Apple puts further 2008 Mac updates on ice

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
An Apple spokesperson has cooled down expectations of a last-minute refresh to the Mac line, or any other products, before the start of the new year.



Company press representative Bill Evans has told Macworld that Apple's lineup is fixed in place for the rest of 2008.



"Our holiday line-up is set," the official says.



The news dampens expectations for late 2008, which according to roadmaps would have Apple launch minor iMac updates before the year closed out.



The computer maker has let just over six months slip past since revising the all-in-one desktop in late April but was thought to be readying a fall update that would bring the processors into line with Intel's latest technology. Although the iMac has been technically using a group of non-standard processors that have the same performance characteristics as Intel's latest mobile chips, they technically use last-generation parts that don't necessarily share all the performance or feature advantages as the latest Core 2 Duo components.



These current 20- and 24-inch offerings also trail behind the new MacBooks in terms of video features. Both the Radeon HD 2400 and 2600 have remained unchanged since the aluminum iMac was first introduced in August 2007, or 15 months ago, leaving hardware H.264 video acceleration and other improvements aside. Similarly, a promise to add DisplayPort to all Macs will now have to be shelved until 2009.



It's unknown what, if anything, is pushing the next iMac update at least two months into the future, though Apple executives have alluded to a greater role for NVIDIA hardware in Macs in the long term that would represent a major architectural change to any remaining system, all of which at present use Intel mainboard chipsets.



A Mac mini overhaul is also expected in the future, though there had been no hard evidence to suggest it would arrive this year.

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 106
    well at least the customer I sold that 24inch imac to today doesn't get a callback from me next week.





    Shame on the mac mini, that thing is an embarrassment
  • Reply 2 of 106
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    I predicted nothing else would get updated this year. It's nice to be right, but it sucks that nothing else will be updated. We'll obviously see new Mac desktops at MWSF, but what can we expect? The same iMac case seems likely, but with MBP tech inside.



    • Will they introduce one larger than 24"? I doubt it.

    • Will they remove FW400 from the consumer desktops, while leaving the FW800? It's a toss up since they clearly have the room, but I'm leaning toward the removal to show that FW400 as a port interface is dead.

    • Will the Mac Mini finally get it's long overdue makeover? I think so, perhaps even as a completely different product, and made out of aluminum and with a little more focus on the business side of things.

    • Will they introduce more ACDs? I think that is the plan, if they will be ready in time.

    • Will they introduce an Mac Pro with i7? I think those will be coming in February.

    • Will we see a demo of Snow Leopard's mega mega performance? 100%.

    • Will the iPhone get doubling in storage, like it did last year? WE won't see a storage bump as the prices aren't falling fast enough, but i think there is a slim chance for adding a 32GB model, but this seems slim as they already have two models on the market.



    This MWSF looks like it'll have a lot of stuff. I think we're going to have to stop expecting Apple to update their HW as fast as they did in the past. While the new milling solution can help provide some fast changing to the frame, I think the logistics of having to sell so more Macs each quarter is forcing them to slow down their update cycles. I hope I'm wrong as I've already promised my new Mac to my niece for her 10th birthday in March.
  • Reply 3 of 106
    Hey - more time to save money, and maybe better tech in the next machine...
  • Reply 4 of 106
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    ? Will they remove FW400 from the consumer desktops, while leaving the FW800? It's a toss up since they clearly have the room, but I'm leaning toward the removal to show that FW400 as a port interface is dead.



    That's not nearly as compelling of a reason. Not enough space on the edge for a jack, not enough space on the board for a controller chip, OK, fine. But neither is a problem with iMac. Jacks aren't a problem with mini, maybe board space might be an issue if the chipset is larger.



    Quote:

    ? Will the Mac Mini finally get it's long overdue makeover? I think so, perhaps even as a completely different product, and made out of aluminum and with a little more focus on the business side of things.



    Mini doesn't just have some aluminum already, it is a third aluminum by weight. And there is no need to go the expensive machining route as shell parts are already very minimal. Weight and rigidity aren't problems either.
  • Reply 5 of 106
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


    That's not nearly as compelling of a reason. Not enough space on the edge for a jack, not enough space on the board for a controller chip, OK, fine. But neither is a problem with iMac. Jacks aren't a problem with mini, maybe board space might be an issue if the chipset is larger.



    It's not, but how long after they removed other ports from Mac notebooks did they remove them from desktops? Most notebooks have more ports than an iMac has, yet an iMac has much more space for it. Did the RJ-11 port really need to go when it's cheap and takes up so little space? Compelling or not, it seems very Apple to me for them to remove FW400 from the iMac (and their Mac Mini if that is updated). I even wonder if the FW400 ports will be changed to FW3200, but that seems much, much less likely until 2010.





    Quote:

    Mini doesn't just have some aluminum already, it is a third aluminum by weight. And there is no need to go the expensive machining route as shell parts are already very minimal. Weight and rigidity aren't problems either.



