Steve Jobs talks future Mac OS X upgrades, Mac sales, and more

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
In a new interview with the New York Times, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs hints that his company will continue to pump out rapid revisions to the Mac OS X for the foreseeable future, while also shedding some color on current Mac sales mix and the birth of multi-touch.



Commenting on the release of Mac OS X Leopard later this week, Jobs told the paper that the operating system release would anchor a schedule of product upgrades that could continue for as long as a decade.



"I'm quite pleased with the pace of new operating systems every 12 to 18 months for the foreseeable future," he said. "We’ve put out major releases on the average of one a year, and it’s given us the ability to polish and polish and improve and improve."



Jobs' comments echo those of Mac OS X grandfather Avie Tevanian, who before leaving Apple told a 2004 software summit that the Mac maker would continue releasing updates at a "really fast" pace despite relenting slightly from its then rigorous annual release schedule.



Speaking to the Times, Jobs also continued to poke fun at Microsoft's multi-tiered Windows Vista marketing strategy, which compels users to buy into pricier premium editions of the software to gain access to more powerful tools.



With Leopard, Jobs quipped, "everybody gets the Ultimate edition and it sells for 129 bucks, and if you go on Amazon and look at the Ultimate edition of Vista, it sells for 250 bucks."



According to the Times, Microsoft has hinted that its next operating system, code-named Windows 7, would not arrive until 2010. By that time, the paper said, Apple will have likely introduced two successive versions of Mac OS X.



Meanwhile, Jobs said that two-thirds of Apple Macs sold in the United States are now notebook systems -- well above the industry norm that saw portable system sales outpace desktops for the first time in history last quarter.



The Apple chief also used his interview with the Times to reveal that the Apple development team worried constantly that their approach to the iPhone's revolutionary multi-touch technology might fail during the years they were creating it.



"We all had that Garry Trudeau cartoon that poked fun at the Newton in the back of our minds," he said, citing Doonesbury comic strips that mocked an Apple handwriting-recognition system in 1993. "This thing had to work."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 155
    boogabooga Posts: 1,082member
    Quote:

    Meanwhile, Jobs said that two-thirds of Apple Macs sold in the United States are now notebook systems -- well above the industry norm that saw portable system sales outpace desktops for the first time in history last quarter.



    Look everyone! Look how bad our desktop lineup is! Compared to everyone else, almost no one wants to buy Apple desktops, isn't that great?!
  • Reply 2 of 155
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Booga View Post


    Look everyone! Look how bad our desktop lineup is! Compared to everyone else, almost no one wants to buy Apple desktops, isn't that great?!



    Shut up!
  • Reply 3 of 155
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    The story is somewhat at odds with what Jobs had said a couple of years ago. Then, he had said that Apple would take more time between upgrades, as the OS had become more settled, and usable.



    This seems to have been missed. Is Apple now going to move back to the torrid pace of yesteryear? And if so, why? Does this mean that Apple is feeling some heat, or does it mean that they have made the major under the hood changes required?



    I'd love to read something more thorough from that interview, which I also read that morning.
  • Reply 4 of 155
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Booga View Post


    Look everyone! Look how bad our desktop lineup is! Compared to everyone else, almost no one wants to buy Apple desktops, isn't that great?!



    Umm..no one wants to buy desktops made by anyone. Everyone wants laptops....period. And Apple makes the best laptops out there for the price.
  • Reply 5 of 155
    If Apple made a $1000 Mac they sell a ton. Mac mini, iMac and Mac Pro, great. But where's the Mac?



    Yeah, I went there.
  • Reply 6 of 155
    Quote:

    Umm..no one wants to buy desktops made by anyone. Everyone wants laptops....period. And Apple makes the best laptops out there for the price.



    I guess I'm no one then, because I want a desktop but Apple doesn't have one...workstation? yep. glorified upright laptop? yep.....desktop nope.
  • Reply 7 of 155
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by melgross View Post


    The story is somewhat at odds with what Jobs had said a couple of years ago. Then, he had said that Apple would take more time between upgrades, as the OS had become more settled, and usable.



    This seems to have been missed. Is Apple now going to move back to the torrid pace of yesteryear? And if so, why? Does this mean that Apple is feeling some heat, or does it mean that they have made the major under the hood changes required?



    I think that Sarbanes-Oxley is behind the change in direction. Since Apple has to declare the feature set for each major release of the OS, and not really add material features without charging for the upgrade, they're going to have to go back to the old model of a new OS every 12 to 18 months, in order to keep pace with their desired rate of innovation.



    Perhaps a better idea would be to move to an OS subscription model, where you pay a certain amount per year, and get your OS upgrades, .Mac, and everything bundled together. This would enable Apple to add features whenever they'd like, provided that they realize the subscription revenue over the course of the year.
  • Reply 8 of 155
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Booga View Post


    Look everyone! Look how bad our desktop lineup is! Compared to everyone else, almost no one wants to buy Apple desktops, isn't that great?!



    do you have a brain they don't go off and buy desktops from dell (or any other pile of crap windows machine) they buy a mac because they want a mac portable or not it just so happens most people want a computer they can take to a coffee bar or use on the train and have you seen the g5 i bet that wipes the floor with what you wrote your post on
  • Reply 9 of 155
    Could that extra $129 a pop for a new upgraded OS be driving his quest for more frequent upgrades?
  • Reply 10 of 155
    I WILL buy a desktop from Dell if Apple doesn't offer one at Macworld at the latest.
  • Reply 11 of 155
    Hey, I just wanna see the Doonesbury cartoons again...
  • Reply 12 of 155
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bboybazza View Post


    do you have a brain they don't go off and buy desktops from dell (or any other pile of crap windows machine) they buy a mac because they want a mac portable or not it just so happens most people want a computer they can take to a coffee bar or use on the train and have you seen the g5 i bet that wipes the floor with what you wrote your post on



    Bboybazza,



    Have you met the Full Stop?



