Poll: What do you hope the product transition refers to?

[nickane]

The facts as I gather them are:

Apple is about to go through a product transition.
Apple has a knack of releasing revolutionary products with new features and high price points and lowering those prices before competitors can catch up (cf MBA, iPhone) and plans to repeat this format.
Whether or not these two points are related is unclear so the transition could be updates to existing models, or the release of revolutionary new products, such as the iPhone and MBA, or both.

Bearing in mind, Steve again warned that there would be "several more wonderful new products to launch in the coming months", and that several of these aspirations are likely to have materialised before end of Q4, which of these are you MOST hoping for?

1. Bluray and HDCP compliance rollout (including new displays), that will slow sales on the Macbooks as ppl wait for the technology to trickle down.

2. New form factor MBPs which will compromise MB sales as the MB form factor remains the same for the time being.

3. SSDs being rolled out across the notebook line, which will slow MBP sales among HD-space hungry buyers and slow MB sales as the MB won't get them this time round.

4. Tablet Mac with a 13" screen, rather like what many ppl hoped the MBA would be and we have heard has been in development for years now.

5. The much vaunted and heavily-rumoured return of the newton; a tablet 1.5x the size of the iphone. A multi-touch PDA that sits between the iphone and the MBA in the ultra-portable line (effectively a 7-8" tablet).

6. A form factor change for the mac mini which renders it smaller (as has been rumored).

7. A form factor change for the mac mini which makes into more of a fully-fledged desktop, or perhaps a new model that exists alongside the mini. The xMac/mid-range tower that many ppl have been clamouring for since the death of the over-priced cube.

8. 12" MBP (don't hold any stock in this whatsoever myself, but enough ppl seem to want it so whatever).

9. Multi-touch all over the place. iPods classic and nano get touchscreens. The iMac goes multi-touch along with new displays. Yadda-yadda-yadda. Sorry for making this all one option, but there were too many multi-touch suggestions in the main thread. Besides, if Apple made it clear that every mac was gonna go touchscreen over the next 12 months, you can expect that that would hit sales on the low-end models pretty hard.

 

[techlover828]

5 please

 

[Tallest Skil]

I wanted to vote, but none of them make sense.

6 is the best bet.

 

[Tilpots]

Where's the super duper TV option???

 

[nickane]

I wanted to vote, but none of them make sense.

6 is the best bet.

Sorry, I just wanted to include most of the options from the original thread as I could. Apologies if it came off garbled, it was difficult skim-reading and summarising so many posts.

 

[Peace]

I wanted to vote, but none of them make sense.

6 is the best bet.

Na. The Mini is gonna merge with the Apple TV.

 

[techlover828]

I wanted to vote, but none of them make sense.

6 is the best bet.

6 would be so retarded of apple.

ZOMG! It's really small but the processor sucks cause it's mobile and it has a 2.5" hard drive.

Please apple, give us a bigger mini with decent specs that can be up to $1000 with upgradable parts, I'd rather have that then a hackintosh.

 

[nickane]

6 would be so retarded of apple.

ZOMG! It's really small but the processor sucks cause it's mobile and it has a 2.5" hard drive.

Please apple, give us a bigger mini with decent specs that can be up to $1000 with upgradable parts, I'd rather have that then a hackintosh.

I hear you, but the sad fact is that this is a prevalent rumour and has been for some time. On the plus side, if it were shorter, it might gain a bigger footprint and a 3.5" drive, but still be smaller by volume. I have a feeling the mini line is going to get split into the 2 devices outlined in 6 & 7.

 

[gonyr]

Number 5 seems closest to what I want. Something like a macbook, only smaller. An apple version of the eeepc. A real computer, only smaller. And no, not the air - I want a smaller footprint, so I can put it into a side pocket of a backpack or the like.

 

[iMacmatician]

I selected 5, the return of the Newton, or "iWrite." That's what I really want. A 5.5" device with iLife and iWork functionality would be my dream device (at least for now).

I also want the Mac laptop redesign to happen, but that's already well rumored, so I don't really have to hope for it.

 

[nickane]

Where's the super duper TV option???

