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Apple Working on Six Mini-LED Products Including New 14.1-Inch MacBook Pro and Refreshed iMac Pro
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assuming TouchID is bundled with it, it would be insecure wirelessly transmitting encrypted data authenticated by TouchID.
then there's performance since Touch Bar apps would need to be transmitted over bluetooth. imagining you're switching between 30 different Touch Bar-supported apps, that'll be hard to imagine the user won't experience some latency
and there's a bunch of smaller things like what would happen if you paired with a different computer. does that mean you need to reset TouchID?
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The full transition from Intel to ARM almost certainly won't happen overnight. It will likely be a slow transition like the PowerPC to Intel transition was. When ARM Macs come out, the Intel ones will still operate and still have years of support (it's not like Apple is going to push a software update to brick all Intel Macs) and will still have full compatibility with softwares people use everyday, which ARM Macs likely won't at first, unless Apple worked some miracle or the first ARM Macs have an ARM/Intel co-processor setup. There's plenty of reasons to still want to buy these Intel machines even with ARM Macs around the corner.
I wasn't a Mac user during the previous switch.
Are you telling me that (hypothetically speaking) someone who buys an Intel based Mac computer in say mid to late 2020, has nothing to fear about Apple removing support for them to a jump to Arm based? So someone who buys an Intel one will find themselves, even if the switch happens in 2021, to have continual support and new software written for their Intel Mac, for years to come? Apple and software developers aren't just going to focus on Arm?
Based on the previous switch experience?
All I want is an ultralight Macbook with a scissor switch keyboard. My processor needs are modest and I’d like something very light to carry around.
I worry that Apple expects people like me to just use an iPad but I’m not interested in that.
I worry that Apple expects people like me to just use an iPad but I’m not interested in that.
Once again I'll hold off on my Macbook Air replacement until the end of the year. Oh well allows me to save more money and I'll probably buy after I come home from my trip to America.
14.1 yes. If true that’s the best Apple laptop news for me in a long time. 6 cores would rock too, but four works. I almost broke down and got the 16” but I never seem to stick with the larger laptops for more than about a year.
Maybe the MacBook line can finally stop being confusing.
13.3” Air, 14.1” Pro, 16” Pro
The 13.3” space has been weird and crowded for a long time, like when the Airs had better monitors than the Pros back in 2011 and 2012.
It’d be nice if they dropped the “Air” moniker entirely.
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Unfortunately I think you’re right.
My wife had a 12” MacBook and that was her favorite machine. I’ve since replaced it with an Air which she likes okay (two ports is really nice) but the size is just a bit bigger than purse size.
Adding in the 12” again would be nice. Back the old iBook/PowerBook setup, 2 sizes for each major demographic.
Maybe the MacBook line can finally stop being confusing.
13.3” Air, 14.1” Pro, 16” Pro
The 13.3” space has been weird and crowded for a long time, like when the Airs had better monitors than the Pros back in 2011 and 2012.
It’d be nice if they dropped the “Air” moniker entirely.
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Unfortunately I think you’re right.
My wife had a 12” MacBook and that was her favorite machine. I’ve since replaced it with an Air which she likes okay (two ports is really nice) but the size is just a bit bigger than purse size.
Adding in the 12” again would be nice. Back the old iBook/PowerBook setup, 2 sizes for each major demographic.
I agree but Kuo is not 100% right all the time. He called it the Macbook Pro, what if it is a new Air or a new Macbook instead?
Mini-LED is just a new marketing name to describe full array local dimming on ancient LCD. LCD TVs have been using it for many years already and it’s only good for movies but not so much for PC usage or gaming. Worst part is, monitor makers are acting like it’s a brand new tech and are overcharging it to scam PC prosumers and enthusiasts.
I guess it could be if that were the actual naming. You do realize there is no iPhone Air, and Plus was last used in 2017 with the 8 Plus?
And I’m not sure about 2021, but the 2019 iPhones are:
iPhone 11
iPhone 11 Pro
iPhone 11 Pro Max
What are your proposed names?
Yes, it's just local dimming. But also, putting an array of x LEDs on a 65-inch device isn't the same as cramming the same amount of LEDs into a 14-inch screen.
