Come on, it's not Apple's fault that Intel's integrated chips suck.
I'm sure there is still a good bond.
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Buyers Guide Update: iMacs, Mac Minis, and Mac Pros
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Come on, it's not Apple's fault that Intel's integrated chips suck.
I'm sure there is still a good bond.
Mac Pro speculation
Yah, I agree that new i7 based Mac Pro's are a big enough deal that they'll probably be an official media event, and what else are they going to talk about at MWSF? So maybe it will have a Pro focus, including the 17" MBP refresh, Cinema display updates, and some software updates.
I'd like to see Apple take their new Enviro trends to the Mac Pro line, make it greener. The internal design is pretty awesome, so hopefully it doesn't change too much, just enough.
The i7 uses DDR3, so hopefully RAM prices will be better than FBDIMMs.
With Apple's love for all-in-ones, who knows, maybe they'll come out with a 30" i7-based iMac. ^_^
Yah, I agree that new i7 based Mac Pro's are a big enough deal that they'll probably be an official media event, and what else are they going to talk about at MWSF? So maybe it will have a Pro focus, including the 17" MBP refresh, Cinema display updates, and some software updates.
I'd like to see Apple take their new Enviro trends to the Mac Pro line, make it greener. The internal design is pretty awesome, so hopefully it doesn't change too much, just enough.
The i7 uses DDR3, so hopefully RAM prices will be better than FBDIMMs.
With Apple's love for all-in-ones, who knows, maybe they'll come out with a 30" i7-based iMac. ^_^
Well, it's hard to say what the next update will bring. With the 1st Mac Pro I waited hoping for an update but finally bought one because I had been waiting for half a year. I got the cheapest configuration that was possible (the processors are overkill for me), and bought 3rd party RAM and hard drives for it. Then they updated it, by adding an 8-core option that I wouldn't have bought anyway. And then after that it was a switch 4-cores per processor (with a 1 processor option) and 2GB minimum which raised the price of the cheapest configuration. I'm glad I bought it rather than waiting around for an update that would've just been more expensive and not give me anything that I care about.
So if you're like me and want to get the cheapest config, it might be best to just buy it now. The Mac Pro hasn't changed much since its inception, but maybe Apple has some big changes around the corner that you'll miss out on, who knows. There haven't been any rumors that this is going to happen, though. I can't imagine their being much new with the Mac Pro other than processor and/or video card updates. Maybe Blueray, but doesn't look like Apple is committing to that any time soon.
I'm finding that waiting for Apple's product updates is disappointing most of the time. I waited for the new MBP, but ended up buying a previous gen because the new ones were disappointing (and the refurb price was very low). I didn't wait for the iPhone 3G, and bought the 1st gen in March, and am glad I missed out on the 3G problems and AT&T's increased rates.
With Apple products, I say if you like the current model, and have a genuine need for it (like if you're still on PowerPC or don't own any version of the product), buy it now. If you already have an Intel Mac (or an iPhone/iPod or whatever) that is doing you fine, it might be worth waiting. Also, buying previous-gen refurbs (or clearance) when the new model comes out can save some money.
The Mac Pro historically has never received a price drop. The price of the minimal configuration has only gone up. That doesn't mean it won't happen (maybe in this economy it will), but its not something I would expect to happen.
Now an increase in specs while retain the same price points, that is what I expect. Though, maybe they'll continue to offer one of their current models at a lower price, like they are doing with the MacBook.
January MW
Hey gang:
January has the following possibilities:
As always a sales and progress report especially on iPhone and Macbook success. The new stuff/ announcements.
iPhone 8GB price drop to $99 (if it doesn't happen before the Holidays) or expanded 32 GB model - one or the other or both
Big discussion of Snow Leopard Progress
iLife/ iWork updates and demos- iMovie 09 very much needed!!!
Pro App upgrades and demo- Final Cut and Logic Pro Studio's
New Mac Pro's -big focus- number one new item -a definite
17 in Macbook Pro shipping announcement
then maybe a Mac Mini / Apple TV update/upgrade either earlier in the show if an upgrade or later as a "one more thing" if monumental change-i.e. merging of the two
lastly a slim chance at a Netbook/ tablet/ big brother iPhone concept
a very strong "one more more thing" possibility might be an Apple/ Beatles on iTunes/ iPod if it doesn't happen before Christmas
Hey gang:
January has the following possibilities:
As always a sales and progress report especially on iPhone and Macbook success. The new stuff/ announcements.
iPhone 8GB price drop to $99 (if it doesn't happen before the Holidays) or expanded 32 GB model - one or the other or both
Big discussion of Snow Leopard Progress
iLife/ iWork updates and demos- iMovie 09 very much needed!!!
Pro App upgrades and demo- Final Cut and Logic Pro Studio's
New Mac Pro's -big focus- number one new item -a definite
17 in Macbook Pro shipping announcement
then maybe a Mac Mini / Apple TV update/upgrade either earlier in the show if an upgrade or later as a "one more thing" if monumental change-i.e. merging of the two
lastly a slim chance at a Netbook/ tablet/ big brother iPhone concept
a very strong "one more more thing" possibility might be an Apple/ Beatles on iTunes/ iPod if it doesn't happen before Christmas
I am personally awaiting a 32 or 64gb version of the iPhone before I buy it.
