I already switched once.... When Apple announced Aperture was over, I switched to Lightroom. My library was huge and it took a long time. On retrospect, this was a mistake. The final version of Aperture still works perfectly on the latest version of macOS, far better than Lightroom does. I should have stayed... oh well... But now here I am with an even huger library in LR, and the latest few versions have been shit and shit and even more shit. They are getting worse and worse and I am paying $10 bucks a month for this why?
But do I do another switch...? Hmmm. Thinking about it.
Why Apple stopped development of Aperture is really beyond me. There was a time it was almost as popular as Lightroom. You could argue it wasn't their core, but then again, why did they develop it in the first place. Anyway, happy that I can leave Lightroom behind me. Bugs me if I think that I put up with this so long... Just try it; if you get the hang of it (I am still in that proces as I discover more and more of C1) you will love it. Library migration of +50k photo's was 10 hours on my getting-old-in-the-tooth MBP (I just let it running overnight.) It doesn't take all LR adjustments (but then again I had to revisit my old photo's anyway), but pretty well respects all metadata (ratings, keywording, etc.) and even respects keyword hierarchy... Most problematic (for me) was that C1pro doesn't support all files (ie. I have a Panasonic DMC-CM1 that it doesn't recognize.)
That's what happens when a numbers guy gets in charge. With profits from the iPhone exploding, I'm sure someone told Cook something like "Aperture only brings in x dollars whereas we could increase iPhone profits y dollars if we transfer everyone working on Aperture to that division". To a numbers guy, that is a no-brainer. It's unfortunate and I think all their decisions to focus less on the Mac will come back to bite them someday, but oh well, that's how it goes.
I'll have to look at C1. The easiest course of action is to just not do anything, but with LR getting worse and worse I know I need to make a move somewhere.
Regarding re. Mac/iPhone: I never thought of it in that way, but I completely agree. The latest batch of Macs is laughable at best and are overpriced for what they are. There used to be a time that a Mac was expensive, but you got a lot in return (stability to name one, speed next), but that time is long lost...
I hear you. Esp the latest MacBook Pro... trash. The hardcore fans are starting to speak up about how bad it is, so I really hope Apple listens (as they finally did with the Mac Pro), but I kind of doubt they will. I've been an Apple user since the Apple II, so I'll wait this out. But still... this is definitely a rough patch for Mac fans.
One thing why I would never consider the new MBP is all USB-c connection: gone magsafe, gone all other useful connections and after spending a lot of money you have to spend some more to have the appropriate adapters...
I think Apple really bet the house on usb-c. They thought the industry was moving in that direction and they thought (and hoped) many more accessories would be available by now. They bet wrong, just as they did when they bet on dual-gpu's with the trashcan mac pro. Both decisions seem to have been motivated by design, leading me to think Jony Ive has gotten too much power these days. We know Jobs wasn't afraid to say no to him, but I wonder if anyone now at Apple can say no to him.
I really hope for a return of magsafe. My main machine right now is a MacBookPro 2014 model, the first with the retina display. I love this machine. With the exception of a small SSD (only 128GB) it is perfect. But it's approaching the time for an upgrade. I really hope for better upgrade options when the time comes.
My MBP is a 2011 model which I hope to hold on a little longer, partly because there is no spare money for that, mostly because I don't find anything that can justify an upgrade. It's getting long in the tooth though but I hope a RAM upgrade will give it just a little longer lasting...