OK, Kickaha, here's a double helping of good content, hold the pissy cynicism.
My WWDC predictions:
New thin bezel, ALU displays with ingenious new stands that allow for near iMac-like movement and placement.
17" RIP
20" $999
23" $1599
30" $2999
Much more importantly, the new displays will be DVI and Steve will publicly retire ADC and announce a marketing push to sell these new cross-platform displays directly to PC users whether they buy a Mac or not. This will not just be an inevitable side effect, but a concerted public effort to put an Apple display on every pro and prosumer desk in the world, no matter what brand of computer is hooked up to it. Wall St. will love this.
iMac G5 in new sleeker (but deceptively larger) case. Still basically white, but with more chrome and/or steel accents.
I don't really understand the idea of Apple getting rid of the 17" display. I mean, I'm all for getting rid of the square 17" Studio Display...it should have been replaced with the wide-screen 17" Cinema Display used on the 17" iMac a long time ago.
But 17" gone completely? Going to a 20" monitor at $999 as the "low-end" of the lineup? Apple should sell the 17" wide-screen Cinema Display for the same $699 they sell the square one now. (Then at least there is choice for saving a little cash and still going with an Apple display.) Otherwise, if $999 is the cheapest price (20" or not), that's a big market segment Apple would be missing. The most popular LCDs going these days are still in the 15-17" range, and though 20" for $999 is a reasonable price, it's TOO pricey to be the bottom of the lineup.
That said, I think that Ensign's iMac G5 lineup sounds perfect, including the prices.
I find it interesting that WWDC is almost here and mum's practically the word.
All we've seen are some questionable Tiger screenshots and our random predictions. No premature specifications this time, I might add.
I'm excited for what tomorrow will bring, big or small.
On a serious note, a push by Apply to target the PC world be a new, powerful message. Apple likes standards, so why not standardize the hardware some too. We've got cross-platform iPods, AirTunes, and perhaps soon displays. What's next?
Alright Ensign Pulver, I agree with alot of what you just said, especially regarding the standardizing of the new displays.
I personally don't see a need for the iMac to go G5 since the PB's will be G4 for awhile anyway and does Mom really need to check email at 64bytes. I would rather see a $999 iMac and that won't happen with liquid cooling systems. Maybe it means just re-marketing the eMac abit better, though.
I don't really understand the idea of Apple getting rid of the 17" display. I mean, I'm all for getting rid of the square 17" Studio Display...it should have been replaced with the wide-screen 17" Cinema Display used on the 17" iMac a long time ago.
But 17" gone completely? Going to a 20" monitor at $999 as the "low-end" of the lineup? Apple should sell the 17" wide-screen Cinema Display for the same $699 they sell the square one now. (Then at least there is choice for saving a little cash and still going with an Apple display.) Otherwise, if $999 is the cheapest price (20" or not), that's a big market segment Apple would be missing. The most popular LCDs going these days are still in the 15-17" range, and though 20" for $999 is a reasonable price, it's TOO pricey to be the bottom of the lineup.
I bought the 17" display last Fall (along with my G5 ) and it is absolutely perfect. Plenty of space for a nice large Safari window, the Dock, iTunes, and my Adium contact list to all be visible at once. I honestly wouldn't know what to do with a 20" display. Although I wouldn't mind owning one, I'd rather save the $300. I really hope that Apple doesn't get rid of it. Most people don't need anything bigger. Apple, let people save $300 which they can use to buy an iPod!
Does anyone remember how much the 17" cost when Apple axed the 15"?
Does anyone remember how much the 17" cost when Apple axed the 15"?
Yep, it was $999. I bought one almost immediately after they were introduced. The 15" was around for awhile longer if I remember correctly. I had bought one of those too for $799 and sold that 15" when I sold my last PowerMac and switched to a PowerBook.
With no satellite or live Quicktime stream, it appears that this year's WWDC Keynote is going to be a bust with only a show of new pro displays and Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger.
Where is this so-called great year of the Mac Steve alluded to?
Good predictions in general, Ensign, but I have some quibbles. First, there should be a 17" display using the same 17" in the iMac - widescreen. However, it needs to be priced at no more than $599 to avoid being laughed out of the market.
