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MacWorld San Francisco Xserve, LCD, PowerMac Updates?

  • Panther will be briefly glossed over as we left off there (well, okay, besides iTMS for Windows and the iPod).
  • .Mac looked over and praised for its premium of applications and resources to users.
  • I think iChat will DEFINITELY be mentioned as going to 1.0 (the beta will have expired).
  • The ever growing number of Apple Stores and going international will be mentioned.
  • The iPod and iTunes successes will be commented on and the number of downloads and dominance in the market, along with partnerships.
  • iTunes Music Store for it's vast number of songs and new independent labels (let's say, 500,000 by the Expo?)
But as for new stuff...
  • An iPod software update with the iPod@Home?
  • Those XServes GOTTA come. I don't expect them to be ready by the Expo, but definitely they should be announced - and IBM once again commended.
  • Otherwise... new AppleWorks (or its replacement?) anyone?
  • And finally, a long shot... Apple with a camera add-on to the iPod (in actuality, more likely a third-party). I'd love to see it... but... can't be too greedy :D
I don't think iPods are at all out of the picture (their time for an update is actually coming up...). But I don't see anything new with them except maybe more accessories.
 
whoever said that a blade server would be smaller than a standard Xserve, put down the crack pipe!

The IBM BladeCenter (chassis which holds the blades; no chassis, no worky) is a 7U box...

As for the cheaper iPod thing, maybe a sub-$100 job with solid state storage... Perfect for the Pepsi crowd...!
 
i find it pretty ironic that Motorola has for the most part again come to a standstill that has apple scrambling, other then powermac all g4 models have no where to go except ibook? this is about the same as the 500 mghzt fiasco. they were using 2 1.42 g4's a year ago in powermac were they not? and they still dont have anymore then a 1.25 single imac? the consumer line is behind the Pc world big time! i dont mine spending the money but apple has a lot of catching up to do because of motorola. this next year i think all the lines will get a lot of advancement when steve jobs boots those moto chips out of most Macs. This is what im hoping for because the years of motostagnation has nearly killed me!:(
 
I'd like to see:

- iPhoto update (better performance with large photo library
- iCal update (better tasks management, performance improvement)
- Powerbook 12" update (1.25 Ghz, widescreen 1200x1024, ATI 9600 64Mb)

That would be so cool.
:D
 
Apple has never released a inexpensive anything to my knowlege, and im a little surprised by the buying guide here that says imac buy now? all they did was slap a bigger monitor on it. it still has the slow 1 & 1.25 g4? and xserve needs help also.
 
FCP/DVDSP?

I wouldn't bet on a new version of FCP & DVDSP. Although G5 owners have probably upgraded from FCP3, I bet many others are still considering the upgrade, and releasing a FCP5 would seem way too early for those that just bought 4.

I'd just like to see a faster G5 of course (more plug-in power) [and, that I can GET by March!] and a reasonable display price that makes me buy an Apple monitor instead. :)
 
Originally posted by chacha75
I'd like to see:

- iPhoto update (better performance with large photo library
- iCal update (better tasks management, performance improvement)
- Powerbook 12" update (1.25 Ghz, widescreen 1200x1024, ATI 9600 64Mb)

That would be so cool.
:D
Click to expand...


Yes, please update iPhoto! it is painfully slow.

and a widescreen 12" powerbook would be awesome.
 
IMO all the iLife apps are slow except iTunes. iTunes is great.

iPhoto is quite slow but I currently only have 200 photos and they display in about 1 second on my PB 12" 1GHz. It's painfully slow to resize the window though. iMovie is THE WORST! I haven't played with it much because I got Final Cut Express with my Mac (and love it) and this is much faster, even when I'm depriving it currently of RAM (I only have 256MB). iDVD is not too slow but it hogs RAM. This is expected because of the large file sizes etc.

I don't know how much faster they are in Panther though... Will find out tomorrow hopefully!
 
I have extremely low expectations for MWSF. If there are any significant updates it will be surprising. Virtually everything has been updated since October. It would be nice to see Apple join the rest of the computing world with big updates and price cuts every 3 months or so instead of small updates and minor price cuts every 6 months or so.

I guess the one exception is the Xserve which is ridiculously overdue. Why anyone would buy one when they can have a DP 1.8 G5 is beyond me.
 
Versatility

I wish Apple would just set forth some standard configurations, 3 perhaps, but allow you to REALLY customize your machine if you want to. For example, they should have but one "custom" link, and there you could pick from either a single or dual setup, and your processor speed: 1.8, 2.0, 2.2, 2.5. Now THAT would be sweet.
 
