A bad experience with a not-entirely honest Apple

When I go to the Apple Store website and look at the 13 inch MacBook Pro it only says new above the Touch Bar version.

It says that now, R1, but in the first few days of the update, the new icon appeared only on the home page, where it says "MacBook Pro." Further, the press release they sent out to announce the update makes absolutely NO mention that it is just the touch bar version that was updated. I've read it again again to make sure I didn't miss something.

Apple being dishonest? Nothing new there. I was a Mac only guy for over 15 years until I finally got tired of Jobs's bullshit and the whole craziness of Apple fandom. It didn't help that I'd had a few bad experiences with faulty Apple hardware and was forced to buy AppleCare since I knew the $3,000 desktop would most definitely get broken again, and it did. I switched to Windows almost 10 years ago and haven't regretted it even once.

Sweetie, this is why every IT person knows that Apple computers are for the idiot set. You’re really pissed at yourself for being so damn dumb that:

1. You “waited” for the “updated” model to come out; and 2. You are mad at yourself because you realize what a fool you really look like for wanting to be “cool”; and 3. You also try to blame things on others when the truth is, you are just a lame fanboy.

OP, please get AIDS and die in a grease fire.

Wow, r4, seems unnecessarily cruel for someone who bought the wrong hardware. You’re a tad too touchy, I’d take care of that if I were you.

I like Apple products but I hate the fandom and cultish behaviour at the store. I booked an appointment online to have my iPod looked at. I attended five minutes early to make sure I was on time for my appointment. Every Apple genius was busy so I didn't want to interrupt. The store was extremely busy. When finally someone was free, I told them I was present although my appointment time had passed. The "genius" was rude and confrontational and told me I missed it and they moved on because I wasn't there. I said I was. He told me I should have interrupted and told an Apple employee I was there. I told him his store should have a receptionist or greeter. There is no check in area or anything. Then some frau piped in and told me I was being disrespectful (!) to him and it was bothering her. I told her to mind her own business and I didn't care if it was bothering her. She shut up.

Going into the store is a chore. You don't feel like a person, just another Apple customer who should be grateful to be using Apple products.

OP, you got the product you wanted in the end so what is the big deal? Sheesh. Maybe next time you'll realise you are not the savviest of shoppers and you will go to the Apple Store where the workers will in all likelihood explain the product that fits your expectations.

My two Apple stores are very well organised and there is always a greeter who checks in anyone waiting around for a genius appointment.

Apple = idiots

Apple products are over sold. Consumers are being hustled. Shaken down -- you name it. Service can be atrocious. And the reps can be vindictive cunts. There was a time when the Feds would have a problem with Apple's bullshit and action would have been taken. But America has been sold to the corporate gutter.

Apple should rebrand themselves as the Neiman Marcus of customer service and spend a few billion just MAKING CUSTOMERS HAPPY no matter what! Word like that gets around very quickly.

Some of us are suckers for pretty. Windows-machine-makers never seemed to get that concept and hire real design artists. Elegance is not their forte.

Apple products are overpriced. I've never had one and never will. I don't understand the cult of Jobs and I blame him for killing record stores.

I think if you read the reviews on some tech site, you would have known that fact, OP. But like many Apple customers, you probably are too lazy to read nor do you care.

I won't step foot in an Apple store. They're too busy, and the sales staff is too smug. And I hate the idea of having to make an appointment just to ask a question. The last time I was in a store was about five years ago. I was having trouble syncing a blue tooth headphone to my iPhone, so went back to ask them to check the settings, to see what I was doing wrong. They would not look at the phone, which would have taken about a minute. They insisted that I set up an appointment for the genius bar -- an arrogant name if there ever was one -- but I would not. Instead, I returned the headphone, and have not set foot in the store again.

I buy all my Apple products from their site or a local authorized dealer.