Second, that $1399 17" iMac G5 would be extremely tempting. Too tempting, IMHO. I don't think it'll exist, and the 1.8 will stay at the current $1799 (but that's a quibble). I know you guys have shot this down before, but I think the 15" will stay, it'll have a 1.5GHz G4, and it'll be priced at the magic $999.
And, in agreement with Dhagan's posts, the iMacs aren't coming out tomorrow or this week, they'll be announced next Tuesday or thereabouts.
With no satellite or live Quicktime stream, it appears that this year's WWDC Keynote is going to be a bust with only a show of new pro displays and Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger.
Where is this so-called great year of the Mac Steve alluded to?
Because god knows the OS has nothing to do with making the Mac good...
But 17" gone completely? Going to a 20" monitor at $999 as the "low-end" of the lineup? Apple should sell the 17" wide-screen Cinema Display for the same $699 they sell the square one now. (Then at least there is choice for saving a little cash and still going with an Apple display.) Otherwise, if $999 is the cheapest price (20" or not), that's a big market segment Apple would be missing.
17" LCDs are commodity products. Apple is VERY poor at vending commodity products. Even with the cool factor of widescreen, a standalone 1440x900 17" Apple display just doesn't have enough sex appeal to warrant even a $599 price tag, let alone $699.
On the other hand 20, 23 and 30 inch widescreen displays have TONS of cool factor and are NOT commodity products. Apple is very good at vending such "exotic" technology. Besides, Apple has a long history of $999 as their entry level display price point. At least now you get a big, gorgeous 20 incher for that money.
If Apple is going DVI to sell directly to Wintel users (see this thread for detailed analysis) then steering clear of a ho-hum17" model is wise. People walking into a Best Buy or Circuit City are not used to seeing 20"+ widescreen displays. $999 will be a compelling price point for what will seem like so much more monitor, especially since they can use it out of the box with the crappy HP the teenage salesguy just talked them into.
I'd be the first to say I'd prefer to see new iMacs at the show (and of course, Appleworks 7.0...)
But let's not be ridiculous. Pronouncing the show "a bust" before Jobs even takes the stage is bizarre, even by AI standards.
Ensign Pulver: Is that banner really up at WWDC? If Jobs is directly comparing Tiger to Longhorn, it raises an interesting question: Could they actually have the new Filesystem ready so soon?
If Tiger has the long-heralded FS overhaul two -maybe three- years before Redmond, I no longer care about iMacs and they can pay Jobs whatever he asks.
I say displays. iMac or consumer replacement... probably not. Handhelds, tablets, phones, vacuum cleaners and/or weather stations... nah.
How about a new kitchen sink?
Seriously, Tiger is the only intro I'm confident about (for obvious reasons). I would be severely disappointed but not completely taken aback if Tiger was the only thing that Steve Jobs introduced during his keynote. No new hardware would be boring. But Tiger is all I'm really expecting.
Hopefully Steve will surprise us all in a positive way.
12.5 hours to go... Or maybe more like 14.5 hours, since there is no QT stream and we might have to wait for the press releases to come out and the Apple Store to be updated. \
Because god knows the OS has nothing to do with making the Mac good...
That's a point I was trying to make earlier. Even if "all" we get tomorrow is OS X 10.4 Tiger, we might still be in for a whole lot of surprises. We've known for months that Tiger will be in the Stevenote. But we still have no clue what will be in Tiger.
Comments
My WWDC predictions:
New thin bezel, ALU displays with ingenious new stands that allow for near iMac-like movement and placement.
17" RIP
20" $999
23" $1599
30" $2999
Much more importantly, the new displays will be DVI and Steve will publicly retire ADC and announce a marketing push to sell these new cross-platform displays directly to PC users whether they buy a Mac or not. This will not just be an inevitable side effect, but a concerted public effort to put an Apple display on every pro and prosumer desk in the world, no matter what brand of computer is hooked up to it. Wall St. will love this.
iMac G5 in new sleeker (but deceptively larger) case. Still basically white, but with more chrome and/or steel accents.
