Apple R&D spend exceeds $3B for first time, up $410M from September

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 32
    bb-15bb-15 Posts: 283member
    sergioz said:
    I hope Apple can come up with graphene  battery before sumsung does?
    I'd always hoped Apple would someday tackle advanced battery solutions considering how much their products depend upon batteries. With all the money Apple has they should definitely be able to invest in any promising new battery technology. I look at both Tesla and Amazon's CEOs and they're doing space vehicles as a sideline business. What's Apple's sideline business? I have no idea. Google and other tech companies are going into undersea cables to build up their infrastructure. I thought Apple was supposed to be working with Boeing for creating a satellite infrastructure. I haven't heard anything more about it. Apple doesn't seem to be doing anything on the side but maybe they're just very secretive about whatever they're doing.
    A main philosophy of Steve Jobs is that Apple should focus on its core business.
    He thought that Google's multiple side businesses were a mistake. 

    I'm not one to follow the 'what would Steve do' mantra but in this case, I think that not straying too far from Apple's core business is a good idea. 
    edited February 2018 SpamSandwichmmatz
  • Reply 22 of 32
    cgWerkscgWerks Posts: 2,952member
    macxpress said:
    Citations needed...
    Powers of observation... ;)

    StrangeDays said:
    Working on a small number of products is how they roll, and also happens to be multitasking. Multitasking doesn’t mean “But I want everything I want nooowwwww!”
    Well, then I guess they need to make a bit bigger team or create a couple teams. Or, they could stop with some of their new products until they catch up with the current lines. And... I'm not asking for everything I want. You act like I'm the only one or something, heh. Is it too much to ask that a company of Apple's stature do more than a cell phone and a few other stupid things (which they somehow seem to find time and resources for)?

    avon b7 said:
    As for batteries, I agree that it represents a key technological area. I have no idea if Apple is brewing its own solution or is happy to leave it in the hands of other companies.
    If memory serves, one of the most promising battery technologies I saw a couple years back was in the labs at Stanford, right down the street. They were working on aluminum batteries with like 2x the capacity of lithium ion, and half the charging time. And, being only aluminum, didn't use as much nasty stuff and are easy to recycle.

    bb-15 said:
    I'm not one to follow the 'what would Steve do' mantra but in this case, I think that not straying too far from Apple's core business is a good idea. 
    Maybe that's the problem... what the heck is their core business anymore? I sure hope it isn't Carpool Karaoke!
  • Reply 23 of 32
    badmonkbadmonk Posts: 1,285member
    k2kw said:
    MacPro said:

    k2kw said:

    Avieshek said:
    One day, Mac Pro shall arrive.
    Closely followed by an upgradable Mac Mini... Oh, there is a squadron of pigs flying overhead right now... :)
    All in 2019.   You don't expect MacPro or Mac Mini to show up the HomePod slipped to 2018.   But you have the iMacPro to tide you over.    They really need to get a new MBP out.  I would prefer to see an iPadPro that adds Mouse support and add an iosBook laptop, after adding multi-user support to iOS.

    Even more important is the HomePod just an appliance like device for music or does it come with full OS that is a new Platform for SIRI based audio apps similar to the Echo and Alexa.   Apple should be investing Billions Siri.
    I wouldn't rule out a new Mac Pro at the end of 2018 into early 2019.  Well I'm hoping at least.  My piggy bank is already stuffed and waiting and no iMac Pro will do either, I'd rather wait.  ;)
    Reports from Apple's meeting with select Journalists/bloggers last spring seemed to indicate that Apple hadn't started designed it yet (that's why the iMacPro came this year) and that Apple would be looking to implement/incorporate new technology in the MacPro. So I guess that it will be dependent upon external timelines.   I think they would thrill many people if they went back to the Cheese Grater.   I just think that it will be hard for apple to resist the urge to try to put a too unique spin on their design.   So I expect WWDC 2019 for release.
    I just bought my second cheese grater MacPro as a refurbish.  love these things...one runs a fast six core the other a fast twelve core.  They are not iMac Pros but they are great servicable machines for media.  Love em and the ability to swap out hard drives, boards, RAM etc
  • Reply 24 of 32
    cgWerks said:
    Is it too much to ask that a company of Apple's stature do more than a cell phone and a few other stupid things (which they somehow seem to find time and resources for)?
    Yawn. Stop being willfully obtuse. Everyone here knows they do a ton of things beyond “cell phones” and “stupid things” all the time. You’re complaining because they aren’t doing what *you* want. 


