Apple Hints at Product Refreshes?

[Zaty]

woohoo. yeehaw. A friggin' update at the end of the 2nd quarter (not fiscal quarter, mind you). What kind of crap is this? If this is true, then I doubt that the 3GHz mark will be reached like Jobs promised, and I certainly don't think this is a very special 20th Anniversary for the Mac.

I'm emoting. If something great comes out, then I'll gladly eat my words. But this is getting really frustrating.

Although I'm bit surprised myself that we haven't seen any of those great new things yet, we just have to admit that, for what ever reason, Apple may not have planned to release new products between MWSF 04 and the day they start releasing those things. The day to judge whether 2004 was a worthy year for the 20th anniversary or not is Dec 31.

 

[a17inchFuture]

I have been looking at getting a Powerbook G4. The reality is that I could use all the speed I can on a Powerbook (1.4 GHz G4 would be a move in the right direction) and the potential of an upgrade in the near future makes me hold off my purchase until that time. I am probably not the only one. Since Powerbooks are a good driver of sales for Apple, I can see where that would affect their sales for the quarter... That's is not good news for shareholders.

However, I still rather buy a G4 revision, even if minimal, than a first-generation G5 Powerbook!

They may have to do something soon, such as a a price drop to stimulate demand. However, memory components have been going up. They may be having trouble keeping their margins.


MM

Why would they go out of their way to stimulate demand on their sixth best selling product, and their best selling computer.

So, my friend, but you are wrong. That doesnt make any sense. Yes they need newer revisions, but only to keep up with other companies, not to meet customer demand. Apple doesnt give a poo about their customers, in case you missed my above posts.

If they drop the price it will be out of the kindess of their hearts, not any need . And we all know how compassionate apple can be . . . .

 

[a17inchFuture]

I have been looking at getting a Powerbook G4. The reality is that I could use all the speed I can on a Powerbook (1.4 GHz G4 would be a move in the right direction) and the potential of an upgrade in the near future makes me hold off my purchase until that time. I am probably not the only one. Since Powerbooks are a good driver of sales for Apple, I can see where that would affect their sales for the quarter... That's is not good news for shareholders.

However, I still rather buy a G4 revision, even if minimal, than a first-generation G5 Powerbook!

They may have to do something soon, such as a a price drop to stimulate demand. However, memory components have been going up. They may be having trouble keeping their margins.


MM

Why would they go out of their way to stimulate demand on their sixth best selling product, and their best selling computer?

Sorry, my friend, but you are wrong. That doesnt make any sense. Yes they need newer revisions, but only to keep up with other companies, not to meet customer demand. Apple doesnt give a poo about their customers, in case you missed my above posts.

If they drop the price it will be out of the kindess of their hearts, not any need . And we all know how compassionate apple can be . . . .

 

[teksmex69]

apple can't touch the performance, much less the price of this tank:

17" notebook
3.2ghz Pentium EE w/2meg cache
2gigs of system ram
Radeon 9700 w/256meg mem
60gig 7200rpm drive (yes you read that correctly)
DVD+R/DVD-R/RW/CDRW(super super drive)
built-in-webcam included
10/100/1000 ethernet
built-in-802.11g
built-in 7-in-1 flash memory reader

$3580

Apple has a much slower powerbook, far less powerful video, same ram will cost $4373

yes the apple is thin, light and pretty....but i'm starting to feel temperamental

http://www.powernotebooks.com/images/8790/

p.s. i'm still getting my brother a 15" pb 1.25 for graduation present. i know the benefits of os x, and he does a lot of video work. but for myself...currently it would be a toss up. a speed bump with a pricebreak would help.

 

[7on]

Apple's largest customer base, I would say, are graphic artists. And the problem with that is they hardly ever update. My campus's viscom lab is full of dual 450s and the profs use B/Ws. And a couple of weeks ago I went to Zipatoni and even though I saw 2 G5's I still saw a lot of colorful iMacs and some iBooks.

My point is if Apple released G5s at 2.5 Ghz @ 6months, very few people would buy one. Very few. Apple doesn't have the marketshare to overproduce a product and stockpile the older machines. Which explains the shortage of iPods over Xmas... Apple wasn't used to that much demand.

 

[KingJobs]

Have mercy Apple!!!!

 

[TimDaddy]

well, i guess we can stop with "are we gonna get PB update this week?" threads until June.

I wonder if while we are all looking foward to June if Apple may surprise us with a Powerbook Update in the next week or so?

