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Mini iPods, iLife Updates, No New CPUs at MacWorld Expo?
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No New CPUs
When I purchased by dual 1 Gig two years ago, it was announced shortly (within about 2 weeks) after MWSF, so it is not unheard of for Apple to prepare a new PowerMac line but not announce it at MWSF.
My guess: Apple will announce the new PowerMac line as part of the 20th anniversary of the Mac's announcement. Anyone know if Apple will have any events for that day?
I am surprised at how little reaction there has been to this line.
When I purchased by dual 1 Gig two years ago, it was announced shortly (within about 2 weeks) after MWSF, so it is not unheard of for Apple to prepare a new PowerMac line but not announce it at MWSF.
My guess: Apple will announce the new PowerMac line as part of the 20th anniversary of the Mac's announcement. Anyone know if Apple will have any events for that day?
Dont Hurt Me
macrumors 603
I would doubt any rumors of no cpu upgrades, we know faster G5's are coming and we know what is killing imac sales the slow G4 and a lousey video chip and a monitor you cant keep. I doubt this rumor very much except the ipod thing. Smoke and mirrors to hide the fact that all new imacs, emacs and a cube!😀 are coming!
ipodipodipod
good grief.
I think the ipod is the most overrated gadget in the world.
OK, so I have a 15gig ipod, where does it get me? when I'm underway I can't really navigate the music, it' way too much and crowded. so great, I have a mobile HD - but it's not all that mobile, is it? I mean - without the propiatary firewirecable, It's quite useless as HD, and who would have one of these cables laying around? Noone. most people have a real FW calbe, but certainly noone has an iPod cable, unless he's got a 3g iPod.
what a blizz.
OK, now mini iPods - they wouldn't even keep half of my music, so i'd have to keep moving music about. tataaaa, need another cable for that, since the first cable goes as power cable to the dock in my stereo.
Talking about stereo. it looks real good on top of it. to bad you cant remote controll the song picking. all you could do fastforward and reverse on the cable, or on one of the 3rd party Rc's
Not all to great is it? Makes more sense to put an old iBook in place and RC it via my mobile phone.
Damn, they should better move on to a headless iMac for a change. Make something you can work with, rather than just play with.
good grief.
I think the ipod is the most overrated gadget in the world.
OK, so I have a 15gig ipod, where does it get me? when I'm underway I can't really navigate the music, it' way too much and crowded. so great, I have a mobile HD - but it's not all that mobile, is it? I mean - without the propiatary firewirecable, It's quite useless as HD, and who would have one of these cables laying around? Noone. most people have a real FW calbe, but certainly noone has an iPod cable, unless he's got a 3g iPod.
what a blizz.
OK, now mini iPods - they wouldn't even keep half of my music, so i'd have to keep moving music about. tataaaa, need another cable for that, since the first cable goes as power cable to the dock in my stereo.
Talking about stereo. it looks real good on top of it. to bad you cant remote controll the song picking. all you could do fastforward and reverse on the cable, or on one of the 3rd party Rc's
Not all to great is it? Makes more sense to put an old iBook in place and RC it via my mobile phone.
Damn, they should better move on to a headless iMac for a change. Make something you can work with, rather than just play with.
Mini iPods
I'm in for at least 3-5 mini iPods. Valentine's day...girlfriend, March...brother, April...Dad, May...me (already have a 10 GB), June....sister. Everybody gets one! Personally the 2 GB would be great for most people. I have a 10 GB and I've only used 2-3 GB at the most. That's still 400-500 songs, more than most people would listen to at any given time. I have over 2,000 songs on my computer but I really only listen to about 300-400 of them. A 2 GB would be perfect for most people who have constantly changing music tastes, the 4 GB would be better for people who want change but also want to keep the same music on their iPod. Pricing sounds about right, $100 for the 2 GB, $199 (possibly) for the 4 GB, $300 for the 10GB, $400 for the 20 GB, $500 for the 40 GB. It makes the 10-40 GB a better deal but the 2 and 4 GBs would sell better as impulse buys. Apple would dominate the MP3 player market, no one would stand a chance. Ah, the wonders of competition in a free market....
