This is why I am not a fan of Apple

discount81

So I bought a new Macbook pro for a designer who refuses to use anything else, I go to plug an Ethernet cable in so I can set it up and realize Apple have also done away with Ethernet ports for MacBooks.
Now she is going to waste a bunch of time transferring huge video files over a wireless connection.
Absolute idiocy and proof once again these things are toys, not for use in real enterprise environments.


And before I noticed this I was thinking to myself "you know if I did more work with Unix again I'd consider getting one of those"

tpatt100

You bought hardware without reviewing the specs?

Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter - Apple Store (U.S.)

I had to buy a display port to DVI adapter online. I got so used to all the ports being on laptops but with the ever shrinking thicknesses, vendors are dropping a lot of stuff.

Displayport - I meant Thunderbolt, sheesh can't keep up with this stuff /oldman

Webmaster

You'll need to get this one for your customer: Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter - Apple Store (U.S.)

Edit: <-- too slow

discount81

Discovered a thunderbolt > ethernet adapter, however still I think ethernet should be a standard feature

discount81

I had no choice, her and her manager said she "Must have a 15inch Macbook pro with Retina"

it left only 1 model.

tpatt100

Many of the ultrabooks are dropping ethernet, the DVD drive was the first to go. I almost freaked out the other night when I didn't want to use wifi at home and just assumed there was an ethernet port which mine did have. I think it's only the Retina Macbooks that don't have ethernet ports?

Webmaster

Yes, the one with the regular screen still has a gigabit port.

But if the customer wanted the retina you should have reviewed its specs and include the adapter. The customer probably doesn't care about you blaming Apple. For a designer, that retina book is a superior device and your job is to keep the customer happy.

pwjohnston

discount81 wrote: »

Discovered a thunderbolt > ethernet adapter, however still I think ethernet should be a standard feature

+1

I've been considering buying a mini, if for no other reason than the size. I know I can put Linux or Windows on it if necessary.

ptilsen

The entire industry is moving this way. Many ultrabooks don't have NICs. We're deploying Windows 7 to new XPS models right now that lack NICs. It means we have to use media, because they cannot use PXE boot.

I'm not defending it as a practice (although I could, half-heatedly), but it's not an Apple issue. That's the market. I personally think that the lack of an Ethernet port is a flaw -- if I have my laptop and want to plug in, I want to do it now and without an extra cable.

I wouldn't get too mad at the request, either. MBP+R is, by most objective measurements, the best piece of laptop hardware currently on the market. It's $1000 too expensive, IMO, but you cannot get a better 15'' laptop at any price point.

Tpatt has you as well. You really can't be mad at Apple for the situation. The specs are advertised on the web store more clearly than most manufacturer's bother to, IMO, and frankly it is fairly widely known that Apple has done away with Ethernet ports on several laptops.

tpatt100

Apple - Why You

Yeah I also noticed the ram slots dropped to one now, so I am glad I got the one I have lol. After this laptop becomes obsolete probably going to end up with a business class workstation replacement I guess...

cyberguypr

Not an Apple fan but I carry a MBA on a daily basis mostly for convenience. Got a wired adapter along with it and it has never left my drawer. In this case it makes sense because of the intense file transfer.

As the guys said, this is the trend in the industry. Fail on your end for not verifying specs. This stuff changes so quick that we can't take anything for granted.

it_consultant

My Zenbook shipped with a USB-Ethernet adapter. My zenbook is as thin as a macbook air, so I expect it to lose some ports, a macbook pro should still have an ethernet port.

