Apple to host Mac event next Tuesday - Page 11

Hello and Welcome.

The usual pattern is that the online stores around the world will go down and be replaced by this sign:



Shortly (hours/minutes) after the stores will re-open and all will be revealed. I've never known it to be within the hour but it's not too long.

I'm pretty sure griffin was talking about bricks-and-mortar stores. My bet is that on this occasion, new iMacs are being shipped as we type to US Apple Stores around the country, ready to be put on display after the announcement is made. International stores are not normally "updated" so quickly.

Apple stores sometimes have stock of new items the day they're announced and sometimes by that weekend. What'll happen this time is anyone's guess.

Whoops, fair one.

Yes! Thank you!

iMac, ShmiMac.

Give us Logic 8, Logic Studio, or Logic Whatever It's Going To Be Called NOW!!!

All this squabbling over which professor has the worst grammar, or which professor is the most oblivious to the rampant use of laptops among students, or whatever, is beside the point! Logic is languishing and a source of national embarrassment.

Apple needs to make sure the engineers they bought from Emagic aren't spending all their time contemplating stock options and beachfront property.

We need Logic {Next Version} and we need it NOW!

Stop waiting for Logic 8 and just get Pro Tools. I want an iMac ShmiMac.

I'm in the exact same situation as you and I too plan to get a 24" iMac when the new ones come out. It can be a hassle syncing two computers, but I'm so fed up with the wire clutter of my MB hooked up to the external monitor and all the peripherals, plus the graphics on the MB won't run Age of Empires 3 well enough for me. Also, disconnecting everything just to move to another room and having to hook it all up again is a big pain. I'm looking forward to returning to a desktop for my main computing and saving the MB strictly for my portable computing.

Those of you with laptop+external monitor set-ups, and who are frequently switching between having one and two monitors, may find this program helpful.

I've written two applescripts - one re-arranges windows and re-sizes the dock for single-monitor use, the other for dual-monitor use. Display Watcher then executes these scripts at the appropriate times.

F ProTools!

I know I may just be a cat, but I wouldn't be surprised if the next version of Logic severs it from TDM once and for all, with greater Mac integration at the expense of ProTools compatibility.

Native power is no longer an issue, 3rd party interfaces sound better than Digi's (e.g. Apogee and now even Prism), and with lower latency systems like Symphony, new Apple Firewire audio drivers in the pipeline, and an emphasis on class compliance in Leopard, ProTools proprietary hardware is becoming the Synclavier of DAWs. I know, not really, not with its userbase. More like Avid to Apple's Final Cut Pro. But aside from the fact that everyone uses it, I think a lot ProTools users are looking for excuses to migrate. The new iMac ShmiMac with Logic {Next} will be a rather tempting morsel for all but the TDM among us. For TDM users at the project studio level, new Apple desktops + Logic {Next} + Leopard will steal hearts and minds.

I know I may just be a cat eater, but I think I'm going to have to disagree. I have no reason to migrate to the non existent Logic "Whatever" and I don't see Pro Tools going anywhere anytime soon. So, take that you pussy...






...cat.

Thanks for the tip Mr. H. I'll have to check that out.

I just want the next Logic to be so great that finally Digidesign has to release some "things" more in the midrange (more than LE and less than TDM).

Just like Apple's hardware is having a huge gap in terms of power between mobile-hybrid dual-core "desktops" and the quad/eight cores workstations, Digidesign has a huge gap in the midrange of its lineup (from completly native and limited 18 I/O max. products to unlimited but very expensive TDM setups).

If Apple has a midrange solution (hardware+software) that trounces any Digidesign's LE system, that's good for both: good for Apple as more people will use Logic XXX and their computers and good for Protools users as Digidesign will mostly have to respond to the threat releasing hardware and software that competes (at least in some ways) with Apple Logic solutions (especially with Apogee Symphony products).

I'm not sure that just a great iMac will suffice (even with an Expresscard slot that would allow the use of, for example, an Apogee Symphony card), especially if it's still a dual-core computer. I think that people with home recording studios or smaller commercial studio rooms would be better served with a small real desktop computer (smaller than the Mac Pro) but with full "desktop" components (cpu, chipset, hard drives, etc...) and up to quad cores (given the current prices of those chips, it would be a shame not to use them, in an entry-level/midrange Mac).