NEW STUFF!

Guesses:

Filemaker, Appleword, Safari, Keynote, Mail etc... Mac's Own "Office" Production Suite

Video Ipod - controller for the home media market

Advanced Ipods

20th Anniv. Cube Mac

New Screens with Isight built-in

Speed bump G5's

-mike
:D
 
Re: cheaper / smaller iPods?

Originally posted by hokka

think about it, majority of people who can afford to buy the current iPods wouldn't go to a MacDonalds or maybe even drink fizzy drinks, they have to release a much cheaper version to make the whole npromotion worth while (think kids)... the rest is for you to dream up what they'd do.

Would you not agree?
Click to expand...

No.

EVERYONE goes to McDonalds. Not just the down and out vagabond. If I'm going to be pulling a late shift redoing a server or something I go grab a quick bite at MD or BK. I've seen Porsches run through a drive through window at MD. What about college kids? Do they not own iPods and go to MD?
You are trying to outthink Apple. Don’t.
That doesn’t mean they won’t announce new, cheaper iPods in January but not for the reasons you are giving. Apple’s price point on the iPod really hasn’t dropped much in the past 2 years. Why would they change it now? Because of cheaper competition. The Dell device comes in cheaper then the iPod and gets superior battery life. Apple needs to respond. Putting out new high-end devices only services people looking for high-end devices. Right now Apple doesn’t have a common man device. The equivalent of a walkman sold at Target or K-Mart. Something cheap that a mom or dad wouldn’t have problems dropping a couple bills down on for little Timmy’s birthday.

Personally I’m thinking that Apple is going to pull another 17” and 12” laptop scheme but for the iPod. Announcing the new X ipod the latest and greatest in digital tech. And for the thrifty user the Y iPod with [5 or 10]GB of storage coming in at $199.
 
Widescreen 12" PB?

Originally posted by chacha75
I'd like to see:

- iPhoto update (better performance with large photo library
- iCal update (better tasks management, performance improvement)
- Powerbook 12" update (1.25 Ghz, widescreen 1200x1024, ATI 9600 64Mb)

That would be so cool.
:D
Click to expand...


Um, 1200x1024 isn't "widescreen". In fact, it's "narrowscreen" (my 19" display is 1280x1024). :)

Also, since Apple most definitely will not enlarge the form factor, making a "widescreen" would require them to reduce the screen's vertical dimension.

Is that "cool"?

Would love to see the iPhoto and iCal updates, though. Mail too, as long as we're dreaming . . .
 
Re: Re: Interesting quote I found

Originally posted by arn
PowerJack is the MacWhispers guy, for what it's worth.
Click to expand...
My god, that guy always sounds so authoritative as if he personally works at one of the suppliers. After all of his BS PowerBook G5 rumors last summer, does anyone believe a word this guy says?

Not only that, he buys book stands at Walmart and sells them as "laptop stands" for about 3 times their value. As in all things, caveat emptor.

It seems like the Mac community is more affluent than the average population and that tends to attract a certain type of "sophisticated bottom feeder" that likes to try to rip us off.
 
Originally posted by RalphNumbers
That 3U XServe is such a lousy idea. Rack computing is all about density these days, Even 1U units are being phased out in favor of blades in alot of places. A 3U unit is just *way* too big.

And there's no reason it should have to be that big either. There are blades and 1U servers with intel chips that run significantly hotter than the G5, not to mention IBM's upcoming PPC970 blades...

I can't see Apple going any bigger than the current 1U for future XServes.
Click to expand...
The problem preventing a 1U G5 XServe is the same problem preventing a G5 PowerBook: heat! 3U is pretty much right on the money. Remember that the G4 is an extremely low power and efficient processor that doesn't generate very much heat. The G5 will not be low power or low heat until it reaches a 90 nanometer process (next Summer).

The first rev. of the G5 Xserve are going to be a little bit big and fugly, and next Summer, when the 3 ghz. PowerMacs are released, expect to see sleek 1U Xserves.

I think the reason why they're coming out with this "stop-gap" product is because there is a huge demand right now for a G5 based server (witness the 1100 node G5 cluster). A lot of supercomputing projects will depend on the G5.
 