Or they're too busy making money, ie, not gaming, R14

Have you noticed how there are never threads complaining about PCs? I've only ever had PCs except for an iPad someone gave me. Within 2 years it was no longer functional and I bought a $200 Samsung notebook. That was 5 years ago and it still works great. My laptop is a 7 year old HP that I use for graphics. Flawless. I really don't get this cult-like slavishness for Apple.

Incessant viruses and bloat, R17?

R14 and others. OP here. Why would I read the reviews when I already knew what I wanted? And when the press release says that the Pro has been updated, with absolutely no mention that it is just the touch bar version? And would you not be unhappy to discover the computer you thought was new was two years old, and there was a subsequent update to fix keyboard problems? Yes, I got what I wanted -- sort of; I did not want to spend the extra money for the touch bar -- and I felt that Apple was being shady and dishonest. I used to have a PC, but switched to Apple years ago. I work for myself, and the computer has features that I use often. Plus, the ability for all of my devices to automatically sync is important to me, so I know that I have all the information I need no matter which device I have with me. I'm not a slavish fan boy, but their products are perfectly suited for my needs. I am disappointed and continue to be shocked at their deception and desire to build sales at the expense of customer satisfaction.

I have Norton Antivirus. Never had a problem. Ever. I don't know what "bloat" means.

[quote]Some of us are suckers for pretty. Windows-machine-makers never seemed to get that concept and hire real design artists. Elegance is not their forte.

I do agree that Apple is great with designing products but still their design language many times feels suffocating. Granted, I haven't used their products for years but I remember growing extremely tired by the OS X graphic user interface. The OS itself was so loud and strict that it was distracting to use. Switching to Windows 7 felt like a breath of fresh air since I felt like I was the one in charge, instead of Apple. Not that Windows 7 was perfect by any means but still.

[quote]I don't understand the cult of Jobs and I blame him for killing record stores.

Just like with most Apple's "inventions" they took an already existing concept and streamlined it to make it more usable. Digital music would've ruled with or without Apple.

Try using Apple Care. I have had good luck getting support over the phone with Apple Care. They can do a screen share with you. I have had a couple of bad customer service reps, but most have been super helpful and patient. If you ever do get a bad rep, hang up and call again. You'll get someone different.

I will never own any type of apple product after they refused to unlock the phones of a terrorist who killed half a dozen people and wounded a dozen others

apple calls it a civil liberty issue. I call it some fucking bullshit. And they had a team of lawyers fight subpoenas to unlock the phone. I hope tim cook is a victim of a terrorist attack. Let's face it, the world will be a better place if that happens

apple ALWAYS sides with criminals and tries to impede and interfere in murder investigations and other serious crimes

Here is the press release that touts the update, which spurred me to get a new MacBook. Where in this update does it say this update is only for the touch bar models?

I worked IT at NYU and the Macs had more viruses than any other computers. This is because the idiots that use Macs think “they don’t get viruses” and therefore don’t use protection. Also, the Mac user is so stupid they will just click on anything.

“Real design artist”??? At Apple??? Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha haha NOW THIS is why Apple users are known to be suckers like OP and r12

Your PC is fug.

I moved to a big honking iPad desktop after fifteen years with PCs, and I love it! The endless menus and scrolling and maintenance and repetitiveness of PCs drove me nuts, plus the freezing and crashing was just something I'd grown to accept. We use PCs at work, and the newest Windows program is illogical to me. The start page is useless!

Apple products seem so ,uch smarter and more intuitive, the whole experience is better from my end. Eh, I hope I still feel this way in a few years!

R17 is talking about old fat gays?

R28 you won’t honey. You’re just stupid. That’s all.

The 13" model is the budget model.

Or build, or whatever you want to call it.

OP You sound really fucking tiresome

OP is tiresome and making a mountain out of a molehill.

OP, use "Mac Buyer's Guide" website in the future. It's quite precise.

So many bitter fags....