Having (and still) doing midsize audio projects, I still feel more confident doing them on my old PowerMac with 4 internal ATA drives and a PCI audio card than with a more powerful notebook and a jungle of firewire devices (audio interface and drives). The performance of direct-connected drives (even the old ATA ones) is still miles ahead anything firewire (and obviously USB), and we can say the same for PCI audio interfaces vs USB/Firewire ones...

I hope the iMac will receive a nice upgrade, but I also wish there will be something else that better fits some other users.
iLife and iWork information will be appreciated as well as Logic (it's been a very long time...).

What do you think the chances are Apple will announce the replacement for the 12" PowerBook at the Tuesday event?

Check the title of this thread. What has it got to do with Logic? Find the right thread or go chase a mouse or are you cat-atonic?

National embarrassment, indeed! Call the dept for motherland defense and political correctness!

I wish I were considering options and beachfront property. Maybe I will be soon, on my new ultralight subnotebook 17GHz quad-druple septa-core! Tuesday!!! wOOt!

Amazon has none. Small Dog has just a couple:

http://www.smalldog.com/category/x/x...ag104/wag10004

New iMacs are just around the corner!

I think the iMac is in the 90% certainty rage of what people expect will be announced. There is always a chance, but didn't Apple discontinue that computer when the started making smaller iBooks which are now MacBooks?

I was almost finished with a long reply, when Safari crashed. Needless to say, I'm no going to attempt to duplicate it.

As you can expect that I had a response for all of your statements, you can properly assume that they disagree with most of what you've said.

Mid-Range Tower!! Mid-Range Tower!! Mid-Range Tower!! Mid-Range Tower!! It just soo needs to happen, and if it doesn't happen, then i will be very disappointed in Apple.

Why wouldn't they make one? Because of the cube's lack of success?

Ahem!

No!

According to your previous statements, a MBP, plus the other elements. That changes the game entirely.

And, there will be NO dock. That's just your imagination right now.

You must do all of your figuring with the products that Apple does have, to be fair. You can't come out with an imaginary product to fill out your needs.

When I mentioned a mini/mid tower earlier, you chided me, because Apple doesn't have one. The same restriction holds for you.

We'll see what transpires Tuesday.

Why? I don't feel like I need an external keyboard mouse or monitor. Sure the option of being able to do that on my MBP is appealing and I've given it some thought, but I find I don't really need to. Now I'm not editing movies in FCP or using any pro apps but any iLife app can be easily used with out all the external 'stuff'.

I'm not trying to be condescending, but have you used laptops for any extended period of time? I find the advantages greatly exceed the disadvantages. Especially now that they have desktop power.

I was talking to a loose lipped employee at a Apple Store a few weeks ago and he said product is shipped overnight to the locations in the midwest. There is honestly no product in their store the night before. He said the iPhones came in the first morning and they received two shipments a day both Fri. and Sat. He said that's the way it was with the updated MBP earlier this summer too.

Most people don't seem to want 15" or 17" screens anymore. At least not for a fixed location. That's why monitors are getting larger.

It's a fair question.
I don't know what you meant by "extended", but yes, I've used laptops for a few hours here and there. I've always felt cramped, and I'm not thrilled with the keyboard positioning.

I also don't like the fact that you can't have a separate adjustment for the spacing between you and the keyboard and monitor.

Let's say, almost desktop power. It's not quite there, even with the MBP, which is much more expensive. With the MB, it's not that close.

I have a 24" 1920 x 1200 monitor. I don't want that rez on a 17" screen, though I would take a higher one on my size screen, or a larger screen.

I can say I understand your pain with cables which is why a dock would be so nice.

However, a MBP ($1999) + 24" Dell ($580) is cheaper than a MB ($1099) + iMac 24" ($1999) and my MBP is quiet except when I'm really pushing it. You only need to max out the ram on one box and when you are mobile you have a far more capable machine.