15" RIP
17" 1.6 GHz G5 Combo drive nVidia 5200 Ultra $1399
17" 1.8 GHz G5 Superdrive nVidia 5200 Ultra $1699
20" 1.8 GHz G5 Superdrive Radeon 9600 $1999
No G5 mini/headless Mac or any indication there will ever be one.
No new iPods or other hardware announcements.
No Power Mac bakeoffs, and no mention of the 3GHz promise. The early June press release is all we get.
Big Motion/Shake/FCP/DVDSP demo with lots of (justified) hype about taking over the content creation markets.
Extensive Tiger preview and shipping date of "early next year".
But 17" gone completely? Going to a 20" monitor at $999 as the "low-end" of the lineup? Apple should sell the 17" wide-screen Cinema Display for the same $699 they sell the square one now. (Then at least there is choice for saving a little cash and still going with an Apple display.) Otherwise, if $999 is the cheapest price (20" or not), that's a big market segment Apple would be missing. The most popular LCDs going these days are still in the 15-17" range, and though 20" for $999 is a reasonable price, it's TOO pricey to be the bottom of the lineup.
That said, I think that Ensign's iMac G5 lineup sounds perfect, including the prices.
-- Ensoniq
All we've seen are some questionable Tiger screenshots and our random predictions. No premature specifications this time, I might add.
I'm excited for what tomorrow will bring, big or small.
On a serious note, a push by Apply to target the PC world be a new, powerful message. Apple likes standards, so why not standardize the hardware some too. We've got cross-platform iPods, AirTunes, and perhaps soon displays. What's next?
I personally don't see a need for the iMac to go G5 since the PB's will be G4 for awhile anyway and does Mom really need to check email at 64bytes. I would rather see a $999 iMac and that won't happen with liquid cooling systems. Maybe it means just re-marketing the eMac abit better, though.
Originally posted by Ensoniq
I don't really understand the idea of Apple getting rid of the 17" display. I mean, I'm all for getting rid of the square 17" Studio Display...it should have been replaced with the wide-screen 17" Cinema Display used on the 17" iMac a long time ago.
But 17" gone completely? Going to a 20" monitor at $999 as the "low-end" of the lineup? Apple should sell the 17" wide-screen Cinema Display for the same $699 they sell the square one now. (Then at least there is choice for saving a little cash and still going with an Apple display.) Otherwise, if $999 is the cheapest price (20" or not), that's a big market segment Apple would be missing. The most popular LCDs going these days are still in the 15-17" range, and though 20" for $999 is a reasonable price, it's TOO pricey to be the bottom of the lineup.
I bought the 17" display last Fall (along with my G5
Does anyone remember how much the 17" cost when Apple axed the 15"?
Originally posted by SS3 GokouX
Does anyone remember how much the 17" cost when Apple axed the 15"?
Yep, it was $999. I bought one almost immediately after they were introduced. The 15" was around for awhile longer if I remember correctly. I had bought one of those too for $799 and sold that 15" when I sold my last PowerMac and switched to a PowerBook.
Where is this so-called great year of the Mac Steve alluded to?
Displays - same as yours (note that they are all HD). They will all be adjustable using an iMac-type arm.
iMac - (this is an "Oh, BTW, ...")
15" - RIP
17" - 1.5Ghz G4 - 1399
20" - 1.5Ghz G4 - 1799
Express - no pci slots, 4 ram slots, 1 AGP slot, 1 optical, 1 hd
Includes cool way of attaching a new display.
1.6 Ghz G5 - 1499
1.8 Ghz G5 - 1699
(DHagan4755 - I hope you are not right, but your logic is good.)
Originally posted by Ensign Pulver
...
15" RIP
17" 1.6 GHz G5 Combo drive nVidia 5200 Ultra $1399
17" 1.8 GHz G5 Superdrive nVidia 5200 Ultra $1699
20" 1.8 GHz G5 Superdrive Radeon 9600 $1999
...
Good predictions in general, Ensign, but I have some quibbles. First, there should be a 17" display using the same 17" in the iMac - widescreen. However, it needs to be priced at no more than $599 to avoid being laughed out of the market.
