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Steve Jobs - "Apple is a mobile company" - Desktops will go!?

DoFoT9

DoFoT9

macrumors P6
Original poster
Jun 11, 2007
17,586
100
London, United Kingdom
Hey everybody,

yesterday i watched the ipad release, Jobsy said that apple is a "mobile" company. so does this mean that apple will slowly phase out the desktop models of their computers?

i am scared :(

DoFoT9
 
I wouldn't bet on it. It just means desktops are becoming more of a niche. But Apple doesn't seem to have a problem building hardware for niches (AppleTV).
 
goMac said:
I wouldn't bet on it. It just means desktops are becoming more of a niche. But Apple doesn't seem to have a problem building hardware for niches (AppleTV).
Click to expand...

but thats exactly what im getting at!! look at the technology in the :apple:TV.. completely underpowered (software wise, hardware can decode full 1080p).

i dont want the latest iMacs to be in the same "niche" as the :apple:TV, nor the MacPros and all that (even though the macmini would already seem to be in that niche ;))
 
I don't think there is necessarily much wrong with OS X right now for the professional market. I mean, stuff like SLI would be nice, but OS X is doing pretty well. And the Mac Pro hardware is still up to date. Graphics cards aren't really in Apple's court.

I think it will be fine. When things start going wrong, then we can complain.
 
TheVidEditor said:
Let me paraphrase what Steve is trying to say; in a few years you'll have the power of Mac Pro in your pocket/carrying case. No more need for a 40 pound slab of metal.
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Well why didn't he just say that! apple will not abandon the pro market, but the imac and mac mini might lose out. I hope not.

On second thoughts, the imac is performing reasonably well for current mac users. I don't think it is a 'switching' machine though.

P.s. Please excuse my vague posts, currently on my mobile!
 
I think your reading too much into his comment, and besides the imac is Steve's baby and always will be!
 
Don't over react! Just because Apple is a "mobile" company does not mean it will stop producing products that are not mobile. Jobs didn't say "mobile-only" now did he?

S-
 
DesignerOnMac said:
I think your reading too much into his comment, and besides the imac is Steve's baby and always will be!
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Carrying products that are no longer financially viable can sink a corporation. So if a product ceases to be profitable, it will be abandoned. Apple's a corporation, which means $$$ comes first and foremost, as with any other company.

That will be the determining factor if a product line will remain, "Steve's baby" or not. :eek: :p
 
nanofrog said:
Carrying products that are no longer financially viable can sink a corporation. So if a product ceases to be profitable, it will be abandoned. Apple's a corporation, which means $$$ comes first and foremost, as with any other company.

That will be the determining factor if a product line will remain, "Steve's baby" or not. :eek: :p
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This is what I'm getting at. jobs highlighted the three biggest income products for apple, ipod, iphone, and laptops. If apple is losing money over the desktop line they won't hesitate to drop it, imo.
 
DoFoT9 said:
This is what I'm getting at. jobs highlighted the three biggest income products for apple, ipod, iphone, and laptops. If apple is losing money over the desktop line they won't hesitate to drop it, imo.
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Yep.

I do beleive the MP's day's are numbered, as the sales numbers are small. iMacs will last longer, but I've no idea how long. It will depend on whether or not enough people buy them. So long as there's adequate profit, it will be worth producing. Otherwise, it will go way of the Dodo.
 
I think we are still years away from the desktop fading away. But it is now on a slow steady decline for the average consumer. I can say that if it wasn't for work I could easily go laptop only myself.

Laptops have become so powerful that for most basic computing tasks it is more than adequate. That is why I travel with an Air, and only work on the Pro at home.
 
nanofrog said:
Yep.

I do beleive the MP's day's are numbered, as the sales numbers are small. iMacs will last longer, but I've no idea how long. It will depend on whether or not enough people buy them. So long as there's adequate profit, it will be worth producing. Otherwise, it will go way of the Dodo.
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HA! nice comparison ;)


Cynicalone said:
I think we are still years away from the desktop fading away. But it is now on a slow steady decline for the average consumer. I can say that if it wasn't for work I could easily go laptop only myself.
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oh absolutely, they will still be around for a while to come.

Laptops have become so powerful that for most basic computing tasks it is more than adequate. That is why I travel with an Air, and only work on the Pro at home.
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this is what scares me. my first (that i purchased) computer was a 15" CD MBP. i have used it for 3 continual years. for 2+ of those years i connected it to an external monitor. im not a heavy user (yet) but i do require a lot of screen real estate, RAM and HDD space. a laptop cannot give me that. no way would i ever use a laptop as my main computer at home.

i hope that desktops (in general) do not die out, the power differences and expandability differences are far to comparative atm.
 
