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Apple Trademarks 'Mac Pro'

You forgot the one without....

maya said:
It is quite possible as the x86 iMac has not seen a face lift that Jobs and Co decided not to change the name until it received that exterior change. ;) :)

Many associate the name "iMac" with the original small blue desktop. :)
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I think the iBook will be just MacBook (no Pro)

CIAO
DeVizardofOZ:p
 
Project said:
Logic Pro, Soundtrack Pro etc dont have a single word alternative to indicate a consumer/prosumer line. Im saying the iBook will use the BOOK out of MacBook Pro and not the Mac.
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Steve did say they wanted to put the emphasis on "Mac", too. The name "iBook" doesn't tell anyone that it's a Mac.

By going with the names Mac, Mac mini, Mac Pro, MacBook and MacBook Pro, they have "Mac" in all the names.

The only name they could keep would be "iMac", for its association with "iPod".

Then again, isn't it the Mac's 30th anniversary in 2006?
 
Laser47 said:
Mac Pro is the stupidest name ive ever heard. WTF is wrong with the name PowerMac?
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Erm, everything?

Here's a blog entry which explains the issue with the "Power" prefix: http://slashdot.org/~squiggleslash/journal/127402 - the comment is aimed at the PowerBook, but it's relevent to the PowerMac too in that the major principle behind the name, directly or indirectly, was the late eighties-early nineties obsession with the word "Power". PowerMacs were Apple's latest Macs, implemented with PowerPCs, but arguably the name was chosen as much because it fit in with the PowerBook laptop name (which was named prior to the PowerPC switch) as it was because of an obscure technical choice (PowerPCs in the computers instead of 68000s.) And PowerPCs themselves come from this naming/marketing obsession, with IBM choosing POWER in the mid-eighties to get over the associations between RISC and crippled-functionality.

Had it come out five years earlier, we'd probably be using SuperMacs or TurboMacs. PowerPoint, probably the most stupid sounding name in the universe given it's describing a slideshow, is named for same reason as the PowerBook (and thus PowerMac.)

I think Mac Pro is an excellent name. It's descriptive. It highlights the word Mac. It says "These are the Macs for professionals, the more serious models" rather than "This is the version of the Mac that has power, because (implied), y'know, our regular Macs suck." It's timeless rather than a fad name.

The nearest thing I can think of to a problem is that this is happening at the same time as the PowerPCs being dropped and, to a certain extent, reflects that. The PowerPCs being replaced by Intels certainly is sad, it marks an end to Apple as the last maker of a truly independent, innovative, set of mass-market computers. But the name switch could have happened without that, and arguably should have happened anyway.
 
Laser47 said:
Mac Pro is the stupidest name ive ever heard. WTF is wrong with the name PowerMac?
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lolz. are you serious? If you didn't know, they got the "Power" from the PowerPC arcitechture. Using the PowerMac name on its forthcoming Intel version would be totally ridiculous.

You don't have a choice anyway.
 
Project said:
Im pretty sure it will remain iBook.

We will have the iBook, and the Macbook Pro.
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I doubt that my friend. If you watched the MW webcast, Steve said they wanted to have the name "Mac" on their computers. Having said that, I do believe that it will be renamed as the MacBook.
 
I'm quite glad to know the Mac mini will keep its name.

... I see no reason to change it.

... They won't change it, will they?

I mean, it's a Mac, and it's mini. It's a Mac mini!

The only thing I'm hoping for is that they keep the form factor (6.5"x6.5"... Don't care about the height, especially if I can get a Mac mini Pro).
 
Mitch1984 said:
I believe if Steve was going to change the name of the iMac to just 'Mac' he would've changed it at MWSF 2006.

It's going to be:
Mac Pro
MacBook Pro
MacBook/iMacbook (Definately not MacBook Lite)
iMac
MacMini
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I think you're right. Plus it wouldn't make sense. The iMac does not belong to the same line of Macs as the Mac Pro and Mac Mini. The iMac is an all-in-one deal, plug it in and you're set to go. The Mac Pro and Mac Mini are not AIOs, and are intended to be part of a larger system.

Actually, this kind of makes things interesting. Let's suppose the Mac mini survives and is not replaced by the oft-rumoured but yet-to-appear set top box that the lattest rumours claim will happen. This means we have the following lines of computers:

Mac series:
Mac mini
Mac Pro

MacBook series:

Macbook
Macbook Pro

iMac series (one off)

iMac

There are some obvious holes here where there's an apparent market:

There's no "Mac", a theoretical low-to-medium cost Mac with internal expansion capabilities. Think: Power of a Mac mini, but with a couple of external drive bays plus an internal 3.5" bay occupied with a regular hard disk, and several RAM slots, in a sub-mini-tower probably for $999 for the base model.