OP here. That is a great guide, R34. I was unaware of it. Thanks for the heads up. And, according to that guide, the previous update to non touch bar Pros was in 2018, yet the one they sent me was from 2017. There is nothing acceptable about that.

R36 FUCK, you are SO tiresome. Go pay for sex

I bought Toshiba Laptops and HP Laptops and had to replace them every 2 years. I bought them because the Apple MacBook was "too expensive". After my 4th PC Laptop broke, I said fuck that and bought an Apple Laptop 4 years ago and been happy ever since.

[quote]apple calls it a civil liberty issue

You want the government to have access to your phone, computers and data? Sure, it's easy when it's a terrorist, but we all know that if granted access to that guy's phone, next they'll be getting access to suspected terrorists, and then people who they think might be supporters of terrorists, and by the time we realize it's too late, they'll have destroyed what tiny bit of privacy we have left.

This is not just conspiracy theory. We've seen what they do when they get too much power; just look at the TSA and the ridiculous procedure for getting on an airplane. I don't travel that often, but the last time I flew (6 weeks ago), on my return they insisted on patting me down, and the agent gave me a good fondle and got angry with me when I said, "Geez, the least you could have done was take me out to dinner." Yes, I know he was just doing his job, which begs the question: who sat in a cubicle somewhere and thought it was a good idea to cup a middle-aged white guy's balls as he flies between to smallish cities 500 miles apart? And that's after they'd verified my identity, scanned my bag, made me take off my shoes and go through those body scanners that reveal everything... I can't imagine what they'd do if they could read all of my subversive datalounge posts and perhaps screen all of the recipes and dog care questions I share with my sister via email.

I appreciate that Tim Cook/Apple said no and put considerable wealth where his mouth is. It's one of the few times in recent memory that corporate America has done the right thing.

R38 Toshiba laptops are the cheapest you can buy you stupid idiot. So are certain HP brands. I’m sure you paid under $1000 for each of the shitty laptops.

No Windows laptop comes remotely close to the pristine industrial design and superior build quality of a MacBook Pro 2018. Not one.

I’ll take an X1 Carbon over that shitty overpriced MacBook anyway.

[quote] You want the government to have access to your phone, computers and data?

No, but when someone has been arrested for MURDER or another serious crime and the police have a subpoena, YES, I do want the company to cooperate with the police

We are not talking about looking at everyone's phones, AND YOU FUCKING KNOW IT. So stop your foolish fucking nonsense. You dumb piece of shit who defends 2 terrorists who KILLED 6 people and almost killed 12 more

The sound quality on most iPhones is really poor.

R40, go fuck yourself. I don't spend all my precious time on a computer, asshole.

R41, No Apple product comes close to a Surface Studio. Apple products are over-priced, clunky, and tired looking. Microsoft is the leader now for elegance and fantastic design while being affordable and stable. I hate my Ipphone with it's boring same old graphic layout of little tuny tiles that do nothing.

Countless Windows laptops match or exceed MacBook Pro design and build quality. High-end Dell & HP laptops are excellent. Oh by the way, i had bad experiences with an iPod a long time ago and an iPad. But their customer service people did set industry standards for duplicitous bullshit. Fuck Tim Cook, much as he's probably a top.

[quote]pristine industrial design and superior build quality

Oh my god.

apple products are overpriced crap. i had two expensive laptops that were total lemons

[quote]Fuck Tim Cook, much as he's probably a top.

Does he even have any kind of sex life?

R36 and OP, well, if that is the case, it does sound like you are getting screwed! Your brand new Touch Bar, the replacement ???, is dated 2017???

I just had a lemon MacBook Pro and will get the replacement today. 'Wonder if it'll be old stock, too. The fucks. What they put me through. Tim Cook, you run a shit show.

I have a job

R51. OP here. They assured me that the replacement will be 2019. I will check in settings to make sure that is true. R52 -- look under "about this mac" to find out when it was made.

