I wouldn't lump "developers" together with "other creative types." They depend on developers to make the apps that make their devices desirable. If devs stopped buying macs there would be nobody to make apps for iOS. They don't depend on film editors in anywhere near the same way.

Exactly. I suppose if they did lose the developer segment they could open up iOS development on other platforms to remain relevant, but that whole path just seems very undesirable and a great thing to avoid.

Just a note - though FCPX had a bumpy start, there are now a lot of professional editors back using it. After the 10.1 update it most editors biggest complaints were fixed - and that was years ago.

Not to be argumentative, however :), I'm primarily a programmer but have been involved in producing two feature films in Hollywood, and do not know of a single professional editor who uses FCPX. Admittedly, the majority seem to be using Avid and may not have been using Final Cut Pro previously.

I would like to add that I don't see the Apple garbage can as a suitable hardware offering for serious editors.

What are some decent alternatives for the MBP? I was hoping to replace my mid-2014 MBP Retina with the ones that just came out but honestly they seem really undesirable, especially with the lack of physical ESC key. Surface Book 2 seems interesting but I don't want Windows 10 to spy on me. How is Linux on the Surface Book series?

You may want to give the Razer Blade series a try. The XPS 15 is also expected to get an update soon.