What if you ran the mac division at apple

[northernbaldy]

I’d get rid of the MacBook Air.

MacBook and MacBook Pro
iMac and iMac Pro
Mac Pro (a proper one)

Job done! We don’t need Xserve back, that would be pointless

 

[z970]

Many great ideas here. It got me thinking... Does anyone remember when "Pro" hardware signified not only top of the line specs, but also a system which was user upgradeable?

Picture the difference in user upgrade options between the iBook (clamshell or white) vs the PowerBook G3 and Titanium PowerBook G4 - These pre-Aluminum PowerBooks were a cinch to work on for replacing hard drives, maxing out RAM, adding external peripherals (Firewire, USB, VGA/DVI, PC Card slot, etc) and in the case of the Wallstreet, PDQ, Lombard and Pismo, the CPU daughter card was easy to replace for something faster.

Even more-so, the iMac vs the Power Mac. In any of the G3, G4 or G5 variants there was a major reason to go for the "Pro" machine and this was expansion and upgradeability.

As @RhianB points out, let's imagine a top of the line MacBook Pro with easy access to a hot-swappable battery, perhaps twin SSD slots, easily accessible RAM slots and a slotted CPU upgrade path.

Forget about the Touchbar (and further gimmicks like ASUS's Zenbook "Touchpad", which is a mini secondary display behind the trackpad). Let's get back to the core of what makes a "Pro" machine... To me this is a high performing device which I can invest in now and expect at least 6 to 8 years of expansion options, upgrade paths and ongoing software support.

I would also fully support a shift to Apple's ARM chipset. At least for the portable range. This could certainly give the Mac an 'edge', much like PowerPC provided during it's heyday. Surely Apple could invest their billions into beating Intel at their own game.

There was a time when Mac users were proudly "Thinking Different" and this differentiation between a Mac and a "PC" was more than just the price tag and a gimmick or two.

The shift to Intel was good to sort out supply and performance issues with the IBM and Motorola chips, but I believe the Mac deserves to be in it's own category again. To stand tall on it's own without needing to be able to boot Windows as a selling point. If we want a Windows machine, we can spend far less and buy a great little PC notebook, so why does the Mac need to be able to run x86 software?

Because Apple is run by Tim Cook. The guy will never think different. Ever.

He isn't hungry, and he isn't foolish. Apple is almost by design, a Jobs-like company, with leadership of which its been starved of for 6 years. The company isn't meant to be known for its incompetent designs and oceans of fangirls, it's meant to be known for being the innovative, badass outsider.

And now... We just can't get that. Thus, the current departure of most everyone who yearned for that side. And for me and many other people, Linux is that previous side of Apple, along with OpenPOWER, at this point.

Changing times.

 

[amagichnich]

1. Get a real, competent, professional caliber expandable Mac Pro out the door with decent specs and more importantly make up upgradable.

2. Update the Mini, ditch spinners(or at least make a fusion drive standard) and bring back a quad core or even better make a top end option with a hex core i9.

2. Put out a 15" i9 MBP with NVMe flash storage that has USB type A, some form of Magsafe, an anti-glare screen, a keyboard with a decent amount of key travel, and with enough cooling capacity to keep it at a reasonable temperature and quiet. Can we lose the touchbar while we're at it?

I'm totally with you! with all 3!
My feeling is they give a **** about the hardware and balance of the hardware, the only thing that counts is how thin the laptop is and how small the motherboard. Quality, expandability, user repairability, customization are what a "Pro" device I'd expect from a company like Apple and what I'd do if I were in the position.

Let's get back to the core of what makes a "Pro" machine... To me this is a high performing device which I can invest in now and expect at least 6 to 8 years of expansion options, upgrade paths and ongoing software support.

Software support is the only thing they do somehow. But hardware... they are as far from "Pro" as they have never been before. Pro not only meens to build good hardware, but to listen to the "Pro" users and even think two steps further. Pro means giving them features they didn't know they'd ever have them. Right now Apple is creeping in the shadow of the competitors and customers where once they shined on them like a star and where 2 if not 3 steps ahead of the market.