 

[klaus]

apple can't touch the performance, much less the price of this tank:

17" notebook
3.2ghz Pentium EE w/2meg cache
2gigs of system ram
Radeon 9700 w/256meg mem
60gig 7200rpm drive (yes you read that correctly)
DVD+R/DVD-R/RW/CDRW(super super drive)
built-in-webcam included
10/100/1000 ethernet
built-in-802.11g
built-in 7-in-1 flash memory reader

$3580

Apple has a much slower powerbook, far less powerful video, same ram will cost $4373

yes the apple is thin, light and pretty....but i'm starting to feel temperamental

http://www.powernotebooks.com/images/8790/

p.s. i'm still getting my brother a 15" pb 1.25 for graduation present. i know the benefits of os x, and he does a lot of video work. but for myself...currently it would be a toss up. a speed bump with a pricebreak would help.

You can't compare such a "notebook" with a powerbook. That's the same thing as comparing a sony vaio thin model with this beast.

This model is a desktop replacer, with a lot of normal desktop equipment in it, like harddrive, etc.

Stop comparing apples and oranges.. they don't match

 

[bar italia]

Apple's largest customer base, I would say, are graphic artists. And the problem with that is they hardly ever update

Really? Anything to back up your opinion? Other than that your school in Missouri hasn't updated recently?

My point is if Apple released G5s at 2.5 Ghz @ 6months, very few people would buy one.

See above.

Apple's s******* in our mouths and calling it a sundae.

 

[Zaty]

I wonder if while we are all looking foward to June if Apple may surprise us with a Powerbook Update in the next week or so?

If you call something that seems obvious a surprise, yes they definitely will!

 

[uberman42]

Yawn...wake me up before you go-go

 

[Rustus Maximus]

Apple's largest customer base, I would say, are graphic artists. And the problem with that is they hardly ever update. My campus's viscom lab is full of dual 450s and the profs use B/Ws. And a couple of weeks ago I went to Zipatoni and even though I saw 2 G5's I still saw a lot of colorful iMacs and some iBooks.

My point is if Apple released G5s at 2.5 Ghz @ 6months, very few people would buy one. Very few. Apple doesn't have the marketshare to overproduce a product and stockpile the older machines. Which explains the shortage of iPods over Xmas... Apple wasn't used to that much demand.

7on is right...it makes no economical sense for Apple to bump out updates every 3 months or even 6 months. Most Apple users do not upgrade their machines that rapidly...not even pro users (which I am ).

So....ease up guys...1 GHz in 10 months ain't that bad...(thinks back to the awful Motorola days )

 

[applekid]

If it is indeed a June release at WWDC, maybe the products will actually come out in June. I guess it's better than getting an announcement two months early.

But I still want to see some updated hardware much earlier.

 

[Rustus Maximus]

It could be they will announce them at NAB on the 14th...then actually have them available by WWDC like applekid is saying.

 

[KindredMAC]

I've got proof

Really? Anything to back up your opinion? Other than that your school in Missouri hasn't updated recently?



See above.

Apple's s******* in our mouths and calling it a sundae.

I am a graphic artist for over the last decade in a few art depts and have yet to see any of the art depts update their Macs under the 5 year mark.
I purchased two 400mhz G4's in 2000/2001 and won't be able to upgrade to the G5 until FY2005-2006. In my previous job, I used a Mac Clone that was 2 years old when I started there and I was there for two years....guess what they are using now after I left??? DELLs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The reason? They wanted a cheaper price point and they didn't want to update in under 5 years.

So YES, unfortunately, Art Depts usually take quite a long time to upgrade the actual Macs unless you work for some Fortune 500 company that will update their Macs every 18 months.

 

[Rustus Maximus]

So YES, unfortunately, Art Depts usually take quite a long time to upgrade the actual Macs unless you work for some Fortune 500 company that will update their Macs every 18 months.

Well I do work for one of those companies that can and does upgrade about every 18 months...so again...what's the hubub about a year between updates?

It hasn't even been a year yet...and probably won't be.

 

[CaptainScarlet]

Isn't it time for the point where you can enjoy the speed of dual 2.0 ghz?!?!?! My dual is quite fast for what I do!! How fast do you them to go!?!?! Would it help Word or would it help the latest (mac standards) games, if they were at 2.6 Ghz???

How much of a difference would it be???


Yes of course, we want faster machines. Right??