My t-mobile contract ended this month and I've owned an iPod Touch since day one. A 16 giger at at. (Is giger a word? If not, I like it so it is.) There is no point in me getting an iPhone when I'm not getting anything better than what I have now - a 16 gig iPod touch and a crappy cell.
anyone think we'll see a 32/64 gig iPhone at MWSF?
Absolutely...I can't believe the article writer overlooked the flagship MBP. I'm even hoping there'll be something a little extra to differentiate it from the 15" models (other than the screen size and extra ports).
It is sad about the mini. I just bought one in August (baseline combo drive) for my wife as our 4 hr old HP was starting to show its age. The mini is such a great machine.
Mac Pro - well, I can see the need for someone needing a professional powerhouse, but the price is just incredible. my jaw dropped when an older gentleman (late 40's to early 50's) with a pony tail (ok useless point, but his looks made me think he was an art or photo/video professional), walk in and plop $5,000
for a macpro and the largest monitor the had at the time.
As for new products, God I hope so....
1) New ACD for older macbooks/macbook pro's (that have an magsafe power connector, DVI, FW, and USB hub) - I would not need a dock then as all my periphs would be plugged into the ACD USB hub.
2) mini tablet netbook - Something along the line of
http://www.dynamism.com/#Product=gigabyte_m912
It shouldn't be that hard for Apple and keep it in a similar price range. I mean; OS X can already handle handwriting recognition, drawing. I have a wacom bamboo hooked up to my macbook - it is great. I really do not have the money for an axiotron, and the size of an axiotron is just too big for what I need. I think Circus Ponies would like to see it as well, as they just put in handwriting recognition for their 3.0 version. apple said they can't make make a computer for under $500 that would not be a piece of junk - well, this one is $799; so no excuse. Also Kohjinsha has a version for $1299 that has a DVD (super drive) - so again no excuse for not having a reasonable priced ($700-1300) product from Apple, I know it would sell big
I am not holding my breath for a new Apple TV/LCD TV combo like one rumor suggested. I can pick up a nice LCD HD TV for about $400 now, and the fact it has HDMI and PC (VGA) ports, I can just hook up a mini. In fact, I am starting to get very fond of watching movies through hulu.com (just wish Obama's face did not appear in a commercial every 15 - 30 min; but hey Hulu needs the sponsors to keep it free; just can't wait until this election is over).
But, if it is like anything else Apple these days, alot of news will be centered around the iphone
Mac Pro - well, I can see the need for someone needing a professional powerhouse, but the price is just incredible. my jaw dropped when an older gentleman (late 40's to early 50's) with a pony tail (ok useless point, but his looks made me think he was an art or photo/video professional), walk in and plop $5,000
for a macpro and the largest monitor the had at the time. As for new products, God I hope so....
1) New ACD for older macbooks/macbook pro's (that have an magsafe power connector, DVI, FW, and USB hub) - I would not need a dock then as all my periphs would be plugged into the ACD USB hub.
2) mini tablet netbook - Something along the line of
http://www.dynamism.com/#Product=gigabyte_m912
It shouldn't be that hard for Apple and keep it in a similar price range. I mean; OS X can already handle handwriting recognition, drawing. I have a wacom bamboo hooked up to my macbook - it is great. I really do not have the money for an axiotron, and the size of an axiotron is just too big for what I need. I think Circus Ponies would like to see it as well, as they just put in handwriting recognition for their 3.0 version. apple said they can't make make a computer for under $500 that would not be a piece of junk - well, this one is $799; so no excuse. Also Kohjinsha has a version for $1299 that has a DVD (super drive) - so again no excuse for not having a reasonable priced ($700-1300) product from Apple, I know it would sell big
I am not holding my breath for a new Apple TV/LCD TV combo like one rumor suggested. I can pick up a nice LCD HD TV for about $400 now, and the fact it has HDMI and PC (VGA) ports, I can just hook up a mini. In fact, I am starting to get very fond of watching movies through hulu.com (just wish Obama's face did not appear in a commercial every 15 - 30 min; but hey Hulu needs the sponsors to keep it free; just can't wait until this election is over).
But, if it is like anything else Apple these days, alot of news will be centered around the iphone
Why would you want a new case, out of curiosity? The current one (mine is 1,1) is, dare I say, perfect. No weird optical drive problems, plenty of ports on the front, cools well, easy memory access, and brilliant hard drive access and capacity.
I'm sick of the boxy shape. They've had it for at least eight years. My prediction is it will be rounded and shaped like a waffle.
Waffles = WIN!
Fortunately, it looks like the cable on the 24" is detachable, so they could probably offer a DVI version if they wanted to.