    I didn't say mill it. It's desktop machine, like the iMac, so a pressing would be fine. It's the last of Apple's Macs to go aluminium and they seem to want to go green.
  • Reply 6 of 106
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    I didn't say mill it. It's desktop machine, like the iMac, so a pressing would be fine. It's the last of Apple's Macs to go aluminium and they seem to want to go green.



    On the mini, making the shell from stamped aluminum would be a downgrade.
  • Reply 7 of 106
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


    On the mini, making the shell from stamped aluminum would be a downgrade.



    I was looking at it being more likely done like the old MBP designs, with a thin rubber ring around the top edge, so the top and sides aren't one piece. I can't see a full top and sides pressing until the redesign the entire case shape.



    It may be evolving to a different product in that class and under a different name, but I don't think it's going away.
  • Reply 8 of 106
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    A bit risky. Ideally you want Mac to keep up with PC hardware wise, so that a holiday buyer sees that it's the same chip in both and decides purely on software and design = a win for Mac every time.
  • Reply 9 of 106
    ivladivlad Posts: 742member
    Here goes the economy slowing down Apple.
  • Reply 10 of 106
    Bummer - I was holding out for my switch to Mac. And so I'll just wait to decide when the new imacs finally come out - because I'm sure not going to buy a desk top with less graphics power than a laptop. The imac goes into the tank until refreshed.
  • Reply 11 of 106
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    Kill the mini, make a new mini tower, refresh the iMacs and add a standard DVD slot to the Apple TV. That would pretty much make the perfect Macworld 2009.



    Then September 2009 announce their 42" Plasma TV, and Macworld 2010 announce the 10" Mac touch + SDK. Boy I'm good!
  • Reply 12 of 106
    I'm in a position to buy two imacs. One for work, one for home. Would have purchased if even a minor refresh.



    Now I'll wait till after the holidays. Or maybe I'll just go and get one HP and wait on the other one (but never both) given the substantial markup with Apple.



    Shocked they did not do a minor update given it is the holiday season and the prices seem a bit rich for the imac package considering what you get elsewhere or in the mac notebook lines...



    Suspect this WILL hurt desktop sales a lot, but that the high margins on what they do have (especially given the aging parts and premium prices) will partially offset any loses from the corporate perspective...



    Bummer...
  • Reply 13 of 106
    does that happen often?

    if it was not for this article I'd thought we had new products coming tomorrow, tuesday.
  • Reply 14 of 106
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post


    Kill the mini, make a new mini tower, refresh the iMacs and add a standard DVD slot to the Apple TV. That would pretty much make the perfect Macworld 2009.



    Then September 2009 announce their 42" Plasma TV, and Macworld 2010 announce the 10" Mac touch + SDK. Boy I'm good!



    I disagree with everything you wrote accept the iMac refresh. I think a machine that ties into a TV is more than enough. I see no reason for Apple to make a TV since they all connect via HDMI. What I'd like to see is an HDMI spec that ties in the TV IR signal so it can passthrough the TV to the AppleTV (or another media center appliance) so you don't have to use multiple remotes.



    I think the Mac Mini may actually get bigger, but not the xMac that people are talking about. A DVD on the AppleTV is dead in the water, but an add on device that connects via the USB port would work as you could buy DVD or Blu-ray (even thoough a BD on this would be prohibitively expensive if Apple wanted to use a slot-loading drive), but I'd wager Apple is still trying to quash optical media competition.



    I really, really hope you get your 10" Mac Touch, but I think the future looks better for a Mac Netbook, and I think that was zero chance at this point.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tamtam View Post


    does that happen often?

    if it was not for this article I'd thought we had new products coming tomorrow, tuesday.



    Yes it does. What sucks is when they do the Tuesday update around 8am EST so you think it's product change. This late at night is probably just maintenance.
  • Reply 15 of 106
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tamtam View Post


    does that happen often?

    if it was not for this article I'd thought we had new products coming tomorrow, tuesday.



    Yep, just noticed that too. Hmmm. Wonder what they're up to? Usually the store doesn't go down for small updates. At least I don't remember seeing it down before small refreshes.



    Maybe they have one last update after all. Or they could be adding the 24 inch LED Cinema display.
  • Reply 16 of 106
    wircwirc Posts: 302member
    The store is down. Tis might be a clever ploy.
  • Reply 17 of 106
    Yes, Canada too is closed on this early Tuesday morning, November 4, 2008 at 12:54 AM Eastern Standard Time.
  • Reply 18 of 106
    phongphong Posts: 219member
    Maybe they're finally adding those in-ear headphones and mic they announced back in September. They said they'd have them last month.



    Here's hoping they let me do VOIP on my iPod Touch.
  • Reply 19 of 106
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Phong View Post


    Maybe they're finally adding those in-ear headphones and mic they announced back in September. They said they'd have them last month.



    Here's hoping they let me do VOIP on my iPod Touch.



    Oh yeah, I'm waiting for those to be tested for quality and to definitively see if the volume controls on the cable work with the 3G iPhone. If not, no sale.
  • Reply 20 of 106
    tbagginstbaggins Posts: 2,306member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    I disagree with everything you wrote accept the iMac refresh.





    Meh. Never anything wrong with a Mac mid-tower... no matter what anyone has to say about it.
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