Scaling them down is hard, which is also why we don't have micro-LED yet.
I guess Apple wants the advantage of making it clear that it's a whole new thing every year, but an iPhone 34 Pro Max is just ridiculous.
The Mac solved this long ago. You just get the new iPhone. You decide on a level: the iPhone, or the iPhone Pro. And then you decide on a screen size: the 5-inch iPhone Pro, or the 6-inch iPhone Pro.
Then, where it matters (support articles), you add "(late 2020)".
Heck, it's what car manufacturers also do. You have a model year. Done.
Again, Apple doesn't want to do this because it doesn't have the same wow effect. But "iPhone 11 Pro Max" is not a great, sustainable product name. Is the next one the "iPhone 11S Pro Max"? The "iPhone 12 Pro Max"? How much better is 12 than 11, really? How much better is 22 than 21?
Although technically true, your description is outdated and a gross oversimplification of what Mini LED is. It's more an evolutionary jump than an iterative jump in backlighting technology. Where FALD zones of the past consisted of tens to hundreds of LED's, Mini LED consists of thousands to tens of thousands of miniaturized LED's.
The scaling has been basically solved. Mini LED's measure from ~200 microns down to ~50 microns. It's why Kuo was claiming panels with 10,000 LED's in past analysis. Makes sense considering TCL is putting 25,000 on TV's.
We don't have Micro LED yet for entirely different reasons. I won't go into it here because it just adds to the confusion people have regarding Mini LED and Micro LED.
I really don’t see it being such a big deal 🙂 And car manufacturers haven’t really figured it out; they don’t just have a model year. They have make, model, often a trim level and maybe an engine size. It’s not a 2020 Toyota, it’s a 2020 Toyota Camry XLE V6.
With 2 regular models and 2 Pro models, this year looks like maybe:
iPhone 12
iPhone 12 Max (or Plus?)
iPhone 12 Pro
iPhone 12 Pro Max
Isn’t that better than:
5.4-inch iPhone 2020
6.1-inch iPhone 2020 two camera
6.1-inch iPhone 2020 three camera
6.7-inch iPhone 2020
I think the reason is that, in 2020, lots of people will happily choose between an iPhone 7, 8, or iPhone 11 etc...based on price, size, specs etc.
But I strongly suspect that sales (probably retail prices) would fall if customers were offered the iPhone "2017". I think people would think they are being treated like mugs buying 3-year old tech for a high price.
Some would wonder if it was second hand. Others that it was refurbed. Others that it was physically manufactured in 2017 and sat unloved on a shelf for three years. None of these are desirable thoughts for your customer to have when you are trying to sell them a high-priced product.
Using iPhone 8 etc hides this, thus keeps prices higher, and enables Apple to offer a massive range of "new" phones in every price bracket/size etc.
Nobody other than a few nerds expect this or know what the hell a "Ryzen" is (sounds like some kind of crop from Central America), nobody other than AMD wants to make "APU" a term that means anything, and few people in the market for a 14-inch laptop care about the difference of six to eight cores. Even if you're a high-end user, few workloads take advantage of six cores, let alone more than that. Turbo boost matters far more.
Now, if AMD can keep its promises (we still don't have any independent benchmarks whatsoever, yet people treat it as a foregone conclusion), I wouldn't mind a 16-inch MBP with an AMD CPU at all. But we'll see.
Ryzen Mobile 4000 looks good so far, but Comet Lake is doing fine as well.
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It isn't.
Yes. Post-1990s Apple famously wants a simpler line-up than that.
That wasn't my suggestion.
5-inch iPhone
6-inch iPhone
6-inch iPhone Pro
7-inch iPhone Pro
More details in support articles only. Apple also doesn't call it the "13.3-inch MacBook Pro".
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Yes, that's also part of it.
(Of course, there are solutions to that. They can simply rebadge those models if they want to. They're still perfectly fine products that receive software updates, after all.)
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I still don't believe apple will move macbooks to arm. I just cant see the point. I think this is a very different time from when apple could do the whole rossetta thing and have a bridge between OS 9 and OS X.
I think intel compatibility beyond the dev frame work is a big deal. Bootcamp is a big deal. Parallels is a big deal. Losing all of that, plus years of software that wont run as is... I dont know.
