> However, Apple's strategy at the moment [...] appears to be somewhat predicated on being a fashion brand.
See, I think if that's where you're starting from, you've already lost the point. Their strategy appears to me to be "stop making gadgets for technoweenies and make them for the other hundreds of millions of people". If 99% of your potential customer base are never going to plug a HDMI cable into a machine, why bother with the machining and cost of having a HDMI port?
> Apple are no longer releasing laptops that have scaled in capability to meet the demands of my workload
Because there's orders of magnitude more money in servicing every one else's needs, unfortunately (or fortunately, I suppose, if you have shares in Apple.)
See, I think if that's where you're starting from, you've already lost the point. Their strategy appears to me to be "stop making gadgets for technoweenies and make them for the other hundreds of millions of people". If 99% of your potential customer base are never going to plug a HDMI cable into a machine, why bother with the machining and cost of having a HDMI port?
> Apple are no longer releasing laptops that have scaled in capability to meet the demands of my workload
Because there's orders of magnitude more money in servicing every one else's needs, unfortunately (or fortunately, I suppose, if you have shares in Apple.)