Apple Planning USB-C iMac and Faster Notebooks in 2017, Mac Pro and Touch Bar Magic Keyboard in Question

[AppleMad98004]

I've said this many times. If Apple loses me as a Mac user they've lost me as an iOS user as well. I will move on. I'm already starting to look at alternatives.

 

[briloronmacrumo]

We will always need these types of grunt jobs. It'd take a major refocus on education to reverse this trend. But we're too busy handing out participation trophies, overreacting at the slightest criticism, and trying not to hurt people's feelings.

First, thank you for posting that comment; many would prefer to ignore it.
Also, we hand out these participation trophies to kids, so they learn there should be a reward just for participating, which is mostly likely the opposite of what they will encounter later in their adult careers.

 

[AppleMad98004]

"a lack of clear direction from senior management, departures of key people working on Mac hardware, and technical challenges."

Sounds like there is a morale issue at Apple. The CEO is steering Apple like he's blind and drunk. Its fortunate for Apple that SJ left nice set of products and future designs for Apple to continue to ride the wave. Looks like that is drying up though....

That's the key.... there seems to be nothing but incremental upgrades in the pipeline for iOS and hardly anything for the Mac. Even the MacOS hardly changes except to add "phone" features.

I can afford to buy a new iPhone every year out of pocket but I am still on iPhone 6 because there is no reason to upgrade.

 

[Thunderhawks]

it's really not complicated. you design your products to cater to the people that will be using them. a "pro" computer for professionals should be versatile and be capable of handling their needs. this means new ports and old ports, performance over thinness, comfortable and clear design etiquette. function cannot march several steps behind form

As many others suggest I am sure the top brass at Apple doesn't use their computers much if at all for professional work. If they did, they just have to realize that anything they say is just lip service.

I am not a power user, but over the 32 years of using Macs I have changed the way I work with them.
After a lot of bad models the first Mac I liked again was the G4 Quicksilver tower. It had everything and one could expand and expand and customize. Life time usage extended over many many years (Still have it and it works)

Had iMacs G3, G4, G5s and as they kept taking away ports and upgrade possibilities I switched to MBPs, because I always wanted to be able to take my work computer with me.

My 17" MBP is from 2008 and still runs ok, but memory limit shows via a lot of beach balls.

Since 17" monitors are kind of small when on a desktop, I initially hooked up an HP 23 inch display and later when prices came down now display a DELL 27" and run it in clamshell mode.

Bought a 2014 MBP and now a 2015 MBP (to extend the last good MBP experience) both of which can drive 4K displays and any "fixed screen size" desktop all in one is not for pros.

My guess is that many pros have large size monitors depending on what they have to work on. Currently looking at a 40" LG/PHILIPS which is out of stock.

So, by my usage pattern and logic, pros would want a powerful headless Mac, so they can determine the display size as well as graphic cards and memory "adjustments". Interim solution would have to be upgradability and many ports, as their clients don't all upgrade.

A powerful mini again upgradable would also sell well for the same reasons. One could even make it slightly bigger if needed without much kvetching from users. I would use something like that like an MBP and carry it back and forth from work and home with each place having a huge monitor.

The notion that Apple doesn't want tinkering in their machine is also BS. Pros will tinker and figure out what they can and cannot do and regular consumers will not. Nothing lost if one can upgrade.

The Surface Studio is on the right track (not there yet) trying to provide different input ways in an all in one. Assuming MS sticks with it and the built is good they will be a very serious competitor to the iMac.

Sorry for my life story, but the Bloomberg article would have never been written had Apple done the right thing.

They wanted the money with the 2016 MBP even though it was half baked and until they come up with a new Pro machine and mini, everything else is questionable BS.

PS: I did like some of the posts which said that they used to recommend Macs to family and friends , but no longer can do so. I switched many a PC user to Macs and can also no longer do so.

 

[Bryan Bowler]

We better have easy access to upgrade the next iMac’s RAM. If they solder it down or make it really difficult to get to, that will be the straw that finally breaks the camel’s back.

 

[ArcaneDevice]

Bingo. And there's millions of "shovel ready" jobs that nobody seems to want to do either. It doesn't help that our society looks down on technical/trade schools. Apparently everyone "needs" an MBA, which is great if you want to start your own company but nobody is going to hire you out of school to run theirs.

So we end up with a glut of under qualified "graduates" with liberal arts degrees who can't find jobs and only want to work managerial positions without any experience. Meanwhile, you can't find, say, HVAC techs who easily get $30-40/hour. It's the same with other trades.

And that would solve the Mac problem how exactly?

You are exactly the point I am making. You can either keep clinging to blue-collar trades like HVAC repair or start training for high-tech manufacturing and engineering design for consumer electronics. Don't blame the "graduates" for looking down on trade schools when those trade school graduates spend a lot of time looking down on the science and tech community. You need those graduates to come up with the designs for those trade school graduates to be able to manufacture.

