Remember when Apple killed their server devision? It wasn't because it wasn't profitable - because it was. They killed it because it wasn't profitable enough to be anything other than a rounding error on their accounts.

I fear the same is happening with the MacBook line up when compared against the profits from iOS devices.

I don't know. The Mac still represents a 10% of revenue for Apple, and I'm sure most of that comes from laptops.

revenue is not profit though...

> They're so far ahead in certain areas, it's not even funny.

Honestly asking, not trying to throw punches; what are they ahead with? From everything I've seen/read/heard it's all software, and the hardware itself has stagnated or is behind by a few months/years of other vendors.

Processors. Their processors are at least a couple generations ahead of the state of the art samsung devices, at least with benchmarks.

Their hardware/software integration results in browser performance (safari) that is years ahead of chrome/android on ARM hardware.

The benchmarks are out there.

Again, the hardware/software integration allows them to reach performance metrics faster than the others. This goes for their image processors and also their general CPUs for browsing.

In fact, their iPads are now faster than some of their Intel laptops.

Not sure where exactly they're "so far ahead".

Cameras? Google is on par if not better with the Pixel. Screens? Samsung.

The only area where I could conceivably say Apple is destroying the competition is the A11 chip.

As an overall package though, I'd say the other major players (Samsung, Google) are on par with Apple for phones.

Yes I was actually mainly talking about their processors (and other silicon), and the additional performance gains you get from tight hardware/software integration.

> The most dangerous thing here is that the public is increasingly getting the message and idea that Apple's mac hardware is decomposing.

Not sure "the public" is very aware of any of the stuff going on (or more accurately, not going on) with Macs at Apple.

I don't think the general public reads or hears any Apple news outside of what the main stream media reports. Most of the complaints about the touchbar, keyboard, etc. don't trickle up to the MSM. The MSM is more interested in reporting about iPhone news than Macs.

I do think the keyboard issue is leaking into the mainstream actually, thanks to class action lawsuits, etc.

But you're right, most of what us nerds argue about, the public just isn't aware.

> And you can tell because they're kicking ass when it comes to iOS devices. They're so far ahead in certain areas, it's not even funny.

I'm not convinced of that. I bought an iPhone for the first time a few months ago and returned it after a few days because iOS felt like a backwards step. I've no fanbois allegiance one way or the other, but Android felt a lot more polished, usable and intuitive. Even the hardware was a backwards step for me (albeit at a more advanced price).

As an iPhone user I agree. I often look at how feature packed while cheap Android devices are. The only thing that keeps me from switching is Google and that I don't have the time to bother with alternative ROMs anymore.

I'm probably in the extreme minority here, but I actually think iOS lately feels too complex. There are still features it's missing that I'd like, but I often long for the simpler days of earlier iOS versions. Too many different overlapping interfaces (e.g. lock screen vs. Notification Center), types of notifications, interaction models (tap vs. 3D Touch vs. hold), and overloaded basic apps (e.g., apps inside of Messages.app)—they all make me feel like iOS is just getting too complex, at least on my iPhone.

I don't think that's too unreasonable. I only spent a short amount of time with iOS, but I soon gained the impression that it was unintuitive and that there was perhaps an emphasis on superficially clever stuff at the expense of keeping on top of fundamental user expectations and patterns. Things like 3D Touch don't matter to me when the user experience is much more constrained by a philosophy that discourages customisation and convention.