The only part of Apple's ecosystem that has ever held a central place in my life are macs. Since 2013 I've used Macbook Pros as my primary development machine and arbitrary android devices for my phone. I did also buy an iPad 3 which I still have, but it's never been very useful beyond being a browsing or reading device. I don't really buy any claims of being locked in, I use macs because they're preferable, and tend to keep them for a long time. Windows is a trashheap, don't feel like bothering with Linux.
I haven't upgraded my intel macbook pro from 2019 just because the ram and ssd upgrade are irritatingly expensive, but eventually I'm sure it'll be tolerable somehow, either because my current one has become wildly too slow or because the cost comes down.
I have no reason to buy an iPhone, so I don't, what's the problem?
This is actually why I completely left the Apple ecosystem. I ditched the iPhone for a LineageOS device and, since I think the Mac will eventually end up fully locked down as well, decided to get ahead of that race and migrate to Linux.
To be honest, that’s only one of the many reason to leave the Apple ecosystem in the near future.
I think that many would be better off switching to Windows (or Linux if they can) but they still believe or are attached to how things use to be.
I use to really love macOS but it has become an annoyance on many front, removing plenty of what made it better all while making it more and more like iOS and generally more closed and inflexible system.
Personally I have lost faith and I think that even if they would start reinvesting right now, it would take 10 years of pain with ever more expensive hardware.
I have moved from genuinely wanting to buy the new MBP pre-announcement due to technical reasons (battery life, screen) to only needing to buy it due to iOS development lock in. Reminds me very much of the process I went through with Windows based PCs (except back then it was gaming).
I think I'll just go back to a Linux laptop (all other boxes are so the laptop has always been the odd-box) and will say goodbye to the iOS world. I mostly do web anyway and can live with non-native or no Apple apps at all.
I'm not an Apple hater, I use a MacBook Pro at work (funnily enough, either SSH remote linux server or running Linux VM through vagrant), for my personal machines I run 100% Linux. It is solid hardware, but I think the OS is becoming a hindrance to me as a developer. It seems like every iteration closes yet another door on the underlying UNIX base, making it harder and harder to get things working, Homebrew helps but seems like it needs more and more workarounds and often breaks with esoteric conflicts. Nowadays I just use OS X as a VM shell, so I might as well be using Windows. I don't use any Apple "apps", I never touch their cloud because of all the horror stories I've heard, and I fear in a couple of releases the OS is just going to be completely locked down so I'll have to move to Windows at work to get work done. The hardware is definitely the best in class, but the software is becoming unusable to me as a developer. I hope it means more linux usage but I'm not delusional and know that desktop linux is basically just a niche and probably always will be (which saddens me greatly). I think it's a shame Apple has taken this direction.
I’m with you. I’ve been saying more and more that if Apple can’t stay strong I don’t really like the alternatives. OSX and iOS were so nice together a few years back. Now they’re out of step and the design and quality aren’t strong.
I don’t want Windows, Chromebooks or Android. If not Apple...
(Love Linux, use Linux, but it’s not providing what I get from macOS.)
It's just frustrating, I switched the household over to Apple devices when OSX came out, and now there really aren't any systems from Apple that look interesting to me.
I've been programming since before the (Unix) dawn of time, and Apple devices have been good development machines for me since OSX was released 18 years ago. I'm comfortable on Linux, but the Apple iOS devices and computers are all over my home and integrate well with my development machines. Furthermore, the family does well with MacOS, and they don't need IT help with their email, iPhone, music, homework, printing, etc. like they used to under Windows.
I'd love to see Apple make a system that supported upgradeable memory, SSDs, High capacity hard drives, graphics, and separate larger monitors, but that doesn't look like that will ever happen. By locking down the hardware to just certain configurations, the very successful stores can handle problems (hardware, software, and user related) at locations all over the world.
Even if Apple can't make the machines more upgradeable because of customer support issues, the new machines don't seem to be well designed for me. They have become too thin and too sleek and overpriced because of features I don't want (over sharp display, touchbar) and issues caused by the pursuit of sleekness and style (crap keyboards, thermal limits).
Lenovo (Thinkpads) offers thin, light, somewhat upgradeable, good looking laptops that are light to carry and easier to grip with great keyboards. I wish Apple could start with something like one of those and equip it with an Apple touchpad and MacOS.
I've been waiting and waiting for Apple to improve its line up (I'm writing this on a Mac Pro from 2013 with a nice 34 inch ultra-wide monitor). It looks like I'll never replace it. I know there are alternatives, my home/office are littered with computers, Thinkpads running Linux, Microsoft laptops, Dell Servers running FreeBSD, and homemade PCs running Windows (for gaming); but I'm going to miss using MacOS as my daily-driver.
