Apple CEO Tim Cook: ‘We Have Great Desktops in Our Roadmap'

[AndyJapan]

So why don't they make those existing ancient hardware cheaper? And there's enough room other then CPU to refresh... how about a 5400 rpm hard drive. That is so nineties. It's pure arrogance and ripping off what makes people complain. Tim is ruining our favorite brand by delivering nothing and keeping up those high prices.

Apple is not only serving customers, but shareholders as well. Getting the balance right (Happy customers = more sales/growth = higher stock price = happy shareholders) is important, but it looks like Apple is losing customer focus at the moment.
I am not sure what Apple has in the pipeline/on the roadmap, but new MacBook Pro looks like taking the wrong exit from a 4-lane highway. I don't have big expectations for 2017 product releases, but still hope that Apple proves me wrong.

 

[Deuce on the Clock]

Must be using Apple Maps for their roadmap cause they're really lost....

 

[groove-agent]

Hopefully this "roadmap" isn't powered by the Apple Maps app, otherwise it will end up in a river somewhere ... oops, looks like someone already did this joke. lol

 

[Daniel Reed]

I don't have big expectations for 2017 product releases, but still hope that Apple proves me wrong.

The new 2017 iMac & iMac Pro locked appliances will be great solution for many... except
the niche market of power users, anyone wanting upgrade options after purchase, or those wishing to game.

Anyone doing protools and/or photo editing may be quite happy - it'll provide a great netflix UHD experience!

For those, who are desperate enough but still wishing to cling to Apple:
eGPU and AHCI PCI-e SSD over TB3 on the iMac Pro may work well enough to game via bootcamp and/or do light 4K video work (if Apple resolves the sleep mode issues). The iMac Pro isn't expected to have as many cores as the current nMP, so 8K video work (w/out a $7K redrocket-x card) won't be a desired workflow experience (wavelet compression being somewhat CPU bound).

 

[groove-agent]

Huge thread full of nothing but complaints.

Stop complaining about complaints. ;D
[doublepost=1482281576][/doublepost]What Apple seems to forget is that people invest in an ecosystem of products. They buy a Mac because they love their iphone, or they buy an iPad because it works perfectly with their Mac. Right now, the Mac side of things is broken, and it's going to create a ripple effect and eventually translate back to their core products ... namely the iPhone.

There is no excuse for what Apple is doing with the resources they have. It's bad management. They should have refreshed their entire line-up with even modest bumps before the back to school time frame started and been well into production by the time Christmas was near. This is the way they often did it while Steve was CEO, and it makes sense.

Instead, it seems they've shuffled staff around, and are borrowing people from one department to work in other departments. They're far behind with product updates, and are slow to introduce innovative products. Again, bad management.

 

[varian55zx]

Tim, your hatred for Apple is becoming ever so apparent.

 

[Greymacuser]

I don't believe you, Tim Kook. You're a lousy CEO driving Apple's computer department into the ground.
You're just going to give us some minor tweaks. No new powerful desktops for real work.
You are a liar.

 

[Denmac1]

These were the days....

And now...

 

[CrownVic]

That's an asinine comment considering there are likely lots of actions taking place that the whining MacRumors community isn't privy to.

How often do you people update your desktops? I mean really? I think the mobile age has us all clamoring for crazy updates far more often that necessary. Personally I bought my 27" 5k with the intention of having it at least 8 years. SSD, plenty of RAM, dedicated graphics. What more am I going to get out of a 7th generation processor? Desktops and laptops are mature products. They don't progress anywhere near as rapidly as smartphones and tablets (and even those are plateauing).

These forums have really degraded over the couple of years. I haven't been around here much, but the few times I have its been nothing but whining and complaining often with zero ACTUAL reason.

We sent men to the moon with computers the size of rooms with a fraction of the power you have in that 2 year old iPhone 6. And somehow the current iMacs aren't enough for ya'll to check Facebook on....unreal.

I agree with you! I got my MacBook Pro (2015, thankfully) with the intention of keeping for 4-6 years. I might want an iMac after college because I really don't need a laptop after I graduate, but that's not for another 2 years. I would like to see some design refreshes over the years.

