product lines
Okay, I'll post.
Mac Book
Apple either is getting a new chip discount amounting to the equivelant of their entire past profit, or they had a supply agreement "leveling" the cost of Core 1 Duo chips such that they either must continue putting them in MacBooks for a few more months or more, or they must shift use of those chips to increased sales of Mac Minis.
I say a Core 2 Duo upgrade is NOT in the immediate horizon. Too bad too.
On the positive side this clearly differentiates MacBook from Mac Book Pro very soon.
Mac Book Pro "Merom" (Powerbook G6)
MacBook Pro (ala Powerbook) was neglected for so long that the very moment it can get Merom, it will. I say that announcement is GOING to happen in September. Besides it is a straight chip upgrade with no major motherboard mods. It will probably get an error correction Rev. in any case.
Mac-Mini
This is a wildcard. I believe the rumours that they will go to all dual core. The chip price has dropped to the point where single core is silly. Apple has a history of manufacturing crippleware. Are those days over?
As for both the Mac-Mini and the MacBook, the ability of Apple to declare the entire product line BOTH dual core and 64 bit compliant (Core 2 Duo "Merom") is compelling indeed. I say it will happen at WWDC 07.
X-serve and Mac Pro are stable.
iMac
Steve seems to have an afinity for the iMac (interim Mac) perhaps the iCEO will continue with that afinity and upgrade it to Merom just because he can at the same price point or so.
The alternative would be to keep it as is, maybe with insignificant speed bumps and SIGNIFICANTLY increase profit margins in light of decreased chip marginal cost on Core 1 Duo. That's what I would do. Demand is relatively inelastic. Perhaps an "upper end 23 inch + Merom" iMac. It will still be interim.
X-serve Mini and Mac-Midi.
There has been speculation of a Mac-Mini on steroids or with expandability. Good idea but not likely. Apple tends to be an "all-in one product company" good or bad.
The XSM has real market potential especially if they are themselves stackable ala the Mini. They would be headless. They could be marketed to SCHOOLS, executives, programmers, and IT geeks. It would be a great near zero development cost addition to the "pro" line. Also because it would be the "NeXT" of the Apple product line, given a luggable and expandable form factor WITH the SERVER version of the software, it would qualify for one more Steve Job-ism. Insanely Great!! And claims of reality distortion field would be nullified by actual performance and capabilities of the hardware and software. "Touche".
iPod video.
It's time for a screen centric ultra portable processor/storage device. an iPod and a remote control, an internet wireless device (hook your MacBook to it via cheater plug gigabit ethernet), hence a phone of sorts too. All functions in software/firmware and thus this one size fits all device can also be used for POS, Barcodes, Data collection and display in medical and scientific fields, etc. Emphasis on etc.
Make it so.
Many of my comments on chip adoption patterns are based on the fact that Core 1 and 2 Duo will be with us for 2-3 years minumum. Why not stretch the product line and leave one last vestage of Apple crippleware in place, by not upgrading QUITE as fast as possible from Core 1 to 2 in low-end products?
Rocketman
