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Are We Seeing a New Apple?

J

jkimbro0316

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 23, 2008
201
2
Central Florida
I don't know where else I could post this besides an area in which everyone goes to for buying different items from Apple, so I decided to go here (if I am in the wrong area, hopefully the mods will move the thread to the right area). Now, I know the title sounds kind of dumb, but I'm really starting to notice something going on with Apple. Instead of introducing a lot of new stuff this year at WWDC like other years in the past, they instead really focused on showing and delivering products that almost guarantee speed, performance, and stability. Such examples include the iPhone 3G S, which didn't get a design change, but instead got a major overhaul under the hood which is better for the end user experience.

Another example is the new MacBook Pro family, they've added features that people have really wanted such as a FireWire 800 port for the 13" model as well as an SD card slot for easy access to camera photos. Overall, those changes have made a lot of Apple enthusiasts as well as computer enthusiasts happy and glad that Apple added those features. They even made the price of these notebooks cheaper! (*laptop hunters* ;))

But a prime example of this would be Snow Leopard, where speed and performance really shows in the OS. I'm actually really glad that they didn't add that many new features (minus the cool expose features and the finder additions :D) and instead focused on making their customers user experience a lot better and simpler. They also made SL really affordable so that everyone can upgrade! (*windows 7* lol)

What I'm basically trying to say that I'm glad that Apple is really focusing on stuff that an everyday user would really like to have. I know this post sounds a little random but I thought it'd be cool to share my thoughts and opinions on WWDC 2009 and where I think Apple may go next. Thanks for your feedback!
 
Yeah, I am very happy also! I feel like these changes will attract more and more PC users to switch. AND, I feel that the price changes will finally shut those PC commercials up where they are like "Ugh it's too expensive and not powerful..." Macs are the most powerful and we all know it.
 
My MBP cost £1500 (I got it refurb for £1300), it came with a 2.5Ghz CPU and a DEDICATED GPU that has 512mb VRAM. Back in mid 2008...

Today, £1500 buys you a machine with 0.13ghz faster processor and a GPU with half the VRAM...

At £1300, you get a machine with discrete graphics... 'nuff said.

I really feel Apple are really pushing it in terms of hardware offering and price, I know there's the old argument you get great software, but the since the introduction of the unibody enclosure there's been only a minor increase in hardware spec, I get that Apple wants their computers to be cosmetically appealing, but I don't want to be paying 50% for the casing alone, then 25% on hardware that's long since been outdated and 25% for a world class operating system.

I fully expect stupid remarks/flaming.
 
rhodent2013 said:
Yeah, I am very happy also! I feel like these changes will attract more and more PC users to switch. AND, I feel that the price changes will finally shut those PC commercials up where they are like "Ugh it's too expensive and not powerful..." Macs are the most powerful and we all know it.
Click to expand...

I like the changes they announced and its a step in the right direction.
If apple introduces a 15 inch mac book and it is reasonable priced people will snack that up in droves. But a 13 inch screen still might be a roadblock in attracting those droves. Many people are very content spending $500 to $600 and downloading a free security suite from teh interenet provider. you may think the budget pcs are a POS and may only last a couple of years but some 2 years is enough.
 
Are We Seeing a New Apple?
Click to expand...

No?


Here's another perspective: Apple took away FireWire and got enough complaints. They added it back in because they knew they shouldn't have done that. After all, their old $999 MacBooks had it. Their old 12" PowerBooks from 2001 had it. It's a port standard that THEY pushed and pushed on the industry, not something they implemented (like USB), and yet their most popular computer doesn't have it? If they want FW to survive, they'd be crazy to exclude it from the MB.

Furthermore, having both a plastic and aluminium MB with different specs really messed with Apple's product matrix. They had two MacBook Pro models made of aluminium, and a MacBook model with both plastic and aluminium shells. What was once clearly and visually distinct was no longer so. Since the distinction between "pro" and "non-pro" was the not-so-striking FW port, and not the visually-obvious aluminium enclosure that it should have been, they realised that it was a bit silly and decided to make clearer distinctions between lines.



The only thing I'm happy about is that Apple admitted that it made a mistake by adding the FW port back in. They rarely, if ever, did that. I think they did it after the self-proclaimed "Year of the Laptop", but uh......they were embarrassed.
 
Nah, I think it is the same Apple. This time they made evolutionary (rather welcome) instead of totally groundbreaking changes.

