Apple poised for special event this September
Although it has not yet been announced, investment bank Piper Jaffray believes it's only a matter of time before Apple reveals plans to hold a special event next month to usher in a new array of iPods and Mac notebooks.
The Cupertino-based company has used a September gathering to launch new iPods for the past three years, analyst Gene Munster advised clients in a research report Wednesday, adding that Apple shares have risen about 4 percent on average from the week before those events to the week after.
Historically, shares have risen more than 47 percent between the week before those events to the four months after, he said.
At this year's event, Munster is expecting Apple to refresh its iPod family through a number of "pricing and capacity changes." Specifically, he's looking for capacity increases to iPod shuffles and iPod nanos, but no price reductions on those models. Conversely, the iPod touch is likely to see a redesign "and a new $199 price point, in line with the iPhone."
Sharing the stage with new iPods will be a complete overhaul of the company's mainstream notebook families, Munster believes. In particular, the analyst sees Apple unveiling new industrial designs for both the MacBook and MacBook Pro, and possibly re-entering the $999 price point on the MacBook as it once offered alongside the notebook's iBook predecessor.
"We note that the MacBook has had the same design since its launch over two years ago, and the MacBook Pro has had essentially the same design since its launch over 2.5 years ago, which was very similar in design to the PowerBook G4 released over 5.5 years ago," he told clients. "To compare, the long-running iMac G5 design lasted three years."
In his note to clients, the Piper Jaffray analyst also weighed in with his thoughts on how Apple will expand the presence of its multi-touch technology on the Mac going forward. He said gestures recently added to the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro "are just the beginning of Apple's exploration of multi-touch on the Mac," and that the company clearly holds plans to leverage its technology portfolio from the iPhone to simultaneously advance Mac experience.
"Currently, these gestures require the same touch-sensing technology used in the iPhone, but they use a traditional looking trackpad," the analyst told clients. "Eventually, we expect Apple to change the trackpad to backlit color screens for a more dynamic user interface on the Mac."
Ultimately, Munster expects Apple to introduce a full touch-screen MacBook, although "not until the technology has fully matured over the next 2-3 years."
The analyst reiterated his Buy rating and $250 price target on shares of Apple.
The Cupertino-based company has used a September gathering to launch new iPods for the past three years, analyst Gene Munster advised clients in a research report Wednesday, adding that Apple shares have risen about 4 percent on average from the week before those events to the week after.
Historically, shares have risen more than 47 percent between the week before those events to the four months after, he said.
At this year's event, Munster is expecting Apple to refresh its iPod family through a number of "pricing and capacity changes." Specifically, he's looking for capacity increases to iPod shuffles and iPod nanos, but no price reductions on those models. Conversely, the iPod touch is likely to see a redesign "and a new $199 price point, in line with the iPhone."
Sharing the stage with new iPods will be a complete overhaul of the company's mainstream notebook families, Munster believes. In particular, the analyst sees Apple unveiling new industrial designs for both the MacBook and MacBook Pro, and possibly re-entering the $999 price point on the MacBook as it once offered alongside the notebook's iBook predecessor.
"We note that the MacBook has had the same design since its launch over two years ago, and the MacBook Pro has had essentially the same design since its launch over 2.5 years ago, which was very similar in design to the PowerBook G4 released over 5.5 years ago," he told clients. "To compare, the long-running iMac G5 design lasted three years."
In his note to clients, the Piper Jaffray analyst also weighed in with his thoughts on how Apple will expand the presence of its multi-touch technology on the Mac going forward. He said gestures recently added to the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro "are just the beginning of Apple's exploration of multi-touch on the Mac," and that the company clearly holds plans to leverage its technology portfolio from the iPhone to simultaneously advance Mac experience.
"Currently, these gestures require the same touch-sensing technology used in the iPhone, but they use a traditional looking trackpad," the analyst told clients. "Eventually, we expect Apple to change the trackpad to backlit color screens for a more dynamic user interface on the Mac."
