"Later next year."
That is an ambiguous and troubling expression. Is it supposed to mean "later" as in next year or later in the next year as in late next year?
That does not show me much either in terms of the timing or the commitment to keeping hardware current, most especially the Mac Pro. This is especially true in that Apple are using a only slightly worked over Intel reference platform logic board. Just how hard would it have been to have updated the CPU, if nothing else. And what about the odd number of RAM slots (6). With dual channel RAM the logical progression is from 4 to 8, not 6. There are tests out there that have shown that RAM in all 6 slots actually slows some operations compared to 4.
I am left to draw only a few possible conclusions. Number one is that Apple simply are not capable of keeping its entire hardware lineup up-to-date in a timely fashion. Number two is related to number one in that the company consequently places a very low priority on projects that are not their best sellers. While prioritizing the allocation of resources to projects which generate the greatest revenue/profits for a company is logical, one must ask just why it is that over a number of years the company have chosen not to bring on enough personnel to handle the situation. Given just these two hypotheses, it seems unnecessary to immediately consider others as these two alone virtually dictate the stagnation of the Mac Pro, resultant declining sales, and, eventually, its demise. If one must consider another possibility, remember Apple's continuing position that it is a consumer company and Mac Pros are, well, for Pros (supposedly).
I am also taken by the very strange manner in which Tim would choose to make a statement affirming the company's intention to continue development of the Mac Pro in particular. I just can not take it at face value. It does not "add up" to me. I would not take the Mac Pro off the proverbial "death watch". Many people who depend upon productivity have already left the platform and more are sure to follow. At some point it becomes a self reinforcing phenomena...a death spiral.
It certainly seems logical that the company will continue development of the iMac. After all, sales are still good and it is little more than an outgrowth of the laptop platform. It is still very, very odd that the company will not have an meaningful update of the iMac this year.
All in all, I thought the Keynote speech showed more weakness than strength.
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I'm sorry Mr. Picard, but I'm not breaking the law.
That's Captain Picard to you.
