上周蘋果公司召開了一場新品發布會，會上發布了幾款筆記本電腦和一款升級版的電視機頂盒軟件。然而這場發布會卻遭到了多方質疑和吐槽。有些人甚至質疑蘋果對這兩個市場的基本戰略是否已經擱淺了。

發布會的產品介紹環節首先從一款叫做“TV”的蘋果電視軟件開始。這款應用旨在改進蘋果電視的一個主要弱點，以往用戶要想在蘋果電視上找到一個特定的節目，就得在好幾個視頻應用里一個個地搜索。但有了這款新應用后，用戶就可以同時在多個視頻應用上搜索一個節目。不過它也有一個說大不大說小不小的問題——Netflix和亞馬遜視頻（Amazon Video）這兩個在美國最受歡迎的流媒體視頻網站并未被包含在內。

介紹完了這款軟件之后，蘋果終于揭開了姍姍來遲的升級版Mac系列電腦的神秘面紗。然而令廣大果粉不滿的是，此次升級的電腦只有MacBook Pro筆記本這一條產品線，而iMac和Mac Pro系列臺式機仍然原封未動。更令人接受不能的是，升級版的MacBook Pro居然搭載的還是幾年前的英特爾芯片。

蘋果邁出的這一步——或許還有沒邁出的那幾步，引得外界紛紛批評蘋果在這兩大市場上的戰略。

最新發布的蘋果TV也是市面上最昂貴的網絡機頂盒，然而現在就連許多廉價機頂盒都具備了播放4K高清視頻的功能，售價最高的蘋果TV卻不支持4K播放，實在是說不過去。知名博主喬伊·斯蒂爾干脆在他的博客上貼出了一張表，表上的10款其他品牌的網絡機頂盒的功能都比蘋果的多，但價格卻都更便宜。

比如亞馬遜的Fire TV機頂盒只賣90美元，但它也支持4K播放，還有一個包括了Netflix在內的通用搜索應用。

斯蒂爾寫道：“在2016年秋天，為了進入蘋果的電視生態系統而花150美元買這么一個硬件，無論如何也說不過去。現在谷歌也生產了一款UHD HDR播放器，而且它的成本還要低于蘋果的Siri遙控器，這就說明蘋果賣的硬件有問題了。”

雖說TV應用在有些情境下還是挺有用的，然而隨著谷歌和AT&T等競爭對手的在線電視服務日益突飛猛進，蘋果至今仍未建立自己的具有吸引力的在線電視服務。蘋果的一些獨有的節目或許會讓部分鐵粉產生購買欲望，但是刨去這些獨有內容或一些最搶眼的功能，“還有誰會買這款產品？”史蒂爾問道。

而在筆記本電腦方面，蘋果的做法也招來了類似的問題。

首先是蘋果對CPU的選擇，此次發布的新版MacBook Pro基于英特爾三年前推出的Skylake平臺，而非最新的Kaby Lake平臺。寫手兼開發者歐文·威廉姆斯指出，老款MacBook Pro筆記本的CPU性能在某些標準上還超過了新款的CPU性能。

“如果你現在用的是一臺2012年的MacBook，你可能都說不出來它跟新款有什么區別。”威廉姆斯寫道：“但這有一個問題：這家公司等了四年之久，卻沒有推出任何實際的有未來價值的功能，又有何‘新’可言。”

還有人批評蘋果對Pro系列的升級力度不夠，對從事創造性工作的專業人士沒有提供額外的幫助，而這本來一直是蘋果最有強項的市場之一。比如創意數字媒體網站（Creative Digital Media）的總編彼得·科恩就指出，蘋果的新款筆記本電腦并不具備處理虛擬現實（VR）項目所需要的強大的圖形芯片。

科恩認為：“Mac之所以一舉成名，就是因為它抓住了桌面出版和圖形處理領域，而PC當年則在這方面錯失了良機。目前看來，蘋果也要在下一代的圖形、3D和VR領域步PC的后塵了。”

在上周的發布會上，蘋果還回顧了1984年第一代Mac和1991年初代Mac筆記本發布時的情景。但如果粉絲們的批評真的切中了要害，那么蘋果或許的確忘掉了“初心”——也就是當初讓那些經典產品大獲成功的東西。（財富中文網）

譯者：樸成奎

Apple’s event last week to unveil new laptops and some improvements to its TV set-top box software were underwhelming on multiple levels. Now some are questioning whether Apple’s fundamental strategies for the two markets are running aground as well.

The new product introductions started with a new app for the Apple TV software called “TV.” The app was supposed to correct one of the chief weaknesses of Apple TV in which a user might have to search across multiple apps, one at a time, to find a particular program to watch. With the new TV app, users were supposed to be able to search for a show across many apps at one time. The problem was that Netflix and Amazon Video, the two most popular Internet streaming video services, weren’t included.

Then Apple finally moved to update its aging line of Mac computers. But only the MacBook Pro notebook line got updates, while the iMac and Mac pro desktop lines remained unchanged, and the updated MacBook Pro models rely on year-old CPU chips from Intel.

The moves—or the lack of additional moves—have prompted criticism of Apple’s strategy in both markets.

The TV announcement left Apple with the most expensive Internet set-top box on the market, but lacking the features of many cheaper devices that can display 4K video. Blogger Joe Steel put together a list of 10 competing Internet video devices that cost less and had more features.

Amazon’s $90 Fire TV set top box, for example, can display 4K video and has a universal search app that includes Netflix.

“There is no way to justify spending $150 to enter Apple’s TV ecosystem in the fall of 2016 on hardware alone,” Steel wrote. “When Google is making a streaming UHD HDR player that costs LESS than a replacement Siri Remote, there is a problem with the hardware Apple is selling.”

While the TV app may be helpful in some situations, Apple still hasn’t been able to create its own compelling online TV service while competitors, like Google and AT&T , push ahead. An Apple line-up of programming that was uniquely available on the Apple TV box might provide a compelling reason to buy the device. But without unique content or the most desirable features, Steel wonders “Who is this product for?”

On the laptop side, Apple’s decisions have raised similar questions.

One red flag came with Apple’s choice of CPU, which is based on Intel’s three-year-old Skylake platform, not the brand new Kaby Lake platform. Writer and developer Owen Williams pointed out that the CPUs in older MacBook Pro laptops outperform the chips selected for the newer models in some benchmarks.

“You can use a MacBook from 2012 right now and probably can’t tell the difference,” Williams wrote. “But therein lies the problem?—?the company waited four years, then didn’t really deliver any real future-value other than it’s ‘new.'”

Others criticized Apple for failing to make the “Pro” line more useful to modern professional workers in creative fields, traditionally one Apple’s strongest markets. The new laptops lack the powerful graphics chips needed to work on virtual reality projects, for example, observed Peter Kirn, editor in chief of the Creative Digital Media website.

“The Mac made its name because it embraced desktop publishing and graphics when the PC missed the boat,”Kirn wrote. “Now, it seems Apple is about to miss next-generation graphics, 3D, and virtual reality.”

At last week’s event, Apple harkened back to the introduction of the original Mac in 1984 and the first Mac laptop in 1991. But if the critics are correct, the company may have lost touch with what made those iconic products so successful.