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New Mac Placeholder SKUs in Future Shop's Inventory?

SphericalPear said:
again: the aluminium MBs will absorb the MBA market completely. the MBA is a substandard MB lacking the optical drive - once you have aluminium MBs (much flatter than the plastic ones when released), the MBA will have become obsolete.

no, there won't be price drops on the MBA - that would prevent apple from breaking even.
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Kind of. The MBA is a next-generation laptop, and nobody else seems to be able to make anything that looks as good. I think it's going the other way... the MB is being ditched in favour of the MBA at an aggressive price point. Yes, people will whinge about having no internal optical drive, but then they'll realise that they're a useless waste of space.

I use CDs and DVDs, yes, when I'm at HOME.

The only problem I can see is playing games on the go... there are still a few that want the disc inserted (even though it's such a 1997 concept). For everything else... if you need it frequently, make an image of it.

If you're the type that maybe visits clients and discusses material they have on CDs, then buy the external. It's small, sexy, and fills the (rather small) gap.

Remember, the MacBook Air is currently expensive for a reason... and what better way to be aggressive than to have an amazing price point for a product that your competitors can't even build let alone match the price :p

If this is what happens, I'm sure as hell buying one and getting rid of my old MacBook with its useless optical drive (that I've used once, other than for Leopard) that makes a "NIIIGREIIIIRINGRNF" noise whenever it wakes from sleep :p

<3 :apple: :D

Edit:
Although they did do it a little early, remember that Apple was the first to ditch the floppy drive. With the whole AirDisk alternative, it wouldn't come as a surprise if Apple did something like this.

Edit 2:
Also, while officially "substandard" compared to the MacBook, this would also justify not increasing the specs too much and digging into the MacBook Pro market ;) If they add dedicated video, then even the current MBAs would easily be powerful enough for everyday use.
 
Humor me with this question. What do they do with the current, unsold Macs? I know that in practice they seem to halt production but...
 
macbook
macbook pro
macbook air
imac
mac mini
mac pro

hmmmm.....sounds like the six current macs to me
 
Separate SKUs for English vs. French

I think you can cut that number of SKUs in half -- for each machine there would be a separate SKU for the English language version of the machine and a SKU for the French language version.

So, methinks the speculation should start again as to what new machines will be released, but with only half the number of SKUs.
 
Drag'nGT said:
Humor me with this question. What do they do with the current, unsold Macs? I know that in practice they seem to halt production but...
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3rd party resellers like macmall and smalldog probably. I know macmall had some good deals on closeouts.
 
MBA seems to be giving a glimpse to Apples future

It was the first to start Apples thin trend then the ipods became thin and maybe the mb and mb pro will too.

First to have the multitouch before the macbook pro

So looking at the MBA we may not have optical drives in the next mb and mb pro.
 
oticon6 said:
Kind of. The MBA is a next-generation laptop, and nobody else seems to be able to make anything that looks as good. I think it's going the other way... the MB is being ditched in favour of the MBA at an aggressive price point. Yes, people will whinge about having no internal optical drive, but then they'll realise that they're a useless waste of space.

I use CDs and DVDs, yes, when I'm at HOME.

The only problem I can see is playing games on the go... there are still a few that want the disc inserted (even though it's such a 1997 concept). For everything else... if you need it frequently, make an image of it.

If you're the type that maybe visits clients and discusses material they have on CDs, then buy the external. It's small, sexy, and fills the (rather small) gap.

Remember, the MacBook Air is currently expensive for a reason... and what better way to be aggressive than to have an amazing price point for a product that your competitors can't even build let alone match the price :p

If this is what happens, I'm sure as hell buying one and getting rid of my old MacBook with its useless optical drive (that I've used once, other than for Leopard) that makes a "NIIIGREIIIIRINGRNF" noise whenever it wakes from sleep :p

<3 :apple: :D

Edit:
Although they did do it a little early, remember that Apple was the first to ditch the floppy drive. With the whole AirDisk alternative, it wouldn't come as a surprise if Apple did something like this.

Edit 2:
Also, while officially "substandard" compared to the MacBook, this would also justify not increasing the specs too much and digging into the MacBook Pro market ;) If they add dedicated video, then even the current MBAs would easily be powerful enough for everyday use.
Click to expand...

Very good post and well said. I can see where you're coming from.

BUT, Apple is always looking at extending their target market, and even if they lowered the price of the MBA to $1400, that would still be far too expensive for the people who really only want to spend $1099 for a Macbook.
 
Mac Pros?

When is a good time for Apple to release new Mac Pros? I checked the Buyer's Guide here on MacRumors, and we're definitely due. I was excited for a new MacBook Pro for so long, but now I've changed my mind. I want a powerhouse desktop workstation, but don't want to get one if there's something bigger, faster, stronger, just around the corner.
 
jstanier said:
If anything the Macbook Pro has just been the Macbook with a decent graphics card and a little bit more of everything. I'm all for the name merger too.
Click to expand...

it's actually the other way around, the MacBook Pro (Powerbook) has been there from the begining. The MacBook (iBook) was made to give users that don't the proccessing power, a laptop. But now, with advent of LOLcat photoshopping and gaming, user must have power!

I totally agree with the merger! One MacBook, with all the ports. Three sizes, 13", 15", 17" and the ablity to just customize your mac with what processor and RAM. Take that windows open model.
 
Le Big Mac said:
White aluminum and black aluminum?

1 air, 2 mb, 3 mbp.
Click to expand...