PowerMacs

Someone wrote a post earlier saying that they don't believe Apple will bump the PowerMacs in Jan. The reason they gave for this is because Apple added the 1.8 dual. Well, my thought on that is that maybe IBM produced an excess of the 1.8's, expecting that version of the PowerMac to sell the most, so they added a second processor to help get them out of stock. Or, Apple could be moving to an all dual lineup like they did for the PowerMac G4's...they are going to have to bump the speeds in Jan if they want to get to 3.0 GHz by the end of 2004
 
Originally posted by MrSmith
There must be other people like me for whom a PowerMac is overkill and who don't want an iMac for whatever reason (in my case even a 10-inch footprint is too much for my little workspace - I need a stand-alone screen). Basically there isn't a machine for me right now. Well, why not fill the gap and give us an iMac (preferably expandable to more than 1 gig) with a DETACHABLE screen. Either you can stick it in the box like the present iMac, or separate it and run a cable between them. Easy enough to reach the CD/DVD tray in something the size of a Cube under my desk.

Just an idea...
Click to expand...

And thats a good idea. And it would be even better if the screen can be re-used with the next updated Mac some years later, and the next one some years later, and the next one some years later . . . .
 
Re: Re: cheaper / smaller iPods?

Originally posted by SiliconAddict
Personally I’m thinking that Apple is going to pull another 17” and 12” laptop scheme but for the iPod. Announcing the new X ipod the latest and greatest in digital tech. And for the thrifty user the Y iPod with [5 or 10]GB of storage coming in at $199.
Click to expand...

Interesting idea. Now that I think about it, I'm sure Jobs & Co. have been working on this.

First, Apple is selling plenty of their higher-capacity iPods, so the "Y iPod" wouldn't cannibalize their high-end sales. As you say, it would mostly be the parents in Walmart who would buy one so their kid would stop whining every time they go past the POS display. These folks would never buy a higher-priced iPod anyway.

Second, this would allow Apple to up the ante with its high-end iPod (X iPod) without forcing everyone to pay for it. For instance, they could add a built-in mike or other features that are third-party at present.

Currently the only differentiation in the iPod line is HD size. Now that the market is better defined, I think Apple can risk an investment into a slightly broader product line. Heck, if they go to the trouble of making a 20" iMac . . .

Final thought: If the high-end iPod gets a really cool new look, a lot of people will "Super-size their value-meal" just for the bragging rights.
 
Given the refresh history of the last couple years, I'd be really surprised if the PowerMacs aren't updated in Febuary instead of January, unless SJ wants to make a big impression with regards to their newfound ability to upclock.

Febuary rollouts for speed ramps have been standard for a while now.
 
Originally posted by johnnyjibbs
IMO all the iLife apps are slow except iTunes. iTunes is great.

iPhoto is quite slow but I currently only have 200 photos and they display in about 1 second on my PB 12" 1GHz. It's painfully slow to resize the window though. iMovie is THE WORST! I haven't played with it much because I got Final Cut Express with my Mac (and love it) and this is much faster, even when I'm depriving it currently of RAM (I only have 256MB). iDVD is not too slow but it hogs RAM. This is expected because of the large file sizes etc.
Click to expand...

Don't complain about the software if you are using a computer with too little RAM. 512MB is the absolute minimum. 1GB is preferred (I have 1.5GB on my dual 867 and it's a speedy little bugger).
 
Re: PowerMacs

Originally posted by spencecb
Someone wrote a post earlier saying that they don't believe Apple will bump the PowerMacs in Jan. The reason they gave for this is because Apple added the 1.8 dual. Well, my thought on that is that maybe IBM produced an excess of the 1.8's, expecting that version of the PowerMac to sell the most, so they added a second processor to help get them out of stock. Or, Apple could be moving to an all dual lineup like they did for the PowerMac G4's...they are going to have to bump the speeds in Jan if they want to get to 3.0 GHz by the end of 2004
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that Apple only has to have their high-end machine at 3 Ghz by next Fall. So a high-end speed bump to 2.5 early in the year would fit in nicely. What they'll do with the low- and mid-range models is anybody's guess.
 
Re: PowerMacs

Originally posted by spencecb
Someone wrote a post earlier saying that they don't believe Apple will bump the PowerMacs in Jan. The reason they gave for this is because Apple added the 1.8 dual. Well, my thought on that is that maybe IBM produced an excess of the 1.8's, expecting that version of the PowerMac to sell the most, so they added a second processor to help get them out of stock. Or, Apple could be moving to an all dual lineup like they did for the PowerMac G4's...they are going to have to bump the speeds in Jan if they want to get to 3.0 GHz by the end of 2004
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. If they have plenty of other things to announce at MWSF they may just wait until a later (early Feb?) to upgrade the G5's (to 2.4 or 2.6).

Some people may wait until MWSF to buy a G5 and then go buy one when they see that new models weren't announce (hahah suckers!)
 
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