There was a time when Mac users were proudly "Thinking Different" and this differentiation between a Mac and a "PC" was more than just the price tag and a gimmick or two.

Very true! And "different" not only means "drop all ports and force something new" (as happened several times in apples history) but have a different way (that becomes the standard afterwards because it turns out to be better) to a solution, not to a problem. Deliver a solution to a problem people didn't even know was a problem. That's how they felt once
[doublepost=1534612368][/doublepost]

We don’t need Xserve back, that would be pointless

Why? Right now Apple has no "pro" device IMO and they desperately need one (or two or three). Xserver was the perfect pro device in the background. It was Apple without the "look at me because I'm expensive" factor. Today there is a Mac Mini Server. Speak it aloud in front of a Mirror. "Mac Mini Server".
Now imagine they didn't cripple their "server software" to a bare minimum but expand it with useful features and make it a real competitor to Windows or Linux servers but be much more user friendly. They could rule the small businesses!

 

[Dronecatcher]

I don't really imagine Apple will ever Think Different again. The world was very different when they did before - computers weren't as intergrated into peoples homes like now, smartphones only existed to an extreme tech savvy minority and Macs were an incredibly exclusive, niche product unless you were a professional creative. What could there be now that would turn heads and divide existing users?

 

[1042686]

I don't really imagine Apple will ever Think Different again. The world was very different when they did before - computers weren't as intergrated into peoples homes like now, smartphones only existed to an extreme tech savvy minority and Macs were an incredibly exclusive, niche product unless you were a professional creative. What could there be now that would turn heads and divide existing users?

As the market becomes more savvy, naturally the innovation factor becomes more nuanced as well. I think Apple has gotten fat & lazy on a wave of now tired throw away product lines.

I think this ideology of short lived, throw away devices has damaged Apple immensely in regards to what customers think & how they look at Apple & what they perceive Apple to be.

Putting more value into their existing product line & services in regards to backwards compatibility, app services, a return to paid OSx, real professional hardware etc. is a huge opportunity imo. It says yeah we have this new kick ass line of products but our existing hardware is still great, we have all these services inclusive with our innovative OS - were driving both software & hardware dev because were Apple. We’re that good.

I think the move to free OS as a platform for selling services ultimately cheapened the brand & twisted consumers towards a idiotic expectation that software should be cheap or free which is Screwed up. Nothing in life is or should be perceived as free. In regards to B.comp, not everything should last forever but I don’t think it is reasonable to expect a user to buy new peripherals or a computer every couple of years. Backwards compatibility speaks to the quality, power, & innovation behind a product line - that it is THAT good to last longer than the cheaper brands.

Apple is imo reacting to a market & not leading it. Lead it through innovation, development & service. This lazy, fat bastard approach is embarrassing.

 

[Dronecatcher]

Apple is imo reacting to a market & not leading it. Lead it through innovation, development & service. This lazy, fat bastard approach is embarrassing.

I just see Apple as an extremely fine tuned money making machine, I'm sure all of their big table meetings are about profit and nothing else.

If we want to be amazed and think different, we need to focus elsewhere....

 

[1042686]

I just see Apple as an extremely fine tuned money making machine, I'm sure all of their big table meetings are about profit and nothing else.



If we want to be amazed and think different, we need to focus elsewhere....

You are correct that they are certainly looking at that. The problem is that their leadership team is scared to take a chance - to take a leap. Jobs did & he Fd it up a few times which is ok. He learned from them & went on to lead a very innovative & driven culture & product line.

They need someone with that sort of brazen no ******** approach & this individual must be given the leash to make some gut calls, & yes some mistakes because culturally, this is what they are missing IMO. Meetings full of focus groups & market demographic studies (ie: reacting, not leading)

NO FREAKING GUTS. NO RISK.

