My Macbook Pro is over 4 years old. Ancient in tech age. And when the new Macbooks came out I was interested. However I was not impressed by the touch ribbon. It seemed like a gimmick. And the computers were not that much faster than mine. See, the mobile chip makers have hit a wall. The processors which seemed to be speeding up exponentially five years ago, are now getting only incrementally faster.

Apple as a big problem with their laptops. They are designed too well, and they rarely fail. My 7 year-old Macbook Pro is still running fine, and my mom may never need another computer. It’s a bit heavier than my model, and I guess a lot heavier than the new MBPs, but that’s not a defining feature for me.

So, it’s no secret that the MBP has stalled a bit. What was once the flagship computer that every manufacturer tried to copy is now looking a bit long in the tooth performance wise. And for some reason Apple released the new line with an older processor, perhaps setting up a quick refresh, or perhaps because the performance differences didn’t justify the cost.

That’s what happened to my dreams of upgrading my laptop. The gains were just not that substantial over my current laptop. And the cost was very high compared to any other laptop. Still I think Apple has the consumer market pretty well served. Sure a Mac is more expensive, but you don’t see most weekend warriors in coffee shops with pcs, everyone, when given a choice, seems to buy Macs for their own personal use. And Apple is fine with keeping it that way. They make higher margins than any other manufacturer. They’ve got the flagship mobile phone. And now, I hear, the Apple Watch is really taking off.

So what’s happened to Moore’s law? It seems we’ve traded speed for other levels of performance, like battery life.

Tell me what your favorite laptop is and why in the comments. I’d love to know what people are passionate about.