Schiller on Apple's Yearly Product Timelines

Plus, maybe it's just me, but I think it sucks when Apple releases some hot new device 2 weeks after Christmas. If we had only known, right?
 
Schiller's comments make a lot of sense. Now Apple can march to its own tune and maybe come out with products when it feels it is best to do so. The upside of this is that products that may have been delayed to fit in with MacWorld will be released sooner. Rushed products will be "fixed" before they are put out. Good move IMHO....
 
LethalWolfe said:
Obsolete? Really?
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I couldn't agree more! It always makes me smile when someone thinks because they don't own the latest version of something it makes it completely useless! Of course it doesn't

If every time Apple released a new product a secret chip made the previous generation explode in a cloud of smoke... Then THAT would make me angry... but that doesn't happen... yet!

I mean, come on! If we kept waiting for the next version of the MacWhatever or the iWhatever we'd never end up buying anything!
 
krye said:
Plus, maybe it's just me, but I think it sucks when Apple releases some hot new device 2 weeks after Christmas. If we had only known, right?
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Exactly. And that's why Apple stopped releasing SPANKING NEW products on a Macworld Expo that happens in January every year...

It simply doesn't make any sense. People save money FOR the holiday season, not for the beginning of the year, when everybody is pretty much broke.

And this is the only thing that must be read between the lines from Pogue's blog; Apple is now free to release whatever it wants, whenever it wants, with emphasis on ordinary update cycles as hinted by Schiller; any other interpretation is hogwash and wishful thinking.
 
what about battery?

so, lets throw this in the mix... is there any chance apple are developing the same battery tech that's in the new macbook pro17" for the iphone 3.0. that would make sense if they're upgrading the chipset, camera etc in june/july/whenever.

although this is pure speculation, it would be the logical progression.

either way my contract expires next month so i WAS hoping for a big upgrade at Macworld 09...but disappointment reigns :(
 
krye said:
Plus, maybe it's just me, but I think it sucks when Apple releases some hot new device 2 weeks after Christmas. If we had only known, right?
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Actually, the toy companies used to do this. And very probably on purpose. The stores wouldn't get anywhere near enough stock of that hot new toy until after Christmas, but parents would still have to have something under the tree for the kid to unwrap on Christmas morning. And the kid would still scream until he got the hot new toy anyway. Thus, parents would end up buying twice as much stuff for their little monsters. Ka-ching.


.
 
Also don't forget

Ted13 said:
Well that includes one HUGE tidbit: iPhone 3.0 will be out in June.
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That and June is when those that paid the nerd tax and not the 3G tax (extra $ for text and internet) will be reaching the end of their contract terms... dare I say that there will be other vendors for the iPhone at that time. That would be sweet. Not because I necessarily hate AT&T but I hate the monopolistic pricing for those lusting after the iPhone.

Still happily rockin' my OG iPhone for now (with Woz's signature natch) and waiting for a faster iPhone with "n" networking, more memory, a much faster processor (which perhaps will accommodate background apps) and cut and paste!
 
Mykbibby said:
Finally... the truth!

I have to say though, they could have just moved Macworld to a different month. IMG would have agreed, so that's obviously not the issue. I guess it really is that trade shows dont matter anymore...
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That wouldn't impact the true problem. That's that Apple wants to release news and products on their schedule, not someone else's. Apple can't, say, push back Macworld by 2 weeks if iPhone 3 needs 2 weeks more work.
 
miggitymac said:
iPhone cycle in June...I'm hoping that I don't have to wait for June to see the rumored 32 GB iPhone come out.