On a different note, I think they are phasing out Macbook completely in its current incarnation and will soon introduce an entirely new product by that name.
 
thegoldenmackid said:
iThink we are just seeing a smart Apple.
Click to expand...
Most definitely...Apple saw the epic failure of Microsoft with their new software vista and said what can we do that will basically show how we are the Elite company that EVERYONE should know and love.....the answer? IS to basically make everything that they have better...they know what they have is good...so y take any chances on ruining their lead in everything. All they hav to do is improve on what they have not introduce the new, exciting thing...but the smart, idealistic improvements that people want. this leads to a smart company known as Apple that every will eventually (despite stubborness) know and love. :apple:
 
Cassie said:
People who don't have the hardware to handle it. :p

I'm not really sure what Apple has become. I don't like it, but I understand other people do.
Click to expand...

Snow Leopard is like a steal IMO. It's WAY better than the $129 usually associated with a new OS.

As far as a new Apple, I feel like they are the exact same as before. Like Abstract said before, they clearly made a mistake, had too many complaints and tried to compensate for that by rebranding the MacBook's with FireWire 800 as "Pro" and adding an SD card slot (which I happen to like :)). But that was like a slap in the face to remove it then add it back. Now some people with the 2.0 or 2.4 MacBooks feel "obsolete" in a sort. I know some people agree with me. But really, isn't this what everyone expected? :rolleyes: Either way, I'm trying to sell mine to get a 13.3" MacBook Pro. :p
 
Things have certainly changed a lot since I switched in 2005, and not in a good way. For me, Apple's computer offerings have become steadily less appealing starting with the redesigned iMac in 2007 and it's got to the point where I'm not tempted by any of Apple's lineup. Despite what people say to the contrary, Macs are very expensive, their specs are dramatically lower than PC equivalents (particularly desktops), and the feature set is sorely lacking (blu-ray being one major fail for Apple).

On the flip side, the iPhone is an astounding product and the iPod range is as strong as ever. So, in short - Apple: great for iPhones/iPods, not so great for computers. Ironic really considering how they started.
 
There are much cheaper ways to get Blu-ray. I bought mine for 150 and it's hooked nicely up to my HDTV.

The only reason why Blu-ray has become popular on the PC side is because the vendors are all selling the same thing so you get this hodge podge of technology crammed into laptops for marketing reasons.

It's why PC users identify not with their computer but rather by a list of components. "Dude I got a nvidia GT-2billion with a acme phase converer"

blah.

Mac users have historically be less enthralled with the technology and more with what they can do with the technology. Though there is more of a rift between the new jack Mac users and the old school vets.

Steve Jobs

"You watch television to turn your brain off and you work on your computer when you want to turn your brain on."

Jobs' best and most prophetic quote.
 
I definitely agree with you there, blu-ray has come down in price drastically over the last year or so and there are other, better ways of watching blu-ray movies. Thing is, Macs are widespread within the video production community and Apple has made huge strides to place Final Cut Pro as the de facto standard for video editing - but they have no medium capable of delivering HD content. Surely this is a huge setback for Mac-based production companies shooting all kinds of HD projects, but only have DVD to deliver on? I just wonder how long these companies, and that particular industry can put up with Apple's stubbornness.
 
Shift of focus?

Apple was doing well as a *Software* company that made cool hardware to go along with their software. Seeing the huge popularity of Macbooks and Macbooks Pros, especially among students (or generally in academia; seeing a student or a professor without a MB/MBP is rather rare). So I think they've decided to chip-in, make more consumer oriented products (SD card anyone?) and start selling hardware ;-)

Maybe, or maybe not...
 
Apple are not making sense at all......

1st No Firewire on the Macbook, now no Express Card slot, no audio in on the 13", SD Card slot .... on a "PRO" machine?? seeing as THE standard for D-SLR cameras if CF the SD Card slot is useless to any "Pro"

Apple are only bothered with the iPhone and they don't seem to have brought anything revolutionary to the table with the IPhone 3G S that would make people splash the cash, especially in these economic times. OSX has been vastly over-shadowed with the hype of Windows 7, Microsoft, I believe, has beaten Apple to this game.
 
I'd like to think that consumer and media complaints resulted in the inclusion of FW and the screen upgrades. A matte option would be a total win, but I can almost understand how it would be a total PITA to have two screens for all of their line.

The extended life batteries, SD card and exclusion of 3/4 express card slot decisions are valid decisions IMO. I could see how most consumers would value those features.

The price reduction, uni macbook rebranding, and snow leopard price did surprise me. Apple's price points were formerly set in stone and not prone at all to change. Yes, the economy stinks, but I was expecting apple to possibly issue rebates or extras (one on one training, one year of .mac, whatever) as a temporary measure. The SL price is also a welcome surprise. Who knows, besides the economy, maybe the laptop hunters ad and positive windows 7 press from MS was a little bit more effective than I thought as well. MS makes most of its money from software sales, and if it releases Win 7 at it's usual price points, the SL price could either affect sales or force MS to lower it price to match.