Connecting cables is somewhat less annoying than syncing files for me.

Vinea

I'd rather have a MacBook and an iMac than have a MacBook Pro and have to dock it all the time to use it like a desktop... A dock doesn't seem very Apple-like.

Another factor regarding video cards is most likely the fact that an iMac can not handle most gaming cards because due to the heatsink/fan it requires alot of space not only because of size but heat. Also it appears that iMac only uses cards that do not require an extra power source.

You can't get performance with ony two inches of space, the heat issue alone would kill the machine.

It's kind of funny now that Best Buy is pushing Macs harder they list the Mac Pro under gaming systems along with higher end Gateway Fx and Velocity Micro systems. Its kind of funny when you see a Mac Pro for 2499.00 next to a Gateway with a Q6600, 3gigs of ram and a 8800gts card for 1799.00.

You're right about the space and heat.

As far as comparing it to GTW, well, that's BB's choice. GTW makes cheap products that few considering a Mac Pro vs a PC would even think about getting. Apple wouldn't do that comparison. BOXX, and others of that ilk are a fairer comparison. The Mac Pro is a workstation. However, the price compares to that of Alien and Voodoo machines in the gaming market.

My best guesses for what'll be announced on Tuesday, August 7, at 10 AM PDT, 1 PM EDT. Apple store online will probably be closed during the announcements and will reopen after 2 PM EDT.

New iMacs:
Santa Rosa treatment for the AIO iMac:
Possible new case design
20-inch, 24-inch
2.2 and/or 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo
4MB L2 cache
800 MHz FSB
1GB or 2GB memory standard
16x DL SuperDrive (Blu-ray option?)
NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT graphics with 256MB SDRAM
AirPort Extreme 802.11g/n, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
New keyboard design

New Mac mini:
Santa Rosa treatment with 800 MHz FSB
1.8 or 2 GHz Core 2 Duo
Integrated Intel graphics
1GB memory
80GB or 120GB hard drive
8x DL SuperDrive
AirPort Extreme 802.11g/n, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR

There's also the possibility of an announcement about new versions of iLife and iWork.

Extremely unlikely:
I'm not expecting any mention of Apple TV but it'd be nice if there were an announcement of an Apple Media Center, sort of an Apple TV Pro.

And Aliens are a little more expensive.

Home computers they must own or cannot do work except in the office. I make decent money (more than the average full prof) but my home machines are a Quicksilver and a 1.4Ghz P4. Neither are actually connected because I do my work on my work laptop.

This means research papers, grant proposals, IRB proposals, along with software development work which does actually require a semi-decent machine and IT supplied software to VPN into our compute clusters. Were I a prof I would also add course work prep, class website development, class project reviews and so forth.


I work from the cafeteria, library, meeting rooms, conferences, hotel rooms, private homes, etc. On nice days I would meet folks outside. Starbucks is not the only mobile location possible and some folks LIKE working from Starbucks.


Say what? Misinterpretations?


Implication: If you don't have more than enough computers around campus you might require students to have their own laptops...like at Harvard which Bergermeister mentioned.

Do you believe Harvard has this policy because they don't have enough media labs and computers around their campus?

If not, then how does this sentence respond to his comment that top unis require incoming freshmen own laptops? Because the reason this policy seems to exist is these universities recognize that mobile computing is an important advantage to learning for their students.

A policy disagreement would sound like "we believe that laptops are a disruption in the classroom and prefer that classes that require computers use one of our many well equiped media/computer labs".


Not much need for interpretation here: MDC has 100K students and a lot of money. MDC provides lots of desktops around campus and therefore no need for laptops (as this is both policy and your experience). Smaller colleges with less money might have "difficulties supplying necessary equipment".

Pulled what out of thin air? You say you are mystified as to why folks want laptops, that you know many faculty and staff and only one has a laptop. You say this is because of the excellent IT infrastructure at MDC that is possible by the $$$ from tuition and grants and therefore imply that reports from other academic institutions that have moved toward laptops do so because their infrastructure is not as complete as the one at MDC.