The Asia/Pacific region made their choice decades ago and America didn't want to be part of that world. They would rather stick with what they know even it if it becomes obsolete. So what do you want to be? A country of HVAC repair techs or a country of IC assemblers? Only one of those is going to make Apple products in the country. What are you going to tell your kids to do?

 

[sziehr]

think people quickly forget apple is tied to a huge supply chain now. They can not just wow you with never seen items cause they have to sell loads of them. They are also performance locked to the design they idea they are pushing which is thin light and powerful punch. This means they compromise and are stuck waiting for chips for laptops and desktops to suit there needs. These are sadly tail end chips and not lead in chips from intel. That that up with intel.

They just released the AirPods. This is a eng marvel. They are tinny and just work. To say they can not innovate and make changes is total BS.

I think a lot of people want a dell guts laptop with Apple Mac OS. They do not like the design idea of apple cause it does not suit there taste any more.

Thats a virus and it is spreading like mad. The reality is apple made the best laptop they could with in the design language that they have communicated for years.

The iPhone is where all the innovation happens cause they control the whole pack. There is not a single part on the phone or iPad they can not account for. There is no mythical intel holding them up. They are not waiting on Samsung to catch up and lower cost on SSD. They rule the roost.

I think people want a touch screen Mac and are just afraid to say that is what they want cause it is what windows has and they seek parity

 

[PatriotInvasion]

Matters to mostly superficial low-tech consumers maybe.

That's why there used to be the Macbook and Macbook Pro until they became just brand names for the entire consumer line.

If Apple hadn't diluted the Pro line then it wouldn't matter. 1/16th of an inch thicker is irrelevant to a professional if it includes more capability and power. It's also irrelevant to the other type of superficial consumer who just wants to wave around the most powerful box for bragging rights. Which is where a lot of Macbook Pro sales came from.

Sell an expensive and stupidly thin machine with limited power and the customers will still buy it even if Apple are also selling a stupidly powerful machine that is equally as expensive but twice as thick.

Decent points. Apple needs a better selection of consumer level MacBooks. A 14" version of the MacBook with 2 USB-C ports and a little more horsepower to replace the Air would have been nice instead of some awkward SKU of the 13" Pro. The 12" is also too pricey at $1,299 1 year and 1/2 in. That machine should be $1,099 by now as an entry level Mac.

 

[Lesser Evets]

Modest update.... so the fool who's a shill found out his mistake and will work to correct it, somewhat, this next year.

I wonder what the next move will then be?

Jobs said that they would focus on the iPhone for several years and around 2011 get back to focus on the desktops again. Well, Jobs passed on and the small man decided to just follow the phone while the desktops went to hell. Is that good management? I love all the Kook apologists on this forum, because delusion is always entertaining.

 

[jujufreeze]

But we wanted faster notebooks in 2016. You gave us a pro tablet that is not a pc replacement, no matter what your marketing department says, and a touch bar on a pro machine no one is excited about all while jacking up prices so your competition looks more enticing than ever before

 

[ArcaneDevice]

Decent points. Apple needs a better selection of consumer level MacBooks. A 14" version of the MacBook with 2 USB-C ports and a little more horsepower to replace the Air would have been nice instead of some awkward SKU of the 13" Pro. The 12" is also too pricey at $1,299 1 year and 1/2 in. That machine should be $1,099 by now as an entry level Mac.

The differentiation between the Macbook names is irrelevant now. Originally they meant something. Now the Air and Pro are competing to be almost just the same thing and the Macbook is basically a smaller Pro. If Apple had continuously made the Air thinner and the Pro more powerful without needing to sacrifice anything just for lightness then I think everyone would have been happy. Well, happier anyway.

Make the Air the glitzy fashion piece at a high price, the Pro the workhorse it should always be and the Macbook an entry level model that has the more limited power of the air but the weight and dimensions of the Pro.

 

[Glideslope]

I never took Cook seriously. He never was the "man" of his word.

Initially after SJ passed I believe he was, and tried hard to uphold that. It was the COO in him that sent him down. Tim could never come up with ideas like SJ and he rightly knew that. However, he was now the CEO. People expected Tim to be another SJ. He really never stopped being a COO, even to this day. I for one look forward to the day ( along time from now) when Scott writes a book about his time at Apple, and why he was pushed out along with others. I have suspicions but they will need to wait. IMO, He would have been the Creative Spark Apple is lacking. But, that's just my opinion.

So, Tim keeps talking the talk, but starts to no longer be able to walk the walk. We see this really come apart after the 5 yr plan was up. I don't think Tim deliberately Lies to customers. I do think he portrays things based as a COO. Stock Value, Market Cap, personally still obsessed with Channel Inventory in a way a COO is, not a CEO.