Apple's hardware these days is exceptional but the software left wanting in comparison. MacOS feels like it's been taking two steps back for every step forward for a decade now. I run MacOS, Linux w/ i3, and Windows all every day, and outside of aesthetics & apple integration MacOS feels increasingly the least desired of the 3.
The same is true of the ipad which is just a miraculous piece of hardware constrained by an impotent operating system.
The key feature keeping me in Apple’s ecosystem is their unwavering embrace of privacy.
But so do Linux and BSD. A stellar laptop with good Linux support may be enough for me to jump ship. I have been a Mac user since 2007, but it is clear that Apple does not really care about the Mac anymore. They will keep the Mac alive to continue to take the revenue and to have an iOS development machine. The Mac Mini has gone downhill since the 2012 model, the MacBook Pro has been quite bad since the 2016 (I have one and dislike it), the MacBook Air is great as it ever was, but is effectively early 2010s technology when it comes to the screen. On the software side, they are not really fostering the Mac ISV ecosystem anymore.
macOS is still great, because Apple was so far ahead when they stopped caring (2012 or so). But the great stagnation has already gone on for half a decade or so.
I am not a Windows user, but at least Microsoft cares about their Surface lineup.
Honestly at this point the only thing that's keeping me from switching to Windows is XCode because I need to build iOS apps. I will immediately switch to Windows if someone figures out a way to seamlessly build true native iOS apps on Windows.
I've waited enough for their laptops--not because I love mac but because that's the only option I have for the reason above--and getting tired of it. As I am typing this on my macbook air, I have to take my hands off the keyboard time to time because it gets too hot. Also the battery has swollen up to a point where I can't even close the laptop. I've been waiting for a legitimate new laptop from them for TWO years. All they released was some minor upgrades and a "macbook" which I didn't buy because I know better than to act as Apple's guinea pig and buy their first iteration of anything--I learned it the hard way with my iPhones and iPads.
Anyway, all this to me feels like it's because Apple is no more an innovator company, instead they follow the stock market. I used to be a Windows user but switched when Vista came out and I really couldn't stand it. I feel very reminiscent of those times when I think about what's going on with Apple nowadays.
I am heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem: MBP, iPhone, iPad, tons of apps. But I’ve decided I’m out. Ryzen-based machines have caught up; Windows has caught up; and I’m willing to give the Linux desktop the benefit of the doubt again. Every new macOS release I feel more and more boiled to death, more locked in, more exploited than before. Even the eyecandy, which was what I loved OSX from the very first release, is now utterly terrible and getting worse release after release.
I was happy to pay a premium for a premium platform, but this is not what I’ve been getting in the last 5 years - what I’ve been getting is a support role to the iPhone ecosystem that is the alpha and the omega of Apple’s strategy, and more and more restrictions to satisfy this role. Obviously this is good for them, but it just isn’t for me, so I’m out.
Five years ago, I was a big proponent of Macs (not iOS devices). Obviously Linux had its uses, and Windows had, um, games, but Apple's precision-engineered combination of hardware and software was really hard to beat for day-to-day use.
I won't be buying another Mac. Both OS X and MacBook design get worse with each new release, for years. They don't care about anything but iOS anymore--the Mac line is treated as a semi-portable accessory for your iPhone.
Apart from their phones, they make little I want any more.
I built a Ryzen desktop a while ago, since there was no way I was paying what they want for an iMac Pro or Mac Pro, and I needed a decent GPU, lots of cores and memory and no thermal throttling.
Switched to Linux with a tiling WM (bspwm), since I’m a backend engineer (Go/Rust), not iOS. I also have Windows 10 installed, and honestly, it’s fine as well with WSL2.
Apple needs to realise Swift is not going anywhere except for the iOS/macOS niche, and consider general developers again, but so far Microsoft is doing a much better job of that, and I don’t hold out much hope, Apple have missed their window and are returning to their closed off locked down comfort zone. Not really sure they left, but it seemed like it for a while.
Apple user for over 20 years. I loved my powerbook 4g and loved the first iPhones. Even though they were not the first mobile nix systems (love for the n770 Nokia tablet with Debian and root!).], I felt empowered being able to hack them easily, getting shells running and recording/analyzing sensor data on them.
I feel more and more uncomfortable in the Apple / iOS ecosystem. It’s getting closed down and commodified. Even when there is something cool in terms of tech, they know how to spoil it.