Ultimately, Munster expects Apple to introduce a full touch-screen MacBook, although "not until the technology has fully matured over the next 2-3 years."
The analyst reiterated his Buy rating and $250 price target on shares of Apple.
Comments
Question: Does Apple usually announce these types of events? If so, typically how many weeks beforehand?
Is that why Apple shares are up so much (11+ poins ~7% as of this writing) in the past couple of days?
And $250.00 is way to conservative. Once the other countries start selling iPhones, and China gets on board ? $350.00 or more, BEFORE it's splits is way more likely
and the MacBook Pro has had essentially the same design since its launch over 2.5 years ago, which was very similar in design to the PowerBook G4 released over 5.5 years ago," he told clients.
[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]
When he says "same design," is he referring to the same color? Because the design of the MacBook Pro has completely changed since the PowerBook G4.
Just a few changes..
New Processors,
New Motherboard design,
New RAM,
New Keyboard design,
LED displays,
New Trackpad with MultiTouch,
iSight Camera added,
Magsafe connector added,
Backlight Keyboard added,
New Speakers and placement,
New Wi-FI 802.11n,
Bluetooth 2.1 added,
Firewire 800 port,
PCI express slot added,
Slimmer enclosure.
Basically, the only thing that has not changed since the original PowerBook G4 is the color.
I just don't get why people always say it has not been redesigned in ages.
I say they won't release any new Macbooks in September but rather save that for MacWorld in January.... just my assumption.
This site has been predicting new MacBooks for Q3 2008 for the last couple months, based on industrial design leaks and existing MB inventories shrinking. But before that they were predicting the release for Q2 2008, so who knows. All I know is I just can't wait!!
When he says "same design," is he referring to the same color? Because the design of the MacBook Pro has completely changed since the PowerBook G4.
Just a few changes..
New Processors,
New Motherboard design,
New RAM,
New Keyboard design,
LED displays,
New Trackpad with MultiTouch,
iSight Camera added,
Magsafe connector added,
Backlight Keyboard added,
New Speakers and placement,
New Wi-FI 802.11n,
Bluetooth 2.1 added,
Firewire 800 port,
PCI express slot added,
Slimmer enclosure.
Basically, the only thing that has not changed since the original PowerBook G4 is the color.
I just don't get why people always say it has not been redesigned in ages.
They don't look significantly different though, that was his point. And he'd be right. Same color etc. Same size trackpad (I think). The new ones will have bigger trackpads (probably), black keyboards and a more tapered (tear-drop) shape. That will be "different".
In fact it it has that combined with a magnetic latch I'll likely purchase one to go along with my cracked iPhone (cracked as in the glass)
This site has been predicting new MacBooks for Q3 2008 for the last couple months, based on industrial design leaks and existing MB inventories shrinking. But before that they were predicting the release for Q2 2008, so who knows. All I know is I just can't wait!!
Yeah, when Apple sends out a notice to retailers to buy enough stock now to cover three weeks worth of Macbooks sales (this was a week ago), it most likely means they're ramping down production of the current model to start selling a new one in the next 4-6 weeks. I'm 95% certain new MBs and MBPs of some sort are coming out in September or October of this year...which is why I'm holding out on buying one until then for law school that starts in a couple of weeks. I'll make do with my Dell... If there were a significant chance it'd be January before they released updated notebooks, I'd have bought mine two months ago.
In my view, the next MacBook and MacBook Pro updates will likely be incremental. There's also the possibility that MacBook may get the trackpad. September/October is consistent with prior updates however November shouldn't be ruled out as Apple updated these lines in November 2007.
Let's not forget about the iMac, which is also prime for an update during this same timeframe.
I wouldn't make sense for Apple to release 'redesigned' systems just prior to the holiday season because of the risk. What if a production, manufacturing, or design issue presents itself and Apple ends up on the short end of the stick during the busiest shopping period of the year? Besides, the best time to rollout redesigns would be in 2009 when the next Intel chipsets hit the market.
Hence, my incremental update expectation on the next MacBook and MacBook Pro releases.
