"Despicable - absolutely despicable.  "Makers' March on Washington" maybe?  Maybe (try) to appeal to the fact that Trump is (supposedly) a *builder*?Never mind the evidence that he - allegedly - stiffed contractors in the past, and never really *built* anything at all - he's just paid (or not..) other people to do it.  And that he *is* one of those people who does "have an extra $25,000 just laying around (couch change for him..)"

"> they launched successive iPods at decreasing price points for years.And it might be argued that the iPod was *the* most successful product Apple has ever made (I don't know).  I wonder if that was a reason why?"

"> but I don't think Apple's Original ethos were ever to simplify the internals of their products.Maybe - the Steve Jobs biography points out SJ's insistence that (paraphrase) "the inside look as pretty as the outside".  I read somewhere (maybe apocryphal) that he actually wanted curved circuit traces on the original Apple II boards, until the engineers told him that would be a tad hard electrical-wise.  (impossible?)"

"> [monitor stand being so complicated] might pique the interest of people with that sort of cash to burn.Why didn't/don't (hint if anyone at Apple is reading) they make a version where all/half of the hinge mechanism is clear plastic, so you can see the damn engineering that presumably justifies the cost?Or transparent aluminum..  ("Turning solid aluminum transparent by intense soft X-ray photoionization"; Nature Physics 2009; doi:10.1038/nphys1341)That actually *would* justify the cost (and then some) - figuring out how to do the "inner-electron-knockout" process consistently enough for mass production, then how to make a thick enough piece (I'm guessing the laser process won't work past a particular thickness), then how to mass produce it.But it wouldn't be particularly environmentally friendly.  Sub-picosecond X-rays at 10^16 W/cm2 probably take an s-load of power.  (On the other hand, if Apple could also figure out how to get fusion power to work..)"

"> Apple still doesn't tell you how much RAM they've increased,Except for one interesting exception - when they finally managed to get the (albeit top of the line) MBP to run with 32GB - they told people about that.  But that was obviously because people had been wanting a greater-than-16-GB laptop for..  how long now?The fact that the 32GB is only available on the 15-inch model - is that *just* the "highest-price-bonus" thing, or is it connected to the fact that the 15-inch has (I presume) a (small) amount more cooling ability?"

"(Continued - damn sticky control key)One that is 3.5 mm thick (plus 1.5 for top and bottom metal) for a 20% battery boost, a second is 6 mm for a 50-60% boost - which uses a more expensive battery chemistry, maybe lithium metal electrodes or something.  I have no idea whether these numbers make any sense (probably not), or what Apple’s batteries’ mWh/mm^3 power density is.I’m guessing a *lot* of people would give up a centimeter for a reasonable keyboard and better battery - even more if they could figure out how to do the “snap-on battery” idea so that the base machine would only be a half-centimeter thicker.Of course, I shouldn’t really speak (maybe) - I’m planning to get a new MBP at some point.  But if I knew an 13-inch XPS could be made into a Hackintosh with minimal fuss?  I would seriously think about that."

"> overly thin MBPs of 2018I thought the latest "too-thin-for-their-own-good" MBPs were earlier than 2018?That's another example of "abandoning the middle" it seems (remind anyone of politics?). How many people would *more than happily* tolerate a MBP that was - 6 or maybe a whole *7* millimeters thicker MBP for a better battery and/or keyboard?  Split the difference, make it 4 mm thicker so that you can have a real keyboard, and then have two seamless add-on battery packs that could "just work" snap on the bottom - one"

"> fallen so far from their original ethosDesigning for people who have more money than sense and being a "luxury brand" is great..  But what happens when the next recession hits?  If Apple doesn't have backing of "ordinary users" who like their software and stuff because it's "just works" and "makes sense" (which increasingly it doesn't - they change bits of the UI/UX every iteration, hide things in the UI like buttons without text-labels or even *borders* - change behaviors, ignore things "rules" they used to have about UI being "simple")..  What happens if there comes a time when they *need* that buying demographic?As for the "why a magnet mount":  <semi-sarcastic> So they have a reason to figure out how to recycle neodynium mangnets.."

">[Potential buyers] will drop the money because they'll make it back, or because they're in situations where money is no object.Or because if they drop 11,000 for a new Mac Pro/Pro Display/Pro Stand, they can (maybe) get Uncle Sam (in the US that is) to pay for it because of the immediate business tax expensing changes?  This of course assumes that your new/not-so-new business makes enough money to make that work - that would be around 60K at a 20% rate?  Maybe not hard for a single year if you manage to make a "killer app" (big if though..)"