I planned to buy the new Macbook. I’ve been following MacRumors for months for updates. I loved the Macbook Pro 15 inch for many years, and I don’t really see how they could improve it. But I was excited as always before an Apple event. I was ready to buy. But I’m not going to. Simply because for my professional work flow, the new Macbook will be a downgrade.

I get that they want to innovate, and I think that’s cool. I actually think it was a bit cool that they took away the audio jack on the iPhone. But removing function keys, MagSafe, HDMI, SD Card AND the Escape key, is simply too much for a professional tool like a Macbook Pro. I don’t meet a lot of people who have the Macbook Pro 15 inch. Usually it’s designers, photographers and programmers, who spend 8-12 hours in front of the computer every day. Please don’t mess up our workflow, by removing necessary ports and keys. It feels like me that Apple have created this new Macbook in a vacuum. Not listening to it’s real users.

What could they have done differently? An upgrade to 7 or 8 I/O ports from the current 6 (incl charger), would be good. But downgrading to 4 is a punch in the face for all professionals. The graphic card could have been upgraded to run VR and the newest games. Nvidia GTX 1070 or 1080 would be nice.

Why is there no Kaby Lake CPU? I thought Apple had a good deal with Intel, about getting their freshest CPUs. Also how can I now change the volume of a song, while working in another program, without switching the app windows?I have too switch to the Spotify app, then physically look down on the keyboard, and try to hit the volume touch area? Clicking the func-keys are hell of a lot quicker. This laptop is the one Apple recommends for professionals, a properly specced one cost $3500 but I need to carry an HDMI-adapter for client meetings? A thin laptop is super sexy, really cool, but there are actually things that are more important for professionals, like the stuff pointed out. I have no complaints about the current thickness of the MBP whatsever. It’s actually really thin in my opinion.

I’m actually a bit sad. Because it’s not like I can buy laptops with MacOS (which I’m completely addicted to) from someone else. And it’s not like Apple is going to release an upgraded version with HDMI and functional keys in January. They are going to stick with this model for a good few years from now. Meaning that I’ll eventually need to upgrade to it at some point. But it’s still annoying. I’m actually considering switching to linux and with a good PC.