My daughter is a 25 year old professional fashion and product photographer who also does professional video editing. The 27" iMac is considered to be one of the best computers for those tasks, and has one of the best screens. The iMac doesn't have the same design as when it came out in 2007.
the Macbook Pro isn't outdated either. It gets it's yearly upgrades, and will be getting them soon. The Mini is a strange duck. It's very,popular in hotels, big hotel casinos and cruise ships, all of which can use doesn't to hundreds. It's become more of a specialty device than a consumer device.
I'm not sure you know much about what you're talking about here.
Yes it does...it has the same BASIC design with the black bezeled glass and the aluminum chin (yes its shorter). That would be...the SAME BASIC DESIGN! Its basically looked the same since 2007 with a shorter chin. A small speed bump doesn't constitute as an upgrade. You totally ignored my point of the MacBook Pro looking the since forever ago. Nothing ever really changes except small speed bumps and crappy outdated graphics updates. If you want to be that way...then yes its looked the same since 2011. Thats still way too long to leave a design. Its getting stale looking.
I'm sorry, I don't really care what your daughter does, what she has, and if it works for her. She is not an authority on what makes a good Apple product, or denying the fact that Apple's Mac lineup is outdated really bad. She has nothing to do with the fact that Apple's Mac line is old.
Maybe Apple should release a crappy looking Rose Gold iMac...Yeah! That'll be totally different! /s
Real design change would be...like what they did with the Mac Pro. They kept the same principals of the Mac Pro, and made it something great and still looks arguably very nice and is still very functional. Why can't they spend time and do that with everything else? Instead, they're focused too much on iOS devices.
I also think the Mac doesn't need change on the outside, but I do agree it needs a change on the inside. The only way to keep the Mac current and even better than that is when Apple decides to use its A processors, because that's where Apple innovates and that's what Apple cares about (it will also mean a much cheaper Mac).
I don't care WHAT the MBP looks like (within reason)... What I want is a machine that isn't two years old inside... If the same old case housed a top Skylake chip, a modern GPU, a 2 TB SSD option (I wince at the probable price of that option) and 32 GB of RAM, I'd say "it's a handsome machine - the only real design flaw is the keyboard layout from the old 12" PowerBook G4" (that's how Apple decided how wide their keyboard could be - it had to have full-size keys and fit in the 12" case, and the layout hasn't changed since). Even the 17" MBPs (and PowerBooks before them) have always been constrained by the keyboard being able to fit in that 12" case that hasn't been made in many years. The 15" could have a numeric keypad or (perhaps more interestingly) a couple of columns of programmable keys or buttons - if Apple's feeling REALLY innovative, how about some keys with eInk on them that change function based on the current program - maybe the layout of a numeric keypad (which is exactly what they are if you're running Excel or Numbers), but they become a bunch of formatting keys in Word and Pages, tool selectors in Photoshop and common transport and editing functions in Final Cut. Not all that hard to do! They could even be a touch surface instead of physical keys, meaning that it's one eInk display instead of a bunch of tiny ones.
Assuming nothing so innovative as that, though - I'd be very happy with something that looked JUST like a 2012 Retina, but with 2016 insides (and a 4K and/or wide gamut display if they're feeling generous). What concerns me is LOSING pieces to Apple's quest for thinner and thinner Macs. I think we're relatively likely to lose the HDMI port, and perhaps the SD reader as well. Even those losses would impact my work - I use HDMI to connect to projectors, and it's nice to know that I can hit any projector on campus without worrying about a dongle. I use the SD reader all the time as a photographer! Yes, the Thunderbolt to HDMI dongle is cheap, and external SD readers are a dime a dozen (even USB 3 ones are relatively cheap and widely available). Each of them is just one more piece to carry!
There is some potential of losses worse than just the easily adapted HDMI and SD interfaces. I'm somewhat concerned that they'll eliminate conventional USB and Thunderbolt ports, replacing them with ONLY USB-C. As of May 19, 2016, B+H Photo doesn't list a single USB-C SD card reader, meaning that the simple act of transferring photos to my computer would require BOTH a dongle and a card reader. USB-C can drive a projector just as well as Thunderbolt/DisplayPort, but it means a new dongle, a dongle that, at least at first, will be much less common. The major university I teach photography at STILL has many more of the old Mini-DVI dongles around than the newer Thunderbolt/DisplayPort ones - and many of them are VGA on the other end, even though most of our projectors support higher quality HDMI connections. In most buildings, there's at least one Thunderbolt to HDMI dongle around if you know whom to ask, but it is rarely the one in the classroom or in the bag with the projector, and the library doesn't issue them. It'll be years before big institutions get around to stocking USB-C adapters (which means that anybody with a USB-C only computer needs to carry a couple of them - there's no recourse if one breaks)!
