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Gurman: 'M4 Mac Launch' is 'Next Week'

According to the residue at the bottom of my tea cup, the mini will get a video launch on Thursday. The Mac will get press releases tomorrow.
 
satchmo said:
So should we get a head start and complain about the iMac M4 now? :p

Can you see it being anything other than just a switch from M3 to M4?
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might as well start complaining about the paltry amount of base ram.
 
HobeSoundDarryl said:
If it's AppleTV (re)sized, conceptually it also going to be lighter. A stiff HDMI cable can make it hard to keep an AppleTV facing straight ahead. What will keep this cute/tiny "Micro" Mac from being yanked off the desk or readily twisted by accessory shifts, etc. For example, I plug in an optical drive and then move it a bit for better access. Does that risk rotating/moving this Micro? If I barely move the HDMI cable in the AppleTV, it can significantly rotate.

A reason for Apple to make an accessory is to put some weight back on this desktop to hold it in place. How (modern) Apple-like to break out some heft to scratch the "need a redesign" crowd's itch, keep the price the same or raise it a bit and then make a towards-essential accessory at an added cost to be able to have one feature that comes with any of the existing design: it's heavy enough to hold its spot on a desk. Geniu$ by APPL. 💰💰💰

Else, just think this trough: how are you buyers going to keep this Micro from moving at relatively light touches/shifts of cables/shifts of power plug, etc?
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Velcro is your new best friend?
 
miric said:
It’s a pity they won’t release Mac mini and Mac Studio at the same time. Have to wait and see the new Studio capabilities.
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I don't think "pity." As an ULTRA Studio owner, I'd NEVER buy another if the schedule of releases doesn't flip. Saving Ultra for last of a generation means that only 4-5 months later at most, the next gen MAX generally "catches up" and/or exceeds in some measures. For all of the money Apple demands for ULTRA, it should hold "king of the (power) hill" for longer than that.

So I buy an occasional rumor that Apple will FLIP the seemingly established order by finishing M4 with MBair in the spring and then rolling out M5 ULTRA & MAX around WWDC, essentially putting ULTRA in "most powerful Mac" position until the next generation is announced at least a year later.

In other words, the apparent "pattern" we think we know is:
  1. Base, then
  2. PRO & MAX then
  3. Ultra
This rumor flips that:
  1. ULTRA & MAX
  2. PRO & MAX (if MAX didn't also hit with Ultra)
  3. Base
Why would Apple consider this: presumably the super-high pricing for ULTRA makes them the most profitable Macs to sell on a per-unit-sold basis. The crowd that burns to own the "latest" and "most powerful" would have to be more tempted to pay up for them instead of doing what many do now... just wait less than half a year and the next generation MAX will be as good if not better for much less cost (and thus less profit for Apple).

Apple likes money. Customers like "most powerful." Flip the order and harvest both without those customers who opt for ULTRA feeling a bit burned when less than half a year later, a better chip is out in the next generation at much less cost.

"But, but, but... MBs are the bread & butter." Yes they are and this concept wouldn't change their Fall release schedule at all... so Apple still gets all they can get from laptop buyers on the same schedule: MBpros in the Fall and MBair the following Spring.

Who gets to take the psychological hit? The Base chip Mac buyers who wait for those... only to see them followed by the release of the next generation. Why would Apple want that? Presumably base unit buyers are least profit-per-unit sold... and the contrast of comparing "new base" vs. "next generation ULTRA" specs might move more base buyers to at least buy PRO or MAX to not feel like they are buying late for much less power than what is about to hit. If so, that's more profit per unit sold to Apple. Again, Apple likes profit.

At least in my case, the ONLY way I would buy another ULTRA is if it can be "king of the power hill" for longer than less than one half year. So when it comes time to replace this one, I would only consider MAX which typically gets to hold that crown for much longer than half a year or even a full year since ULTRAs don't roll out annually.

What would stop Apple from flipping the schedule? Seems like there's nothing but just choosing to do it. This change likely makes more profit per Mac sold without impacting the high volume units because they hold to their existing schedule. So this seems to mostly be grounded in a simple corporate choice to pursue maximum profit per Mac sold.

"Think different"
 
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Chuckeee said:
Velcro is your new best friend?
Click to expand...

Is that really what we want... to have to velcro a desktop made too light?

The "oooooooh, ahhhhhhhs" will be brief- basically ONCE- and then it's just a tiny desktop forever after. If me, I'd rather they filled the free space in the existing design with a couple of M.2 slots like many Mac Mini-like PC makers do vs. shrink the box for this "new tattoo"-like moment of "oooooh, ahhhhhh" and then one has to worry that anything attached to this that is moved doesn't yank the little thing right off the desk.

But that's just me. I'm sure others are fully excited about that brief time when it will be obvious to anyone who cares that they own the new Mac Mini. Lock it down people. Else, pay the extra for AppleCare or drop insurance from somewhere.
 
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I would really like to see a 24-inch monitor being announced.

At home, I currently use two monitors: an LG UltraFine 4K and a 27-inch Apple Studio Display 5K. However, I lack a monitor at my workplace. Since I only work in the office two days a week, investing over $2,000 CAD in a monitor is difficult to justify, and the UltraFine model is no longer available.

Currently, I use my 12.9-inch M2 iPad Pro as a secondary monitor at work, which is not an ideal solution.

Given that Apple sells 24-inch iMacs, it seems logical that an entry-level 24-inch monitor would complement the Mac Mini well.
 
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Purchased a Studio Display on Prime day.
Ready for new Mac Mini.
 
Just bought a refurb m3 MacBook Pro 16 mostly for work

Next on the wishlist will be mini or studio to replace the hackintosh. But it will have to be pretty beefy to actually “replace” 14700k/rx6800

Interesting to see what the highest spec m4 chip can do multi core and graphics wise

AND what it will cost
 
I've bought a USB-C -> USB-B printer cable in anticipation of my new M4 Pro mini purchase; can't get any more prepared than that. (What? Using WiFi for a printer? Are you MAD?).
 
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"It's still not entirely clear if the announcements will be part of an online event, like the "Scary Fast" event on October 30 last year, or if the products will be announced in press releases on the Apple Newsroom website only."

At this point, does it really matter?
Also Gurman really appears to be scrambling at this point!
 
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