 

[vapourtrails]

What is timeline for these new road apples to show up? Is Tim tipping his hat that it's sooner, not unlike what he did with the MacBook Pro?

 

[CrownVic]

This is not necessarily aimed to you but to anyone who complain about product thinness.
I have not seen anyone complaining about other companies who produce same (eve thinner products)
Surface Studio Pro desktop is pretty thin and no one complain about it. And they should't. Devices (either that be desktop or mobile) have the thickness they have due to technology limitations. Once the challenge they face has overcome, they become thinner.
I want desktops to be both, thin and powerful and I think that should be possible with today's technology.

I totally agree! But I feel that Apple is making them thinner and sacrificing power. I think Apple needs to remember the quote: "less is more, until it's not."

 

[godkiller]

Toxic, juvenile MacRumors comments in 3...2...1...

Look I just ignored you.

the irony is strong on this one

 

[Floris]

Great desktops, or modest updates?

 

[Denmac1]

Interesting article from Bloomberg...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-20/how-apple-alienated-mac-loyalists

 

[nixfu]

Interesting article from Bloomberg...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-20/how-apple-alienated-mac-loyalists

Yep.

Pretty sure my family is on their last Mac devices they will ever own. Next device for everyone will not be an Apple Mac, not more Apple Laptops, no more iMacs, no more Mini's.

I am done with Apple computing and moving on.

 

[surroundfan]

Apple has a very c. 1990 vibe to it at the moment*.

Tim Cook, like John Scully before him, is out to run the business and maintain profit margins like any other business, not recognising that Apple became great (and profitable) by taking regular punts on the potentially unprofitable. Then as now, the company is (by the sounds of it) chaotically run without a Jobsian character to give it a strategic direction.

Day by day, a once-simple range of products grows into a confusing plethora of products designed to cater for every conceivable market niche (if you want an Apple laptop, you can have a 12" MacBook, a 13" MacBook Air, a 13" MacBook Pro without touchbar and previous generation processor, a 13" MacBook Pro without touchbar and new generation processor, a 13" MacBook Pro with touchbar or a 15" MacBook Pro with touchbar).

Innovation is stagnating except where it can be used to maintain margins. Indeed Cook seems worse than Scully in this respect, in that Cook is killing products that supported the Apple 'ecosystem' but are marginally profitable like AirPort routers and monitor. Gone are the days you could say: 'Buy a Mac, because you'll be able to get other great hardware to support it which'll just work'. (In it's place: 'You'll have to buy a kludgy dongle to make that work'.)

Windows, once buggy, virus-laden, messy and confusing, is now going from strength to strength and, unlike in 1990, is supported by a wide range of hardware that is reasonably elegant in its design and construction (of course, there are also cheap beige boxes). And Android, like Windows before it, has already sewn up the commodity market for hardware in the mobile, and goes from strength to strength in market share (Apple says it's the most profitable company in mobile, but ultimately, where the market share is, so goes the development effort).

I've been an Apple fan for a decade. In that time, I've probably sold upwards of a dozen people on Macs who've often subsequently bought iPhones and iPads. For many years Macs could be recommended confidently, rather than defensively, because they were pretty good value and a pretty good product. But I'm back to being defensive again making excuses for a stagnant product line. I'm sick of it, so I won't recommend Macs any more as a matter of course ('don't buy that Mac desktop; it's saddled with slow hard drives and ancient processors').

It's all quite sad really...

(* And you know what they say about history repeating. The first time it's tragedy, the second time it's farce.)

 

[d0nK]

I don't believe a thing Tim says.
I would bet that his next products will be a further try for larger profit margins (i.e. grossly increased prices and price gouging BTO) at the expense of quality control and whilst forgoing more features that most professional users want and need. I'd bet on that.

He'll make it so that the only iMac worth having will cost £3500+.
It'll be £3000 for an iMac with a 512Gig hard drive and an i5!

...and give me a 1/1.5TB+ SSD at 2008 speeds rather than a 512Gig SSD at whatever fast speed you now think is good. I want a larger SSD capacity, not a faster SSD speed!

