Snippet: How Apple Alienated Mac Loyalists ☇

Mark Gurman:

Mac upgrades, once a frequent ritual, are few and far between. The Mac Pro, Apple’s marquee computer, hasn’t been refreshed since 2013. The affordable and flexible Mac mini was last upgraded in 2014. And when a new machine does roll out, the results are sometimes underwhelming, if not infuriating, to devotees.

In October, after more than 500 days without an update, Apple unveiled the new MacBook Pro with a slimmer design and louder speakers. The laptop garnered mostly favorable reviews from the technology press but grumbles from creative types, a key constituency, who said the device under-performed rival products.

Things aren’t the greatest in Mac Town these days, and even as someone who uses a Mac much less than a few years ago, it’s insulting how Apple has been handling upgrades and maintenance. I had a conversation with a friend who thinks that Mac and iPhone users will simply by anything with an Apple logo, and I had a hard time explaining that, no, there are factions that are frustrated and looking elsewhere. Although the picture painted isn’t all doom and gloom, it does feel more like the Mac is becoming like other legacy products, like the iPods or AirPorts.