Yeah, i just caught that one upon returning to the main thread. Sorry. I think that's even more ridiculous than a 12" MBP or multi-touch iMac, tho. Such a product would wreck apple's iTunes model. Besides, if there was a midrange tower i would buy one for my living room as well as one for my office and just live without HD movies, until I got an Apple TV. EyeTV USB dongle could be your tivo (apple doesn't want to include different satellite/cable tuners for each market in your apple tv pro). It would also upscale dvds better than an oppo.

 

[nickane]

It is interesting to see how many ppl think the MBP should change form factor. I would have thought that was the most plausible and least interesting of all the options. Personally, I'd rather it looked the same but had a Bluray drive but that's just me.

Number 5 seems closest to what I want. Something like a macbook, only smaller. An apple version of the eeepc. A real computer, only smaller. And no, not the air - I want a smaller footprint, so I can put it into a side pocket of a backpack or the like.

I selected 5, the return of the Newton, or "iWrite." That's what I really want. A 5.5" device with iLife and iWork functionality would be my dream device (at least for now).

I also want the Mac laptop redesign to happen, but that's already well rumored, so I don't really have to hope for it.

It is reassuring that more ppl want a mini-tablet than a full scale one, since that's what the rumours are intimating and a 3rd device with a 13" screen size would make for a very complicated portable product line.

...and it's always nice to see the xMac crowd being well represented.

 

[FuuFuu]

A lot of articles i've been reading and rumors i've been hearing is telling me that some items prices are going to go down. due to their stocks plunging. not sure which one but i'm guessing since school is about to start, macbooks, along with an upgrade to montevina processor possibly.

 

[tkidBOSTON]

Na. The Mini is gonna merge with the Apple TV.

6 would be so retarded of apple.

ZOMG! It's really small but the processor sucks cause it's mobile and it has a 2.5" hard drive.

This is exactly what I want. An TV with more features. I've been torn between trying to rig up a current generation mini to my home entertainment system or getting an TV. A smaller (and hopefully cheaper) mini would fit the bill.

 

[Yvan256]

6 would be so retarded of apple.

ZOMG! It's really small but the processor sucks cause it's mobile and it has a 2.5" hard drive.

Please apple, give us a bigger mini with decent specs that can be up to $1000 with upgradable parts, I'd rather have that then a hackintosh.

First, #6 is what Apple's competitors are doing right now, if you haven't been looking. A smaller Mac nano wouldn't surprise me in the least.

Second, all Macs (aside from the Mac Pro) use mobile processors and the Mac mini already uses a 2.5" hard drive like the MacBook and MacBook Pro. That wouldn't be anything new.

I wouldn't write out a "Bigger Mac mini with decent specs" but I really don't see Apple releasing another "Cube", so I wouldn't hold my breath for upgradable parts (especially the GPU).

If they go the Mac nano route, I'm fine with that. But what I'm hoping for is a 4GB RAM limit, an nVidia/ATI GPU (even mobile) and a 3.5" drive. Something decent enough to run Starcraft II and Diablo III.

 

[topgunn]

Where's the super duper TV option???

I am boycotting this poll until this option gets added.

 

[Wild-Bill]

12" Mbp.

 

[nickane]

I am boycotting this poll until this option gets added.

Sorry, I don't see how I can do that. If there's a way, pls let me know. Otherwise, if any Mods are reading, they could add it. I would like such a device as well.

 

[Tilpots]

I am boycotting this poll until this option gets added.

Seriously. Why make a poll about a topic that's truly anyone's guess, then exclude one of the most popular picks? Rubbish. OP, your poll is flawed as is your logic:

Such a product would wreck apple's iTunes model.

.

The TV is all about iTunes. Seen the site lately?

 

[andiwm2003]

i chose #8: 12" MBP

however i don't care if i get a 12"MBP or a 13.3" MB in aluminum case. as long as it's smaller than a MB, weighs about 4 pounds and has at least a 2.4GHz Penryn.

but then saying a "big transition" just for a new MB or MBP is strange. it has to be something that changes their business strategy. simple hardware updates won't be it.

maybe they buy Yahoo.