And that is their Achilles heel. They need to fix that.

 

[northernbaldy]

I'm totally with you! with all 3!
My feeling is they give a **** about the hardware and balance of the hardware, the only thing that counts is how thin the laptop is and how small the motherboard. Quality, expandability, user repairability, customization are what a "Pro" device I'd expect from a company like Apple and what I'd do if I were in the position.


Software support is the only thing they do somehow. But hardware... they are as far from "Pro" as they have never been before. Pro not only meens to build good hardware, but to listen to the "Pro" users and even think two steps further. Pro means giving them features they didn't know they'd ever have them. Right now Apple is creeping in the shadow of the competitors and customers where once they shined on them like a star and where 2 if not 3 steps ahead of the market.


Very true! And "different" not only means "drop all ports and force something new" (as happened several times in apples history) but have a different way (that becomes the standard afterwards because it turns out to be better) to a solution, not to a problem. Deliver a solution to a problem people didn't even know was a problem. That's how they felt once
[doublepost=1534612368][/doublepost]
Why? Right now Apple has no "pro" device IMO and they desperately need one (or two or three). Xserver was the perfect pro device in the background. It was Apple without the "look at me because I'm expensive" factor. Today there is a Mac Mini Server. Speak it aloud in front of a Mirror. "Mac Mini Server".
Now imagine they didn't cripple their "server software" to a bare minimum but expand it with useful features and make it a real competitor to Windows or Linux servers but be much more user friendly. They could rule the small businesses!

Do small business really need servers now? Apple would need to come up with something bloody special to get into big business and server farms

 

[bruinsrme]

First an foremost is to work with 3 rd party closer for better support for accessories and affordable docks/hubs.

Perhaps let go of maximizing battery life on every level of computer. Meaning sacrifice battery life for higher performing machines.

Reintroduce a portable storage slot.

MagSafe connector, maybe.

Someone else mentioned boot camp.
I would surely see to it that there is a faster means to get into the OS of choice. The current process is slow.

 

[iTurbo]

I would just like to see Macs be more upgradeable, especially with regards to specializing a machine for certain tasks. Nowadays the iMac is basically an appliance and you are lucky if you can even upgrade the RAM, storage, or do anything specialized without dongles, external equipment, or even more cables eating up actual real world desktop space. Appliances are boring and cables suck.

 

[Eightbitgamer757]

I liked being different toting around my ibook g4 with a blue top in middle school. I was the weirdo playing super mario bros on my laptop. I was the non generic middle school kid. Now i will probly tote around some dull grey laptop with a circle and a name in it on top through high school and be that generic tech junky.

 

[amagichnich]

Do small business really need servers now? Apple would need to come up with something bloody special to get into big business and server farms

They do!! It is a twisted situation we have right now. Everything goes towards cloud services and away from in house IT. That may save a few bucks but the they heavily depend on stable and fast internet as well as the guaranteed availability of the hoster and it's structural integrity and fail safe mechanisms. Add data security, privacy and country specific laws and things get messy.
I imagine something like a "business icloud" that one can host on premise and rely on that. Maybe mirror the hole thing into Apples iCloud for backup purposes.
The amount of data grows extremely and there is no "optimal" solution in the market. If Apple doesn't take the chance others will.
With the GDRP and its restrictions and regulations "the cloud" now should be considered too dangerous for all your data, instead you have to selectively split it up and distribute it over various places to ensure privacy and data protection.
One approach could be the "on premise icloud" for which you definitely need a server

 

[MysticCow]

A lot of mine are simple renames.

1. Turn the Ashtray Pro into the new XServe.

2. Bring back the big box POWER MAC Intel. Everything in the current line sounds incredibly stupid, save the iMac.

3. iBooks and PowerBooks return as Intels.

4. I would have a time where an Anniversary Mac would come out, i.e. on the iMac G4s birthday. They'd be Intel Macs and modern, but keeping the old form factor.