Adapters from Thunderbolt 3 ports to Thunderbolt 1/2 devices exist, but they aren't just a cable... It's a $100 active adapter that's one more pain in the a$% to keep on hand.
In the worst case, I could see them eliminating discrete graphics, leaving us with a giant MacBook...
At least for me, the ideal MBP would be something like a redesigned 16" Retina 4K model around the same weight as the existing 15.4" Retina (I won't complain if it's even a bit heavier), with Skylake and a new GPU, options for more RAM and SSD than the existing model, and all existing ports PLUS a couple of USB-C ports. I'm not even going to ask for Ethernet back, because I know Jony Ive's not listening, even though it's very useful at big institutions, where WiFi is often slow or overcrowded. It might have the programmable keypad I mentioned above if they were REALLY feeling generous, but I think it'll probably have a 12" PowerBook keyboard, maybe with a (welcome) larger trackpad.
A perfectly reasonable MBP would be in the existing case with Skylake and a new GPU, adding a couple of USB-C ports at the expense of SOME (not all of either one) of the USB and Thunderbolt ports (something like 2 USB-C, 2 USB 3.0, 1 Thunderbolt, 1 HDMI, the MagSafe charge port and the SD reader). It would be nice if it had extra RAM or SSD, and/or a 4K or wide-gamut screen. Depending on how the CPU, GPU, RAM, SSD and screen options looked, my reaction to this machine would run anywhere from "oh, well, ho-hum update - still a nice machine, I'll buy it and be happy with it" on up to "looks the same, but REALLY nice under the hood - I like that top model a LOT and am happy to pay for it"
A MBP I'd grumble about, but almost certainly buy in the end, would lose HDMI and the SD reader, but keep at least one USB 3.0, one Thunderbolt 2.0 and the MagSafe charge port. It would have to gain almost nothing in other ways for me to decide to buy a remaindered 2015 MBP instead. If they did a reasonable update to the CPUs and GPUs, especially if it had RAM, SSD or both options beyond what the 2015 has, I'd not be happy about the lost ports, but I'd still prefer the newer chips to a remaindered machine that's two years old in many ways.
The MBP that would REALLY cause me to go looking on the remainder shelves would be something like no ports other than USB 3.0 (probably plus MagSafe, but who knows), a 35 (or even 15) watt processor that's not much faster than the 45 watt Haswell, and no discrete graphics. Sure, it's 3.5 lbs and has a 12 hour battery life, but it's SLOW - that's not a MacBook PRO!
I'm sure everyone else has their own priorities, and has priorities for different Macs - what I generally own is a top-end PowerBook, which has evolved into the 15" MacBook Pro Retina(I've had at least 7 Mac laptops, going back to the PowerBook 170, and 5 of them have been at that position in the line). iMac enthusiasts are perhaps even more concerned about getting a slimmed-down machine at the expense of power than top end PowerBook fans; while those whose preferred Mac is the PowerBook Duo/12" Aluminum PowerBook/MacBook Air lineage may be happier?
That’s the stuff that doesn’t require power as long as you’re not changing what it displays, right? What’s its lifespan? It needs to be beyond the lifespan of the keyboard. Such a thing sounds like the culmination of this idea, but in a much better way.
Yes, I was thinking of that same keyboard... Optimus Maximus, wasn't it? eInk is the stuff in Kindle displays that doesn't require power except when it changes state. Most versions of it are black and white (or at most grayscale), but it's cheap, low-power, easy to backlight (actually sidelight) and high resolution - the opposite of the OLED keys on the Optimus Maximus, which had entirely impractical pricing and power draw. I'm not sure about the lifespan (and I agree with you that it needs to be significantly longer than the lifespan of the Mac), but I am almost sure the lifespan is measured in number of state changes, NOT amount of time on. That is much better for a keypad, because it won't change state all that often - something between every few minutes (for the frequent app-switcher) and a few times a day (for someone who spends all day in one app). Newer Kindle screens are supposed to be quite durable (the old ones weren't). The number of switches could be further reduced by a default key state that was the same between Finder, Mail and Safari (none of them really needs a ton of keys, and they share some)...
