Many of the current "power users" are also "trend setters". If those users start switching away from Apple then it's going to be a big hit to Apple's brand value (and their ability to sell middling products and high prices).

I used to think this was true in the tech world, but I don't think it is, at least not in the last 10-15 years. If power users were trendsetters, there'd be a lot more people running desktop Linux these days. I think the time in which the most dedicated and enthusiastic computer users reflected the leading edge of the rest of the market is long gone, unfortunately.

However, I do think turning off power users is a great way for the company to shoot itself in the foot when it comes to recruitment. They really depend on a certain degree of enthusiasm to get the kind of engineering talent they want to get, much more so than money or the work environment or perqs. If they no longer inspire that enthusiasm in as many people, it'll make it that much more difficult to bring good people together to do whatever they want to do next. Unfortunately the general trend seems to be a long, slow transition from being the BMW of the computer industry to being the Chipotle of the tech industry. I'm sure all the metrics favor being Chipotle (and gosh do they love metrics), but that doesn't do anything to help make Chipotle a desirable place to work at that draws all the best talent.

This is a mantra that's been repeated whenever "pro users" feel like Apple is neglecting them, but there isn't actually any evidence that this is true. It may have been true at one point in the 90s, when Apple's customer base was much smaller, but today it sounds more like a jilted ex trying to guilt someone back into a relationship.

I'm still waiting to see this effect in action from when Apple supposedly threw away the Final Cut Pro 7 userbase over night. That was back in 2011, 6 years should have been plenty of time to see this play out. Or perhaps the movers and shakers in Hollywood don't have as much influence as they thought.

I disagree. I naturally ask advise from people who I know to have extensive domain experience. That is, I ask my plumber buddy about the best water heater to buy. I ask my realtor buddy, where are the homes selling the most. and so on.

I get asked all the time about buying laptops. I used to recommend Apple, but it has become very difficult to do so for a myriad of reasons. Lately, I have found that most people can get by with a chrome book after looking at their requirements.

Can you explain a bit further? MacBooks have always been premium laptops. Are you saying low end laptops are able to serve basic needs better than a few years ago? I agree with that, and take it to be a sign of a mature market, not a failing of Apple's.

Are they though? Not saying you're wrong, but that's a giant assumption without data to back it up. That Mac sales are still up year over year suggests to me that the complaints of pro users (which lets face it, date back to 2010, when the cheesegrater Mac Pro was getting long in the tooth) have had little or no impact on sales.

"all other" ? Dell does great work with Linux on some XPS laptops. Ubuntu may not be what we want, but the foundation is set for other distros.