  • Reply 25 of 32

    mike54 said:
    I guess there is nothing left over for the mac mini, routers, monitors, a real mac pro, more bug free iOS, more bug free MacOS, improvement to all Apple apps on MacOS, a mouse with a charge plug not on the bottom, matte screen macs, mouse and trackpad support in iOS, iCloud improvements and to their apps, Safari bookmarks in the cloud and Safari on Windows again, improvements to technology in Facetime, airplay (its coming), etc etc etc...  
    They said they’re working on:
    1. Monitor
    2. Mac Pro
    3. More bug free iOS
    4. More bug free macOS 
    Logic just got a huge update, FCPX not long ago, Safari, iTunes just got an update...etc

    Again with the mouse charging port, nobody actually cares in real life as it’s not a real problem. 

    Matte screens. Jesus just let it die, their display tech has improved greatly since that went away. It’s not co,I guess back. 

    Safari bookmarks work fine for me across all devices...

    Blah blah blah
  • Reply 26 of 32
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member

    mike54 said:
    I guess there is nothing left over for the mac mini, routers, monitors, a real mac pro, more bug free iOS, more bug free MacOS, improvement to all Apple apps on MacOS, a mouse with a charge plug not on the bottom, matte screen macs, mouse and trackpad support in iOS, iCloud improvements and to their apps, Safari bookmarks in the cloud and Safari on Windows again, improvements to technology in Facetime, airplay (its coming), etc etc etc...  
    They said they’re working on:
    1. Monitor
    2. Mac Pro
    3. More bug free iOS
    4. More bug free macOS 
    Logic just got a huge update, FCPX not long ago, Safari, iTunes just got an update...etc

    Again with the mouse charging port, nobody actually cares in real life as it’s not a real problem. 

    Matte screens. Jesus just let it die, their display tech has improved greatly since that went away. It’s not co,I guess back. 

    Safari bookmarks work fine for me across all devices...

    Blah blah blah
    He forgot the 17" MacBook Pro. /s
    fastasleep
  • Reply 27 of 32
    cgWerkscgWerks Posts: 2,952member
    mike54 said:
    I guess there is nothing left over for the mac mini, routers, monitors, a real mac pro, more bug free iOS, more bug free MacOS, improvement to all Apple apps on MacOS, a mouse with a charge plug not on the bottom, matte screen macs, mouse and trackpad support in iOS, iCloud improvements and to their apps, Safari bookmarks in the cloud and Safari on Windows again, improvements to technology in Facetime, airplay (its coming), etc etc etc...  
    The new breed of Apple customer doesn't care about this stuff, I guess. The false accusations of old have become true... it is now about fashion. But, fashion is a fickle business. Wonder what Apple will do when the iPhone isn't the flavor of the month anymore? Maybe they'll have a hit TV show by then, fancy AR stuff, and a self-driving car that can't?

    fastasleep said:
    Yawn. Stop being willfully obtuse. Everyone here knows they do a ton of things beyond “cell phones” and “stupid things” all the time. You’re complaining because they aren’t doing what *you* want. 
    Yes, I admit it was an overstatement... but, yet had enough truth to it to sting some. My point is that if they'd put half the effort back into core non-iPhone or iOS products they seem to be pouring into so many other things, I (and so many other long-term Apple folks) wouldn't have to be complaining.

    fastasleep said:
    They said they’re working on:
    1. Monitor
    2. Mac Pro
    3. More bug free iOS
    4. More bug free macOS 
    They also said a bunch of things like the Mac mini is an important product, and 3.5mm jacks are legacy ports. Actions speak louder than words, and marketing-speak often isn't very close to reality.

    I suppose those things are eventually coming. But, they should have never fallen behind in the first place and there's no good reason for them to be taking this long if they really were devoting proper amounts of resources to them.

    Also, as welcome as bug-free is, this doesn't necessarily mean they understand the degradation of UI, or feature-parity between apps/platforms, or the impact that stuff has on productivity. Good stuff to hear, but I need to see some progress, and then that's just the start. It will take quite a bit of change to renew my lost hope.
  • Reply 28 of 32
    k2kw said:
    So I expect WWDC 2019 for release.
    Will anyone even give a shit by then?

    Settle down Beavis TS. You know a lot of people would!!
  • Reply 29 of 32
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    cgWerks said:
    fastasleep said:
    They said they’re working on:
    1. Monitor
    2. Mac Pro
    3. More bug free iOS
    4. More bug free macOS 
    They also said a bunch of things like the Mac mini is an important product, and 3.5mm jacks are legacy ports. Actions speak louder than words, and marketing-speak often isn't very close to reality.

