New part numbers reveal Apple to refresh most of Mac lineup at WWDC - Page 2

 

+1

 

This is indeed great news, if true. Maybe Apple hasn't abandoned us graphics professionals, after all.

You have to be kidding! There is possibly a whole new generation Mac Pro in the wings, literally days away and you can't wait? Especially with respect to the Pro a wait is highly suggested at this point.

 

Thinking that is so backwards as to defy description. Do you expect people to wire their houses with Cat6?

 

The last computer we used that was physically connected to anything coming out of a wall was our iMac DV.

 

New houses are completely wired - at least around here they are.

If you saw Swan jumping with glee over the latest GDP numbers you'd have an idea why the goodies are headed straight to Oz.

well not around here  - east coast USA. You can get it wired as an option - by the time you figure out exactly where you want the ports, which room, which wall, and then paid the man $2000+ for the work - 

oh yeah - i hope apple leaves out the wifi /s

 

Yeah, iMacs should be, but they sometimes aren't.  My iMac sits right next to my Time Capsule, but I'm too lazy to find an ethernet cable!

 

Totally agree about the current keyboards.  I put up with a keyboard like that on a laptop, because it's a laptop and needs to be portable, but at my desk I want something better.  Currently using a Microsoft keyboard that I'm actually delighted with.

I haven't used the wired ports on my routers since 2005, except when I was having to do initial setup on a new router.  I don't think most people are using their ethernet ports these days either.  I'm actually using the wired Apple keyboard so I could have teh 10 key.  Only issue is Apple has the math symbols in different spots.  Not a fan of the super tiny wireless keyboard.

 

 

Based on the low prices of the standalone kits, I think they are probably a way to add faster WiFi to existing hardware -- either chip replacement or externally connected new WiFi.

 

It is kinda kludgy and non-Apple, but I'd like to be able to upgrade the WiFi on several Maxcs purchases in the last year.

Why would Apple put wifi in an iMac or a Mac Pro for that matter, if it makes no sense?

 

I wonder how the graphics card is going to work since the only display Apple makes is Thunderbolt.

 

 

Some people just don't like wires and  WiFi is fast enough for their use patterns. Not everyone lives in a brand new home.

Most likely the refresh of all the hardware will coincide with the release of Mountain Lion.

 

Looking forward to the refresh as I'm in the market for another Macbook.

Where is 'here'?

 

Why? That's $30 per machine they lose. Mountain Lion is also months away; you want to keep waiting for these hardware updates? They wouldn't announce them early, so they wouldn't be announcing them at WWDC, then.

 

SoCal, probably.

 

I disagree. It should never be fully about software. Apple is about complete solutions where it is a marriage between hardware and software. WWDC embracing Apple's roots should be the standard and should always accompany new hardware with the possibility of new products entirely.

 

Hmm. I don't think it should necessarily always accompany new hardware, but I agree with everything else you've said. That makes sense.

 

The "Big Bang" of Macs.  Interesting.

 

This is sending a message to Intel: We've been waiting for you to get your feces together.  For a long, long, time.

 

Just a matter of time before Apple begins migrating the MacBook Air to 64-bit multi-core ARM.

And no, "Wont' run Windows!" isn't a valid counter-argument.  Because the same thing will be

said about those "no compromises" iPad clones Ballmer is dreaming about.  You know, the ARM-based

pads that will run Windows RT?  With the Metro UI.  With no "XP Mode" for lazy corporate IT

groups to fall back on.  Yeah, *that* will work.  Sure.

 

Not only homes... Years ago (1980's, before WiFi) we installed a twisted pair (1 Gb) LAN in the Marin Civic Center building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

 

The building has a central atrium surrounded by offices with solid walls facing the atrium and window walls facing the exterior.

 

Because it is an historical site, we were not allowed to drill any holes or have any exposed cable... Fun install.

 

 

Places like this would kill for WiFi.

 

 

 

Exactly!  Based on Apple's style/strategy of secrecy, it would be almost impossible to open up new OS features and APIs with out having corresponding hardware to take advantage of them.  

 

I suspect both iOS 6 and OSX ML will be full of features that will be able to exploit new hardware.  Especially iOS, as there has been no developer seed of iOS 6 -- and no iOS developer anything since iOS 5 was released last October.

 

When Apple announces new things, they usually demonstrate them in operation...  this requires close integration of new hardware and new software, to deliver a complete solution.

 

No competitor can do this -- it's an Apple exclusive that they continue to exploit!

 

Who says Mountain Lion is months away?

 

I think they'll release it at WWDC on Monday. Great selling point for the new machines.

Despite WWDC's overall emphasis on developers, programming, etc.the initial Monday morning keynote has often had a mix of software and hardware announcements. I could see a certain rhythm developing, however:

 

March - iPad

June - WWDC: preview iOS + OS X, new Mac hardware

September/October - iPhone, new iOS release

 

WWDC is a good time to announce new Macs - just in time for graduates, back to school, etc. It's also a crowd-pleaser for developers. Between March, June, September, and December (holidays), Apple would be in people's lives/minds year-round.

