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Why is Apple suddenly constantly throwing new things out?

C

cootersgarage6

Guest
Original poster
Nov 6, 2010
215
0
Okay, I am getting a macbook or mac mini soon, and they both have Intel Core 2 duos, i'm upgrading because I have an intel core duo blackbook from '06.. and think it's like a dinosaur.
So, I was wondering, if I get this 2010 Mac mini or 2010 macbook, aren't they just going to make a new one next year? and then the intel core 2 duo will be the new intel core duo, (meaning it will be the new bottom line requirements, like the intel core duo is)....??
and Why are they suddenly making so much new stuff? I mean i am also getting the 3GS and Ipod touch 4, they just made the Ipod touch 4, and let me guess, theres gonna be a new one soon? Apple didn't make something new every 4 months... it seems that for the past year, they have been pushing, and announcing so much stuff.. the new macbook, new macbook air, new nano, new touch, new shuffle, Ilife 11, Ipad, Apple TV 2010, mac mini 2010, and mac pro 2010... are they just refreshing everything now? or are they going to keep doing this? I don't want to buy the product, and then in 2 years it look OLD...
so.......

So, I was wondering, if I get this 2010 Mac mini or 2010 macbook, aren't they just going to make a new one next year? and then the intel core 2 duo will be the new intel core duo, (meaning it will be the new bottom line requirements, like the intel core duo is)....??
and Why are they suddenly making so much new stuff? I mean i am also getting the 3GS and Ipod touch 4, they just made the Ipod touch 4, and let me guess, theres gonna be a new one soon? Apple didn't make something new every 4 months... it seems that for the past year, they have been pushing, and announcing so much stuff.. the new macbook, new macbook air, new nano, new touch, new shuffle, Ilife 11, Ipad, Apple TV 2010, mac mini 2010, and mac pro 2010... are they just refreshing everything now? or are they going to keep doing this? I don't want to buy the product, and then in 2 years it look OLD...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
U

utl768

macrumors 6502
Sep 8, 2009
387
0
its like that with any electronic device

new products come out constantly as new technology is developed
 
simsaladimbamba

simsaladimbamba

Guest
Nov 28, 2010
22,670
31
located
Apple releases and updates its product at least once a year, with exceptions (MBA and Mac mini and Mac Pro).
Look at the Buyer's Guide (link is on the top right of every MR page) to see more.

And does the current MBP or Mac mini fulfill your needs? If the answer is yes, then why wait? Waiting for new, fresh, Humpty Dumpty products/updates will only lead to suffering, not in the grand meaning, but your psyche will constantly envy the new stuff and will want to wait for the much newer, yet unreleased stuff.

There seems to be a mantra on this board: Buy NOW, if you need NOW. Wait, if you can wait.
 
Sedulous

Sedulous

macrumors 68030
Dec 10, 2002
2,530
2,577
That is the nature of technology. Compared to PC manufacturers, Apple is typically considered to produce infrequent hardware revisions.
 
CosmoPilot

CosmoPilot

macrumors 68000
Nov 8, 2010
1,537
373
South Carolina
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Also, these updates are a good thing for all us consumers. In my opinion, if the device u seek adequately meets your needs, then don't worry so much about having the latest and greatest. Several years ago, trying to have the latest product had some utility because software was exceeding hardware. In my opinion, hardware has surpassed the average users needs. Therefore, these products Apple keeps pushing out should suit you well into the future. As is said many times in here, if you need it, get it (then stop worrying about it until you need to upgrade).
 
mrsir2009

mrsir2009

macrumors 604
Sep 17, 2009
7,505
156
Melbourne, Australia
Why do you feel you have to have the latest model? Most of the updates are no more than little spec bumps. I have the late 2009 MacBook Pro, and its now late 2010, and nothing has changed in the MBP apart from spec bumps.
 
*LTD*

*LTD*

macrumors G4
Feb 5, 2009
10,703
1
Canada
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8C148)

To continue being successful.
 
A

andrewsd

macrumors 6502
Sep 27, 2008
333
0
USA/BAYERN(bavaria)
now or wait

Buy now or wait.. Well I guess that did not help much..I was in the same situation and was thinking about upgrading but since I already have 4 gig of ram I decided to go cheap and just upgrade the hd to a ssd.. I feel a world of difference.. If it suites your needs by now or wait till mid june when the core 2 duo may be gone but if you keep waiting you will never PULL the trigger as they say.. So good luck man and let us know what you purchase ..