    I suppose those things are eventually coming. But, they should have never fallen behind in the first place and there's no good reason for them to be taking this long if they really were devoting proper amounts of resources to them.

    Also, as welcome as bug-free is, this doesn't necessarily mean they understand the degradation of UI, or feature-parity between apps/platforms, or the impact that stuff has on productivity. Good stuff to hear, but I need to see some progress, and then that's just the start. It will take quite a bit of change to renew my lost hope.
    I don't know why many here and on other Apple forums care so much about the damn Mac mini. Its one of Apple's poorest selling Macs and upgrading it isn't going to change that. If Apple says they're working in and its taking a while, I'm betting its because of something we don't know about and not just a pet project that sits on a shelf until they feel like working on it. I highly doubt its going to go back to this modular cheap Mac that it used to be where you can change out hard drives and RAM anyways so many will be very disappointed at what Apple releases. If anything, it will go the opposite way and maybe even be smaller than it currently is. I can't wait to hear the bitching about it. 

    What is wrong with 3.5mm being called a legacy port? If we don't have companies like Apple to push technology forward, we'll be stuck constantly trying to shoehorn a "legacy" port on every product being introduced for years and years. Since other manufacturers are following suit and also succeeding, I'm pretty sure Apple is making headway with this in a positive direction. One of the things I've always liked Apple for is pushing technology forward and having the balls to drop things, even if it means getting lots of backlash for it for a few months. They had the balls to drop floppy drives before anyone else. They dropped optical drives before anyone else. They dropped their old Serial I/O with the original iMac and pushed USB which wasn't taking off at all until Apple pushed USB forward, which yes created dongle hell for a while until USB devices and cables caught up to the industry.  They dropped the USB-A port in favor of a new USB-C standard on certain products, etc, etc. I could go on and on with this. What other company does this? 
    fastasleep
  • Reply 30 of 32
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,408member
    cgWerks said:
    mike54 said:
    I guess there is nothing left over for the mac mini, routers, monitors, a real mac pro, more bug free iOS, more bug free MacOS, improvement to all Apple apps on MacOS, a mouse with a charge plug not on the bottom, matte screen macs, mouse and trackpad support in iOS, iCloud improvements and to their apps, Safari bookmarks in the cloud and Safari on Windows again, improvements to technology in Facetime, airplay (its coming), etc etc etc...  
    The new breed of Apple customer doesn't care about this stuff, I guess. The false accusations of old have become true... it is now about fashion. But, fashion is a fickle business. Wonder what Apple will do when the iPhone isn't the flavor of the month anymore? Maybe they'll have a hit TV show by then, fancy AR stuff, and a self-driving car that can't?

    fastasleep said:
    Yawn. Stop being willfully obtuse. Everyone here knows they do a ton of things beyond “cell phones” and “stupid things” all the time. You’re complaining because they aren’t doing what *you* want. 
    Yes, I admit it was an overstatement... but, yet had enough truth to it to sting some. My point is that if they'd put half the effort back into core non-iPhone or iOS products they seem to be pouring into so many other things, I (and so many other long-term Apple folks) wouldn't have to be complaining.

    fastasleep said:
    They said they’re working on:
    1. Monitor
    2. Mac Pro
    3. More bug free iOS
    4. More bug free macOS 
    They also said a bunch of things like the Mac mini is an important product, and 3.5mm jacks are legacy ports. Actions speak louder than words, and marketing-speak often isn't very close to reality.

    I suppose those things are eventually coming. But, they should have never fallen behind in the first place and there's no good reason for them to be taking this long if they really were devoting proper amounts of resources to them.

    Also, as welcome as bug-free is, this doesn't necessarily mean they understand the degradation of UI, or feature-parity between apps/platforms, or the impact that stuff has on productivity. Good stuff to hear, but I need to see some progress, and then that's just the start. It will take quite a bit of change to renew my lost hope.
    The point is, they're actively doing a TON of stuff, and it shows in the products that we can see and touch, beyond the forward-looking statements which have been more transparent than ever. This, despite what the whiny vocal minority cherry picks to support their assertion that Apple is sitting on their thumbs all day long, which is kinda what the OP seems to be going for.

    You seem to be on a slightly different path, wistful for the days of Apple (and computing) past, and making fun of the turn towards fashion and AR even when the smart people in the room (ie Apple) are correct in seeing the distinct move of computers to wearables and AR.

    3.5mm jack is 100 year old tech and is finally going to pass, thanks to Apple helping push it into its coffin. We will move on to better technology, whether you loudly complain or not.