Of course, a big part of DisplayPort was that the adapters would work both ways--you could use a DP/DVI one to hook a DisplayPort monitor up to a DVI computer, or a DVI monitor up to a DisplayPort computer. But by not using the mini-DP connector directly on the ACD, Apple eliminated that possibility.
I don't think Apple got special treatment before despite how others percieve it. I think it was just a case of Apple agreeing deals to buy specific SKUs in quantities that meant they were the first to market. Not some special Apple love from Intel where Apple get things before others. It will probably happen again in that when the 5500 series Xeons come Apple may be the first company to be shipping the X5500 and W5580 processors, but I would think others will have E5500s out before or at the same time.
Yeah I'd expect the Mac Pro to go up to $3,000 for an 8 core option. They can keep it at $2,800 but at $3,000 it will still be value for money as far as the components are concerned assuming they continue to use the same philosophy.
Fully agreed. Apple is somewhere goinfg this way... iPhone is the future of personal computing?
Support Doc's show new Mac Pros coming in 08
I submitted this a couple days ago:
This tech info doc from Apple's bit on 64 bit windows so that the current models are now called "Mac Pro (Early 2008)"
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1846
Check it!
Colin
I submitted this a couple days ago:
This tech info doc from Apple's bit on 64 bit windows so that the current models are now called "Mac Pro (Early 2008)"
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1846
Check it!
Colin
i personally think that excluding the mini all of the current case designs are fine and should stay the same for a while take those millions and put them to work for stuff under the hood and for the OS
I think that there will be updates to Mac Mini's for sure, Mac Pro's, iMac's and I think there will be updates to the iPhone. In the UK the contract rights may push out to another provider... I know I know... you all talk about it saying that O2 are in a tight contract blah blah blah, if Apple want out of something they get out of it and not even O2 are going to stop that from happening, the simple fact is the speed of selling the iPhone has been out of this world but with two providers it will be mind blowing, I know a lot of large blue chip companies and a muck load of consumers out there that will not switch to O2 just for the iPhone.... for instance the Orange market place especially in business hold a mass monopoly when it comes to large blue chip organisations, now with the recent update allowing Exchange in on the party the iPhone is looking more and more like something these companies would be more then interested in. We will wait and see as always but do not be suprised to see an updated iPhone in relation to capacity and another provider.
That means nothing. They're just saying that the Early 2008 Mac Pros are compatible with 64-bit Vista. This suggests they mean previous Mac Pros are not.
I don't have that much of a problem with there being a long wait between updates, but the *least* Apple could do would be to lower prices as time goes on. This would be to their benefit, as the people who are waiting in the shadows for an update (so they can get the best price/performance ratio) might be more willing to buy if the price were more in line with the age of the hardware.
Look at the flood of people buying previous generation MBPs now that the price has dropped due to the new release. They could have a flood of people buying Mac Pros now if they cut the price 30%, and they'd probably still make more profit per unit than they will on the refreshed models when they come out.
Also, notice the Time Capsules; the price on them has not dropped a single cent even though the hard drives in them cost less than HALF as much than they did when the TC came out.
When was the last time Apple went backwards?
They don't release new products missing specific ports for no reason. They're ditching the tech. They're not going to support something that they no longer support on the new stuff. It makes no sense for them to do so.
The only ACDs you'll see FireWire on will be the ones attached to Mac Pros. Not specific notebook models.
MacWorld 2009 hopes and dreams (just to get crushed and stomped on by Mr. Jobs):
- Mac Pro:
Updated Case
Quad-Core 2.8GHz for $1799 (To attract the headless Mac people)
Quad-Core 3.0GHz for $1999
Octo-Core 3.0GHz for $2499
Octo-Core 3.2GHz for $2799
Octo-Core 3.4GHz for $3299
BTO Blu-Ray Burner (I know what Steve said at the event but still)
Standard Airport card to go with BT
eSATA port(s) on back of tower
Display Port on Graphics Cards
- Displays:
Updated cable accessories to connect to any Mac past, present or future other than the MacBook family.
20 & 30" models
Lower price points (shave $150-$300 off the line)
- Mac mini:
Slight modification to case (thinner than current model)
Updated tech (connections, processors, HDD options)
- iLife '09
- iWork '09
- Lower price on BT keyboard and bring out an addition BT full keyboard model at current price.
- Mac Pro:
Updated Case
Quad-Core 2.8GHz for $1799 (To attract the headless Mac people)
Quad-Core 3.0GHz for $1999
Octo-Core 3.0GHz for $2499
Octo-Core 3.2GHz for $2799
Octo-Core 3.4GHz for $3299
BTO Blu-Ray Burner (I know what Steve said at the event but still)
Standard Airport card to go with BT
eSATA port(s) on back of tower
Display Port on Graphics Cards
- Displays:
Updated cable accessories to connect to any Mac past, present or future other than the MacBook family.
20 & 30" models
Lower price points (shave $150-$300 off the line)
- Mac mini:
Slight modification to case (thinner than current model)
Updated tech (connections, processors, HDD options)
- iLife '09
- iWork '09
- Lower price on BT keyboard and bring out an addition BT full keyboard model at current price.