Also you say " you think it is like a dinosaur" what are you doing with your mac anyways and yes all the new ones do have much better graphic power but are you a heavy user I mean you do have a macbook and not a more hefty machine so what exactly are you doing with your computer ?
 
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dissolve

macrumors 6502a
Aug 23, 2009
546
0
If it feels old simply because new ones have been released, you're going to have a hard time buying any electronic device, especially a computer. If your computer still does what you want, no reason to upgrade. Many other manufacturers don't produce computers that last as long as many of Apple's offerings (hardware-wise, let's not get into their habit of software-limiting old computers ;))
 
K

kuwisdelu

macrumors 65816
Jan 13, 2008
1,323
2
cootersgarage6 said:
and then the intel core 2 duo will be the new intel core duo, (meaning it will be the new bottom line requirements, like the intel core duo is)....??
Click to expand...

Don't worry too much about this part. The reason the Core Duo is a min req for Snow Leopard and other software isn't just because it's old, but because of the architecture. It's due to the PowerPC->Intel switch, and Apple isn't going to move away from x86 anytime soon.

Seriously, unless the Buyer's Guide says "Upgrade Imminent," just buy it. Tech is a fast industry. It moves fast, regardless of what company's hardware you buy.
 
G

Gli.Azzuri

macrumors member
Sep 22, 2010
39
0
hey you will have to eventually get used to this, especially with apple. right now they probably have the iphone 6 in mind as well as finalising designs for iphone 5.
Its freaky but it has become reality now i guess. You simply have to make the leap to a new product, or you will be forever waiting for a new product...
 
maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,489
43,414
Many people here complain that apple is not upgrading their products quick enough. Just look at the complaining that went on for the Mac Pro, it took nearly 500 days for apple to update it.

Also look at the core i5/i7 MBPs, people were whining about the fact that you could get dells/HPs/whatever with an i5 but apple was quiet.

I guess my point is, that apple will release their products when they're ready, regardless if some people think its too quick, or too slow.
 
Ivan P

Ivan P

macrumors 68030
Jan 17, 2008
2,692
4
Home
cootersgarage6 said:
and Why are they suddenly making so much new stuff? I mean i am also getting the 3GS and Ipod touch 4, they just made the Ipod touch 4, and let me guess, theres gonna be a new one soon? Apple didn't make something new every 4 months... it seems that for the past year, they have been pushing, and announcing so much stuff.. the new macbook, new macbook air, new nano, new touch, new shuffle, Ilife 11, Ipad, Apple TV 2010, mac mini 2010, and mac pro 2010... are they just refreshing everything now? or are they going to keep doing this? I don't want to buy the product, and then in 2 years it look OLD...
Click to expand...

You're imagining things, at least to an extent.

- The only prior update to the Apple TV before the one in September was a pretty small one - a bump in capacity from 40GB to 160GB.
- Before September 2010, the iPods hadn't been updated since September 2009 (iPods are generally only updated in September of each year, aside from the intro of the botched 3rd gen shuffle and the introduction of the 32GB first gen touch in January 2008). Don't expect any new iPods until September 2011.
- Macs are generally updated on a twice-a-year cycle - one update has slight spec bumps like new processors, slightly larger hard drives, etc, while the other update is generally a major one (like the introduction of larger, non-removeable batteries, the Core i5/i7 processors, etc).
- MacBook Air had not seen any substantial update since it's introduction in early 2008. Mac Pro had not seen any kind of update in well over a year.
- iPhone has only been updated once this year, as usual, in the middle of the year.

What Apple does is absolutely no different to what other companies do - as new technology becomes available and more affordable, they start adapting it into their products. Because Apple's products cover such a wide variety of niches I think you're looking into it too much - yes there have been a lot of updates coming out of Cupertino this year, but not one of them has been any kind of out of the blue, unnecessary update for a product that had only recently been updated in the months prior. All of them have been for products that were nearing the end of their life cycle and, in at least three cases, for products that were seriously out of date. That's how technology works, and all computer/handheld manufacturers do the same.
 