Come on. You've rejected the need for laptops based on your own perceptions and support that rejection with the assertion that because MDC is well equipped they've eliminated any advantage for mobile computing in favor of 4GB USB keys.

Never mind that it hasn't been until Core that we've had pretty decent mobile CPUs and MDC is using the fact that profs have to own a home machine to get work done at home to their advantage. If I were an assistant prof with 2 kids, mortgage in a large metro area and a family income of $50K I'd own a machine at home but its not too likely to be recent or high-end...probably something like a quicksilver or aging P4.

A MBP would certainly represent more compute power. Heck a MB represents more compute power.

Vinea

Fine...a MBP is still cheaper than a MB + iMac by $500.


So is the elimination of the iMac line. We're speaking in hypotheticals so it certainly isn't unfair to stipulate that the elimination of the desktop line is possible if Apple offered the full range of mobile accessories as other major manufacturers.


No sorry. You don't get to constrain the discussion so much that the only possible outcome is the same as your own based on your preconcieved notions.

Your statement was that without a desktop line Apple would go out of business. There was no stipulation or boundry that new items in the lineup could not replace those desktops as long as they aren't desktops. Accessories, phones, laptops, tablets are all fair game.

I conceeded that without the Mac Pro then Apple would be in trouble but that the iMac is expendible.

You can agree with that statement (which would meet your original criteria as the Mac Pro would remain a desktop workstation in the lineup) or you can disagree that the iMac is expendible. It appears you disagree that the iMac is expendible. Hence the further discussion.


I believe, and I can go back and look, that the comment about mid-towers was that Apple has lived without a mid-tower for so long that it is a clear indicator that it is not required in the lineup. Therefore any assertion that because 90% of the market uses mid-towers that one is required of a computer company is false because it is untrue now. Apple doesn't have one. It is a computer company.

Likewise I can make the assertion that a computer company without a desktop CAN exist because i can point to one that happens to be a top 5 manufacturer. You can quibble that it exists because Dell and HP makes desktops but you certainly cannot assert that Toshiba does not exist.

Vinea

I agree about the gateway comparision I just thought it was funny that BB decided to group it that way.

In the long run I really don't think we are going to see that much of a change in the way of hardward Tuesday. I expect the new iMacs to have a new look but in the way of hardware the only real change I expect to see on the standard config is a Dx10 video card for those that want to boot into Vista.

I also agree with your side of the debate regarding moble computing that has been an age old argument that still has not come around. The best and worst thing that Apple did was convert to Intell because now it puts them on the same field as everyone else when it comes to hardware and people are going to expect them to keep pace on upgrades and price and its just not going to happen.

Apple needs to change regarding desktop computing or they have seen their high point.

I will assume that you made well thought out, reasoned, nee brilliant responses in disagreement. You can now assume that I have made razor sharp and devastating rebuttal to all of them leaving them in tatters.

You are right...this is much quicker.

Vinea

Yes they are a computer company but for many years a fairly poor one. There were many years where Apple could barely grab 2.6% market share.

Your Toshiba debate is invalid because they are not just a computer comany they are a fully invested electronics company, Sony the same situation. There is not a single tier 1 computer company that only invested in moble computing.

Only so many people can buy ipods per year, apple tv sucks and the iphone was a hit for about a week as expected.

Apple needs to keep pace with the rest of the world or they are going to fall back to the 2% market share days.

You're absolutely correct about that. AND, the college, of course, doesn't offer perks -vacation time, holidays,health insurance, etc. - to those adjunct profs. Further, it doesn't even have to pay half FICA, because adjuncts are not covered by Soc. Sec. Adjuncts pay into some stock investment program called TIAA-Cref. The college pays nothing. Adjuncts tell me that they could never retire on the minute am't their investments pay.
And when stock prices drop, like now, adjuncts are losing money.
This is the same type of program that the Federal Gov't. wants to foist on the US worker. He could possibly work all his life putting money into investments that would not fund his retirement. But that would be great for big business. They would be free from paying their half of FICA.
I'm sorry. I get carried away when I think about how the middle class is being squeezed. My bad.

