...the RMB which just hit retail stores in critical mass 5 months ago and is the last thing they need to refresh.
Oh? Is that why there's 9 pages of comments on this thread? I guess nobody cares about Skylake. Or maybe you're taking your opinion and applying it to everyone else's.
But be excited about the new Pro which is what you all want anyway.
Nah, I'll just wait a few months for what I actually am wanting: the Skylake MacBook. Along with many others. But I apologize - since you don't want one, no one wants one. Please forgive me.
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The iPad came from the iPhone which came from the iPod, and the only reason the iPod took off as a gamechanging CE device is because Apple decided to make a version that was easily compatible with Windows right out of the box. The Music Store, the App Store, none of this happens if Apple decided to be myopic and ignore the Windows opportunity.
While this is all true, let's not compare Apple like 15 years ago in the rebuilding Jobs era to the current day Tim Cook Apple, as of today sitting in the position as the most valuable company in the world.
Apple doesn't need to appease Windows users. They made the iPod move when they were desparate and not so far from bankruptcy, when EVERYONE had Windows. Apple's user base was pathetic back then. Today, Apple makes what they proudly declare the best desktop operating system, and there are millions and millions that agree with them (myself, many of my friends, and my family included). Back then, this wasn't the case. Brand loyalty has always been high, but regarding the Mac, market share was miniscule around the era the iPod was developed.
While I definitely won't argue that an easy Windows option (1-click rather than Bootcamp) would be, at least, a short term profitable business venture, I think to a certain degree it would erode some of the brand value for the OSX OS. Apple already has Bootcamp for those that have to use Windows, I don't see them going any further than that.
The important thing to remember here is how small of a percentage of customers would really give a crap about this feature. Businesses aren't going to buy Macs then load Windows on them at a largely deployable scale. Think about how expensive and unnecessary that would be. And Windows users that chose Windows as a decision based on cost aren't going to clamor to buy a Mac, at a premium, and then pay to have Windows installed, at a premium as well. In my opinion, those 2 user scenarios (big business/cost buyers) make up the vast majority of Windows users today. I don't have the market data to support it, but you get the gist. To me, the small revenue gain from a move such as this is not worth the erosion of brand value that would come along with such a move. Think about the dramatic tech blogs: they'd declare it "the day OSX died". Given Apple's current position in the market, where there small market share is very profitable, the fear of that alone should warrant Apple to consider this idea not worth their time.
I do, however, think it is an interesting topic, and it'd be interesting to see this occur. I don't think we'll see it anytime in the next 5 years, though