• @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    141 year ago

    There’s nothing over-engineered in Apple products. They are the least amount of effort and maximum amount of polish to dazzle the masses so people think price is justified and give feeling of quality.

    Throughout the history they have failed to fix common and known issues in generations of laptops. They chose cheaper version of aluminium which caused the bending of the phones. They reduced cost of manufacturing by removing a single drop of glue beneath a single chip which resulted in number of their plus sized phones to lose touch functionality.

    Over-engineering would mean devices are robust, easy to repair and almost never need a repair. Apple is anything but that and their solution is usually to suggest buying a new device or charge you like you are buying a new device. All you need to do is see Louis’ video on repeated engineering failures from Apple. Granted it’s an old video, but if you watch the video you will see Apple doesn’t really improve quality, just reduce price.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      English
      31 year ago

      I think their engineering is pretty good, personally. I travelled a lot with a laptop from 2000 to about 2020, and my windows laptops would always die after 2 years - hinges, cracks in the body, screen cracks and so on. Moving to apple’s laptops in about 2011 meant I got 5 years out of each (air then a pro). I’m now on a second pro, but the old pro is still trucking along.

      I’m not going to defend all their decisions, there’s a lot of questionable stuff in there (keyboards, sticking to lightening, mice…). But their hardware, both laptop, mini and pro) has been solid.

      You are right about repairability. I think that has never been a key feature for them hence the glue, security screws and other crap. Fortunately there are governments around the world that are pushing for repairability, consistency with usb-c, replaceable batteries and more. So I think all manufacturers will be upping their game now, which is awesome.

      All manufacturers reduce cost - supply chain management and manufacturability are the processes to drive that. Apple are really good at the supply chain side, that was Tim Cook’s focus as COO. What I don’t like is that they are able to keep their incredibly high margins (far higher than any other manufacturer) thanks to their software, interoperability and walled garden.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        1
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        In your case am afraid it is survivor bias. We are not talking about individual cases here. If you want to go case by case basis I have never had ThinkPad last fewer than 10 years. In fact I never had ThinkPad die on me. But they do break just like any other machine. Many of Apple’s laptops had issues when you used them too hard because they would blow hot air on glued parts or parts sensitive to heat shortening their life span. I strongly recommend watching video I’ve linked.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          English
          11 year ago

          It could well be survivorship bias, but I did represent the examples as personal. Having said that - I did a quick google for « laptops with longest lifespan » and most of the reviews had apple at #1 or 2.

          In common with you, most of my previous laptops (5 or 6) were thinkpads like yours, usually the tablet style for OneNote (which is awesome BTW). They never survived the rigours of the road. Perhaps that’s why I had a different result to yours - I used to travel 3-6 months a year.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      01 year ago

      not an apple product fan for sure ) see comment before

      but if you take a look at the (of course overprized) mac pro i think the overengeneering is understandable … thats pure hardware porn, even the venting holes are drilled to reduce sound

      as said i only own one apple “product” … the stock, because zhey have a crazy fanbase which will cultishly defend every messup … but the mac pro is a masterpiece of hardware

      … shoud run linux thou

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        41 year ago

        Apple products are opposite of hardware porn. How can you call it as such when their solution for poor choice of solder compound, which resulted in GPU desoldering, was to glue piece of rubber which pushed on the GPU? How can you call it porn, when their SATA cables are constantly failing from 2011 models, constantly? How can you call it hardware porn when Apple cheaps out on single drop of glue to hold touch driver chip not to get broken resulting in Max series of phones massively dying after couple of years of use?

        What you sound like is a victim of great marketing campaign.

        • @[email protected]
          link
          fedilink
          11 year ago

          nah friend … the opposite of a victim of marketing campaign … i don’t touch apple devices because of the walled garden they built and the prices they do

          i was mainly talking about the mac pro’s case design and the modular setup … thats extremely appealing in my personal perspective.

          i do not know if they stand the challange of time, but the mac pro for sure impressed me even if i get called a apple-hater in my personal circle of friends

          so don’t mistake me for a fanboy - but i do pay respect for things which imoress me.

          if you check my prev comment you’ll see that i especially point oit that they ask for crazy prices (monitor stand, mac pro wheels, thunderbold cable … god even the whipes carry something like 1000% apple tax) … still the mac pro case seems pretty cool to me

          • @[email protected]
            link
            fedilink
            21 year ago

            Then I apologize and strongly recommend you take a look at Framework laptop. That thing is truly modular to a point that you can upgrade CPU on a laptop, chose your own ports and repair pretty much everything. And machine comes in a metal body, very thing and lightweight.

            • @[email protected]
              link
              fedilink
              11 year ago

              i do know them … they even get a step further and are wirking on a “box” where you can use your mainboard if someday they offer an updated one for the laptop case, so you can use the old one for a server box or sth

              i do like those as well … i just wanted to make my point that even for a company where i refuse to buy something from, there are some things which impress me

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        11 year ago

        I’m an old Linux-head (actually started out developing tools for 10’s of variants of unix - compilation flags providing custom versions). I would love to have my mac mini running linux though, that would be awesome. I don’t think you can yet.