I'd much rather have a choice and choose not to though
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Apple Didn't Release Any New Macs This Quarter for First Time Since 2000
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I agree, but it would still be nice to have a choice more often in case I ever could
iMac could use some love. I can’t believe they start with 8GB RAM going into 2023.
Maybe true and indeed a valid point with a laptop, but a desktop? Not so much. If you could buy a 4 grand Intel or AMD platform that outperforms a Mac Studio in 8K editing for example, despite the power draw when time is money which are you going to choose?
And with the rumours seemingly pointing towards Apple having a bone upgradable Apple Silicon Mac Pro coming out, hence ditching the top end chip as it's performance wasn't worth the price, I suspect a lot more users will be questioning the need of performance per watt or better performance using more power and upgradability when spending 6 grand plus on the computer itself.
From what I've seen, in the laptop area a Macs still rule, with desktops though they are still lagging.
I was hoping for an M2 iMac, my 2017 iMac miiiight be due a replacement 😅
I can accept and even want a slower hardware refresh cycle especially if it gives apple more time to write better software with fewer bugs.
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Prior to Apple Silicon (and perhaps more accurately prior to Covid supply chain disruptions) Apple at least spec-bumped the majority of its product line at least annually - the 13 and 15/16" MBPs and larger iMacs were all reliably updated with newer Intel chips annually. So I don't think it's unreasonable to expect refreshes on an annual basis when that's what we had before under Intel. There's nothing stopping Apple from slapping an M2 chip in the iMac (almost two years between refreshes) and the Mini (more than 2 years) and putting out a simple press release.
Considering how easy it would have been to drop an M2 mini, or an M2 iMac, even as just a spec bump...this is pretty pathetic.
Unless they don't have the supply of chips to do so. How are the sales of all the M2 products doing? From what I've seen, fairly well. They order chips before they're made. So if they ordered 2 million chips and they've already sold like 50%, they may not have supply enough to update the iMac and Mini while keeping all the other things already running the M2 supplied.
I would rather them wait and release a good differentiated then just an ok bump.
Sounds like the next mac will be 3nm, I hope.
Sounds like the next mac will be 3nm, I hope.
They actually did.
From 2006 to 2020 the MacBook Pro lineup got an update every year, sometimes even 2 or 3 times a year.
This article was written to prove a dire narrative. Here’s where the current line-up stands. The target demographic for the Mac mini is still well served with most buyers rarely hitting the limits. For those that do need something more, they released the all-new Mac Studio, that was fairly supply constrained for most of the year. The iMac is in the same boat as the Mac mini. The MBP is still a beast and had a completely new version a year ago. Other than the fairly low volume Mac Pro, the rest of the lineup has a decent amount of headroom and didn’t “need” an update. People making comparisons to the Intel years didn’t have their thighs scorched with an Intel MBP.
Even taking that all into consideration, the chip supply chain is still a huge mess. Q4 2021/Q1 2022 was the Omicron wave. The current wave in China is insane. Foxxcon gets most of the press coverage because of the iPhone, but I’d wager that other assemblers are seeing production delays as well.
Anything that would have been released right now would have had to been approved for production 12 months ago to have enough time for tooling and production ramp, especially something like the Mac Pro and 12 months ago was chaotic.
Furthermore - the M-series computers require more than just the M-series SOC. Vehicle manufacturers are still given production warnings. Ford still isn’t able to make enough F150 Lightnings because of chip shortages. They have vehicles in various stages of assembly waiting for chips.
Finally - we are in a tenuous macro-economic environment. Discretionary spending is lower than it has been the last several years due to the lack of stimulus, the war in Ukraine and general corporate greed increasing crude oil/natural gas costs throughout the world - which has had ripple effects throughout the entire supply chain. We also have the fed increasing interest rates to cool the market. Retailers are sitting on excess inventory and this years’ holiday season saw a pretty big contraction.
There’s a lot going on that easily explains why there aren’t any new Macs this quarter and it’s not that controversial.
Even taking that all into consideration, the chip supply chain is still a huge mess. Q4 2021/Q1 2022 was the Omicron wave. The current wave in China is insane. Foxxcon gets most of the press coverage because of the iPhone, but I’d wager that other assemblers are seeing production delays as well.
Anything that would have been released right now would have had to been approved for production 12 months ago to have enough time for tooling and production ramp, especially something like the Mac Pro and 12 months ago was chaotic.
Furthermore - the M-series computers require more than just the M-series SOC. Vehicle manufacturers are still given production warnings. Ford still isn’t able to make enough F150 Lightnings because of chip shortages. They have vehicles in various stages of assembly waiting for chips.
Finally - we are in a tenuous macro-economic environment. Discretionary spending is lower than it has been the last several years due to the lack of stimulus, the war in Ukraine and general corporate greed increasing crude oil/natural gas costs throughout the world - which has had ripple effects throughout the entire supply chain. We also have the fed increasing interest rates to cool the market. Retailers are sitting on excess inventory and this years’ holiday season saw a pretty big contraction.
There’s a lot going on that easily explains why there aren’t any new Macs this quarter and it’s not that controversial.
And a ton of people complained about the cadence and the lack of improvement “obsoleting” what they just purchased. An annual upgrade isn’t “needed”, especially with the fact that last years’ version still is a beast. Most of the buyers that were waiting for that M-series generation of the MBP already bought it in the last year.They actually did.
From 2006 to 2020 the MacBook Pro lineup got an update every year, sometimes even 2 or 3 times a year.
And yet the facts of the article are true.
I would have expected an update on some products by now. Is anyone really going to be buying an M1 8Gb iMac at this point for example ? Being released in 2020 and no updates certainly puts me off.
Macbook buyers aren't a single, monolithic entity. There are some who buy a new one every year. Others are on a different cycle, so the lack of a new model this year creates a bit of a problem for them... buy a year-old model, or wait until next year to buy the new model.
Do you have any data to back up that claim?
Yeah, I don't really get why releasing a new Mac regularly is supposed to be a bad thing. Because some people will get FOMO? Am I supposed to care? Buy it if you need or want it, don't if you don't. Releasing a new Mac doesn't suddenly make yours worthless.
MR users like: "This new Mac is an incremental upgrade!"
MR users also like: "My current Mac is obsolete!!!"
Yes I'd rather have a choice than no choice. Nobody forces anyone to get the newest every single time it's out.
I already own the greatest laptop apple has ever released, the midnight m2 air. I need nothing else.
Their lineup across all products is getting exhausting. Time to simplify, please.