The iMacs and the Mac mini were originally going to be unveiled by Steve at Macworld. It became apparent that Steve wasn't going to be able to deliver the show due to ill health so they decided to downgrade the event, issue a press release to this effect (they don't need Macworld) and get Phil to unveil iWork and iLife earlier than they wanted to (thus the end of Jan ship date). The 17" MacBook Pro was a given anyway based on previous 17" addition cycles. When in the history of Macworld or any previous keynote have they spent more then 20 seconds of time discussing iWork... I mean come on.
It was apparent that they would need to start the process of 'progressively' introducing the idea of Steve's situation to the press so they kicked off with a 'yes things aren't great but it's fixable' e-mail. One week later and this new addition that seems to suggest that things have gotten more complicated in the 'last week'... and cue the reason for the delay of the hardware announcements. They were deliberately held back, along with some 'special' new product to soften the blow when they delivered round 2 of the progressive health updates with Steve's leave. This has been Apple's plan all along. The stock, shareholders and confidence will take a tanking on Steve's new health scare BUT they have a series of product announcements 'ready to roll' that are designed to draw the attention away from the situation and confirm that it's business as usual. Confidence will return slightly and just in time to show Apple's quality hardware offerings to this cash-strapped depressed economy in the form of a good spec entry mac (the Mac mini) and the good old trusty consumer desktop, the iMac.
The iMac and Mac mini will be announced and ship in the next 2-3 weeks (3rd or 10th February).
The iMac will see a slight form factor change to reflect the styling of the latest 24" LED display. Tapered base stand and the 'reduction/removal' of the 'chin' with special cooling inside the iMac, allowing them to further reduce the form factor.
The Nehelam MacPro will be announced in April and ship in May. This will be announced alongside the introduction of a 20" and 30" LED display. True to the MacBook Pro, the displays will be glossy/glass EXCEPT for the 30", which will be available in a matte option (much like the design of the 17" MacBook Pro). This ensures extra cash from the pros, who will be effectively forced into the premium model like the 17" MacBook Pro.
It was apparent that they would need to start the process of 'progressively' introducing the idea of Steve's situation to the press so they kicked off with a 'yes things aren't great but it's fixable' e-mail. One week later and this new addition that seems to suggest that things have gotten more complicated in the 'last week'... and cue the reason for the delay of the hardware announcements. They were deliberately held back, along with some 'special' new product to soften the blow when they delivered round 2 of the progressive health updates with Steve's leave. This has been Apple's plan all along. The stock, shareholders and confidence will take a tanking on Steve's new health scare BUT they have a series of product announcements 'ready to roll' that are designed to draw the attention away from the situation and confirm that it's business as usual. Confidence will return slightly and just in time to show Apple's quality hardware offerings to this cash-strapped depressed economy in the form of a good spec entry mac (the Mac mini) and the good old trusty consumer desktop, the iMac.
The iMac and Mac mini will be announced and ship in the next 2-3 weeks (3rd or 10th February).
The iMac will see a slight form factor change to reflect the styling of the latest 24" LED display. Tapered base stand and the 'reduction/removal' of the 'chin' with special cooling inside the iMac, allowing them to further reduce the form factor.
The Nehelam MacPro will be announced in April and ship in May. This will be announced alongside the introduction of a 20" and 30" LED display. True to the MacBook Pro, the displays will be glossy/glass EXCEPT for the 30", which will be available in a matte option (much like the design of the 17" MacBook Pro). This ensures extra cash from the pros, who will be effectively forced into the premium model like the 17" MacBook Pro.
