Sorry to "um akshually" you, but I know that it's possible to upgrade the SSD in some of the later models, at least up to the 2015 rMBP. They just used a custom connector for the SSD, so you either had to get an SSD with that connector (I know OWC made/is making some) or an adapter for standard M.2 drives, which can be had for pretty cheap on Amazon. EDIT: And you also had to get funky screwdrivers for the screws they use externally, IIRC, but again, cheap from Amazon - God bless globalism and Shenzhen sweatshops.
But yes, upgradability has been on the decline across Apple's product line for decades. Maybe, if they reverse the decision about being miserly on ports for the MBP, they'll reverse the decision about not making at least RAM and storage upgradable as well.
I almost forgot that OWC made drives with the custom connecter. Good for them. Although for what it's worth, I think they only started making them in that size a couple of years ago (and not till
after Apple had already stopped making that model of Mac). Even now, they cost at least $400 or so, an expensive proposition when the laptop you want to buy is a used one.
A conventional M.2 SSD in the same capacity (with an adapter) only costs in the $150 range, but that too has its tradeoffs, such as not being able to hibernate the machine. I for one would worry about its reliability.
Many new Monterey features won't work on Intel Macs, including the new OCR stuff and on-device text-to-speech.
I don't think it's cool that they would do this while still selling Intel Macs.
Oh, but it gets worse! Apple Maps on the Intel processors doesn't even have the new 3D buildings (AKA the feature Google Earth has had for over a decade).
Pure lazy coding if you ask me. What they seem to have done here is create code paths that are super-efficient because they use low-level features specific to the new processor type. Coding in a fallback for older processors would have involved re-writing the same code again, and possibly more changes like a lower draw distance or less detail on those machines.
And rather than bother with two separate code paths and testing the result (a move that would have most likely hurt Apple's bottom line), someone just decided: 'Nah. Let's not bother', and that was the end of that.
Although, given what I say below, it's hard not to conclude that the Intel models really are a bit shit.
Don't buy them new unless you need them for work.
This would be a good time to go back and research the PPC to Intel transition to get an idea of how fucked the old hardware ends up getting in less than a year.
And make sure you look at both sides of the transition! Because in many ways the first Intel Macs got fucked just as much as the last PowerPC ones. In terms of OS support, the first model of the Macbook Pro only got two OS X upgrades.
Granted, the gaps between OSes were longer back then (every release
after 10.7 was yearly), but that's still only 5 and-a-half years of having the latest operating system until 10.7 Lion came out in 2011 (or 5 years in the case of the newer 17-inch model). Late 2006 kinda also got the short straw with no graphics acceleration and no official support. Compare that to Mid 2007, which ran the latest OS for 9 years.
There is of course more to life than running the latest OS, but it's an indicator of quality. I mean, you have to ask yourself
why Apple didn't want to release 10.7 and 10.8 for those machines.
The first models released after a chip transition are are almost as bad as you'd get for a first generation product. And first-generation products from Apple tend to be iffy. The first iPhone was crippled, even by the standards of the ones that came shortly after it. The first Apple Watch and the first iPad (which didn't even have cameras) were total shite, all of which had very limited software support. And the first-generation Homepod was dead on arrival.
Oh, and the
first Powerbook to be released after the 68000 to PowerPC transition (yes, there were three chip transitions) was apparently one of the worst laptops Apple's ever made.
So while the first release of the Apple Silicon Macbook Air doesn't
feel to me like a first generation product, history tells me I'm probably wrong. For now it does run circles around the most powerful Intel Macs to date, but that M1 chip will show its age sooner rather than later.
Perhaps it's for the best that Apple's making us wait. But actually fuck that. I can't stand
not knowing what they're going to release. Apple has given us a very dangerous thing for the last year, if not longer, which is hope. Because the next Macbook Pro
might just have all the ports we need, storage at a reasonable price, Face ID and no nasty surprises. But I'll feel like such a fool if it's anything like the last two redesigns.
