Apple's Crowded Late 2012 Product Introduction Schedule Forced by Delays to iMac and iPad Mini

[AppleMacDudeG4]

When the Mac turned 20 and then 25 I was hoping that they'd release a limited edition Mac Classic. The old style 9" Mac case with Mac Mini guts inside and a 9" LCD screen.

I guess now they could release one with an iPad for the screen and a Bluetooth keyboard. The rest of the case could then be a tiny beer-fridge.

This is not exactly the same thing but for those who have an iPad and wanted some of the classic mac goodness, they might be interested in this:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/ee...e=google_pla&gclid=CO6ChLfGmrICFc2b7QodgTcAaA

I am considering getting one for myself,

 

[forty2j]

...is now officially wrong.

Why, did something happen?

Note that he seems to have a much better handle on the supply side, what's being made and when. His launch schedule was plucked from somewhere launch schedules really shouldn't come from.

 

[damir00]

Why, did something happen?

Yeah.

He had two significant announcements/launches for August on that chart of his. It is now September. Neither has happened. Therefore, he was wrong.

Personally, I believe he's making most of it up, and has virtually no sources or insight.

Next up: new iPad in about 3 weeks (iPhone is technically next, but that was known before "the chart" came out). Can revisit then.

 

[mgipe]

Yeah.

He had two significant announcements/launches for August on that chart of his. It is now September. Neither has happened. Therefore, he was .

The first event occurs around mid September on the chart. Today is September 3, not yet mid September.

 

[bobright]

Who is this guy and has he correctly predicted any release dates in the past?

 

[hobo1545]

Can they get the job done...sure...but you would be buying 1.5 year old tech at 1.5 year old prices...so you tell me if you would do that with your $$$.

Um yeah I would, if my income depended on using an iMac so that waiting indefinitely would actually cost me more money.

 

[forty2j]

Yeah.

He had two significant announcements/launches for August on that chart of his. It is now September. Neither has happened. Therefore, he was wrong.

The dot with the month name on it is the 15th of the month. The line in the middle of the chart is October 1.

I believe he's wrong anyway, that we won't wee 21" iMacs if 27" aren't ready, but I believe he knows what he's talking about in terms of what's being built and what kind of issues they're facing. That's a bit harder to fabricate.

 

[wikus]

More evidence that Apple doesnt care about professionals with the absence of the Mac Pro.

 

[Kludge420]

...I can't understand why Apple doesn't put these on all of their screens. It seems like a case of good ole Apple stubbornness.

That's exactly it. They are incapable of admitting they are wrong. Like with multi-button mice; they STILL make the second mouse button act like they first by default like a petulant child unable to admit fault. Not to mention the idiotic file copy functionality that makes it impossible to merge the content folders.

 

[charlituna]

I wonder if the "part problems" can be traced to SamSung/Korean components?

In terms of the iMac I suspect has more to do with when Intel was releasing the ivy Bridge processors they want for the units.

As I recall the imacs still use mobile processors which Intel announced today.

in Apple style they probably already have a ton of them at a sizeable discount ready for them but couldn't say anything about them until Intel did.

 

[forty2j]

In terms of the iMac I suspect has more to do with when Intel was releasing the ivy Bridge processors they want for the units.

As I recall the imacs still use mobile processors which Intel announced today.

in Apple style they probably already have a ton of them at a sizeable discount ready for them but couldn't say anything about them until Intel did.

iMacs haven't used mobile CPUs in years... The G4 maybe.

 

[reardoma]

So now that we know these dates are not likely......

"Kuo now believes that the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro and an updated 21.5-inch iMac could appear at any time, followed by the next-generation iPhone and iPod touch in mid-September."


What are the odds this is correct??????

Well, i'm 100% in agreement with Kuo's statement that the 13-inch Retina Macbook Pro "could appear at any time." Ditto for life on Mars and the iPhone 5,5s,6, etc, and the rapture..... they could all appear "at any time."


My math is probably off on this, but with the iphone 5 event less than a week away.........isn't it pretty safe to say there's little to no chance a retina-display 13" MBP is going to be released before the iphone 5, and at the very earliest (not that anyone is expecting product overload and apple likes to give each product its time in the spotlight) AT the event next week (which will never happen)?



So now that the time Kuo predicted for the release of the 13" retina-display MBP has almost passed, are we hearing nothing on supply lines or delays that would lead us to predict a new realistic date?


I hear 27" imacs are coming soon, so who wants to revise the timeline?



Or are we now reverting to the default informative gem, that product X could be released, "at any time?"

 

[Confuzzzed]

"Kuo now believes that the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro and an updated 21.5-inch iMac could appear at any time, followed by the next-generation iPhone and iPod touch in mid-September."