IMHO I think we will be seeing:

1 Macbook, 2 Macbook Pros, 1 Macbook Air, a new iMac and the new Powerbook G5 Brick I've heard so much about.

Woohoo new mac next Tuesday.

This makes perfect sense to me :D
 
Aztec said:
I doubt one of the updates is a Mac Mini for the following reason:

The placeholder indicates the language of each Mac. In other words, the computer needs a keyboard for it to have a specific language. Briefly put, we're looking at laptops only.
Click to expand...

well, how many english ones are there? 6. well

1. Macbook pro
2. macbook
3.macbook air
4. mac mini
5. mac pro
6. imac

could mean we may see a refresh on the entire computer line up?
 
ezekielrage_99 said:
IMHO I think we will be seeing:

1 Macbook, 2 Macbook Pros, 1 Macbook Air, a new iMac and the new Powerbook G5 Brick I've heard so much about.

Woohoo new mac next Tuesday.

This makes perfect sense to me :D
Click to expand...

we are intel now. no more powerbooks :rolleyes:
 
Admonitor said:
Somehow I can't imagine these new Macs being eligible under the T&Cs of the UK Back To School offer.. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Just FYI....

When Apple updated MB and MBP in Feb - 2008. I was able to purchase the new MBP with the promo.... on Apple NZ Edu store.
So I believe apple will do the same this time as well.... unless they have lots of current MB and MBP in stock.... which I believe must the running low on at the moment. However, the Back to School promo in US and UK that has been running over the last couple of months and apple's stock on MB and MBP must be drying up.

I suggest the UK students/edu staff better hang on to there cash till 14th Oct to see what U've got unless ocourse you got pocket full of cash to give to Apple and dont mind getting a older model when the newer ones just seem to be weeks away.

Bring it on! :apple:
 
Time for a change...

I hope it has not been said but with the release of the new "greener apple" iMac last year and the MBA. I would say that MBP are due for an overhaul, MacBook will be Aluminum to be more "green" and the Mac Pro is due for some work.

I forsee BlueRay in all the mac products soon, now that the whole would has gone HD.

As a wish list for 08-09 ... BlueRay, better iSight, backlit keyboard on the macbook, app for iPhone to make custom VM greetings, a slot for apple remote on all products O' one more thing iMovie 07 with an 08 iterface. For what it's worth.
 
RyanR. said:
I hope it has not been said but with the release of the new "greener apple" iMac last year and the MBA. I would say that MBP are due for an overhaul, MacBook will be Aluminum to be more "green" and the Mac Pro is due for some work.

I forsee BlueRay in all the mac products soon, now that the whole would has gone HD.

As a wish list for 08-09 ... BlueRay, better iSight, backlit keyboard on the macbook, app for iPhone to make custom VM greetings, a slot for apple remote on all products O' one more thing iMovie 07 with an 08 iterface. For what it's worth.
Click to expand...

Agreed. There are people who want blu-ray. Lot of people are putting it down, its not up to them. its up to apple. Isight may get HD, it not, a higher res. also a return to the external isight with support for windows machines. the imac keyboard and macbook keyboards get blacklet like you said,. and ilife 09 getting a revamp UI (16:9 screens)

BryanLyle said:
That is exactly it. I despise XP, but I am really considering one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-8-9-inch...ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=pc&qid=1222300552&sr=1-1
Click to expand...

not that bad.....
 
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After reading a couple posts, why are there still people doubting that the next MacBooks will be aluminium?
 
oticon6 said:
The MBA is a next-generation laptop, and nobody else seems to be able to make anything that looks as good.
Click to expand...

If you like that sort of thing. Personally I think it's ugly.

I think it's going the other way... the MB is being ditched in favour of the MBA at an aggressive price point.
Click to expand...

I disagree. The MBA and the MBP are both high-end laptops, aimed at different market segments. The MB is the entry-level product. Apple won't ditch their entry-level product because they would lose a good portion of their market.

Yes, people will whinge about having no internal optical drive, but then they'll realise that they're a useless waste of space.

I use CDs and DVDs, yes, when I'm at HOME.
Click to expand...

Well, not everyone has your usage pattern. A lot of people want everything in one unit and don't want to have to deal with extra boxes. I can see Apple introducing a model that drops the optical drive to make it an option, but they won't drop it in all models, not at this time. Plus separating the technology into separate units increases the price of the overall system. The entry-level buyer doesn't want to be told they need to buy an extra box to do standard operations.

Remember, the MacBook Air is currently expensive for a reason... and what better way to be aggressive than to have an amazing price point for a product that your competitors can't even build let alone match the price :p
Click to expand...

The MBA is a prestige product. People buy it for the "cool" factor, or some for the reduced weight, but certainly not for its performance. Overcharging helps it keep that prestigious image.
 
kabunaru said:
After reading a couple posts, why are there still people doubting that the next MacBooks will be aluminium?
Click to expand...

I think they have to be metal, otherwise they wont seem to fit into the Apple Mac line-up. It seems more logical for the new Macbooks to resemble a Macbook Air, iMac or Macbook Pro than keep the old white plastic look.
 
ezekielrage_99 said:
I think they have to be metal, otherwise they wont seem to fit into the Apple Mac line-up. It seems more logical for the new Macbooks to resemble a Macbook Air, iMac or Macbook Pro than keep the old white plastic look.
Click to expand...

And aluminium is better for the environment than plastic. It would make no sense for Apple to keep plastic for the next MacBooks.
Aluminium all the way! :)
 
October 14th must be the day, it just makes sense. The more i think of it... also makes sense to merge the line 13,15,17.
 
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