 

Apple.

 

 

Except we haven't even had a GM yet.

Where can you even route them there without problems?

ASUS has a 1.75Gbps 802.11ac router released (well, almost) with 2.4GHz+5GHz channel bonding or something to that effect. If Apple wants to continue to be the first with WiFi, as it has claimed to be in the case of 802.11b, g, and n then this kind of has to include the new 802.11ac standard in at least one router.

If all we get are spec bumps quietly updated on Apple's website it will be a disappointment.  Especially with rumors of a thinner MBP and retina displays.  And some products that are due for a design refresh.  Earlier this year Tim Cook said Apple was working on things that would "blow your mind".  None of the iOS rumors we've heard so far (facebook integration, new maps, redesigned itunes/ibooks/app store) sound very "mind blowing".  Jony Ive recently said the stuff his team is working on is the best they've ever done.  WTH are they working on then?  Gotta be more than the new iPhone.
 

Perhaps not, but "won't run any existing OS X software" and "is 1/10 the speed of the current MBA" are quite valid counterarguments.

I just don't see any way that Apple is going to release an MBA that's a fraction of the speed of the current one. It's not going to happen. If ARM ever catches up to the point that it's roughly as fast as the chips Apple is using in MBA at that time, then it might happen, but there's still the software problem. People run MS Office, Photoshop, and so on on their MBAs.

I could, however, see a new category - basically an improved iPad rather than a scaled down MBA. Take an iPad, add a hinge and keyboard. Put in a much larger battery and you have a 2-3 pound device which is an iPad with attached keyboard. Call it an iPad Pro. That would have a far better chance than a crippled MBA.

This makes sense.

I don't think Apple needs to be first with 802.11ac. When it becomes popular enough that you're likely to run into it, they'll add it, but there's very, very little advantage to being the first mover on something like that.

That said, it's entirely possible that the 802.11 chip used in the next Macs is capable of it and only awaits a firmware upgrade to implement it.

 

If I understand, you're asking where they can route WiFi...  that should be fairly easy with routers like the AirPort Extreme -- you can have multiple satellite AirPort boxes installed to extend the area of coverage.  Same as for a college campus, enterprise or a hospital.

 

 

What if Apple were to completely re-imagine the camera capabilities of iOS devices?  I rarely carry a camera except to the grandkid's soccer games -- a Panny AVCHD video cam (cost $1,000 about 5 years ago).

 

Wouldn't it be great if the best camera (the one you have with you) were, in fact, better than most of the cameras in the $500-700 price range.

Seriously.... MAC PRO TIME!!! Who cares about incremental laptop and imac updates.  GIVE US A MAC PRO!!!  Hope they don't Finalcut X it and turn it into an iMac Pro or something. 

 

You say that as though that's disparaging.

Not even close - Saskatoon (i said "here" because obviously no one has heard of it).  Saskatoon is in Saskatchewan.

I've been contemplating buying the current 15" MBP (with the antiglare screen) to replace my 2.1 GHZ MBP (whose fans run almost non-stop). 

 

I'm worried that if I don't pick up a current model and instead buy one of the newer MBPs, I'll be stuck with 10.7 or higher and I hate the skinny scroll bars that you get in 10.7, you can hardly grab them with your mouse cursor. This is a dumb idea. I've also heard that the new MBPs may not have an ethernet port and I prefer not to use wi-fi. 

 

The flip side is, the new MBPs may have a retina display and 4 core processors instead of the dual core and two other virtual cores that you currently get as I understand it. 

 

Decisions. I hate em...

 

That's already the case. You can't use anything lower than 10.7.2 on the current model. People need to get over their aversion to Lion.

 

 

THIS is your reason for not wanting Lion? Why would you even do that? Two fingers on the trackpad, man!

 

 

I'm actually mixed about that myself. I'll only accept it if they have 802.11ac.

It is.

I really don't know how they could continue to call them MacBook Pro if they don't have an ethernet port. But if they have USB 3 you could get an adapter I suppose. Perhaps someone needs to develop a replacement for the RJ45 that is not as fat, because the notebooks are apparently getting too thin to accommodate the standard plug.

 

Nope.

That line from Chase Jarvis cannot be quoted enough times! I think over time the camera in cellphones will be technically so advanced that they, perhaps not better, will outsell standalone cameras. The P&S ones, not DSLR obviously.

I think the poster meant Gigahertz, the 3 iPads are .11n but still on 2.4GHz.

It's an assumption, and that is the mother of all screwups.

The Mac Pro is needed until they drop the assinine practice of making all their displays super-blinding-mega-gloss-mirrors.

There is a growing consensus that Apple does this to force the sale of the Mac Pro lineup - as iMacs with super-blinding-mega-gloss-mirrors are simply not an option for professionals.
In other words, we will only see a matte/functional display from Apple when they finally do drop the Mac Pro.

If they do release an iMac that is suitable for professionals or those who live/work above ground... I know of 28 that will sell immediatly.
No professionals want Apple's 'Mole Machine's' - as they have come to be known as.
And the Thunder-mole displays... not selling so well i hear.