And I get that you can recompile mac software in xcode but how many apps rely 100% on mac osx api's to function. Especially software that is cross platform?
I see a new machine that is based on ipadOS with a keyboard becoming the new macbook/ibook range thats sub £1000. Its going to be far easier to get devs to adapt software for mouse/pad control from ipad with very little change than to get mac software running on arm.
I think intel compatibility beyond the dev frame work is a big deal. Bootcamp is a big deal. Parallels is a big deal. Losing all of that, plus years of software that wont run as is... I dont know.
And I get that you can recompile mac software in xcode but how many apps rely 100% on mac osx api's to function. Especially software that is cross platform?
I see a new machine that is based on ipadOS with a keyboard becoming the new macbook/ibook range thats sub £1000. Its going to be far easier to get devs to adapt software for mouse/pad control from ipad with very little change than to get mac software running on arm.
I had the MacBook Pro 2012, Retina first version, and It was a great machine
Why? It's an opportunity to show your fanboy fealty with another "Take my money!"... mean kidding aside, if you're getting value out of your existing 16" then the next model won't be nearly worth it compared to the extra year of value you're getting with the current 16"... at least in my case the 8-core and 64GB has already paid for itself... and I could easily get another 2-3 years out of this (perhaps until the ARM switchover which would be a reason to upgrade sooner), but YMMV...
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6-inch iPhone
6-inch iPhone Pro
7-inch iPhone Pro
Is that really easier, simpler or less confusing, for consumers or Apple, than:
iPhone 11
iPhone 11 Pro
iPhone 11 Pro Max
And from a product name perspective, Apple can’t call a 5.8” screen 6”, or a 6.5”/6.7” screen 7”. I guess they could have called the 21.5” iMac a 21” iMac, but they can’t say 22” iMac. iPads aren’t 8” or 13”.
Well anyway, maybe Samsung had the right idea syncing the product name to the year. I don’t expect to see iPhone 20 this fall though 🙂
PS We definitely agree that AMD needs to stop trying to make APU happen.
I just don’t see your naming scheme as really any better.
6-inch iPhone
6-inch iPhone Pro
7-inch iPhone Pro
Is that really easier, simpler or less confusing, for consumers or Apple, than:
iPhone 11
iPhone 11 Pro
iPhone 11 Pro Max
And from a product name perspective, Apple can’t call a 5.8” screen 6”, or a 6.5”/6.7” screen 7”. I guess they could have called the 21.5” iMac a 21” iMac, but they can’t say 22” iMac. iPads aren’t 8” or 13”.
Well anyway, maybe Samsung had the right idea syncing the product name to the year. I don’t expect to see iPhone 20 this fall though 🙂
PS We definitely agree that AMD needs to stop trying to make APU happen.
AMD sucks at naming. Internally we call a chip "Sledgehammer," and marketing turns that into "opteron." Lame.
Well maybe they finally learned a little something; Threadripper is pretty good. EPYC is better than Opteron... I guess, anyway. Ryzen always reminds me of ricin ☠ Sledgehammer would have been great.
Ahhh the old "Buy a PC if you don't like every crap thing Apple does" argument.
Yep you sure showed me!
/S
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Apple is missing the opportunity to offer a PAID upgrade to not include the POS touch bar, for people like me who don't need to look at a keyboard to type and press function keys.
I'd pay another $300 to not have this garbage on the 16" MBP. The TB is the only reason I haven't bought it.
Hey Tim Cook, do you smell this comment? It's an opportunity for you to milk more money from your customers.
The worst was Athlon. We hated that word.
They had a naming contest for the 64-bit stuff. We had been calling it K8, so one guy said the chips should be named after famous "kate's." His example was "Mulgrew."
Thankfully, after they moved us from NexGen's building into the headquarters, there was a big wall down the middle of our space, and they decided to take it down. I suggested to my boss that we be allowed to take swings at it with a sledgehammer to get the destruction started, as sort of a team morale thing. He agreed. And thus the naming convention - sledgehammer (opteron), then clawhammer (athlon 64), then jackhammer (two cores), tackhammer (some low end variation - don't remember what it was), etc.