What are the odds this is correct??????

Well, i'm 100% in agreement with Kuo's statement that the 13-inch Retina Macbook Pro "could appear at any time." Ditto for life on Mars and the iPhone 5,5s,6, etc, and the rapture..... they could all appear "at any time."


My math is probably off on this, but with the iphone 5 event less than a week away.........isn't it pretty safe to say there's little to no chance a retina-display 13" MBP is going to be released before the iphone 5, and at the very earliest (not that anyone is expecting product overload and apple likes to give each product its time in the spotlight) AT the event next week (which will never happen)?



So now that the time Kuo predicted for the release of the 13" retina-display MBP has almost passed, are we hearing nothing on supply lines or delays that would lead us to predict a new realistic date?


I hear 27" imacs are coming soon, so who wants to revise the timeline?



Or are we now reverting to the default informative gem, that product X could be released, "at any time?"

Well if 9/12 reveals an iPhone 5 which will ship say on 9/28, then in theory [furiously clutching straws] a website ('quiet') release of the 13" rMBP and/or iMac COULD in theory still allow Kuo's statement to remain valid

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

iMacs haven't used mobile CPUs in years... The G4 maybe.

No, but they still use mobile GPUs which greatly hampers their "desktop" performance level compared to a true desktop that uses all desktop parts. I've always thought they should isolate the GPU into the base or something instead so it can have a large space of its own cooling. You could probably fit a full size expansion card in a decent sized base as well and with Thunderbolt, this seems like it would be simpler to design than ever (although latency and limitations of early Thunderbolt speeds might limit the GPU's absolute performance as well, but it would still possibly be better than the mobile GPUs they are using which for people that want to run a current year game are often inadequate.

OSX's gaming performance relative to Windows doesn't help that either (i.e. it's usually better to buy the Windows game and use Boot Camp than run a game that is unoptimized and possibly even "Ciderized" (therefore even less optimized) in OSX since you'll have even slower frame rates than if you ran it under Windows). For older games released on Steam or something (e.g. Torchlight ran fine on my 2008 8600M GT MBP even at the native 1920x1280 my 24" external monitor uses), it doesn't matter much (once you're past a certain frame rate, who cares), but certainly newer games tax the GPU to its limits and beyond so every bit counts.

If I were going to try to play Diablo 3 on that MBP, for example, I'd definitely want to run it in Boot Camp and not the OSX version as it's supposedly night and day for that GPU (i.e. fully playable in Windows and laggy/slow in OSX). But then I have no desire to play Diablo 3 as it were given its poor reviews and the online only and auction crap. I'm waiting for Torchlight 2 instead and with Steam, I don't have to choose which platform since I can run the Windows version for now if performance is an issue and use the Mac version (which won't be released on Sept 20th anyway, but comes at a later date) in the future when I get newer hardware, etc.

 

[forty2j]

No, but they still use mobile GPUs which greatly hampers their "desktop" performance level compared to a true desktop that uses all desktop parts.

I have no real dispute with any of this.. except that I don't understand where it came from. I was responding particularly to the claim that 2012 iMacs had anything at all to do with just-announced mobile CPUs.

 

[komodrone]

this chart fails.

 

[M1chbeck]

btw, he was wrong about the 13'' MBP.
=(

 

[reardoma]

Any new ideas to replace this outdated timeline?

Well if 9/12 reveals an iPhone 5 which will ship say on 9/28, then in theory [furiously clutching straws] a website ('quiet') release of the 13" rMBP and/or iMac COULD in theory still allow Kuo's statement to remain valid

So maybe it's all the new iphone hoopla, but is no one revamping this timeline now that it's inaccurate?


Very curious when others think we might see the 13" rMBP and a possible mac mini update...


(go ahead, be a troll and say "end of september," "Tuesday," or "soon)." Soon or "at any moment" is as i've said before.... true for all products and events, including the ipad mini release, colonization of mars, and the iphone 5 os6.0 jailbreak someone tweeted from their jailbroken phone and then let us all know he's not working on a public release - classy.




I assume apple would want to get out the 13" rMBP before the holiday season so tons of overprivileged college fanboys and fangirls can get this as a christmas present?


I'm always amazed at the new laptops my students bring into class seemingly every week with more power than they could possibly use....and i teach at a public university!


(Sorry a bit frustrated today...... just showed a student how to use the maps app on her iPhone 4 to locate a nearby pizza restaurant... 2 years after she bought her iPhone)

 

[Confuzzzed]

just showed a student how to use the maps app on her iPhone 4 to locate a nearby pizza restaurant... 2 years after she bought her iPhone

Alas she ended up at a sauna