Well the stated reason for it at the time (at least from the users proposing it) was the prevalent (and 100% wrong) idea that dark screens with white text were “easier on the eyes” and helped with “eye strain.” All of which is a myth despite being a very persistent myth.
I would also argue that battery savings are irrelevant because it only saves battery for a small subset of users. If you don’t want to use dark mode (most folks) then there is no benefit.
If people like it it’s no big deal to me. To each their own. Personally, I find it a bit “bro-ish,” if you know what I mean. It’s aimed at tech dudes who like everything black on black etc.
Mostly it just irritates me that so much time effort and resources were spent on it when they could have been spent on other things. It’s also a classic case of a company doing a design because their users are asking for it, which is pretty much the worst thing for a designer to do.
I think all of that is indicative of the type of company Apple is lately. i.e - Unfocussed, ageing, overly masculine in it’s designs, poor resource allocation etc.
In what way did removing the ports benefit Mac users?
Trading specific ports for USB-C ports allowed people (with the use of an adapter) the ability to use a much wider range of accessories than they might have with only ports dedicated to specific things.
Now I happen to think they went too far with that, and the current return to having an HDMI port on their MacBook Pros is a good decision, but the versatility of the USB-C ports is spectacular.
In what way did making Mac laptops so thin that ports no longer could be accommodated benefit Mac users?
Thinness=lightness. It’s not the thinness that’s critical, it’s the reduced weight – and I for one enjoy that substantially reduced weight.
I might not agree with several things being claimed here, but this I understand and believe I know what you mean.
IME dark mode is something used by the proverbial “tech bro” to display just how savvy and incredibly geeky he is. And yes, I mean he. I have yet to meet a casual user who thinks that after spending all their life reading dark text on light background, that all of a sudden they can manipulate their word processor so much better when they have it set to display white on black.
Frankly, I don’t care what people use, everybody should set up according to their own preference. But it isn’t lost on me which type predominantly has switched to dark mode.
I will note though that Hollywood has had this obsession with dark mode for far longer than Apple. And I would be willing to believe they are a substantial reason tech bros got infused with this idea that in order to appear to be a real geek, you need to set your shell to green on black. Most of the guys with that setup weren’t even born when the S/36 shipped.
I took on Dark Mode significantly a few years ago.
Since then, I’ve moderated a little. It’s clear that for some people, displays are often just too bright. And I do agree that when reading in bed while Tonya is asleep, a white-on-black scheme with the brightness turned all the way down works well.
As far as ports go, there’s nothing new there at all. The pain is real, but it’s also finite. You don’t hear anyone whining about the lack of ADB, serial, and SCSI ports anymore, though there were lots of complaints when Apple dropped them in favor of USB.
You’re certainly entitled to your opinion, but I think that’s a wild exaggeration. I’m no Apple apologist, but for example, the iPhone 14 Pro’s computational photography capabilities are nothing short of magic, and all that comes because Apple has developed custom CPUs. The M-family of chips is insanely impressive, and the Macs it powers have been selling better than ever before because of it. The AirPods and AirTag are popular because they’re really good, and the Apple Watch lineup gets better every year.
Sure, there are products that feel like they’re still searching for their niche, like the Apple TV, HomePod, and to an extent the iPad. But even then, they’re not bad, just somehow not always connecting with user needs and price points the way everyone might want.
Put it this way. There’s almost nothing Apple makes that I wouldn’t use if someone wanted to give it to me. That’s far from true of a lot of competing products.
One specific case where I find a “dark mode” useful is when using Maps under CarPlay and it automatically shifts between light and dark modes. When driving at night, you really don’t want an extra source of light in your field of vision.
You joke, but only within the last year have I started to migrate my Linux desktops from using the truly ancient xterm for terminal sessions over to the somewhat newer Xfce Terminal app.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And sometimes it may take 20+ years before you find somethng “broke” enough to consider a change. (In my case, it was needing better integration with the VirtualBox shared clipboard, since I’m spending quite a bit of time copying/pasting content into and out of VMs.)
Maps does that entirely outside of DM. In fact, Maps had offered that since long before Apple launched DM. For exactly the reason you mention: you can’t have a bright light map in your otherwise dark car at night and still safely drive.
Sometimes bright light dazzles my eyes so much that I can’t read a normal screen but can read one with the brightness turned down or with f.lux turned on, which I have set as standard in the evening when normal screen brightness is too much.
It depends on the situation. My desktop MacMini has multiple external backup drives, an external drive for large files, a number of fixed accessories (display, printer, scanner, external speakers, Ethernet, webcam, keyboard and mouse) and some plug-ins (camera and DVD drive when needed). I need ports for my home office, and I have a couple of external hubs to handle them.
On the other hand, 2 USB ports, audio port, and the charging port suffice on my 2017 MacBook Air, which wanders around the house and goes with me on trips because there’s not much I need to add to it.
I have glaucoma and white on black (or similar) is the only way I can read. Many other low vision people with macular degeneration and other diseases find the same thing. The glare from a full white page makes reading almost impossible.