Basically, the only thing that has not changed since the original PowerBook G4 is the color.
I just don't get why people always say it has not been redesigned in ages.
They're talking about its overall case design: from a few feet away, most people would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between a MacBook Pro and a PowerBook G4. A lot of under-the-hood improvements have been made, but the case has remained the same for the most part.
It's a good design, but don't expect Apple to leave the MacBook and MacBook Pro lines unchanged after releasing the very sleek, futuristic, yet durable MacBook Air this past January. From the Air's construction, we can pretty much assume the case material will be aluminum and the enclosure itself will be streamlined with tapered edges, maybe the adoption of the Air's new MagSafe connector, and I'd say it's rather likely the Pro's keyboard will be stripped in favor of the kind used in the MacBook, MacBook Air, and bundled with the new aluminum iMac.
I doubt they'll kill the internal disc drive on all their notebooks just yet, as they did with the Air, but doing so would allow them to be even thinner.
Then of course, we'll see the usual under-the-hood improvements: faster processors, more storage (probably optional SSDs), better graphics cards, etc.
The historical perspective is accurate, and you are probably right, but would you call your note an "analysis" of facts disclosed by Apple management, or did you become the new Apple spokeperson, in charge of keeping management morale by boosting stock price with unsubstantiated rumors?
It's high time that Apple be covered by reputable stock analysts who report facts, not rumors and speculation.
BTW, the fact that Apple stock is held by hedge funds should be worrisome to long term investors and anyone interested in the development of the Mac OS X platform, as we all know that hedge fund managers are there for a quick profit. Beware of the day when they drop the stock for a more profitable "investment".
See: http://www.nypost.com/seven/07212008...alk_120853.htm
I just don't get why people always say it has not been redesigned in ages.
Uh, because the current MacBook Pro is has almost the same case design as the Aluminium G4s that were released in 2003 maybe?
Compare PowerBook G4 with MacBook Pro. Spot the differences
Uh, because the current MacBook Pro is has almost the same case design as the Aluminium G4s that were released in 2003 maybe?
Compare PowerBook G4 with MacBook Pro. Spot the differences
Waaay different LOL
Forgot about the magnetic latch and big Multi-Touch trackpads in my comment above. I'm really liking Apple's use of magnets to eliminate mechanical latches and power connectors. Oh, another thing to add to the new MacBook/Pro with list: LED backlit displays.
Also, if they're going to taper the edges, I wonder if we'll see a similar trap door of ports like the Air.
*The 3G shuffle gets capacity bumps to 2GB and 4GB at current prices, but also gains a tiny display. It may be slightly larger.
*The nano is killed off, replaced by the new shuffle.
*The iPod touch drops in price, and essentially replaces the nano, pushing everyone towards unified games and software in the App Store. An updated design may include playback controls on the body, and an internal speaker.
8GB - $199
16GB- $299
32GB - $399
Waaay different LOL
Although they use the same basic design, the cases are different. The Macbook Pro is larger than the Powerbook, with a 15.4" display vs 15.2", thinner than the Powerbook, and has the obvious addition of an iSight and IR sensor.
And of course the internal layout is completely different.
Is that why Apple shares are up so much (11+ poins ~7% as of this writing) in the past couple of days?
Nothing to do with Apple. Oil is down, and the markets have risen a lot, pulling Apple up a bit with them.
When he says "same design," is he referring to the same color? Because the design of the MacBook Pro has completely changed since the PowerBook G4.
Just a few changes..
New Processors,
New Motherboard design,
New RAM,
New Keyboard design,
LED displays,
New Trackpad with MultiTouch,
iSight Camera added,
Magsafe connector added,
Backlight Keyboard added,
New Speakers and placement,
New Wi-FI 802.11n,
Bluetooth 2.1 added,
Firewire 800 port,
PCI express slot added,
Slimmer enclosure.
Basically, the only thing that has not changed since the original PowerBook G4 is the color.
I just don't get why people always say it has not been redesigned in ages.
When people say design, they mean the outside, the case.