The uni macbook rebranding was genius. It helps to differentiate the lines between consumer and pro laptops, and makes 3 sizes like in the past. It also shows apple to be the evil genius at upgrade pricing that it truly is (Geez, for only $200 more, I could get...). The only concern is the many options for each size model could lead to some confusion among consumers: the average switcher who wants an aluminum laptop now faces a choice of six models, features and price points. I would expect a lot more "which macbook pro should I get" threads from newbies on the boards here if I had to guess.

Shrewd moves by Apple, generally.
 
Well, when I had a MBP, I've never used the Expresscard, to be honest; but times have changed. You can get 64GB SSD on Expresscard that runs really really fast for ~150usd (as opposed to the transcend super slow ssd expresscard drives). And that'd be mighty useful. If you could boot from Expresscard, that'd be awsome!

Again, you can get 32GB SD card pretty cheap too, but the top performance is nowhere near what Expresscard SSD can do. (~30MB/s read versus 90MB/s read).

Imagine a setup: OS X + Windows (for games ;P) on the main drive + Linux on SSD. You could do the VMware raw access to Expresscard SSD drive (you can do it to the HDD to, but then you have to share with the OS X, which is not bad, but it's "half" the speed). Now, with 2 CPU cores and 2 independent IO devices I can imagine this working rather sweet.

Or the same with OS X on main drive and Windows on EC (when you do VMware raw access, you can use it as virtual machine or just boot from the drive, either way)
 
garybUK said:
Apple are not making sense at all......

1st No Firewire on the Macbook, now no Express Card slot, no audio in on the 13", SD Card slot .... on a "PRO" machine?? seeing as THE standard for D-SLR cameras if CF the SD Card slot is useless to any "Pro"
Click to expand...
Agreed. Removing the flexibility of the EC slot and replacing it with one SD slot is short-sighted. Not quite as bad as making it a MemoryStick slot I admit, but almost. Sure, there are many SD users out there, but also a lot of digital photogs that aren't using that medium.

File under "Rocks, dumb as"
 
garybUK said:
Apple are not making sense at all......

1st No Firewire on the Macbook, now no Express Card slot, no audio in on the 13", SD Card slot .... on a "PRO" machine?? seeing as THE standard for D-SLR cameras if CF the SD Card slot is useless to any "Pro"

Apple are only bothered with the iPhone and they don't seem to have brought anything revolutionary to the table with the IPhone 3G S that would make people splash the cash, especially in these economic times. OSX has been vastly over-shadowed with the hype of Windows 7, Microsoft, I believe, has beaten Apple to this game.
Click to expand...

No audio in???? I must've missed that!!! Did the previous Alu MacBook have it? So what now, we have to pay for the 15'' just to get an extra RCA jack??

Apple - consider yourselves dumb.
 
I don't like the "new Apple" at all. They used to be focused on the professional
market, really cared for people using Avid and Photoshop on their Macs.
Now it's all about the new shiny toys, glossy screens and the number of people
they can convert to OS X. They forgot where they came from.
They killed Shake years ago, didn't bring anything new instead.
Maybe it takes them years to develop "Phenomenon", maybe they are not
working on it at all. The professional market is way too small to bother...
They don't sell any professional monitors. They call some of their applications
"professional" even though they are just gimmicks. They don't have
any real professional support anymore. They have "geniuses" instead.
All they have left is Final Cut. It will probably fade away too...
Even CS4 runs better on a PC now.
They should call them an iPod/iPhone company.
 
snowboarder said:
I don't like the "new Apple" at all. They used to be focused on the professional
market, really cared for people using Avid and Photoshop on their Macs.
Now it's all about the new shiny toys, glossy screens and the number of people
they can convert to OS X. They forgot where they came from.
They killed Shake years ago, didn't bring anything new instead.
Maybe it takes them years to develop "Phenomenon", maybe they are not
working on it at all. The professional market is way too small to bother...
They don't sell any professional monitors. They call some of their applications
"professional" even though they are just gimmicks. They don't have
any real professional support anymore. They have "geniuses" instead.
All they have left is Final Cut. It will probably fade away too...
Even CS4 runs better on a PC now.
They should call them an iPod/iPhone company.
Click to expand...


Exactly how I feel, glad I'm not the only one. I think the writing was on the wall when they officially dropped 'Computer' from the 'Apple Computer' name. Says it all really, why do that if it didn't indicate a shift in focus?

Windows 7 has me very, very intrigued at this point.
 
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