So, don't think of him as "Not Keeping his Word." He is, in the way he views what he thinks you want to hear. It's Apple 2016. No changes until he is gone. Good chance 2017 will be his last Holiday Season with Apple. One can only hope.

 

[ryanwarsaw]

Alright, Timmy. I want a 27" iMac. No AMD, Nvidia, please. USB-C but keep the Ethernet port. Kaby Lake of course. Touch Bar Magic Keyboard with Touch ID. And two Apple Stickers please
And for god's sake, make sure your supply can keep up.

I hope he cancels everything you want just because you call him Timmy.

 

[Asarien]

I never took Cook seriously. He never was the "man" of his word.

But he did crack down on those iPhone leaks, just as he promised.

No, wait...

 

[chfilm]

Mac Pro, Mac Pro, Mac Pro!!!

 

[ryanwarsaw]

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...

You are on to something. They basically did exactly what you are talking about when they made the track pad available to any mac.

 

[Unami]

I would like:

Access to upgrade / replace ram.
Access to upgrade / replace the SSD or drive.
Port (s) I can actually reach and use - in lower lip, or on front
Speakers aimed towards me to - front of lower lip.

and I don't care in the slightest how thick or thin it is.

thank you!

added: and please keep the Ethernet port.
And consider offering a manly keyboard.

maybe you should rather write that to apple...

http://www.apple.com/feedback/imac.html

 

[Stella]

Considering you must use a Mac to do iOS development, you would think Apple would consider the Mac an important product line since its developers use it to build the apps that make the iPhone what it is.

Without developers, iOS is nothing. Apple should have every reason to keep developers happy with cool hardware. Developers are almost universally geeks, and geeks like high end, capable hardware.

How long until Apple port Xcode to say Linux? How much work would it take to get The Xcode environment and tools to work on Linux? The compiler is there.

Regarding developers, Apple should treat Xcode with more importance. The Swift functionality of Xcode is still fairly lacking. For example, it still doesn't support Swift Refactoring. Considering Swift was released a few years ago, I find rather surprising.

A few years ago I went to a developer conference. The majority of laptops were Apple, the developer conference was multiple platform development. Its sad to see what is happening to Apple computers.

 

[Cisco_Kid]

Holding my breath........

 

[ojfl]

I will only believe when it happens. I am getting a little tired of waiting for something easily upgradable to replace our eight year old Mac Pro.

 

[PatriotInvasion]

The differentiation between the Macbook names is irrelevant now. Originally they meant something. Now the Air and Pro are competing to be almost just the same thing and the Macbook is basically a smaller Pro. If Apple had continuously made the Air thinner and the Pro more powerful without needing to sacrifice anything just for lightness then I think everyone would have been happy. Well, happier anyway.

Make the Air the glitzy fashion piece at a high price, the Pro the workhorse it should always be and the Macbook an entry level model that has the more limited power of the air but the weight and dimensions of the Pro.

The Air moniker needs to die. I think the ideal lineup would be:

Consumer/Mainstream users where thin and light is preferred to power
12" MacBook starting at $999 or $1,099
14" MacBook starting at $1,299

Pro/Power users where portability is a factor, but performance is the priority
13" MacBook Pro starting at $1,499
15" MacBook Pro starting at $1,999

 

[lcseds]

Spec bumps for 2017? Lol. More dogs, more "the best ________ we've ever made" Lol. This company has become pure crap for anything other than phones.

 

[Padaung]

Port (s) I can actually reach and use - in lower lip, or on front

This has annoyed the heck out of me for years. ALL the ports, and the SD card slot on the back of a large screen - seriously? And Apple say they concentrate on the user experience? The amount of time I've wasted fumbling around the back of an iMac and Mac Mini over the years is embarrassing.

One USB and the SD card slot on the side of each iMac (and on the front of the Mac Mini) would make me a very happy person. Everything else could stay round the back.

 

[ryanwarsaw]

It's kind of pathetic that Apple does not understand the consumers and prosumers see that they have dramatically reduced the amount of people who work on and develop mac hardware.

It's as if they only have one team, and they are only concerned with reduction of size and don't care about power and allowing owners to add ram and otherwise do basic upgrades which is normal to virtually any other computer line.

We want yearly updates to each line and not have Apple pretend like they are selling current technology. They are not.

Good point. It isn't like there is a glut of IOS developers.

 

[vatter69]

Worst thing is - Apple has now 3 13" Laptops and i dont want either.

2015? 2 year old tech at premium price
2016 ntb - 15w is not pro at all
2016 tb - the touchbar plain sucks and the ports are a joke

Can we please get a normal Laptop with the most powerful Cpu without this touchbar nonsense? If possible Id like to keep magsafe too. Dont mind sd and usb port either.

Have 2500€ ready to spend but not with this lineup. This is no upgrade for my 2013 rMBP.