I hate designers. They learn mac in college and all of the sudden nothing else has any validity. Believe it or not, CS6 works great in Windows. The learning curve Mac to PC within the Adobe universe is pretty easy. I have plugged plenty of $700 color corrected NEC monitors into huge video cards (in PCs) for designers to use, and they loved them, to think that we need to marry one brand for a perceived advantage.

ptilsen

IT, while I agree with your sentiment, Webmaster makes a valid point. If you're going to actually use the monitor on your laptop (and if you're not, you probably have the wrong device), the MBP+R cannot be beat. There is no comparable laptop screen on the market. The operating system itself is pretty trivial. There aren't any Mac-exclusive programs that make Mac inherently superior for any industry, IMO. I have also noticed the ridiculous concept some Mac users have that Adobe Creative Suite is somehow unique to Mac or even better on Mac -- but I don't think that most creative professionals use Macs based on that misconception.

NotHackingYou

Look carefully at the side of the macbook pro, then look carefully at the jack. It wouldn't fit with how thin the laptop is!

pwjohnston

it_consultant wrote: »

I hate designers. They learn mac in college and all of the sudden nothing else has any validity. Believe it or not, CS6 works great in Windows. The learning curve Mac to PC within the Adobe universe is pretty easy.

Back when I was djing and taking IT/web design classes so I’d have something to fall back on, Photoshop 5.5/6 there was very little if any difference between Mac and PC. I did all our flyers, cd cover art, everything on Photoshop on a PC, with Windows 98-XP mind you!

tpatt100

My wife trained in graphic design on Macs. She insists on it but I don't mind since she never really bugs me for technical assistance, this was years ago now a days she uses the iPad and iPhone for everything home related.

I switched to Mac OS for home use as my primary OS again after a long break and feature wise for 50 dollars you get a lot of features that I wish Windows had with it's home version. Time machine, Spaces, ability to reload the OS over the internet if I replace the hard drive, etc.

The reloading the OS thing really surprised me, discovered it by accident when I replaced the HDD with an SSD and booted it up and went "aw crap stupid OS is on a recovery partition isn't it??"

it_consultant

Windows Vista/7 can do this, but no one bothers to take regular backups of their computer. Mac practically twists your arm. In Windows, it backs up into a huge VHD file, so you can even pop it into Hyper-V too if you wanted.

it_consultant

ptilsen wrote: »

IT, while I agree with your sentiment, Webmaster makes a valid point. If you're going to actually use the monitor on your laptop (and if you're not, you probably have the wrong device), the MBP+R cannot be beat. There is no comparable laptop screen on the market. The operating system itself is pretty trivial. There aren't any Mac-exclusive programs that make Mac inherently superior for any industry, IMO. I have also noticed the ridiculous concept some Mac users have that Adobe Creative Suite is somehow unique to Mac or even better on Mac -- but I don't think that most creative professionals use Macs based on that misconception.

Yeah, I don't doubt the resolution on the MacBook Pro is superior. I have always liked the MacBook Pro as a laptop - I know a few IT guys who use their MBP with a Windows partition to do their work.

Generally, the networks I see where someone INSISTS they need a Mac, the implementation is pretty poor.

tpatt100

Windows 7 has it? I figured from the wording of it , it was just the refreshed XP backup program. That will teach me not to read the instructions.....

discount81

To be fair on my part, the last Macbook Pro I bought maybe 6 months ago had ethernet.
It is not exactly the type of thing I look for when I look at specs on CDW / SHI "Oh does this $2000 laptop have an ethernet port"
I look at the Make/Model/CPU/Ram//HDD/Screen size, these are the only specs people submit on their requests so I buy according to that.

I knew Macbook Air did not have one, but we don't buy them for staff, I still consider the Macbook Pro to be product used widely in business and consumer.

The Lenovo Ultrabooks I buy still have ethernet, I knew some of the REALLY thin ultrabooks like the Zenbook don't have ethernet anymore.

it_consultant

If you select "bare metal backup" it takes a point-in-time image of the computer. I had to recover from one once when I removed myself from the admin group one night.

SteveLord

discount81 wrote: »

To be fair on my part, the last Macbook Pro I bought maybe 6 months ago had ethernet.
It is not exactly the type of thing I look for when I look at specs on CDW / SHI "Oh does this $2000 laptop have an ethernet port"
I look at the Make/Model/CPU/Ram//HDD/Screen size, these are the only specs people submit on their requests so I buy according to that.