Yes, I'm just cheating. Of course, if the MB had Santa Rosa, an ExpressCard slot and/or a dock I wouldn't need to cheat.


Yes, cost is a weakness. But the iMac is still a crappy bang for the buck machine. A MB and a 24" monitor is an 80% solution. The cost delta between a MBP + monitor and a iMac 24" is $500.

/shrug


I would expect that folks that buy the ACDs today would continue to buy them. Folks that buy Crucial RAM and 3rd party monitors would continue to do so.


Then they pay more. Just like those that buy RAM from Apple. This is NOT a downside for Apple unless it significantly constrains their growth. Probably it requires some juggling of ACD pricing if they want to dump the iMac which i presume the would NOT do unless it was economically reasonable to do so.

But assuming that they will not eliminate the iMac does not equate to they CANNOT eliminate the iMac and survive.


I think that if Apple dumps the iMac in favor of only a laptop consumer line they would MAKE it easy to attach external devices and/or move most of what users want out of computing and into consumer electronics.

From a cost perspective, Santa Rosa in the MB would go a long way in closing that gap.

Vinea

Today [Monday] is the day for the traditional elevator/crate/chinese factor photo if we're going to get one. We might have to just settle for the quickly becoming traditional AppleInsider report on what's going down and precise specs. In either case it'll certainly be amusing.

Tier 1 does not include a Top 5 worldwide manufacturer because they make other stuff besides computers?

Apple isn't just a computer company anymore either regardless of what you personally think of aTV and the iPhone. Dropping "computer" from their name is a big hint I suppose.

Gee and HP makes printers, PDAs, calculators, TVs, digital cameras and scanners. Have to eliminate them as Tier 1 computer company as well. Heck, now that we've eliminated #2, #4 and #5 that leaves whom? Dell and Gateway as the only Tier 1 computer makers.

Oh please. What? Are you going to also say that neither Sony or MS qualifies as Tier 1 console makers and only Nintendo should count?

Vinea

Low, because I really want one.

Apple seems to be in a 12 month cycle of not giving me anything I want. Even the iPhone announcement was a bust because I'm not currently in the US (although I do have one - it's just being used as a glorified iPod with no cell service).

Probably like you, I once had a PowerBook G4 12", and replaced it with a black MacBook 13" - Apple's supposed replacement. But it's not really, for several reasons of which the extra couple of inches sticking out is a big one, and the plastic finish another.

I have Alu case envy, but don't want the extra bulk of a 15" MBP to carry around, especially as a laptop is a satellite computer for me: I have a quad core, four hard drive, 8GB Mac Pro to do "real" computing on.

I only hope the demise of the ~12" "pro" laptop line is to eventually make way for an ultralite. That would suit me, but again I doubt it will happen Tues because Apple has committed to p***ing me off for the next 6 month at least!

I'm predicting a bland, boring and thoroughly uninteresting iMac product rev this Tues. Which is why I'm only checking AppleInsider every 20 mins.

MB + 24" Dell monitor ≠ 24" iMac

And I'll tell you why. When you want to use a laptop as a desktop replacement, I see several problems.

Macbook White
Core 2 duo 2.16
1GB ram
120GB HD
Mini DVI-DVI adapter (for display)
8X SuperDrive
Intel GMA950
AppleCare
$1,567
+ Dell 24" monitor (I didn't look this up, so I will assume the $480 that you said)
+ External HD FW400 (for arguments sake around $150, and given the plethora of ExtHDs and my dearth of time, I will not go into specs and prices)
$2,197

24" iMac
Core 2 duo 2.16
1GB ram
250GB HD
8X SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 128MB SDRAM
AppleCare
$2,168

the iMac is cheaper, has better specs(and by tomorrow even better), less cables necessary, more ports, better reliability, AC will cover the screen, and more. Also, if you get a student discount, you would get more off the iMac since all of it is to apple as opposed to the $1,567, widening the price gap (by at least a little).

Now you say, Ah, but you forget, you can also use the macbook as a notebook whereas it is not so with the iMac. This is true, but you would also be changing your argument from a MB as a desktop replacement to a MB as a, well... MB.