    Are you even in the market for a Mac mini?
  • Reply 31 of 32
    cgWerkscgWerks Posts: 2,952member
    macxpress said:
    I don't know why many here and on other Apple forums care so much about the damn Mac mini. Its one of Apple's poorest selling Macs and upgrading it isn't going to change that. If Apple says they're working in and its taking a while, I'm betting its because of something we don't know about and not just a pet project that sits on a shelf until they feel like working on it. I highly doubt its going to go back to this modular cheap Mac that it used to be where you can change out hard drives and RAM anyways so many will be very disappointed at what Apple releases. If anything, it will go the opposite way and maybe even be smaller than it currently is. I can't wait to hear the bitching about it. 

    What is wrong with 3.5mm being called a legacy port? If we don't have companies like Apple to push technology forward, we'll be stuck constantly trying to shoehorn a "legacy" port on every product being introduced for years and years. Since other manufacturers are following suit and also succeeding, I'm pretty sure Apple is making headway with this in a positive direction. One of the things I've always liked Apple for is pushing technology forward and having the balls to drop things, even if it means getting lots of backlash for it for a few months. They had the balls to drop floppy drives before anyone else. They dropped optical drives before anyone else. They dropped their old Serial I/O with the original iMac and pushed USB which wasn't taking off at all until Apple pushed USB forward, which yes created dongle hell for a while until USB devices and cables caught up to the industry.  They dropped the USB-A port in favor of a new USB-C standard on certain products, etc, etc. I could go on and on with this. What other company does this? 
    re: mini - because it's the only non-pro (and super expensive) Mac Apple has that isn't an all-in-one. As for something we don't know about, I guess I hope so, but I'm guessing it's something we probably do know... they just don't care enough about Macs to put that many resources into them (and we're hoping that gets corrected). I don't care much if it's all upgradable, though some do. But, you could be right that the Mini becomes an even more entry level machine if A-series in Mac rumors are correct. We'll have to wait and see.

    re: 3.5mm being a legacy port - quite simple, because there's nothing legacy about it. And, there's nothing 'pushed forward' by audio out the Lightning (or 30-pin) connector... they've been doing that for decades. Now, we just have a device with a proprietary audio-out. They dropped floppy and optical when there were shifts away from using them and better replacements. Same with USB. Dropping the 3.5mm gains the user nothing.

    fastasleep said:
    The point is, they're actively doing a TON of stuff, and it shows in the products that we can see and touch, beyond the forward-looking statements which have been more transparent than ever. This, despite what the whiny vocal minority cherry picks to support their assertion that Apple is sitting on their thumbs all day long, which is kinda what the OP seems to be going for.

    You seem to be on a slightly different path, wistful for the days of Apple (and computing) past, and making fun of the turn towards fashion and AR even when the smart people in the room (ie Apple) are correct in seeing the distinct move of computers to wearables and AR.

    3.5mm jack is 100 year old tech and is finally going to pass, thanks to Apple helping push it into its coffin. We will move on to better technology, whether you loudly complain or not.

    Are you even in the market for a Mac mini?
    Like what? The iMac Pro? That was supposed to be the Mac Pro successor to kind of end the Mac line, it seems. It's a nice machine, but unless the change-of-heart bears out, it isn't nearly enough.

    And, yes, I'm hoping for the day of Apple past when the priority was building world-changing productivity products, not dancing emojis. Dancing emojis are fine if you've got the other bases covered, but it seems to me, they don't and the emojis are more representative of the new fashion, consumer Apple.

    That's fine too, if they can do both. But, if that truly represents the new Apple, they should let the serious users know so we can get off the train. AR and wearables have their place, but no, they aren't the future of computing. It doesn't take a rocket-scientist to know that.

    3.5mm jack is 100 year old tech that still works extremely well and is the standard on everything but a few new smart-phone models. What better technology?

    And, yes, if Apple still made a 4-core Mini with TB3, I'd be in the market for one. As much as I'd like a 'Pro' I don't *need* one. A quad-core in a smaller case, or the guts of an iMac in a smaller case that could keep cool and relatively quiet, and I'd snap it up. Currently, I have to go with a Mac Pro or iMac Pro, as that is all Apple has.

    Is asking for a non-Pro, non-iMac (all-in-one) machine really so outrageous? Apple hasn't really done much with Macs at all for years, and you guys are such fanboys that I'm some kind of odd-ball because I notice and complain? Seriously, can you hear yourself?

    I'll admit that I might be overly harsh, as I remember what Apple once was, and would like that back. Maybe that's unfair. But, I don't think wanting a reasonable level of attention to the Mac is unreasonable at all.
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