My phone contract just expired and I'm wanting to negotiate a deal on an iPhone before I sign another one.
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Negotiation requires two parties. Who exactly at ATT will you be negotiating with? ;)
 
Phil:(peeking into Steve's office) Steve, you wanted to see me?
Steve: Yeah, Phil. Sit down.
(Phil sits down)
Steve: Why are you doing this? Why are you telling Pogue our release schedules?
Phil: It's my thing.
Steve:Your...thing?
Phil:Yeah! My thing! You've got your "R-D-F", an' yo' "One More Thing". My thing is "givin' the masses what they want." I'm buildin' my street cred!
Steve: ...
Phil: (makes some rapper hand motions)
Steve: Stop.
Phil: (stops)Why are you so concerned? I just gave them months, "ish-y" months, even.
Steve: Because of this... (spins his iMac around to show Phil the screen) Have you read the forums today?
Phil: The...forums?
Steve: MacRumors, 9to5, Bidou..Bidet..that French one!
Phil: You...read the rumor sites?
Steve: In one statement, you've destroyed the Mac rumor mill.
Phil: I had no idea...why would you rea...
Steve: That's all I ever do! I read the rumor sites and then have Apple do the exact opposite. It's great fun. Why do you think we announced we were leaving the conference and I wasn't doing the keynote this year?
Phil: I thought it was your health?
Steve: (leaping out of his seat) Because while I'm up on stage I can't read what everyone is posting about what I'm going to announce! My best moments, and I can't even read about them until afterwards!
Phil: ...
Steve: Well, okay. I do sneak a peek during those bake-offs. That's why I did them every year. But that wasn't enough, so I started bringing in guest speakers. Finally, I said, "That's it. I just can't miss anything else they write about me." Now that you've revealed our release schedule, there's no reason for them to post about anything except during those dates you leaked. The only thing they'll be talking about in the off-months is your hair. Do you really think I want to read another post about your hair?!
Phil: (nervously)What are you going to do about it?
Steve: (sighs)I'm gonna have to fix it. Another new product they never saw coming should set a spark to them. (Pulls out his iPhone and dials R&D) Quentin? It's Steve. It's time to release Time Machine. (pauses)No, not update Time Machine. Release Time Machine. The real one. Next Tues- no WAIT! - next (pauses for dramatic effect) Wednesday ... at 3am! That'll really mess with their heads!
Steve: (giggles, and turns to Phil) Okay, Phil, you can go. Oh, and you have an appointment with a scalper today. Check your iCal.
 
nacengineer said:
That and June is when those that paid the nerd tax and not the 3G tax (extra $ for text and internet) will be reaching the end of their contract terms... dare I say that there will be other vendors for the iPhone at that time. That would be sweet. Not because I necessarily hate AT&T but I hate the monopolistic pricing for those lusting after the iPhone.

Still happily rockin' my OG iPhone for now (with Woz's signature natch) and waiting for a faster iPhone with "n" networking, more memory, a much faster processor (which perhaps will accommodate background apps) and cut and paste!
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https://www.macrumors.com/2008/08/01/atandt-to-remain-sole-us-iphone-carrier-into-2010/

According to that article you'll have to wait at least another year for the iPhone to open up to other vendors.
 
DaBrain said:
Yep that's the thing that struck me. Phil spoke his mind and it's quite obvious the Mac line up was not on his mind nor in the forefront when he answered this question! What he didn't say says a lot about the future priority of the Mac computer line up. Oh well! I think many more are going to be inclined to building hackintoshes! Really not much of a choice. Oh wait one can always waits till Apple gets around to it!--))
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Do you guys really expect that he's going to list off each and every product and give us an approximate time as to when they'll be updated?

He'd be fired for doing that! Who's going to want to buy something right now, if they know that it'll be updated a month or 2 from now?

IMO, he wasn't giving a timeline that we should expect them to adhere to in the future...I think he was just pointing out that Apple has its own product cycle (just like every other company out there), to give support as to why they're dropping out of events like Macworld.

And the months given in parenthesis...were these taken from Phil or did Pogue put those in...I'm thinking if they were from Phil, they wouldn't be in parenthesis...
 
Rocketman said:
In a considerably older moment of truth, they stated computer release cycles would be based on parts availability going forward. To me that spells Intel timing.
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Does 'going forward' add any meaning here? I often see it used but haven't a clue what function it has, apart from perhaps being the 'dynamic businessman' translation of 'uhhhhh.' Maybe I really don't understand though.

