Sometimes people state their opinions as facts. Sometimes people don't say anything to defend or explain their opinions. They just blurt them out. An it makes the internet so fun!!

To some people, not all. There was probably just as large a contingent of people who hated it as there was who loved it.

I think Apple should have made it an optional BYO feature, but they didn't so that's what we're stuck with.

I think Apple's idea of a "pro" is not necessarily someone who spends time inside of a text editor all day.

I think Apple's notion of "pro" includes people who spend time in front of a text editor all day. It just doesn't include ALL people who spend time in front of a text editor all day.

Developer is a very broad term. I am no Apple fan, but I would be lying if these new Macs aren't more than satisfactory for a large number of developers. Maybe not for developers who have specific or advanced needs, but I think plenty of developers would be super happy with these new Macs.

Define developer system. I've exclusively used Macs for development for over a decade.

Show me another laptop that does all these things:

1. Benchmarks >12000 in Cinebench R23 (i.e., very solid CPU performance)

2. GPU benchmarks at or above an RTX 3060 laptop

3. Over 10 hours battery life for typical light web browsing tasks

4. Under 40dB of noise at full fan speed

5. No loss of benchmarking performance after 30 minutes of load (i.e., no thermal throttling)

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhqCC70ZfDM)

They don't exist. Apple is selling a literal unicorn and you're complaining that the unicorn should come with glitter.

Hopefully, these drawbacks will change if enough people buy these M1 machines, but there is no guarantee.

I think this is a big misunderstanding of Apple's customer base for these systems.

These GPUs are optimized for rendering tasks, not for FPS count for gaming.

> Very few games are optimized for it...Hopefully, these drawbacks will change if enough people buy these M1 machines, but there is no guarantee.

There is a guarantee, and that guarantee is hardware-level compatibility with iOS and iPad platforms.

There's a whole section of the Mac App Store called "Great iPhone and iPad Games for Mac with M1"

iOS and iPad probably represent a larger gaming installed base and revenue than PC and consoles combined.

Opinions may vary, but personally I think that being able to run Windows on your Mac is far, far down on the list on reasons to purchase a Mac. It was a very handy tool to have especially 15 years ago when the Mac didn't have as much commercial support, but in 2021 I don't think a lot of potential Mac customers really care about Windows compatibility.

A small market indeed. Very few people need this powerful of a computer. Most people browse the internet, use a word processor, and some play demanding video games. Video games is the only category that remotely approaches the need for these powerful machines by John Q Public.

It is expensive. I give you that. And for many people it's probably overkill.

I presented sourced evidence showing why I think this computer is in a class of its own, so I'd be really excited to be proven wrong.

Different people have different needs. This laptop probably isn't for you.

Or perhaps they could have opted for an underscreen camera like the Fold 3 or something else?

I feel like this was done for branding to tie it into the iPhone.

For most people, that notch tradeoff is fine, but there will be a segment of people who care more about having those extra pixels.

It means “the materials and manufacturing budget is increased to allow the designers to push the diminishing-returns boundary further.”

For competitive use-cases, where an increase in capability makes the difference between winning and losing, paying the increased cost of the more capable tool is a sound tactic.