I’m an inveterate Apple fanboy. I buy nearly every odd-numbered iPhone release because I can’t justify spending $1,000 or more on a new phone every year anymore, and I upgrade my MacBook Pros every few years. I’ll be the first to admit that the speeds-and-feeds benefits of upgrading are fairly limited in Apple’s case. You’re basically buying a slightly faster version of the same machine every time. But there is definitely a reason to upgrade as batteries age, performance begins to lag and the general usability of older models degrades.
This upgrade path, familiar to anyone with an Apple fetish, is fine. It’s natural. It works. And one day, when it no longer makes sense to buy one of the best-designed laptops with some of the best specifications and the best operating system in the world, I’ll be the first to dump my MacBook for a Dell or an intracranial link or whatever comes next.
Given Apple’s recent product launches, however, I’m beginning to wonder whether that day is coming sooner than I expected.