    Full Stop, I'd like you to meet Bboybazza.



    Punctuation is our friend.
  • Reply 13 of 155
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by firevsh2o View Post


    I WILL buy a desktop from Dell if Apple doesn't offer one at Macworld at the latest.



    Go ahead. Can't stop an idiot from overreacting.
  • Reply 14 of 155
    irnchrizirnchriz Posts: 1,616member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by firevsh2o View Post


    I WILL buy a desktop from Dell if Apple doesn't offer one at Macworld at the latest.



    Big whoop. Enjoy your windows experience.
  • Reply 15 of 155
    backtomacbacktomac Posts: 4,579member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by firevsh2o View Post


    I WILL buy a desktop from Dell if Apple doesn't offer one at Macworld at the latest.



    They offer three.



    Mac Mini

    iMac

    Mac Pro





    No need to go to Dell.
  • Reply 16 of 155
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,717member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by thedonga View Post


    I guess I'm no one then, because I want a desktop but Apple doesn't have one...workstation? yep. glorified upright laptop? yep.....desktop nope.



    What's wrong with the 2.0GHz Mac Mini?



    Sure it's not (easily) upgradeable, but it has decent specs, and as you can tell from the majority of Apple's computer lineup, they aren't creating products for the "I want to customize every component in my computer" (read: gamer) crowd.



    If that's what you're looking for, then you'll never be satisfied because Apple doesn't want to get into providing tech support for problems like: "I just bought and installed Knockoff brand expansion card in my Mac and now it locks up all the time. Please spend lots of time and money in tech support helping me with a problem that's due to Knockoff Inc. not creating their products to spec, providing decent drivers, and/or rushing them to market as cheaply made as possible."
  • Reply 17 of 155
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    With Leopard, Jobs quipped, "everybody gets the Ultimate edition and it sells for 129 bucks, and if you go on Amazon and look at the Ultimate edition of Vista, it sells for 250 bucks."



    According to the Times, Microsoft has hinted that its next operating system, code-named Windows 7, would not arrive until 2010. By that time, the paper said, Apple will have likely introduced two successive versions of Mac OS X.



    So by my very rough calculations, by early 2010 I'll have shelled out 387 bucks to keep up to date with my Apple OS, compared to 250 to stay "current" with Vista.



    I'm beginning to understand how this marketing thing works.
  • Reply 18 of 155
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Booga View Post


    Look everyone! Look how bad our desktop lineup is! Compared to everyone else, almost no one wants to buy Apple desktops, isn't that great?!



    You have to be kidding.



    Our accounting, video production and graphics departments are totally desktop. Why? Think about it. You have a 64 page annual report and you want it on a laptop so you can work on it at home? You have to be kidding.



    Between the Mac Minis and the Mac Pros there's the iMacs and with all the various configurations. You call this bad? And if you really are mobile and you have the right upper management credentials, we allow laptops. But man, our work is so critical that there are a number of VPs here that will never get a company one.



    However, I have a laptop, as does my one kid in university, my wife a Mac Mini, and the youngest, an iMac. And when he gets older, more mature and accepts the responsibility, he will probably get a laptop too.



    Sure the swing is towards laptops. Not just because of anything that the desktops can offer, but because for most people, the MacBooks can do so much for so many (mobility aside). Laptops are not for the very young, not for most internal company personnel, not for hog video-processing and the likes, or not for holding highly sensitive corporate data.



    And as has been shown, desktops last longer, for a lot of reasons which I am sure you can figure out.



    Finally, who cares? Apple certainly doesn't. One way or another, you are buying a Mac. That is, if you a intelligent enough to appreciat the very best.
  • Reply 19 of 155
    I find myself having to agree with those saying that Apple doesn't have a decent Desktop. The iMac and the Mac Mini both seem to cater toward the low-end users, while the Mac Pro caters toward the pro-users. What are the middle-of-the-road folks supposed to buy? An MBP. Though ATM this isn't true, typically MBPs are stacked nicely between the iMac and Mac Pro.



    So what about Mac Books? They're for college students who need their computer in the dorm, library, friends' houses, home, lecture hall, cafeteria, etc... but rarely have the need (for the funds) for a MBP. I wouldn't be surprised if 75% of MB sales are to college students.



    I've been pulling for a mid-range tower for a LONG time... but if I had to buy a Mac today, it'd be a MBP... not because I would take it with me wherever I went, but because of the prosumer appeal.



    -Clive
  • Reply 20 of 155
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by intruth View Post


    So by my very rough calculations, by early 2010 I'll have shelled out 387 bucks to keep up to date with my Apple OS, compared to 250 to stay "current" with Vista.



    I'm beginning to understand how this marketing thing works.



    LMAO. I was just going to post the same thing. Although, at least you'll have paid 387 bucks for a decent OS and not one that immitates functionality that has been available for years...
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