There's no Macbook mini, which there doesn't need to be, but I suspect there'd be a market for (people keep posting here about wanting an iBook or PowerBook with a 10" widescreen and no optical drive)

I doubt the iMac would expand the same way, though the "Plasma TV" rumour gave one possible direction, but that remains a consumer product. I don't see an iMac Pro (or for obvious reasons an iMac Mini) being a practical proposition or something anyone would want.

This does not constitute speculation on what Apple is doing, just where the holes are and where they might decide to eventually go from here.
 
Maybe the i's will stick around for a bit longer.

I'm not so sure that Apple is going to hack the i off the front end of everything. Especially given the popularity of the iPod and brand recognition of "iMac". Consider this alternative instead:

Flagship Consumer Computer Products
iMac
iBook

Flagship Consumer Electronic Products
iPod
iPod nano
iPod shuffle

Flagship Consumer Software Products
iTunes
iPhoto
iMovie
iDVD

Flagship Prosumer Software Products
Pages (iWork)
Keynote (iWork)

Flagship Pro Computer Products
Mac Pro
MacBook Pro
(pro moniker makes sense because it matches pro software, as someone said.)

Flagship Pro Software Products
Final Cut Pro
DVD Studio Pro
Soundtrack Pro
Motion (has no consumer counterpart - does have second-cousin Shake - no "Pro" moniker.)

Product Enigmas
Mac mini (rumors suggest this might transform into a living room component.) Jobs has also never shown any great love or attention for the mini - possible that it was never meant to be a cheap Mac alternative?


Although the MacBook name in particular is a bit clunky to get used to, Apple has a long proven track record for very wise branding moves. I mean, who didn't say the day the iPod was announced "the i what?"

If they really want to go for broke, I'd like to see them drop the "i" off of everything but consumer electronics and software. Leaving us with what others suggested:

Mac
MacBook
Mac mini

Mac Pro
MacBook Pro

There is something sublimely simple and "Apple" about that.

Joe
 
jaredbbauer said:
I love that so many of you percieve that Apple cares what you think. They are working with the masses and i gaurantee that a significant amount of market research went into this decision. And yet you still complain, you gripe, you swear that you are not going to buy a product with "stupid names" and yet you still are avid fans.

I think its funny. But my favorite part has to be that you think that someone cares about your opinion.

just my 2 cents

ps - just like Apple doesn't care about your opinion I don't expect you to care about mine.
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apple may not care what we say, but macrumors does, and that is why we have the option to comment on rumors.
 
imac is the mac

I have only had time to skim the thread so I'm sorry if this has been covered, but I think people shouldn't be tied to the iMac name so much. The current iMac is the Mac. Apple needs to drop the "i" and get back to just being the Mac (or Macintosh for that matter). Placing the i on Mac originally connoted that the computer was a less than pro machine. I never really liked the "i" designation. Now with the pro designation the "i" becomes redundant. It seems some people become very adverse to change, but this new naming scheme is a move in the right direction.
 
modernpixel said:
I'm not so sure that Apple is going to hack the i off the front end of everything. Especially given the popularity of the iPod and brand recognition of "iMac". Consider this alternative instead:

...

Joe
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Argh, please don't post in bloated fonts, esp. when it doesn't seem like you are posting anything new.
 
Avoiding the Issue

I think everyone here is avoiding the real issue, which is that with the change of name from PowerMac to Mac Pro, these computers will no longer be the quality machines that we have come to know and love.

As we all know, the name of the computer affects everything from the clock speed of the CPU to the cooling mechanism of the tower to the size of the hard drive.

"That which we call a rose / By any other word would not smell as sweet."
 
paradillon said:
I have only had time to skim the thread so I'm sorry if this has been covered, but I think people shouldn't be tied to the iMac name so much. The current iMac is the Mac. Apple needs to drop the "i" and get back to just being the Mac (or Macintosh for that matter). Placing the i on Mac originally connoted that the computer was a less than pro machine. I never really liked the "i" designation. Now with the pro designation the "i" becomes redundant. It seems some people become very adverse to change, but this new naming scheme is a move in the right direction.
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This may be true, but the Mac mini and Mac Pro both belong to a line logically distinct from the iMac. So unless they intend to do some renaming there, some sort of differentiation should still be employed highlighting the difference between three box and AIO designs.

I'm desperately hoping that the Mac mini isn't going to be dropped and replaced by an STB, BTW.
 
artisan002 said:
I agree with Macindoc on this...
I don't think Jobs is pluralizing.