I knew Macbook Air did not have one, but we don't buy them for staff, I still consider the Macbook Pro to be product used widely in business and consumer.

The Lenovo Ultrabooks I buy still have ethernet, I knew some of the REALLY thin ultrabooks like the Zenbook don't have ethernet anymore.

I think you should suck it up and admit you goofed on this. The time it took to make this ragethread could have been spent looking at the specs/pictures of it prior to purchase. Plus what everyone else has said.

It happens. But not everyone blames an entire company for something like this. Silly.

jibbajabba

I'll take it off you and send you my Lenovo T61 instead - only 5 years old but still buzzing WITH ETHERNET port

tpatt100

I used to assume laptops had two RAM slots. With the shrinking of cases now you really need to dig for that information but a person purchasing a laptop knowing they plan to upgrade something should research that which I do now.

The same goes for optical drives and video ports for things like hooking up to a projector/monitor. It's almost a given now a days to assume you will have to buy/get one with it some sort of adapter cable.

Even wireless should not be an assumed thing as well. I know I expect it to have it but in a business scenario one should research to see if the internal wireless adapter has some issues with some corporate access points.

It would probably be a good thing to research and then create a checklist created using a logical flow of client expectations and what to check for to make sure the device purchased will work.

discount81

How did I goof up? I ordered exactly the model requested.

Nobody ASKED for an ethernet port on their request and she probably won't miss having it, I simply think Apple sucks for not including one standard any more.

rsutton

discount81 wrote: »

How did I goof up? I ordered exactly the model requested.

Nobody ASKED for an ethernet port on their request and she probably won't miss having it, I simply think Apple sucks for not including one standard any more.

You messed up by not asking, or thinking through all of the clients needs. It's your job to understand how they will use the laptop, and then provide the necessary equipment - at least, that is the expectation of every IT company I have worked for.. The user does not, and should not be expected to know if the model of laptop they want, will be fully compatible with the network you administer.

emerald_octane

discount81 wrote: »

Nobody ASKED for an ethernet port on their request and she probably won't miss having it, I simply think Apple sucks for not including one standard any more.

oh brother. It's not standard if their other laptops include it . Your designer customer whatever wanted the top of the line latest laptop that happened to not include ethernet but there are other macbook pros that do. Besides with the thunderbolt ethernet adapter the macbook finally supports jumbo frames which is does not on the broadcom chipset that is used onboard.

If you want to rage at apple atleast make it a good reason. How about their crappy model for enterprise distribution of app store apps (read: none). How about their downright broken active directory integration in OS X 10.7.0-.3? How about all the bull crap hacks we have to deal with in order to install 802.1x wireless profiles?

discount81

They fill out a service catalog request and I review and approve it.

It isn't my job to determine exactly what someones requirements are.
If they don't understand what they need they can call help desk or speak to desktop support to verify what they need, or even try something new and research online themselves.

In this case her manager gave the exact model.

I simply think it's ridiculous to not include ethernet anymore on a business grade Laptop.

discount81

The users aren't expected to know.

I do a yearly review of laptops for the service catalog, I include Dell Latitude, HP Probook, Lenovo Thinkpad and MacBook.
The user selects the model and specs, assuming the paperwork is right I order it and ship it.
I don't have time to ring 100 people a month and discuss their laptop requirements, if they don't understand wtf anything means they are told to call helpdesk to assist them in filling it out.

IF the user needs something outside of those models for whatever reason, THEN I would review the model they request thoroughly.
However in January when I looked at all 4 of those laptops they all had ethernet ports included.

rsutton

discount81 wrote: »

It isn't my job to determine exactly what someones requirements are.

Then you shouldn't have to worry if the client complains about the laptop not meeting her needs.

On the other hand, this model is backwards since you are the expert and it would make more sense for you to be responsible for choosing and verifying hardware compatibility. If I were you, I would recommend that all hardware purchases first be approved by you, so you can determine compatibility.