Apple's launch of its new MacBook Pro range continues to attract controversy. Although there are some key features that can be used to sell the machine to consumers, omissions in the design of the laptops are hurting one of Apple's key audiences for the hardware. Developers are definitely not happy.
The number of developers using the MacBook Pro range is only a small percentage of the user-base of Apple's laptop range, but they are a vital part of the audience. Without the developers you might have the best platform in the world but the third-party apps and games that can draw in consumers will not be there. The hooks into social networks and cloud-based services will not be present, diminishing the value of the platform. And without the developers pushing the envelope of what is possible, without the dreamers, a platform has very little chance of being seen as exciting or desirable.
Just ask the former Windows Phone team how important developers are to the perception of a platform.
Which makes this week's introduction of the new MacBook Pro range such a disappointment. Apple's approach to its new portable hardware is a kick in the teeth to developers.
Don't forget that if you do any development work for iOS your only choice is to develop on a MacBook - this is the closed garden model working at its best for the gardener. They are effectively forced purchases when a new machine has to be considered.
Apple has raised the prices across the board on the Pro portfolio with the base model coming in at $1499. That might be a nice machine for someone working in a coffee shop, but developers looking for a dent level of power, performance, and storage (and screen real estate) are going to have to look higher up the stack and the costs start to mount up. Moving from the 2.0 GHz processor to the 2.9 GHz Processor adds another $300 to the price.
The new keyboard on the MacBook Pro uses the butterfly mechanism. It reduces the travel of the keys and allows for a thinner design of keyboard which leads to a thinner laptop. This is arguably a subjective area, but the feedback from developers who have used 2015's twelve-inch MacBook with the butterfly keyboard is not good. For consumers who spend all day on the keyboard any flaw or issue will be highlighted every minute of the day. And if any group is going to notice the missing escape key, it's the developers who live within the boundaries of the terminal app and the command line environments.
And then there's the connection to the iPhone 7. The latest iPhone and the latest MacBook Pro cannot be connected directly. I find it incredible that Apple signed off on a MacBook Pro that cannot make a direct connection. No doubt Apple is expecting developer to purchase the $25 lightning to USB-C cable and because that can be bought in the Apple Store all is right with the world.
Except that Apple has just forced its developers to make another purchase because of its own design decisions.
So that's a more expensive machine, a weaker keyboard, a forced peripheral purchase and limited specifications. What a rum deal. Not every MacBook Pro owner will be a developer, but every developer will be a MacBook Pro owner.
Apple knows this, and yet Apple still decides to take the developer for granted to push ahead with the changes to the MacBook Pro. No doubt the general public will be happy with these changes (the shiny emoji keyboard is going to be a big point of uniqueness in the market) but the developer community - the community that contributes so much to the macOS and iOS community - has been shortchanged. It is being nickel and dimed, and is expected to roll over and accept the extra pain so Apple can produce a thinner and shinier machine for the consumer market.
I can't help think that Apple has forgotten what the 'Pro' suffix represents.
Now read why Apple had to kill the best MacBook Pro in the world...
