Apple certainly talks a good game, but their actions don't say this one bit. I don't want to have to throw away a perfectly good display because my CPU is out-of-date. Display technology and CPU technology innovate at different rates. I don't want soldered in RAM and soldered in SSD. My needs change over time and I don't want to have to replace the computer just because I take on some work that requires more.
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Apple Planning USB-C iMac and Faster Notebooks in 2017, Mac Pro and Touch Bar Magic Keyboard in Question
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Apple certainly talks a good game, but their actions don't say this one bit. I don't want to have to throw away a perfectly good display because my CPU is out-of-date. Display technology and CPU technology innovate at different rates. I don't want soldered in RAM and soldered in SSD. My needs change over time and I don't want to have to replace the computer just because I take on some work that requires more.
I don't trust anything Tim says when he mentions how great the roadmap is. 
Sigh.
Sigh.
Tired of "modesty". Grow some ⚽️⚾️ Apple! Everybody else is moving forward and you are not.
I mean, I like their current crop of computers, but pretty much all of them need chip updates next year at the least. Don't get me wrong, I love the iPhone and iPad, and those have been getting really nice incremental upgrades predictably, and I am looking forward to the tenth anniversary phone (whatever form that takes), but c'mon Apple.
You've got to at least update the internals of your computers to keep up with the latest processor and GPU generations if you're going to charge a premium price. Personally I'd like to see those little spec bumps happening at around every 18 months for every Mac you're selling.
I'd also like to see at least one semi-radical design change in 2017, if only because I'm getting bored. I get that Macs and macOS are super stable and you don't want to screw that up, but take some chances. I'd even be willing to take a radical design change on the software front in lieu of any serious changes to physical appearance. MacOS 11 anybody?
Anybody? Please?
You've got to at least update the internals of your computers to keep up with the latest processor and GPU generations if you're going to charge a premium price. Personally I'd like to see those little spec bumps happening at around every 18 months for every Mac you're selling.
I'd also like to see at least one semi-radical design change in 2017, if only because I'm getting bored. I get that Macs and macOS are super stable and you don't want to screw that up, but take some chances. I'd even be willing to take a radical design change on the software front in lieu of any serious changes to physical appearance. MacOS 11 anybody?
Anybody? Please?
Gah! Speed bump and Rose gold. That's been the pipeline / roadmap for the last 5 years!
Exciting. I'd like a 3Ghz Core i7 MacBook Pro w/ 24GB of RAM. My 4Gh maxed out 2015 iMac is an amazing machine. but my late 2013 Core i7 2.6Ghz MBP could use a replacement next year
I'm looking for Mac Mini improvements as well as I need a new HTPC.
I'm looking for Mac Mini improvements as well as I need a new HTPC.
To be fair, this has always been a bit of a problem with iMacs, right from the get-go.
I know a lot of folks on here have been saying the same, but it's hard to look at it any other way. It just seems they're being purely business focussed - the iPhone / iPad has better margins and ships in higher volumes, so why waste time on the Mac? It sucks for those who have invested into the Mac desktop ecosystem and are now being left hanging
Really hope they release some killer new desktops in 2017.
I hope they do have new desktops. But the hardware is only half the story. MacOS continues to get improvements. While I see focus on iPhone and iPad, I also really doubt Apple is even close to abandoning the desktop. And certainly their laptops are still great and in general the best you can buy. If the computing power of the MacBook Pro isn't enough for you, then the real problem is that you are trying to have a laptop do the work of a desktop and Apple has failed to update its desktops. A pro who needs more computing power than what the MacBook Pro delivers should be buying a desktop and Apple should be selling a desktop with the current CPUs and GPUs. Hopefully this desktop "hole" will be filled in 1Q 2017. It truly is pathetic that there is no current Mac Pro for the big boys to get their processing done on.
Can we have an iMac that looks like this?
The irony is that a TouchBar on an external keyboard would likely be far more popular than on a laptop, where many of the users have it as part of a desktop environment with an external keyboard, thus rendering it completely redundant.