 

[nickane]

Seriously. Why make a poll about a topic that's truly anyone's guess, then exclude one of the most popular picks? Rubbish. OP, your poll is flawed as is your logic: .

The TV is all about iTunes. Seen the site lately?

OK, sorry I didn't mean to offend you. As I said, I had to flick through 17 pages of posts in making this poll and with 9 options, you'd have thought I had it all covered. I didn't exclude it on purpose, I just tried to explain why I thought it wouldn't happen once I realized I couldn't include it after the fact. I don't think most of the options in the poll will happen anytime in the next 3 months.

My point, if you'll forgive my flawed logic, is that whilst apple probably wouldn't want to introduce too many notebook with 12/13" screens (making the bigger tablet and 12" MBP unlikely), they definitely wouldn't want to make the Apple TV a PVR, because:

A) No one will buy any tv shows off itunes if their apple tv is also able to record television from an easy-to-use apple UI. Movie rentals would take a big hit too. Download sales are a big part of apple's plans for the future, which is why they subsidise the price of the apple TV in the US.
B) Making the Apple TV into the convergence device ppl seem to be suggesting either requires it to have every satellite/cable/terrestial tuner system (they vary widely from country to country you know) under the hood, or accept a variety of input sources and record from external decoders and outdo every convergence device on the market (ie joint PVRs and DVD players) in terms of features by some way.
C) Such a machine would be prohibitively large to accommodate apple's design preferences.

But, like you say, that's neither here nor there. Again, I'm sorry that I missed your preference from the poll, but I don't think I can edit it.

 

[Tilpots]

My point, ... they definitely wouldn't want to make the Apple TV a PVR, because:

A) No one will buy any tv shows off itunes if their apple tv is also able to record television from an easy-to-use apple UI. Movie rentals would take a big hit too. Download sales are a big part of apple's plans for the future, which is why they subsidise the price of the apple TV in the US.
B) Making the Apple TV into the convergence device ppl seem to be suggesting either requires it to have every satellite/cable/terrestial tuner system (they vary widely from country to country you know) under the hood, or accept a variety of input sources and record from external decoders and outdo every convergence device on the market (ie joint PVRs and DVD players) in terms of features by some way.
C) Such a machine would be prohibitively large to accommodate apple's design preferences.

I appreciate your response.

About the TV:

A. I must disagree with TV show sales being a big part of their future. Hardware and Software are their current powerhouses. Content ditribution is merely a means to their end, buy more Apple Hardware and Software. The iTunes store was really a happy accident for them.

B. It does not need to connect to a cable or satellite box. It just needs to be able to pull a digital signal over the air. With the DTV switch quickly approcaing, the timing couldn't be better. Why buy a cheap box from Radioshak that simply is a DAC when you could get one from Apple that will get the signal plus DVR shows plus rent or buy from the iTunes store plus watch your DVD collection plus store your music collection plus... (maybe even connect to the internet or run iPhone's OSX and Apps)

C. It shouldn't need to be much larger then the current TV, just needs more room for inputs.


Adding these features would boost their cost, but if they are planning on subsidizing anyway, prices should stay near their current levels.

 

[iMacmatician]

It is reassuring that more ppl want a mini-tablet than a full scale one, since that's what the rumours are intimating and a 3rd device with a 13" screen size would make for a very complicated portable product line.

...and it's always nice to see the xMac crowd being well represented.

The older rumors said a mini-tablet, now the new rumors are saying a full-size (~ 11"~13") tablet running Mac OS X multi-touch as well as iPhone apps. I'm not really sure how Apple can pull this off, but I'll keep thinking.

 

[MacGeek7]

I really hope it's Blu-Ray...I've quit buying DVDs for the time being because I don't want to spend more money than I have to. I don't feel like buying a movie on DVD only to purchase it again in a few months on Blu-Ray.

 

[Asu]

Hey, hey, hey! I still have my "overpriced Cube".

Make it my "many times upgraded, much beloved, overpriced Cube I've been using daily for the past 8 years for every task you can imagine!!!"


But, yes, I do want a new mini tower!