Besides, if he were going to comment about the whole line of computers, his typical form would be to make a more magnanmous statement than to just drop it in like that. But, this is all a matter of opinions rather than proven facts.
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You are right everything we are saying is just our opinion so we will have agree to disagree on the naming of the iBook. If your right you have the right to rub it in on the message boards, but obviously I don't think that you will be.

As far as the 10" screen goes. An ultra-portable will not be their best seller, but there will be plenty of people out there that would buy it to make a very decent profit, obviously it is not for everyone. Sony & Toshiba have done very well with their ultra-portables.

I would love a small screen as long as it has high resolution so that you can still have decent amount of screen real-estate. My biggest pet peave now is how low the resolution of Apple portable screens are but then again I have excellent vision. They did make improvments recently with the PowerBooks but the 14" iBook is a joke, I'm glad they are getting rid of it.

My guess is that you will see things change after the release of Leopard and it's Resolution independent GUI. The Dell Laptop I have at work (kringe) has an awesome 15.4" widescreen WUXGA (1920x1200) display. I love it you can fit 3 pages side by side and still comforably read everything. I must admit though while Windows XP does not have a decent implementation of resolution indepence at least there is something!
 
merkhet said:
As we all know, the name of the computer affects everything from the clock speed of the CPU to the cooling mechanism of the tower to the size of the hard drive.
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Well, if you're going to engage in sarcasm, I'd suggest you call your Mac the Toilet, or the iToilet, or the ToiletBook/ToiletBook Pro. I mean, it's what's beneath the hood that counts - names aren't important, right?

Should you decide to actually call a Powerbook a Mac Book Pro, please have the decency to look away from your target audience so that they're not showered with spit. :D
 
merkhet said:
I think everyone here is avoiding the real issue, which is that with the change of name from PowerMac to Mac Pro, these computers will no longer be the quality machines that we have come to know and love.

As we all know, the name of the computer affects everything from the clock speed of the CPU to the cooling mechanism of the tower to the size of the hard drive.

"That which we call a rose / By any other word would not smell as sweet."
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I'm clinging to the fact that you MUST be joking.
 
fawlty said:
In the light of this new information, I would say it is more likely they will keep the name "iBook":

Consumer: iBook, iMac
Professional: MacBook Pro, Mac Pro
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i agree.
 
i'm officially stopping reading this thread, because everyone is getting very petty in using BIG FONTS and BOLD to stress their views about what apple's new machines should be called.
 
Maybe the iBook 'per se' will dissapear entirely from the portables lineup.
I mean, Apple now has the MacBook Pro (I'm Ok with this name, after all, it's just a name) and maybe they'll introduce the MacBook; a cheaper, lower end laptop with a big resemblance to the 'Pro' in aspects of looks (Same case, smaller screen, less specs, you get the idea).

I know this sounds off, but consolidating the laptop lines would save some money (materials, manufacturing process and so on).

And people would still have a choice of laptops, being them: cheap (and low specs), reasonably priced (and reasonable specs) and of course, the always omnipresent high end, overpriced (but with not so high specs) portable.

Just my 1 hundreth of a cent.
 
anonicon said:
Well, if you're going to engage in sarcasm, I'd suggest you call your Mac the Toilet, or the iToilet, or the ToiletBook/ToiletBook Pro. I mean, it's what's beneath the hood that counts - names aren't important, right?

Should you decide to actually call a Powerbook a Mac Book Pro, please have the decency to look away from your target audience so that they're not showered with spit. :D
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Sarcasm? What is this sarcasm you speak of? I'm not familiar with this concept. Would you please explain it to me? :)

Actually, I call my iMac Grogg the Destroyer, which causes the Dual Cores to instantanously turn into Quad Cores. I think if I called it the iToilet, it'd turn into an AMIGA -- I'll have to look into that.

Btw, just to satisfy my own curiosity... did you find any humor in the fact that in responding to my post about avoiding the issue that you... avoided the issue by resorting to a glib ad hominem? Or is that just me?
 
merkhet said:
Btw, just to satisfy my own curiosity... did you find any humor in the fact that in responding to my post about avoiding the issue that you... avoided the issue by resorting to a glib ad hominem? Or is that just me?
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Yes, it's just you, and it's all in your head. Well, no, not really. When my sarcasm detector goes off, I find it really hard to create a constructive response when there's so much more fun to be had with a sarcastic reply. :) I call it the John Cleese Syndrome.

My final word on this whole sordid renaming process is that I'll be buying an iBook when they come out this Spring. I'll also be buying a loaded Homey The Clown sock to use against anyone who uses these new name monstrosities around me.
 
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