[ever1]

I was also disappointed by these macbook pro, especially the path Apple is taking toward power users. I searched for a laptop equivalent in quality and performance to the macbook pro and I realised that it is not easy to find at all.(I'm doing Machine Learning so I need compute power.)

If you consider the pro of the mbp:

  -performance : Overall perfs are great on 15", but other laptops are better, especially grahics (but for developpers ?)
   Maybe for cuda in ML. But think of external graphic cards with TB3. Memory big - :(
  -battery : big + for mbp, no competition.
  -screen : big + for retina and ecosystem adapted to it.
  -quality : big +, you can expect a 5y+ lifetime, the quality is amazing compared to the competition.
  -design : big +
  -connectivity: today it's a - for mbp. But in 2y ? Cleary we are switching to all-usbc devices. TB3 gives you such
   bandwidth that even external gpus are possible.
  -storage: big - for mbp, even if it is fast, too small.

So the conclusion is less immediate. If you have in mind that you can sell you mbp with a good price even after 4y, you realise that it is a good investment. For the same quality, screen, battery, perfs the competition have same price or don't even offer an equivalent.

So for myself, as long as macos is poweruser friendly, I will stay with the macbook pro, if it changes, I will move to Linux...with a mac :)