There's a lot of pro audio - video people out there that need solid computing tools and ostensibly will for many years to come. Some / many want Mac.
I'm not sure it's in Apples best interest to let that market completely go.
Though it does look to be getting to be a smaller and more defined demand with mobile everything rising market shares.
 
DoFoT9 said:
oh absolutely, they will still be around for a while to come.
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Yep.

Enterprise customers will still want them for employees that don't need to travel (lack of portability = easier to maintain for IT staff - batch maintenance can be done nightly). Then add in workstations and even gaming systems.
 
People who do real work need desktops and stand-alone monitors.

Once you've got the OS functioning on a Macbook and an iMac, it's not too difficult to engineer our Mac Pros. When you get down to it, Mac Pros offer horsepower: faster CPU, faster GPU, faster HDD, and more RAM.

These aren't difficult concepts for Apple.

What I'm concerned about is OS X Server and the X serve. I really hope OS X Server and the X Serve continue to be developed, it would be a real loss without them.
 
nanofrog said:
Yep.

Enterprise customers will still want them for employees that don't need to travel (lack of portability = easier to maintain for IT staff - batch maintenance can be done nightly). Then add in workstations and even gaming systems.
Click to expand...

on that note though, we are beginning to see the smaller desktop units (what are they called?) they still use desktop components and are easy to maintain, but are lower powered and closer to dumb terminals - i think its a good idea! most users in corporations wont make use of a quad core, or even a dual core with >2GB RAM! if anything strenuous needs to be done, offload it to a server.

Velin: good point about the server side of OSX/apple. i completely forgot! there would be huge amounts of people that rely on osx server and the xserves etc. wouldnt want that to stop!
 
DoFoT9 said:
on that note though, we are beginning to see the smaller desktop units (what are they called?) they still use desktop components and are easy to maintain, but are lower powered and closer to dumb terminals - i think its a good idea! most users in corporations wont make use of a quad core, or even a dual core with >2GB RAM! if anything strenuous needs to be done, offload it to a server.
Click to expand...
Dual cores are quite useful, as they can do a little multi-tasking (multiple windows open, such as email, browser, and MS office, and of course the OS.

But terminals or nearly so, are likely to be the future given the desire for cloud computing/high core count servers. It will depend on the cost of communication lines though (ISP pipes), as such an implementation will likely be centralized to one, maybe two facilities which serve all the corporate locations (satellite offices). It will have to carry quite a bit of traffic to do that, including VoIP data.

DoFoT9 said:
Velin: good point about the server side of OSX/apple. i completely forgot! there would be huge amounts of people that rely on osx server and the xserves etc. wouldnt want that to stop!
Click to expand...
I'm under the impression there's even fewer XServes in the wild than MP's, so those are in more danger of vanishing IMO. Apple doesn't even offer Infiniband or 10G Ethernet for them (though they do have a FC card available).
 
SAMSUNG is a mobile company too.... look at them

but they make laptops, and furniture and washing machines....

that would be cool of apple would make a washing machine with an OS X. haha:p
 
nanofrog said:
Dual cores are quite useful, as they can do a little multi-tasking (multiple windows open, such as email, browser, and MS office, and of course the OS.
Click to expand...
true, dual core is a given these days. M$'s OS are fairly hoggy.

But terminals or nearly so, are likely to be the future given the desire for cloud computing/high core count servers. It will depend on the cost of communication lines though (ISP pipes), as such an implementation will likely be centralized to one, maybe two facilities which serve all the corporate locations (satellite offices). It will have to carry quite a bit of traffic to do that, including VoIP data.
Click to expand...
id be quite happy if everything went that way. having the power in centralised locations seems to be the way to go.

I'm under the impression there's even fewer XServes in the wild than MP's, so those are in more danger of vanishing IMO. Apple doesn't even offer Infiniband or 10G Ethernet for them (though they do have a FC card available).
Click to expand...
yup fewer xserves yup. in our state all schools use Mac computers, so i daresay they all use xserves
 
well the iMac uses notebook parts and is Apple's and Steve's baby so i dont think thats going anywhere! maybe the Mac Pro or XServe might diminish, but they are workstations for professional niches that i cant see going atm.
 
nanofrog said:
I'm under the impression there's even fewer XServes in the wild than MP's, so those are in more danger of vanishing IMO. Apple doesn't even offer Infiniband or 10G Ethernet for them (though they do have a FC card available).
Click to expand...

I've always thought that the existence of the XServe was to show that Apple was trying to enter the enterprise workspace, but I'm guessing the sales have demonstrated that real IT managers are choosing companies that actually have a viable grip on the server market. If I were building a data center, I would go with the company that wasn't producing servers as a parlor stunt. :rolleyes:
 
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