I'd still prefer a Magic Trackpad that incorporates a high res display so that it could offer buttons/shortcuts and even function as a number pad when you need one...
I'd still prefer a Magic Trackpad that incorporates a high res display so that it could offer buttons/shortcuts and even function as a number pad when you need one...
LOLOL.
I don't know why I read these forums anymore. It littered with nonsense like this.
How much will the new iMac be? $4000 with 256gb SSD and a free dongle?
Yep, which is why the Mac Pro was around and made total sense. Really most of the complaining on Macs these days ultimately goes back to the failure to update the Mac Pro. That has created a trickle down issue as folks try to get an iMac or a Laptop to handle stuff that should really be done by a Mac Pro.
If the next version of the Magic Keyboard (shudder) includes a TouchBar, I will definitely snatch that up.
I don't understand how moving Mac Pro production to Asia would allow for more ambitious products. All we're asking for are upgrades to the chips and I/O, not a coffee maker.
Americans want to do factory work. Just not for a wage that would support affordable tech gear AND guarantee current quality, at minimum.
People don't even want to man a cash register for less than 15 dollars an hour. Who is going to cover up head to toe in protective gear and assemble computing equipment for pennies per hour like the Chinese?
If they put the touch bar into their flagship notebook, they kind of have to release external keyboards with the same feature to cover all the people who use the laptop as standalone and in a "dock" situation (which is a LOT of people). Otherwise, the touch bar is a hampered feature if you can't use it easily when docked.
Keyboard? If it is anything like the moronic 'Magic Keyboard', which is like typing on a marble slab, they can stick up their klaxie! Everyday you look at Apple these days you sigh with disappointment. The magic has well and truly gone. Now it is an inward looking corporation, much like IBM was 'in the day'. They have lost their zest and zing and sparkle and everything they 'release', well nearly everything, is done at a tectonic pace and it nearly always fails and you wouldn't buy it until it is at least at version 4 because something will fall over or kark it. They should list off the tech boards and relist on the toy company boards on the Stock Exchange.
It's so true, and it really bugs me considering the Mac Pro was, to my eye, a really cool concept that was about two years ahead of it's time. What it really needs is TB3 and, of course, the latest CPU/GPUs. Shipping a PCI TB3 dock to go with it would also be a fantastic idea, but there are some 3rd party options for that out there now.
In fairness I think the problem Apple's engineers are referring to is more one of how China already has a well established tech manufacturing industry, whereas in the US they'd essentially have to train up an entirely new workforce and try and build something that could compete with China, which is difficult when China's manufacturing firms are already well established and essentially subsidised by the sheer number of customers they have - China is simply a much more economical option.
It wouldn't surprise me. Keep in mind for example, the 27" iMac, which caused problems initially as most computer manufacturing firms simply weren't equipped to work with aluminium blocks at that scale. I believe the initial models at least had the metalwork done in car factories for this reason.
No.
TouchBar on external keyboard has all sorts of problems.
-It is not juxtaposition to the display the way it is on a MacBook, which calls into question the practicality of looking down at it.
-It can't include Touch ID because Apple is not packing a Secure Element into a frigging keyboard accessory.
-It would have a serious demand on the keyboard's battery, probably rendering it less wireless than wired.
And your idea of trackpad that turns into a display is ridiculous and wouldn't even get off the ground in a design meeting. The idea of using it as a numberpad is compeltely absurd. The only reason the numberpad was helpful as part of the keyboard was because it was a physical set of keys, that could be punched easily by one who had developed the muscle memory. Turning into a faux numberpad for the user to hunt and peck at is a gimmick the likes of which Samsung would be proud.
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Awwww man you're so clever. I wish I wish this clever.
Is Apple going to wait until the next century to update the Mac Pro and Mac Mini?
I was wondering that myself.
I think what he means is that each Mac model is constrained by what they want to charge for it. If it's made in China, the production cost are less and they can put more in it for the price they want to charge.