I love OSX and my 2011 mbp but I dislike 2015/2016 Apple very much.
it would be great news to hear of a fresh, innovative Apple leader any time soon. Maybe someone from MIT or somewhere forward thinking.

 

[cerealthriller]

I'm going to dissect Tim's comments for a moment.

The desktop is very strategic for us.

That's great to hear, but actions speak louder than words. What was Apple's desktop strategy when they released the Mac Pro 3 years ago? Just let it sit, untouched?

The current generation iMac is the best desktop we have ever made and its beautiful Retina 5K display is the best desktop display in the world.

No disagreement that it's magnificent machine. But it's the only desktop mentioned in his post. The lack of mention (or acknowledgement) of the Mac Pro and Mac mini make those it seem that those lines are discontinued and being phased out. Does he not see this?

It's interesting he touts the 5K Retina display (which is a great display) of the iMac while just recently pulling out of the external display business.

While on the subject of the iMac - we can all agree that Intel's holdups are not helping the delay situation. But I seem to remember the days when Apple would offer incremental improvements to Macs - improve video cards, bump RAM, increase storage, drop prices. Those days are long gone.

“Some folks in the media have raised the question about whether we’re committed to desktops,” Cook wrote.

Actually, it's the customers that have raised questions. Whatever "media" spin is put on the state of Mac desktops, the numbers speak for themselves. It's flat out ridiculous.

iMac: 435 days since an update.
Mac Pro: 1098 days since an update.
Mac mini: 796 days since an update.

“If there’s any doubt about that with our teams, let me be very clear: we have great desktops in our roadmap. Nobody should worry about that.”

Well, that's great to hear. But it's still not "very clear". By desktops (plural), does he mean anything more than an iMac update? What about the Mac Pro and Mac mini, which many designers, artists, power users, music producers, IT professionals and long-time Apple enthusiasts are waiting for?

I think we can all assume that Apple has at least one desktop in its lineup for many years to come, but for Tim to discard our worry with that comment is to ignore the issue. We worry about how things have been for the last 1-3 years.

The bottom line: something is wrong with Apple, regarding the Mac. The first step in fixing a problem is recognizing it exists, but Tim carries on like our worries are futile.

 

[Denmac1]

It's still an assumption of mine that SJ would not have let Apple flounder upon his passing. He did believe that Cook was the right choice as his successor. I believe he would have been competent enough to leave the company with at least a five, if not 10 year plan, of what to innovate and produce based on upcoming available technology.
Now whether Cook & Company, along with the BOD, saw that as being viable, to me, would be short sighted as with the company growing immense profits, that they no longer wanted to take any risk that SJ might have taken.
At this point, riding the coattails of the iPhone, is, IMHO, very short sighted and now Cook, et al, are just riding their stock options and profit.
The vision is gone and there will be no second coming. The combined talent(?) of the existing Executive team will never be as good or great as the mind of SJ.

 

[bopajuice]

Apple have stopped updating laptops?

I honestly didn't realise that.
[doublepost=1482263234][/doublepost]

So the first time Steve left Apple, Apple got to within weeks of bankruptcy.

And after he died, all you have is "his phones are thinner".

In this story, are thinner phones supposed to be comparable to being close to bankruptcy?

AFAICT all that happened with the MBP is that it took a bit longer than recent updates as a combination of working on the touchbar, and issues with availability of Intel chips.

And then half the internet completely overreacted.

My point was Jobs was an essential part of the continuing success of Apple. When he returned he took over the helm and brought Apple from the brink of disaster to being one of the richest companies in history. His innovative products lead the way. It was never about refreshes for Jobs. It was "one more thing" and it was always great.

I keep hearing that Tim Cook is a money guy, but how much more money can you squeeze out of aging ideas? The new MBP is a beauty, great fit and finish, but spec wise it's mediocre. To the best of my knowledge Jobs never did anything mediocre.