I know some people don't like Apple products, and that is quite fine. Everyone has a preference. I prefer Apple's laptops, and you are more than welcome to prefer another brand. That does not mean I am going to call you an idiot or worse because of your preferences. To do so is just nonsense. And to all those who called me tiresome, etc, I ask you: Would you not be a little angry and want to spread the word if you spent a lot of money on a product, and was sent something from back stock that is two years old, knowing that there have been two updates since it was made? And did those who are insulting me read the press release that touting the upgrade? Would you have known that only the touch bar models were upgraded? If so, please tell me where that is mentioned in the misleading press release.

I came on here to vent, and to also alert people that Apple is being underhanded. I do not see any reason for insulting me, or anyone else who prefers one brand over the other.

R43, please switch to decaf. It IS a civil liberties issue. You might mean well, but screaming “TERRORIST” is a well-known chapter in the tyrannical playbook.

I’m surprised you also haven’t said “if you have nothing to hide you shouldn’t question it!”

OP, from the press release you posted:

while the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar features faster quad-core processors with Turbo Boost speeds up to 4.7 GHz.

It specifically references the Touch Bar version and makes no mention of the non-touch bar model. Reading that press release I would not assume that the non-touch bar version had been upgraded.

When Apple releases hardware upgrades I will usually read a summary on arstechnica or macrumors - they are pretty good about pointing out what the upgrades are, and what didn't get upgraded, just for future reference.

Believe me, I have made boneheaded mistakes like that in the past, myself.

My two cents: Apple products are usually well designed and their control over their OS makes it more seamless. They are pretty. The Apple store is annoying and full of self importance.

You can get the same performance for half the price with other products though. I will say no other tablet compares to iPad

OP thanks for telling us how to use the about this Mac feature!! Wow! Just think if you were smart enough to know that in the first place!!! Wow!!

My Apple Air (at least 7 years old) and iPhone 6 still work great. Admittedly I don't do much on the computer except for word documents, powerpoint, and internet.

Not sure why people complain about minor issues. PC's gave me way more problems than Apple products ever have.

[quote]Does he ("Tim Apple") even have any kind of sex life?

I recall seeing his lame, unfunny Asian boyfriend in the news not long ago. Maybe he's good in bed.

For those of us who “don’t even OWN a TV” their machinery is a longer term investment that looks good and doesn’t attract as many attacks as PC.

Plus, you should remember Justin Long’s belly - although I’m mixing in some Jeepers Creepers

The reason Macs have fewer viruses is not so much because of the way they are made, but because they have such a small percentage of the computer market. Macs account for about 10% of the market, so people who write viruses are more likely to write one that can attack Windows, which are on far more computers.

This is your fault.

Why can't the police pull a gun on R35?

I'm pissed that Apple's new MacBook Pro only has USB C ports, the battery is glued in and the price is nuts. The MBP that I use now almost died last year but I was able to buy a new battery and replace it myself at 1/4 the cost and without having to ship my laptop to Apple and wait for them to send it back.

R59 you’re a filthy fucking idiot. R62 you are right to an extent. As stated earlier, many Mac users now have viruses or malware because they are stupid (as all Mac users are) and believe they are immune.

Somebody here thinks "record stores" would have survived if there was no Apple?

OP / R24 it states it quite clearly tbh “Starting at $1,799 and $2,399 respectively, the updated 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar and 15-inch MacBook Pro are available today”

While I like their products and their general ruggedness and longevity - there's a lot of straight up BS they sling, too. I've had 3 iMacs, a Mac Pro and 2 Macbooks.

The first macbook died after 3 years, the Genius Bar said it was "unfixable" so I traded it in on a MBP. I was surprised to get a warranty repair notice a year later from Apple that it had been repaired - in a different state. So, it had been resold after I turned it in after it was deemed "unrepairable".