I'm in for at least 3-5 mini iPods. Valentine's day...girlfriend, March...brother, April...Dad, May...me (already have a 10 GB), June....sister. Everybody gets one! Personally the 2 GB would be great for most people. I have a 10 GB and I've only used 2-3 GB at the most. That's still 400-500 songs, more than most people would listen to at any given time. I have over 2,000 songs on my computer but I really only listen to about 300-400 of them. A 2 GB would be perfect for most people who have constantly changing music tastes, the 4 GB would be better for people who want change but also want to keep the same music on their iPod. Pricing sounds about right, $100 for the 2 GB, $199 (possibly) for the 4 GB, $300 for the 10GB, $400 for the 20 GB, $500 for the 40 GB. It makes the 10-40 GB a better deal but the 2 and 4 GBs would sell better as impulse buys. Apple would dominate the MP3 player market, no one would stand a chance. Ah, the wonders of competition in a free market....
Last year, at Macworld SF, Apple announced the PowerBook 12" and 17". I don't see why everyone is forgetting this.
And, ThinkSecret was wrong in its Macworld SF 2003 prediction. In fact, last year, ThinkSecret said:
"Laptops and Power Macs will also not get a makeover, sources confirm. Most speculation was that iBooks and PowerBooks would not see upgrades, as they were just upgraded this past November. However, Apple is expected to update the Power Mac line, like the iMacs, in late January or early February."
You can read this here.
I see no reason not to be hopeful about new hardware, given the track record from the last three years.
crees!
Suspended
Exactly.. iTunes Gift Certificates are #1 and the iPod is #2 on the Apple Store. Just think about it if this faceplate for the iPod rumor is true. You all know how kids go crazy over faceplates when it comes to customizing their cellphones. Yes, this a stray from the conservative line but it is exactly what is needed to bring more attention to the product.
\m/
I'm guessing this is the approximate size and shape of the new iPod
http://www.gizmodo.com/archives/011384.php
http://www.gizmodo.com/archives/011384.php
Wow, this is a great time to be an Apple addict. I just joined the scene 6 months ago, and everything is starting to really hot up. I can't remember when there was so much interest in apple - OSX, iPods, G5 and Powerbook (regarded as probably the best notebook even in the PC world 😛).
I think Jobs will want to keep the iPod going. However, he knows from past experience that the current interest levels aren't gonna hold much longer - everyone who wants one has one, and Apple needs to keep selling.
I think price cuts right across the iPod range will be announced, and then hopefully the new 2gb and 4gb iPods.
The idea will be that you go into the store for a 4gb one, and then end up buying a 10gb one because you can nearly triple your capacity for 50% of the price, or something. I will be buying an iPod for around £100 (~$180 if you include VAT sales tax) with my leftover xmas cash and then hopefully they will announce a range of iTMS international expansions...
I think that Apple will therefore just keep the form factor exactly the same, and also the software the same. They might however stop it being used as a mobile HD and instead 'lock' it to music only.
Also, if Apple introduce a new product, a headless iMac would be perfect. Seriously, it would be the best thing Apple has ever done. Aim for an eMac style price point for it without the monitor, and then make sure that most people walk out the store with a nice profit making LCD monitor from Apple.
The only problem with this bloody keynote is that I'm bored completely with christmas now! I think Christmas has been rearranged for most people on this board.
I think Jobs will want to keep the iPod going. However, he knows from past experience that the current interest levels aren't gonna hold much longer - everyone who wants one has one, and Apple needs to keep selling.
I think price cuts right across the iPod range will be announced, and then hopefully the new 2gb and 4gb iPods.
The idea will be that you go into the store for a 4gb one, and then end up buying a 10gb one because you can nearly triple your capacity for 50% of the price, or something. I will be buying an iPod for around £100 (~$180 if you include VAT sales tax) with my leftover xmas cash and then hopefully they will announce a range of iTMS international expansions...
I think that Apple will therefore just keep the form factor exactly the same, and also the software the same. They might however stop it being used as a mobile HD and instead 'lock' it to music only.
Also, if Apple introduce a new product, a headless iMac would be perfect. Seriously, it would be the best thing Apple has ever done. Aim for an eMac style price point for it without the monitor, and then make sure that most people walk out the store with a nice profit making LCD monitor from Apple.
The only problem with this bloody keynote is that I'm bored completely with christmas now! I think Christmas has been rearranged for most people on this board.
