So, when my last MBP died earlier this year, I bought a like-new (low battery cycle) 2014 15.4" Retina 16GB from Swappa for $875. I then installed a 2TB SSD for $260. We’re talking $1135 for a 15.4" Retina quad-core i7 16GB 2TB machine with MagSafe, 2x Thunderbolt 2, 2x USB 3.0, HDMI and an SD card port… and a great trackpad and scissor-switch keyboard.
Now, in 2019, Apple claims they’ve fixed things after the butterfly switch debacle. Sure, the CPU/GPU may be twice as fast, but what do they want for a machine with twice the processing power, a 3% larger screen, and many fewer ports? The bargain price of… $3199.
Look, if I need pure processing power, I’ll buy some Threadripper powerhouse. At the end of the day, the performance of my $1135 used 2014 isn’t different for nearly all tasks than a brand new $3199 laptop, and I don’t even have to contend with the useless Touch Bar on the newer machines.
Apple, you tried but you’re still getting it wrong. There’s a difference between innovation and high price (a real thing) and unnecessary features and high price. This is foolish.