With Cook I see thinner existing products, and a touch bar as the most noticeable things he has done to date. Nothing completely new and innovative. Nothing great. Just mediocre.
[doublepost=1482300774][/doublepost]

Ouch, such a precious little insult! And clearly the domain of someone out of gas.

"Don’t report back until you have found at least a half a dozen examples."

No, that's your job, apparently still believing forum whining drives Apple to change product direction. I've yet to see any evidence or examples of that. Feel free to claim otherwise with examples.

As many others (and allegedly Einstein) have said: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That's certainly true for the last dozen years of forum whines having zero effect on changing Apple's products and plans.

Awe!!! but can you prove that all the whining has not affected product change or direction?

 

[Ladybug]

Far to late Timmy. I made the transition to PC a month ago. Windows 10 runs just fine thank you and my PC is far more powerful and its upgradable to boot. As an Apple fan it grieves my heart to see the direction they are going. I've been saying for awhile that Apple was in danger of pricing itself out of existence. People want to feel they are getting the best bargain/product for their money. Apple just wants your money. Putting sub par parts into a shiny display so thin it throttles your speed is not innovation. Removing all paths to future upgrades is just greed. At least for now I still enjoy my iPad and iPhone.

 

[cerealthriller]

With each new Apple keynote and product release, I can't help but think "what would Steve do".

Tim is not a product guy. He's an operations genius, a numbers guy, an efficiency expert. He's the one that starts off keynotes with company stats, trends and convincing pie charts. When it comes to products, he leaves the stage to let his VPs do all the work.

To be fair, each of the VPs that do product intros and demos (Phil, Craig, Jony, etc.) are amazing in their own right. But Steve was the ultimate decider-in-cheif that could unify all the functions and keep Apple headed in the right direction. In a period of a few years, Apple seems to have lost its focus across a growing line of products and ginormous spaceship.

Steve's attention to detail, understanding of features and intuition for what a product should be was second to none for anyone at his level. It's hard to believe that anyone could rally an entire company's workforce better than he could, even if out of fear. Not only did he have the guts to pursue risky ideas, he had a legion of devoted, talented employees to make it happen. Is Apple's culture the same under Tim?

Back on the topic of the Mac desktop - I couldn't see Steve ever treating its pro market the way Apple is today.

The Mac is streamlining into a simple development platform to support Apple's other products, discarding the fringe creative professionals it was originally built upon.

 

[macbookhair]

Meanwhile, you keep responding to my mockery as if it will get me to do anything but keep mocking you.

Peace, man.

 

[9081094]

That's an asinine comment considering there are likely lots of actions taking place that the whining MacRumors community isn't privy to.

How often do you people update your desktops? I mean really? I think the mobile age has us all clamoring for crazy updates far more often that necessary. Personally I bought my 27" 5k with the intention of having it at least 8 years. SSD, plenty of RAM, dedicated graphics. What more am I going to get out of a 7th generation processor? Desktops and laptops are mature products. They don't progress anywhere near as rapidly as smartphones and tablets (and even those are plateauing).

These forums have really degraded over the couple of years. I haven't been around here much, but the few times I have its been nothing but whining and complaining often with zero ACTUAL reason.

We sent men to the moon with computers the size of rooms with a fraction of the power you have in that 2 year old iPhone 6. And somehow the current iMacs aren't enough for ya'll to check Facebook on....unreal.

It's technology we're talking about. A world where things brought out today are outdated tomorrow. If you want to buy computers or anything tech related you want to be prepared for tomorrow and just don't want to buy ancient tech at premium prices.

We don't ask for a totally redesign every year but at least a good working engine that's on par with the competition. I used to buy Apple because they were reliable, user friendly and state of the art in a good looking package and didn't mind I had to pay a bit more. It felt justified and I had confidence in the brand.

Today they up the prices with ancient tech inside. Software and service lack and are buggy compared to the competition. They've stopped investing in their creative user base. Their ecosystem is getting smaller by the day (no routers, no MacPro, no monitors, no Mac mini, proprietary ports and dongles). Their computers aren't able to compete in the pro market and their most loyal customer base (including me) feel betrayed. You will say it's a niche and we've to look elsewhere. But we've heavily invested in and trusted the pipeline they still promise.