Instead of dealing with Pegasus head on and starting to fix the security culture of iOS/Mac, they make our systems less secure (less open and less hackable).
I find it sad that there are no viable alternatives for non-tech users. I switched last week to a Librem 14 with Arch Linux, KeepassXC and a pixel 5 running grapheneOS, Miiband 6 with GadgetBridge, a System 76 for work. I honestly love it, there are some hiccups, yet it feels exciting, similar like switching from Microsoft to Apple did 20 years ago.
Also moved from programming objective c / swift to rust, elixir and flutter/react. That seems where the innovation happens today for me. As I work in research I have the Privilege to easy switch … we need better alternatives and I feel even stronger about supporting open source and projects and companies that care about it (pine, purism, system76, mozilla, …).
I think the criticism that a closed ecosystem is myopic and a competitive disadvantage is a fair one, though. Apple used to have a monopolistic stronghold on smartphones, but that is no longer the case. As in the nineties, a walled garden is going to look less appealing if there are cheaper, more open competitors offering as-good or better hardware.
Outside of phones, their MacBooks are teetering on the edge of no longer being competitive. The sole reason I most recently bought a MacBook instead of a different PowerBook with a tablet screen is that Linux support for tablet screens is still lacking, and my desire for POSIX overrode my desire for a touch screen. The next time I buy, I doubt that will be true of Linux. Either Apple will come late to the game with touch screen laptops (rather exemplifying the article's point that their hardware lags the competition), or they won't, and it will make far more sense to get a faster third party tablet book and put a free OS on it. And I doubt the average customer will care as much about POSIX as I do, but again, as in the nineties, serious developers aren't going to take Apple seriously forever if this keeps up.
What's more worrying for me is that entire product categories are either left abandoned (Mac Pro) or updated with inferior products (latest MacBook Pro), and it seems that Jony Ive's form-over-function approach encounters no opposition within the company. We lose good functionality for no good reason, other than products become "simpler" and "more pure".
This in itself would not be a problem for me, if it weren't for the lack of competition. Mac OS is so far ahead in terms of "getting things done" and "just working" that it isn't even funny. And yes, I do know, I also regularly use Windows (10) and Linux (Ubuntu 16 LTS). I feel locked in: both "competing" platforms are huge time-wasters for me. I know some people feel different — past discussions have shown that most people do fewer things with their computers than me (for example, if all you need is a web browser, Ubuntu is a great choice).
Now that Apple is abandoning me as a customer (I'm not the mainstream), I feel squeezed: where do I go from here? What's even worse is that the cost of entry is now so high: developing an environment that works, and then convincing developers to embrace it is nearly impossible. And the only companies that have the resources to do it (Microsoft and Google) do it badly.
Not sure why people are so worried about developers getting trapped by locked down systems. I have plenty of other PC’s, running Linux, *BSD, Windows much less locked down. I’m very aware Apple is controlling of their platforms. No I’m not thrilled about certain aspects of the M1 platforms, but most platforms I’ve used feel locked down in some shape or form. If, in the case Apple tries some of the outlandish theories out there, I’ll simply cease to use it and probably trash Apple then as it will be useless to me, but I’m not locked into anything.
I've looked at the trajectory of Apple these past few years with mounting bitter-sweetness. At its best, MacOS really felt like the best of Unix combined with the consumer focus alluded to in the article. I still adore the craftsmanship of the latest Macbooks, but my 2015 Macbook felt like the apex of Mac's design. It was the kind of device that was such a pleasure to develop on. You could leverage the power of Unix in a UI designed with thoughtfulness and care. It reminded you that power and accessibility to end-users can be balanced. And now that balance has tipped away from the power-user, the developers, to the end-user, and in doing so I question my commitment to this extraordinary ecosystem. Why develop on a platform that contends with me every step of the way? Because the users and the money are there? That was never what brought me to the Macbook.
EDIT: I suppose most users in the Apple ecosystem aren't on Macbooks, but iPhones.
Unfortunately, I fear what Apple is doing and will do to macOS. The trend seems to be that they are making it into another walled garden, ala iOS. I can still run Linux, but I hate that Apple's main competitor on the desktop is lowering the bar so, so low, and exerting so little effort to keep them on their toes to make something that people continue to want.
I haven't upgraded my intel macbook pro from 2019 just because the ram and ssd upgrade are irritatingly expensive, but eventually I'm sure it'll be tolerable somehow, either because my current one has become wildly too slow or because the cost comes down.
I have no reason to buy an iPhone, so I don't, what's the problem?
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