 

[AphoticD]

Apple are playing it too safe in terms of the hardware product line, the free operating systems and the whole App Store model.

The model of free (major) updates to all 1st and (App Store controlled) 3rd party software and a free OS has not only massively cheapened the overall perception of software as a product but also taken the pressure off the software developers and designers to think of new ideas.

The software marketing team at Apple now have no work to do. No selling points to market or even focus their attention on. There is no longer software to “market”. It’s all about hardware sales.

Apple presently have little need to provide innovative software upgrades. They are simply releasing software updates to match system software updates with little or no new ideas. It’s lazy software design which essentially justifies the existing employment roles within the company with zero scope for expansion or change.

Shake it up Apple. Take some risks! How many hundreds of billions $$$ of market share does a company really need?

No guts. No glory.

 

[bunnspecial]

I forgot something else in my above list-

Do we really need a new version of OS X...or I mean macOS...every year?

I'd like to see them return to a 2-year intro cycle and focus on actually getting one version fully refined before moving on to the next...

 

[Dronecatcher]

I forgot something else in my above list-

Do we really need a new version of OS X...or I mean macOS...every year?

I'd like to see them return to a 2-year intro cycle and focus on actually getting one version fully refined before moving on to the next...

A new OS legitimizes an increased hardware requirement - hence more sales on new hardware...more revenue..profit..profit...etc..etc

 

[z970]

Still glad to be part of the free software movement. Better than expensive software, which should not be so damn expensive to begin with.

I liked being different toting around my ibook g4 with a blue top in middle school. I was the weirdo playing super mario bros on my laptop. I was the non generic middle school kid. Now i will probly tote around some dull grey laptop with a circle and a name in it on top through high school and be that generic tech junky.

Stick this on and call it a day. Install elementary OS to compliment it, if you'd like.

 

[colin348]

I’d bring back a modern ppc computer for people who want Macs but can’t afford them. I’d also update the Mac mini because it hasn’t gotten a revision since 2014

 

[ipponrg]

I would ditch the Mac division entirely because many here claim iPad and iPhone applications don't need to be dependent on a Mac.

Sarcasm aside, I would focus on improving the Mac ecosystem instead of solely on profits. This includes providing more versatility and backwards compatibility and to stop introducing solutions to problems that don't exist. At one point, Apple was actually good at predicting what the Mac market needed.

 

[z970]

I’d bring back a modern ppc computer for people who want Macs but can’t afford them. I’d also update the Mac mini because it hasn’t gotten a revision since 2014

You can't bring back a modern PPC. The PowerPC was a joint effort between Apple, IBM, and Motorola. None of these companies are working with each other, or developing new PowerPCs anymore, so you'll have to look elsewhere. The best Plan B would be an ARM on steroids. No dependencies on other corporations.
[doublepost=1534651890][/doublepost]Let's be real, folks. I think the Mac is dead. Timmy boy will extinguish it by 2025, latest.

The Apple we knew and loved is destroyed. All aboard the closest UNIX alternative.

 

[colin348]

You can't bring back a modern PPC. The PowerPC was a joint effort between Apple, IBM, and Motorola. None of these companies are working with each other, or developing new PowerPCs anymore, so you'll have to look elsewhere. The best Plan B would be an ARM on steroids. No dependencies on other corporations.
[doublepost=1534651890][/doublepost]Let's be real, folks. I think the Mac is dead. Timmy boy will extinguish it by 2025, latest.

The Apple we knew and loved is destroyed. All aboard the closest UNIX alternative.

But didn’t the Wii U systems have PowerPC processers? They made those game consoles up until 2017. I don’t think it would be too difficult to implement them agian.

 

[mmphosis]

Sell all my shares that I was given as part of being hired. Shut down the Mac division completely. Be very diligent with the now US $1 trillion capitalization, focus on staying well well ahead of anyone else with newer and newer iPhones (for as long as that might last.)

