Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
"New Macs for 2010 are going to take Apple to the next level"
- Thread starter sparkie7
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
The "next level" is referring to SOFTWARE. Apple now is all about the user interface/ interaction. They are caring less and less about the latest, greatest graphics or processors. Meanwhile they are making great strides in UI and functionality.
I think they couldn't care less about blue ray. Apart from 20Gb backups, neither can I.
I think they couldn't care less about blue ray. Apart from 20Gb backups, neither can I.
brendon2020 said:
Seconded. They need to refresh this. It's just way overdue.
But this is a software issue, not hardware.
Think 1080p + massively growing blu-ray user base + widespread movie industry support + higher demand for professional blu-ray authoring + subpar 720p only iTunes HD video quality. + weak, inferior broadband infrastructure
Apple is going out of their way to keep software off their hardware.
Got peanut butter, ain't got no jelly.
Got hamburger, ain't got no bun.
Great strides in UI? like...?
Their UI is out of date and clunky, and as a result functionality suffers. In my time with Windows 7 I found it much speedier to work on and deal with than OSX and it's goofy, but nice looking, dock.
In regards to "blu ray", I don't need it either, but MANY people want it. The problem is Apple is basically Steve Jobs land. If HE doesn't want it then NO ONE gets it. Does that make any sense? It doesn't to me, but the Apple religious types defend anything he does as the "one true way." If Steve Jobs came out and said he loves blu ray so it's going in every Mac as a standard, those same exact people would come out and rejoice saying NOW blu ray is good.
They need to step up the design, fix the RAM BS, push the envelope with a 12-core model, but release a more reasonable entry level machine.
I'd take a dual or quad core w/ 3.33Ghz clock speed over a 12 core machine anyday!
I'd take a dual or quad core w/ 3.33Ghz clock speed over a 12 core machine anyday!
I've thought long and hard about that. But it won't meet my storage requirements of four internal HDDs, and the desire to have two internal optical drives. Also I'm in a constant dual monitor setup (which can be done on an iMac with some adapters..), so a dual DVI card is nice. Lastly it needs to have as many USB ports as possible.
I guess I should have included more of my requirements rather than just a few...
he he
Why? Optical is dying. The last time I used my optical drive is to make a copy of the OS installer DVD onto a bootable USB flash drive (yes, for PPC). Made boot to reboot installation time 20x faster.
I hear somebody made an 80-port hub recently.
I knew someone would like the long and hard part!
I use optical to back up all my CDs, and DVDs. Also it's still a very reliable long term backup medium if stored properly....And I commonly copy CDs for slideshows and what not.
I've got two 7-port USB hubs but have the typical USB problems after reboots..
I'm just trying to figure out what the next level could possibly mean?
I don't think he means the next level of tech. Whenever they bring out new revisions of Macs they're going to be at a higher technological level, that's just a given. More likely, "next level" here means greater market share, greater profitability, greater market penetration, that kind of thing.
Usually when Steve Jobs uses those kinds of phrases it indicates a concrete physical change, not something abstract like market penetration.
Maybe back to the 80's, the next MacPro as a terminal to "the Cloud"?
In those days, I was the first at my institute using a desktop, everyone else worked with terminals to remote Crays and other big computers.
But that might be the 2012 edition...
(You get a sleek terminal and subscribe on certain amount of processing power)
As to the argument I also think "the next level" refers more to software.
We all know Snow Leopard was more about "under the hood" improvements, and that most of the hardware which it is being run upon really doesn't see much of what they have improved.
Like the whole Grand Central thing and the "virtual 16TB of RAM"
From what I understand, the new i7 processors etc are better equipped to take full advantage of that technology.
I'm expecting a new range of hardware, equipped with these processors and a completely new OS which full takes advantage of it all.
I'm no tech-head or full-on geek so you guys with a hell of a lot more knowledge than me will probably debunk my theory. That's just the way I see it.
We all know Snow Leopard was more about "under the hood" improvements, and that most of the hardware which it is being run upon really doesn't see much of what they have improved.
Like the whole Grand Central thing and the "virtual 16TB of RAM"
From what I understand, the new i7 processors etc are better equipped to take full advantage of that technology.
I'm expecting a new range of hardware, equipped with these processors and a completely new OS which full takes advantage of it all.
I'm no tech-head or full-on geek so you guys with a hell of a lot more knowledge than me will probably debunk my theory. That's just the way I see it.
Precisely. The A4 is a custom variant of the Cortex 9 series (custom = features, not an overhaul of the core architecture), which is in now way a competitor to Intel's mobile CPU's (those used in laptops). In general (ARM 9 series), it is trying to compete with the Atom.Why on Earth would you castrate a perfectly good laptop?
So you think the Mac lineup will undergo design changes this year? The iMac already had a facelift in October.
I wouldn't hold my breath on this either. I agree: this sounds more like marketing slang. Every time they release new macs, they take them "to the next level", obviously... sometimes it's a big step, but 90% of the times its just incremental changes that result in small performance gains and/or cost savings for Apple. Big steps are usually surrounded by groundbreaking developments or choices ahead of them - such as Intel vs PPC, 64bit, etc - but there's nothing like that in the horizon for the next two years. And telling by Apple's financial results, they won't make any more bold decisions this year other than the iPad...
Just follow the money: no doubt Apple is serious about the pro market, but it is CRAZY about the consumer market.
I don't think a redesign of the Mac Pro is a BOLD decision. Certainly if done halfway decent, and the specs and price were to follow the change people would flock to the new MP.
If they were smart they'd offer a few "power user/enthusiast" models and then some truly professional models all with a slight redesign.
That would help with people with minis and iMacs that need scalability into the MP zone, and would please the Pros that need more power and better graphics options.
Those changes aren't even close to as bold as the iPad is.
If they were smart they'd offer a few "power user/enthusiast" models and then some truly professional models all with a slight redesign.
That would help with people with minis and iMacs that need scalability into the MP zone, and would please the Pros that need more power and better graphics options.
Those changes aren't even close to as bold as the iPad is.
As long as the single socketed daughterboards are making a killing for Apple profit wise, I don't see why they would initiate a complete redesign, especially considering how well-regarded the overall design already is.
It doesn't make sense for Apple to go with a new board design, as the existing one can be used with the new chips via a microcode addition for the new CPU's. It's just not cost effective. That doesn't mean they can't swap newer spec'ed parts so long as the component's packaging is a drop-in replacement (i.e. USB 3.0 could be added this way). But SATA 6.0Gb/s would require additional parts (no new chipsets are due to release that will add this functionality, unlike the P55 chipset designed for the LGA1156 parts - not until the next architecture change = 2011 Tock cycle).
That's not the case when there's a new architecture involved, but won't be until the 2011 CPU's from Intel.
It is a well-regarded design, I agree with that. I'm suggesting a slight redesign to enhance an already great design, something on the outside to go with the improvements on the inside.
Look what they've done to the iMac. It has "evolved" then look what they've done with the PM and MP for the last 6 years or so.
"Oh look, that Mac tower has two optical drives!"
Big whoop...
A new case design would be better left to a new board design. Apple chose to go with a main + daughter board design in order to shoe-horn the 2009 model into an existing case (that's been floating around since 2006, though the internals did change, as there was no choice, but it's not the same as tooling up for a completely new unit). That decision was purely financial, so a new one is highly doubtful IMO.