gives you a whole toolkit just to replace the SSD on an MBA. Not everyone wants to pay Apple to replace the Hard Drive for them, they'd rather do it themselves. Custom Screws apart, its easy enough. Just flip off the case (the custom (patented) screws apart however, thankfully its a lot easier than it used to be. Plastic iMacs had it so hard to replace components....).

About 12 years ago, when someone said "Apple just released the fastest Notebook on the market" that was true. Apple had, literally the fastest Computers on the Market. No competition. 1999 Apple Laptops were the fastest back then. They were the first to adopt new Technologies. Floppies to CDs, USB, etc. Now Apple doesn't even have SATA III, USB 3.0, Blu-Ray, nothing. Not even as Build-To-Order options. If Apple had adopted these, they'd be default baselines on anything and everything by now. They'd be dirt-cheap.

The Screens are fantastic, yes. The new 27" Cinema Display is wow. Unique. Except: Glossy. The amount of times I hear people complaining about the Gloss.... And then there's the lack of ports. The 30" Aluminum had FireWire 400, USB 2.0. This one only has USB 2.0. The MBPs have a Non-Gloss option. iMacs don't however. Neither does the Cinema Display (on a side note, sad that they're down to only 1 Monitor option).

I understand Apple wants to hold off on USB 3.0 because Intel doesn't support it natively in it's Chipsets. I get this. But without even using SATA III, Apple can no longer say "we are making the best computers." Not in terms of speed. Sure, maybe in terms of stability. OS X is lightyears ahead of Windows 7. The hardware however, is going downhill.

Not to mention that Jobs's constant mania to constantly make everything thinner, thinner, thinner and thinner is a killer when it comes to cooling. No proper ventilation, reduced product life-span.

I like thin and light, I think we all do. But I don't like decreased life span due to enclosed ventilation spacing.

Sorry, QQ post over now.

There's no denying that Apple is still strong in creating revolutionary products. iPhone rocked the branches of the "Smartphone" market to the core. iPad created a whole new branch. Who knows what else will come from them in the next few years (although please no Touchscreen Desktops.. Least until the Fingerprint Smudges issue is resolved first) They'll probably start launching Liquidmetal products soon too, either this year or next year.

Still remember "The Cube".... Awesome machine. And the first iMac with a fan almost bigger than the monitor

Sad to see the apparent demise of the iPod Classic though. No SSD transaction, nothing so far

TL;DR:
If I can avoid it, never going back to a "real" Mac. Great design, but otherwise nothing interesting in them anymore.

The biggest problem I see with your post is that you are talking specifically about hardware, which is the same thing that so many techies get sucked into. It's not about hardware, and for Apple, it really never has been. At least, not when it comes to specs. They talk about them when they have to so that they can appease a small crowd of developers, for example, but they tend to try to avoid it. The reason is simple: they want people to evaluate the experience, not the numbers on a piece of paper. The quote you cited here was that they wanted to make the best computers (with the implication on the best experience), and I don't think they've let up on that.

Also, I'm not sure what the kick about modifying the computers is about, because Apple has always had this philosophy, even from the beginning. They used to design their enclosures so they couldn't be opened. It's nothing new, but that's the point. They want to build stuff that works for people, so that they don't need to modify them. I'm not saying this works for everyone, but if you're interested in Apple, you know it's always been this way.

About the display, I think it's funny, because I actually am frustrated that I can't find a quality 3rd party display that is glossy, like Apple's. To each their own.

 

[Implied]

Well the Apple "Tower" computer (PowerMac, Mac Pro) has always been highly modifiable. Mostly the iMac series hasn't been. Most Laptops you could at least access the Hard Drive if you needed to upgrade it at some point.

The experience is indeed unique with any Mac. You can be sure that Apple makes sure that whatever Apple plans to release will work near flawlessly, or with some minor Bugs.

Its just annoying to have to buy a whole Toolkit just to change a Hard Drive because Apple is set-bent on having you bring it to them so they can do it and charge you for it.

Personally don't mind Glossy/Matte, but a Non-Glossy Screen seems to be a high requested item. For me its rather simple: whatever shows better pixels, bring it on.

 

[Rankel]

I get the whole thing about apple focusing on the entire experience, but saying its not about the hardware is like saying a car isn't about the motor. A nice interior, cute styling, and user friendly navigation system is nice, but if you have to take it to the dealer just to change your oil, and you can get a different car that looks as good with a faster motor that you can work on yourself for less money (hmm, alpha?) then whats the point?

Its about feeling ripped off. Just because it is about the experience does not mean they should be able to charge you more than anyone else for less expensive equipment.

 

[Rankel]

I was thinking about this thread today, and I was able to really put my finger on what my real problem with apple is. Apples prices have always been on the high side, but have never been outrageous. There prices have always been a little more than the high end computers that compete with them, but apples design plus the fit and finish have usually made it worth it. Its not anything like that, but those things are more tangible and so we point at them first.

It is Apple as a company that has changed. it's their attitude and energy. I used to LOVE Apple, I was absolutely devoted. There was something about them that made them seem like the underdog and made you proud to be a mac user. Apple just is not that company anymore. They still make a good product, and i may even like them from time to time, but they are no longer a company I am able to devote myself to.

 

[thirdshiftdj]

I still buy macbooks and pros from them. Their laptops are just too nice. Let's not forget that everything inside a Mac Pro is basically a server setup. If you were to go out and start buying Xeons and server boards your budget would go up. They're workstations and definitely not intended to be gamed on. I'm not coming to their defense on pricing, but I can see why it is higher to a certain extent. I pay for their innovation also.

 

[Rankel]

Well, I was pretty much dead wrong about the xoom beating out the iPad. That is more due to ineptitude/greed on part of Motorolla though. The iPad 2 might be cheap/fun/usefull enough for me to buy. If I needed a super laptop the new MBP 15'' with the quad core cpu presents pretty good value for money too. Maybe apple is turning their act around.

 

[fuma]

You need a fourth option... I already own a mac, that led me to hackintosh.

(and yes, I will continue to buy real macs)

 

[carbine]

Yes.
1) I bought the 11" MacBook Air (maxed out) and LOVE it. You can see from the sig below that my Hack will technically run GeekBench rings around the Air, but the Air is SO much faster in every way for the things I do daily. Agreed, it won't do heavy cpu or graphics lifting tasks well, but I don't do them regularly. When I do, I have the Hack to do that. Yes it "only" has 128GB SSD, but how much space do you really need on a secondary machine? For most of the apps I use on a daily basis (Mail, Scrivener, OmniFocus, Reeder, Safari, iTunes, etc, etc) I can just open up my sleeping Air and they're INSTANTLY available. These apps don't run noticeably slower on the Air. It is so much faster to get from "I need to do something on my computer" to actually doing it on the Air vs a traditional MacBook or Desktop that the horsepower is irrelevant. The instant on from sleep, extreme portability, excellent battery life and SILENCE is just golden. I will never go back to a laptop with a mechanical hard drive or fan again.

2) Bought an iPad 2, and love that too, but for different reasons. The touch interface is totally immersive in certain apps (but the virtual keyboard just doesn't cut it for me) It is definitely not a laptop replacement and if I travel and can only take one, it's the Air.

 

[hacman]

iam waiting for macmini with core i3

 

[jorpe]

I have an iPhone 4 and iPad 3G now also, I'm becoming more comfortable with Apple in general but still need windoze for DRM music unfortunately