Second, that $1399 17" iMac G5 would be extremely tempting. Too tempting, IMHO. I don't think it'll exist, and the 1.8 will stay at the current $1799 (but that's a quibble). I know you guys have shot this down before, but I think the 15" will stay, it'll have a 1.5GHz G4, and it'll be priced at the magic $999.
And, in agreement with Dhagan's posts, the iMacs aren't coming out tomorrow or this week, they'll be announced next Tuesday or thereabouts.
Originally posted by DHagan4755
With no satellite or live Quicktime stream, it appears that this year's WWDC Keynote is going to be a bust with only a show of new pro displays and Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger.
Where is this so-called great year of the Mac Steve alluded to?
Because god knows the OS has nothing to do with making the Mac good...
Jeez.
Originally posted by Ensoniq
But 17" gone completely? Going to a 20" monitor at $999 as the "low-end" of the lineup? Apple should sell the 17" wide-screen Cinema Display for the same $699 they sell the square one now. (Then at least there is choice for saving a little cash and still going with an Apple display.) Otherwise, if $999 is the cheapest price (20" or not), that's a big market segment Apple would be missing.
17" LCDs are commodity products. Apple is VERY poor at vending commodity products. Even with the cool factor of widescreen, a standalone 1440x900 17" Apple display just doesn't have enough sex appeal to warrant even a $599 price tag, let alone $699.
On the other hand 20, 23 and 30 inch widescreen displays have TONS of cool factor and are NOT commodity products. Apple is very good at vending such "exotic" technology. Besides, Apple has a long history of $999 as their entry level display price point. At least now you get a big, gorgeous 20 incher for that money.
If Apple is going DVI to sell directly to Wintel users (see this thread for detailed analysis) then steering clear of a ho-hum17" model is wise. People walking into a Best Buy or Circuit City are not used to seeing 20"+ widescreen displays. $999 will be a compelling price point for what will seem like so much more monitor, especially since they can use it out of the box with the crappy HP the teenage salesguy just talked them into.
But let's not be ridiculous. Pronouncing the show "a bust" before Jobs even takes the stage is bizarre, even by AI standards.
Ensign Pulver: Is that banner really up at WWDC? If Jobs is directly comparing Tiger to Longhorn, it raises an interesting question: Could they actually have the new Filesystem ready so soon?
If Tiger has the long-heralded FS overhaul two -maybe three- years before Redmond, I no longer care about iMacs and they can pay Jobs whatever he asks.
Originally posted by Kickaha
I say displays. iMac or consumer replacement... probably not. Handhelds, tablets, phones, vacuum cleaners and/or weather stations... nah.
How about a new kitchen sink?
Seriously, Tiger is the only intro I'm confident about (for obvious reasons). I would be severely disappointed but not completely taken aback if Tiger was the only thing that Steve Jobs introduced during his keynote. No new hardware would be boring. But Tiger is all I'm really expecting.
Hopefully Steve will surprise us all in a positive way.
12.5 hours to go... Or maybe more like 14.5 hours, since there is no QT stream and we might have to wait for the press releases to come out and the Apple Store to be updated.
Escher
Originally posted by Kickaha
Because god knows the OS has nothing to do with making the Mac good...
That's a point I was trying to make earlier. Even if "all" we get tomorrow is OS X 10.4 Tiger, we might still be in for a whole lot of surprises. We've known for months that Tiger will be in the Stevenote. But we still have no clue what will be in Tiger.
Escher
There was a young lady from Riga,
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger
They came back from the ride
With the lady inside,
And the smile on the face of the tiger.
Just picture Bill Gates as the lady from Riga.
Sweet dreams everyone! I'll be back tomorrow afternoon.
Escher
Originally posted by Ensign Pulver
Total Awesomeness!
I think we all know what will be inside Tiger... Longhorn! Wow!
Originally posted by Ensign Pulver
Total Awesomeness!
F***ing huge!!!!
However, Apple had better have something good to replace the lack of updates of Microsoft Office that will go with the Tiger ad campaign...
Longhorn could refer to that terrible football team of the university north of here.