The MBP had the dreaded nvidia 300m graphics card. I think it was around 10.10, it would start to randomly reboot unless it was connected to an external display. Apple claimed it found nothing wrong. Yet, if I installed Linux - no problem. Behaved just fine. Reinstalled OS X - constant rebooting. Their drivers were complete crap. The late 2013 Mac Pro, which was the most expensive does *not* perform to the specifications they claim. Bus speeds are less than 30% of what they claim. The Thunderbolt 2 groups, which are a mess, are clearly speed limited and not isolated from the crappy USB ports which are limited to 500 MB. It's more like 25 MB performance, tops - and closer to 10 MB with external drives, and maybe 30 MB for Thunderbolt 2 drives. That's nowhere near the 180 MB claims.

Over the weekend, I moved one of my RAID drive arrays from the Mac Pro to my HP box, which is a beast on part with the Mac Pro but uses USB C. Disk throughput is 160 MB/sec. It could be better, but these aren't the most awesome disks and I could get a better gen cable. The point is - it's about 8 times faster connected to my Windows box than my Mac.

OP here, and mea culpa for not reading the fine print in the press release, and not realizing that the update was for the touch bar model only. That is my fault. That does not negate the fact, though, that the hardware was updated twice since the one they sent me was built. And why do people hate Apple products so much? I agree that, at one point, some users had a certain smugness that was annoying, but now? They're just a well-designed computer. I prefer the OS to Windows, and the ability to sync all my devices is a wonderful time-saving feature. Yes, they are overpriced, but many things are. Why the vitriol against those who use them? I simply don't understand, when there are so many other things to direct your anger towards.

OH FUCK YOU YOU DIRTY STINKING SON OF BITCH!! You’re nothing but the stupidest piece of shit I’ve ever encountered in the history of this site.

You need to pull your head out of your ass. I hope you get hit by somebody throwing shit out of their windows. You disgust me more than a goddamn pedophile. I hate you.

I hope you're joking, R71.

On the rag today, R71?

Had the same experience, r3.

I'm not anti-apple, but I'm no longer tethered to their platform. Ultimately their product doesn't justify the price.

I have an iPhone for personal use but use a Samsung for work. The pics this Samsung take blow apple away in terms of clarity and uniformity in tone.

[quote] please switch to decaf. It IS a civil liberties issue. You might mean well, but screaming “TERRORIST” is a well-known chapter in the tyrannical playbook

Hey you stupid fuck, THEY WERE TERRORISTS. Denying the TRUTH is straight low I.Q thinking. You have a lot in common with trump supporters

And I was wrong about how many people were killed and injured. It was ACTUALLY 14 people were MURDERED and 22 were injured in a TERRORIST ATTACK. And the funniest fucking thing was Apple demanded the FBI reveal how they hacked the phones. A judge told them to fuck off

Why do I get the feeling our Concerned Terrorist Team Mom has a lot of issues in general?

That may be, r76 but s/he isn't on Mars with this.

IIRC, the POTUS referred to it as 'workplace violence' which didn't help. Apple was able to get on a civil liberties high horse because the administration refused to call it what was--a terrorist attack.

Apple’s customer service is in a free fall

I hate the creepy way they make you download content and the complex way Apple transmits photos. It’s like they want to double capture your images and data. I use my iPad to surf the web and for watching media, but won’t use the laptops or the awful, expensive iPhone. My ex financed an iPhone and is still paying it off. I can never hear her unless she puts in her headphones. It’s a pain. I think they’re bad phones.

Apple feels over branded and too sleek and clever for its own good.

Can I just tell you how glad I am to have a Windows phone?

Can I just tell you how glad I am to have a window?

R71 I see we've mistaken DL for twitter again, Mr President?

The problem is that Jobs was a conceptual innovator. They don't have that now, and when he was alive he kept one step ahead of where they are now. He'd either make a forward leap, or enough of an interesting lateral move (like the iPod) that people would be interested until the main thing (iPhone) came along.

It’s not a service organization, it’s a cool toy company.

They need to offer an lte network for their devices.