On more substantive issues, no great surprises about the timeline, and I agree about Macs following Intel timelines. It's just great to see Apple being so forthcoming for once!
 
iasky said:
That is so true. I can tell you that my son was pissed when his new college Mac Book was obsolete 5 months after we bought it because of the January release schedule. It would make a lot more sense to release them before school starts. The last thing Apple wants to do is alienate college students who will eventually be running the business world.
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If I can survive up until my Sophomore year now with a 2.5+ 1st Gen year old MacBook 13.3", your son can survive with his. Slap him and tell him to **** or GTFO.
 
this interview was cut off a bit.. The last thing he said was

".. and the not caring about our professional users, and computer line cycle. Which runs January through late december, including holidays".:apple::apple:
 
PlaceofDis said:
another interesting aspect of all of this....

Phil's willingness to be more transparent about the situation than Jobs. and his willingness and ability to talk about such a subject... gives the impression that he is indeed being groomed for a leading role in the company certainly.
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I can't imagine that anything he said on this topic wasn't cleared by Steve first.

dwd3885 said:
i agree with some of the other posters here. move macworld to september when the ipods come out. or move it to beginning of school year around august if that's when the product cycle is natural. IDG SHOULD DO THAT!
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Even if it were possible (and it probably wouldn't be for a while; venues like the Moscone Center must have to be booked way in advance), I don't think Apple wants to share the spotlight any more, or be committed to a definite date, wherever it falls in the calendar.

iasky said:
I can tell you that my son was pissed when his new college Mac Book was obsolete 5 months after we bought it because of the January release schedule.
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I'm guessing you mean "not state of the art" rather than obsolete. Well, five months is probably about an average span of time to remain state of the art, but computers do not become obsolete for much longer. Heck, my iBook G4 is still a very capable laptop. My PB 1400 is what you'd call obsolete - even though it has a G3 upgrade it's limited to 64 MB RAM and MacOS 9.1, and even though it has wifi (802.11b), there's not one decent browser for OS 9.
 
When did this change? I remember switching back to Apple when they released the new 12" powerbook during Macworld. And I don't see iLife being released in January
 
Small White Car said:
Phil just stated the obvious, but he had to.

Apple is clearly making the iMac and Mini wait for something (probably processros, but it could be anything) before they upgrade them. Yet another reason why set shows are annoying to Apple.
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I can't see that the Mini needs to wait for anything? They likely won't putting cutting edge tech into it anyway, so surely they could update (could have updated???? :confused: ) it immediately. Even if they kept the same outside and only changed the inside I am sure that a lot of people (me included!) would be happy and would go and buy one rather than waiting for the case to be changed to be inline with the imac/mb/mbp. :rolleyes:
 
Ted13 said:
Well that includes one HUGE tidbit: iPhone 3.0 will be out in June.
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I think we can expect a yearly update on the iPhone indefinitely, the cell phone market is incredibly lucrative, and integrating them further into personal computers is the way of the future, they're already an extension of our home or office computers.

I like this Schiller fellow, it's better just to be honest. Releasing new and exciting products in January is poor timing as most people are financially depleted from the holiday season.
 
iasky said:
That is so true. I can tell you that my son was pissed when his new college Mac Book was obsolete 5 months after we bought it because of the January release schedule. It would make a lot more sense to release them before school starts. The last thing Apple wants to do is alienate college students who will eventually be running the business world.
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Obsolete? Really? Mind giving it to me then?

In the music world, I've been working on a daily basis with G4s (yes, dual g4 machines) in studios - and they work great. What does your son do that is so intensive that the macbook is now obsolete?

Most professional studios still use G4 and G5 computers - I find it amusing when I come here and listen to college going kids talking about needing a 8 core macbook so they can take notes and chat on facebook :rolleyes:
 
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