I feel that the "MacBook Pro" name was a fundamental mistake, and the root cause of 15 years of "pro" naming issues.
Not only is it a bad name on its own [1], but "professional" is so broad that it can describe literally every working person on the planet, in some capacity. All that label is doing is causing everyone to say "This isn't a perfect machine for my professional use" and then try to shame Apple for it.
Half the professionals I know aren't even using "pro"-labeled machines -- it's neither necessary nor sufficient. It's just an awkward label that the internet is taking far too literally.
Of course, if they dropped it today, everyone would say "See? Apple admits they aren't making machines for professionals any more!" They can't win.
[1]: "Apple marked the transition to Intel by discontinuing the well-known, long-respected PowerBook name. The Intel-based pro laptop is known as the MacBook Pro, a name that met with a less-than-enthusiastic reception at the Expo keynote." --lowendmac.com, 2006
I feel that the "MacBook Pro" name was a fundamental mistake, and the root cause of 15 years of "pro" naming issues.
Not only is it a bad name on its own [1], but "professional" is so broad that it can describe literally every working person on the planet, in some capacity. All that label is doing is causing everyone to say "This isn't a perfect machine for my professional use" and then try to shame Apple for it.
Half the professionals I know aren't even using "pro"-labeled machines -- it's neither necessary nor sufficient. It's just an awkward label that the internet is taking far too literally.
Of course, if they dropped it today, everyone would say "See? Apple admits they aren't making machines for professionals any more!" They can't win.
[1]: "Apple marked the transition to Intel by discontinuing the well-known, long-respected PowerBook name. The Intel-based pro laptop is known as the MacBook Pro, a name that met with a less-than-enthusiastic reception at the Expo keynote." --lowendmac.com, 2006