Desktop and laptop hardware is pretty lame these days. Microsoft is no longer top dog. Phones for the most part and tablets dominate. As for the chip maker formerly known as Intel, I am sorry to rain on your Remote Management Clown Parade.

I think there is opportunity for new technology, and PCs, laptops, and sadly new Macs are not it (but PowerPC Mac still are .) Time to think different...

• Open cores (that could even be PowerPC)
• Open source operating systems (that could bring back some of the features we still have in Mac OS X 10.5 and earlier)
• Open hardware, and a ******* quick death to the "secure" bootloader and all crappy "PC" legacy hardware for that matter. Booting a computer is as easy as the camera sticks in raspberry pi.
• A truly crazy breakthrough on the tablet front: Keyboard, Stylus/Gloves, Projection -- and totally radically new software that we have seen before, a very very long time ago. Minecraft but an all curves and vectors and so much more version of what Alan Kay is always talking about.
• A breakthrough in battery technology.
• A popular distributed alternative to the internet of services (the cloud and corporate social media.)
• Unheard of network computers built entirely using optics.

 

[Zxxv]

no way on this green earth shall a driver text.
develop something were the iPhones (and other tart phones too) knows that the user is driving, and shut down.

they wanna make cars, can't they?

Don’t see how this is possible. Unless you activate the camera. That’s the only way to know for sure the person is not just a passenger. Face ID could do this.

 

[z970]

But didn’t the Wii U systems have PowerPC processers? They made those game consoles up until 2017. I don’t think it would be too difficult to implement them agian.

After consulting Wikipedia, I guess I was wrong. But the Wii U still had just an embedded processor. Because the AIM alliance was still in full effect in 2001 and 2006, maybe it was possible to use dedicated PPC processors and GPUs for the GameCube and Wii?

Still, I don't think it would work as greatly in something much larger scale, like the Mac family. At that point, it would probably be more reasonable to use downscaled POWER chips.

I just don't see it happening, especially with the way Apple left IBM in 2005. To come back and not even use a special version of POWER...would just seem misguided to some.
[doublepost=1534696140][/doublepost]

Sell all my shares that I was given as part of being hired. Shut down the Mac division completely. Be very diligent with the now US $1 trillion capitalization, focus on staying well well ahead of anyone else with newer and newer iPhones (for as long as that might last.)

Desktop and laptop hardware is pretty lame these days. Microsoft is no longer top dog. Phones for the most part and tablets dominate. As for the chip maker formerly known as Intel, I am sorry to rain on your Remote Management Clown Parade.

I think there is opportunity for new technology, and PCs, laptops, and sadly new Macs are not it (but PowerPC Mac still are .) Time to think different...

• Open cores (that could even be PowerPC)
• Open source operating systems (that could bring back some of the features we still have in Mac OS X 10.5 and earlier)
• Open hardware, and a ******* quick death to the "secure" bootloader and all crappy "PC" legacy hardware for that matter. Booting a computer is as easy as the camera sticks in raspberry pi.
• A truly crazy breakthrough on the tablet front: Keyboard, Stylus/Gloves, Projection -- and totally radically new software that we have seen before, a very very long time ago. Minecraft but an all curves and vectors and so much more version of what Alan Kay is always talking about.
• A breakthrough in battery technology.
• A popular distributed alternative to the internet of services (the cloud and corporate social media.)
• Unheard of network computers built entirely using optics.

Sounds incredible. That's what the computer world needs, right now. We're all kind of stagnating at the moment.
[doublepost=1534696248][/doublepost]Wait, I just thought of something. Even if you ran the Mac division, shutting such an enormous segment down would likely need the approval/doing of the CEO, not just the "Boss of the Macs".

And I wouldn't put it past Timmy to do so. Ever.

 

[bunnspecial]

A new OS legitimizes an increased hardware requirement - hence more sales on new hardware...more revenue..profit..profit...etc..etc

Nice theory, but don't forget that Apple didn't change the hardware requirements from the introduction of 10.8 until the introduction of 10.12...