You may say that as a pro user you might look elsewhere. Will do! But not even the latest and greatest Mac today is able to run virtual reality, something we will see more and more and will be part of your life and not a gimmick like the touchbar (ergonomic disaster).

You only have to look at China how Apple is doing. Apple today is totally relying on its brand name. People are starting to notice and don't want to pay for a shiny Apple logo. They want bang for the buck and confidence their investment is worth it.
[doublepost=1482309880][/doublepost]

Far to late Timmy. I made the transition to PC a month ago. Windows 10 runs just fine thank you and my PC is far more powerful and its upgradable to boot. As an Apple fan it grieves my heart to see the direction they are going. I've been saying for awhile that Apple was in danger of pricing itself out of existence. People want to feel they are getting the best bargain/product for their money. Apple just wants your money. Putting sub par parts into a shiny display so thin it throttles your speed is not innovation. Removing all paths to future upgrades is just greed. At least for now I still enjoy my iPad and iPhone.

This is exactly how I see it and feel it. You are able to express in fewer words (English isn't my first language). 2017 will be the moment of truth for me. If those new introductions aren't future proof I'm abandoning the Apple ecosystem (which is getting smaller by the day). I want to have confidence in my investments and bang for the buck.
[doublepost=1482310284][/doublepost]

Apple has a very c. 1990 vibe to it at the moment*.

Tim Cook, like John Scully before him, is out to run the business and maintain profit margins like any other business, not recognising that Apple became great (and profitable) by taking regular punts on the potentially unprofitable. Then as now, the company is (by the sounds of it) chaotically run without a Jobsian character to give it a strategic direction.

Day by day, a once-simple range of products grows into a confusing plethora of products designed to cater for every conceivable market niche (if you want an Apple laptop, you can have a 12" MacBook, a 13" MacBook Air, a 13" MacBook Pro without touchbar and previous generation processor, a 13" MacBook Pro without touchbar and new generation processor, a 13" MacBook Pro with touchbar or a 15" MacBook Pro with touchbar).

Innovation is stagnating except where it can be used to maintain margins. Indeed Cook seems worse than Scully in this respect, in that Cook is killing products that supported the Apple 'ecosystem' but are marginally profitable like AirPort routers and monitor. Gone are the days you could say: 'Buy a Mac, because you'll be able to get other great hardware to support it which'll just work'. (In it's place: 'You'll have to buy a kludgy dongle to make that work'.)

Windows, once buggy, virus-laden, messy and confusing, is now going from strength to strength and, unlike in 1990, is supported by a wide range of hardware that is reasonably elegant in its design and construction (of course, there are also cheap beige boxes). And Android, like Windows before it, has already sewn up the commodity market for hardware in the mobile, and goes from strength to strength in market share (Apple says it's the most profitable company in mobile, but ultimately, where the market share is, so goes the development effort).

I've been an Apple fan for a decade. In that time, I've probably sold upwards of a dozen people on Macs who've often subsequently bought iPhones and iPads. For many years Macs could be recommended confidently, rather than defensively, because they were pretty good value and a pretty good product. But I'm back to being defensive again making excuses for a stagnant product line. I'm sick of it, so I won't recommend Macs any more as a matter of course ('don't buy that Mac desktop; it's saddled with slow hard drives and ancient processors').

It's all quite sad really...

(* And you know what they say about history repeating. The first time it's tragedy, the second time it's farce.)

Read this Tim! And all the people that think we're whining. This is why we're upset and angry.

 

[iDento]

To be honest:

1. iMacs are still the best AIO desktops for most people, Surface Studio looks better but it's very expensive and the Dial thing is not for everyone. Save for the HDDs in the base models.
2. MacBook with one port is the best ultrabook for people who have a desktop and don't want an iPad, if only it was a bit cheaper!
3. I think they're selling more Apple Watch Edition than Mac Pros, I think they'll discontinue it soon.

So, you can still have a great Mac combo!

The real problem is with the crippled soldered Mac Mini and the price of the new MacBook Pros.