Well I would rather have better software, maybe Apple develop games for the Mac ( now that's a concept! ), then have a release every 6 month on hardware.

Since I can't afford to buy a NEW MAC every 6 month, the updates are worthless.


I just think we need to emphasize the value of what we have. And push Apple to produce a better product.

 

[zac4mac]

I think at issue in this long update cycle is the group waiting for a RevB G5.

I was almost one of those but the jump in horsepower from my G4 Dual550 to a DP2G5 was too much to pass on. No regrets now, I still have a top end box 7 months later and am still impressed. The new case kicks El Capitan's butt and I've had only one issue - some video problems that were pretty much solved by swapping ports on my two monitors. Very happy with my RevA box. If I had waited until a RevB came out, I'd be going nuts right now. No way I'd buy now, when an update could come at any day...

This has to be killing sales and is not good for my stock prices.

 

[Bhennies]

We'll be pleasantly surprised

I have this feeling that they're going to drop a whole bunch of wonderful products at WWDC. Or let me rephrase that...if they don't, they're screwed...I'm hoping that Apple, no longer in debt and finally with a concrete future, will make a smart decision.

So, I'm gonna be hopelessly optimistic. Just because Apple hasn't made a 1 ghz. leap (2.0 -3.0), doesn't mean it won't ever happen. There's a possibility that they had planned revisions (2.2-2.6), but realized that with just a little more R&D, they could squeeze out the 3.0 by WWDC.

But then again...Akem's razor states that the simplest concept is usually the explanation. So that means they've probably been focused on the iPod, and simply lost sight of everything else. For a company that's not used to $$$, big cash flow can change your perspective on what's important.

 

[pgwalsh]

You so would not!
The truth is, at 75% of us bitching about not having a new rev G5 available, are probably not even going to buy one right now anyway. So lets be truthful. I've never met a Mac person who is not satisfied with his/her current machine.
I dont' bitch.

Sure you don't bitch.. ha ha ha. Kidding.

Anyway, I think people want the latest and greatest when they purchase a new computer. I certainly do and granted you can argue that what's available is the latest and greatest from Apple, we have all been expecting updates. I would be surprised if someone wasn't expecting a revsion from the first release for a year. I don't think anyone would have expected that. Six months, sure. Not a friggin year. Regardless, when I make my PM purchase, I want to purchase it within a few months of the release, not 9 months after.

I have the $$$ ready and waiting. Am I happy about what's going on? HELL NO! But I'll deal with it.

 

[Dave the Great]

A whole year before updating the G5s?
A whole Ghz (Dual) jump (leap)?

How many of you are waiting for the updated G5s since January? You must be tired of waiting by now.... and maybe even 2 more months to go. I am glad I got my Dual 1.8 in December. And loving every moment of it!

To me, it only stresses how little we know....

Yes, I am tired of waiting.

And what's worse is that it will probably take 2-3 months after they are announced in June to actually ship........

 

[wdlove]

Although I'm bit surprised myself that we haven't seen any of those great new things yet, we just have to admit that, for what ever reason, Apple may not have planned to release new products between MWSF 04 and the day they start releasing those things. The day to judge whether 2004 was a worthy year for the 20th anniversary or not is Dec 31.

I agree that you can't judge this year until the end. We still have eight months to go of this 20th anniversary year.

I still can't see Apple releasing any new Power Mac G5 until after June 26th due to the current offer of $500 off.

 

[leftbanke7]

What makes me giggle that people have already given up on Steve's claim about this being a great year. Well, unless I have missed something, this year isn't over yet. Relax, there are still 8 months left in this year for Apple to release these products that you are all clamoring about and only 25% of you will buy.

As for me, when I get my student loan money, I'm getting my iBook/PowerBook (haven't decided yet) regardless of what it has in it (G4 vs G5) as my computer purchase will be a symbol of my adoration of the Apple line, not the overwhelming desire to have cutting edge technology.

*hugs computer*

 

[klaus]

I think at issue in this long update cycle is the group waiting for a RevB G5.

Exactly, the ones who have one, have no reason to complain, cause they already have all the horsepower they need.

But it's a fact, there will always be people who want the biggest, the greatest, as soon as possible (meaning like the NEXT day)

 

[bar italia]

Isn't it time for the point where you can enjoy the speed of dual 2.0 ghz?!?!?! My dual is quite fast for what I do!!

Since I can't afford to buy a NEW MAC every 6 month, the updates are worthless.

Oh, I get it now. If you don't need the extra speed, then noone does.