RedTomato

RedTomato

macrumors 601
Mar 4, 2005
4,155
442
.. London ..
Standard lifecycle for a computer product, in business accounting, is 3 years for a laptop and 5 years for a desktop.

That's 3 years for a laptop, from purchase to when it becomes too old and slow to continue using, and has to be discarded. Ditto desktops (5 years)

That said, the pace of change in laptops and desktops has slowed down somewhat. My white Macbook is 3 years old, and still one of the fastest laptops around. A large RAM upgrade and 500GB HD upgrade helps, but I haven't even put a SSD in it yet.

At the charity I work at, many of our PC desktops are over 5 years old and still chugging along fine.

Smartphones are where the mad churn is at now. The lifecycle of a smartphone (iOS, BB, Android etc) is now around 18months, if you want to stay reasonably up to date with the software on it, and also because of the greater abuse they suffer in daily use.

That said, identify your needs, find which laptop matches your current and projected needs and budget, and use the MR Buyer's Guide to work out if it's worth buying now or if you are able to wait till the next revision.
 
roadbloc

roadbloc

macrumors G3
Aug 24, 2009
8,784
215
UK
Otherwise they would not make money. Kinda speaks for itself. Why don't we all just go back to the DOS days eh? :rolleyes:
 
Apple Hero

Apple Hero

macrumors member
Nov 23, 2010
31
0
Esthar (The Futuristic City)
If they want to keep up with the ever changing Computer Business, they have to keep updating their devices. It's only once a year, you just got to time buying their products right. Android on the other hand updates too fast, leaving behind many Android Phones outdated. ;)
 
Winni

Winni

macrumors 68040
Oct 15, 2008
3,207
1,196
Germany.
cootersgarage6 said:
Okay, I am getting a macbook or mac mini soon, and they both have Intel Core 2 duos, i'm upgrading because I have an intel core duo blackbook from '06.. and think it's like a dinosaur.
So, I was wondering, if I get this 2010 Mac mini or 2010 macbook, aren't they just going to make a new one next year? and then the intel core 2 duo will be the new intel core duo, (meaning it will be the new bottom line requirements, like the intel core duo is)....??
and Why are they suddenly making so much new stuff? I mean i am also getting the 3GS and Ipod touch 4, they just made the Ipod touch 4, and let me guess, theres gonna be a new one soon? Apple didn't make something new every 4 months... it seems that for the past year, they have been pushing, and announcing so much stuff.. the new macbook, new macbook air, new nano, new touch, new shuffle, Ilife 11, Ipad, Apple TV 2010, mac mini 2010, and mac pro 2010... are they just refreshing everything now? or are they going to keep doing this? I don't want to buy the product, and then in 2 years it look OLD...
so.......

So, I was wondering, if I get this 2010 Mac mini or 2010 macbook, aren't they just going to make a new one next year? and then the intel core 2 duo will be the new intel core duo, (meaning it will be the new bottom line requirements, like the intel core duo is)....??
and Why are they suddenly making so much new stuff? I mean i am also getting the 3GS and Ipod touch 4, they just made the Ipod touch 4, and let me guess, theres gonna be a new one soon? Apple didn't make something new every 4 months... it seems that for the past year, they have been pushing, and announcing so much stuff.. the new macbook, new macbook air, new nano, new touch, new shuffle, Ilife 11, Ipad, Apple TV 2010, mac mini 2010, and mac pro 2010... are they just refreshing everything now? or are they going to keep doing this? I don't want to buy the product, and then in 2 years it look OLD...
Click to expand...

Apple is not in a hurry to release any new computer products. Compared to the rest of the computer industry, Apple releases new products almost at an glacial speed. The PC industry moves very fast while Apple is still selling computers with last year's CPU technology - just look at how few spec upgrades the Mac Mini has received in its lifetime.

Anyway. When you buy a computer today - ANY computer, not just a Mac - you already have purchased outdated technology because its successor is already in beta stage in the labs. It has always been like this and won't ever change. This is why you buy a computer based upon your CURRENT needs.
 
C

CubusX

macrumors 6502
Sep 9, 2009
280
1
Really??

Technology is constantly changing.

Or they are trying to make a profit, it is a multi-million dollar company afterall...
 
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