CmdrLaForge
macrumors 601
SeaFox
macrumors 68030
How can there not be speed-bumped G5's at MWSF? Steve said "3ghz by next [fall]". If they don't bump them up now they'll have to squeeze in either one big update or two less than six months apart.
Mini-iPods. Cool idea. The opening price is low enogh to make me consider one instaed of getting my Minidisc player repaired, except it still can't record! But more important, given the measley battery power of a full size iPod, how long do you think the playtime would be on a Mini-iPod (with porportionally sized mini-battery)? 4 hrs? 🙄
New iLife App: Really curious about this one. What's left to do? Maybe a telephony/answering machine app. Perhaps the recently trademarked iWrite? With Appleworks (eventually) going pro, there's still all those people who just need a simple Word Processor. We don't all do spreadsheets and presentations. But writing letters is much more universal, and TextEdit is made to be a text editor.
Mini-iPods. Cool idea. The opening price is low enogh to make me consider one instaed of getting my Minidisc player repaired, except it still can't record! But more important, given the measley battery power of a full size iPod, how long do you think the playtime would be on a Mini-iPod (with porportionally sized mini-battery)? 4 hrs? 🙄
New iLife App: Really curious about this one. What's left to do? Maybe a telephony/answering machine app. Perhaps the recently trademarked iWrite? With Appleworks (eventually) going pro, there's still all those people who just need a simple Word Processor. We don't all do spreadsheets and presentations. But writing letters is much more universal, and TextEdit is made to be a text editor.
Re: ipodipodipod
Wow. Thank god you don't work for apple, the Ipod may be overrated but it is selling well with its large profit margin Your personal rant is irrelevant.
Headless imac? Brilliant, let them return to an area of the market they are already losing! The Imac isnt selling as well as it should, they know this, and they can not keep upping screen size and selling it headless insipidly removes the whole apple experience
Wow. Thank god you don't work for apple, the Ipod may be overrated but it is selling well with its large profit margin Your personal rant is irrelevant.
Headless imac? Brilliant, let them return to an area of the market they are already losing! The Imac isnt selling as well as it should, they know this, and they can not keep upping screen size and selling it headless insipidly removes the whole apple experience
crees!
Suspended
Re: I'm guessing this is the approximate size and shape of the new iPod
That thing seems too square and not ergonomically correctly. In other words it wouldn't feel as comfortable in your hand as the iPod. But the article says it has a 14-hour removable battery.. which sounds nice, but I don't think I've gone that long with out habitually recharging my iPod or any other device for that matter unless I was too tired and forgot.
That thing seems too square and not ergonomically correctly. In other words it wouldn't feel as comfortable in your hand as the iPod. But the article says it has a 14-hour removable battery.. which sounds nice, but I don't think I've gone that long with out habitually recharging my iPod or any other device for that matter unless I was too tired and forgot.
Just thinking out loud here. Some handy features that could help differentiate higher ends iPods from mini iPods would be
a) a digital optical out. Connecting to a home stereo via mini plug is a joke.
b) built in mic
and
c) a *very well engineered* retractable firewire cable behind a little door.
a) a digital optical out. Connecting to a home stereo via mini plug is a joke.
b) built in mic
and
c) a *very well engineered* retractable firewire cable behind a little door.
Um, no.
One key killer for electronics companies is a massive "holiday rush" and then a "post-holiday lull".
Apple announces new gotta-have-it products right at the start of the post-holiday lull. This alleviates the lull and evens out the cyclical demand curve.
It seems to work for Apple. They do much better than most at avoiding a huge reduction in profit margins around the holidays (most companies have a surge in net profits, but per-unit profits are lowered by additional channel costs and temporary production costs, etc).
IMHO, the key problem with this strategy is that, from a consumer POV, this guy just got his first Mac, and got the best one out there, for Christmas, then, a week later, he's got the "low-end" model ... Experienced Apple customers know to avoid buying Apple hardware for the holidays; newbies get trapped and stung.
Channel management, though, goes a long way towards keeping Apple profitable four quarters of the year ...
geerlingguy
macrumors 6502a
Exactly. Which isn't "good", of course (quite a few shoppers went home empty handed), but it is much better that that production capacity and sales demand went towards $300-500 products instead of a $100 low-profit product.
So, now, introducing the $100 low-profit (but profits nonetheless) product in January will keep Apple at full production without having to expand their inventory, unlike the vast majority of CE companies.