I am almost sure the lifespan is measured in number of state changes, NOT amount of time on. That is much better for a keypad, because it won't change state all that often - something between every few minutes (for the frequent app-switcher) and a few times a day (for someone who spends all day in one app).
Ah, I was thinking maybe go all out with it and put it on every key. But then it would change a bunch of keys every time you hit Shift/Option/Apple, etc. Wishful thinking.
Well if you're going to put eInk on top of every key that means every key has some active circuitry. Then why not go full on. Make each key a touch sensor in it's own right do away mechanical switch just use something compressible under the keys to give them travel. People who want to be heavy handed will have long travel. soft touch typists will barely need to touch the key at all to activate.
Well if you're going to put eInk on top of every key that means every key has some active circuitry. Then why not go full on. Make each key a touch sensor in it's own right do away mechanical switch just use something compressible under the keys to give them travel. People who want to be heavy handed will have long travel. soft touch typists will barely need to touch the key at all to activate.
I’d love to see a proof of concept on something like that (and then try it out for myself). I’m still not quite sold on touch vs. physical keyboards.
I'd be very surprised to see anything so radical as an entirely relabelable keyboard - how many Optimus Maximus ever shipped? Part of that was that they started out ungodly expensive, then got even more so as Lebedev figured out what they actually cost to produce. The second part, though, also reduced their chances - they never got the key feel decent - it was a $1500 keyboard that felt like a $10 keyboard (according to reviews - I've never seen one, and my guess is that there are a few hundred in the world). Nobody since has tried an all active label keyboard (I suspect at least in part because nobody's gotten keys with circuitry to feel good). What we have seen is various active-label button pads on high-end gaming keyboards, and on audio-video editing accessories. You don't press any shortcut key anywhere NEAR as often as, say, the "T", and very rarely are you trying to touch-type shortcuts (I don't game, so apologies to gamers if you do touch-type shortcuts)... Even if Apple has some technology they're working on to produce an eventual all active-label keyboard (and if anybody can do it, Jony Ive can), I'd expect it to show up on some extra keys first...
My wish list to associate different fingerprints with limited access to an iPad so my kids can automatically have access to only the things they need without explicitly enabling and disabling guided access.
The thing I'm looking for most is to realize the iPad Pro's potential as a meeting computer. Increasingly everyone needs to come to meetings with a laptop (increasingly a Surface at the state agency where I work). I would rather take handwritten notes as a tablet (in which case at least my to-do's need handwriting recognition so I can dispatch to a task list). I should be able to easily share my screen to the conference room display. Those things would allow me to stay focused on the meeting instead of on my screen. But there are cases where typing is more critical and the screen needs to prop up to act like a laptop - and in those cases I need a touchpad. Steve Jobs was the one who said people didn't want to be reaching up to touch their computer screen; I certainly don't. Whether in tablet or laptop mode though, I need to be able to access a real file system.
I think my concern about the iPad Pro is that the designers are too concerned about an ideology - that the touch metaphor is the defining feature of iPads - and not concerned enough about satisfying the use cases it creates. The focus should be on how the user is using the device, and when I'm looking at a vertical screen behind a keyboard I want to be able to use it as a laptop that's as capable as the competition's.
Also -- Yes Please on integrating Siri and Spotlight with messages. Most of what I'd like Siri to do are things I don't want to do out loud, can't say clearly enough or require the ability to respond and refine an inquiry. Done correctly, this feature could replace most of my forays to another app for searching.
Comments
The only way to keep the Mac current and even better than that is when Apple decides to use its A processors, because that's where Apple innovates and that's what Apple cares about (it will also mean a much cheaper Mac).
Assuming nothing so innovative as that, though - I'd be very happy with something that looked JUST like a 2012 Retina, but with 2016 insides (and a 4K and/or wide gamut display if they're feeling generous). What concerns me is LOSING pieces to Apple's quest for thinner and thinner Macs. I think we're relatively likely to lose the HDMI port, and perhaps the SD reader as well. Even those losses would impact my work - I use HDMI to connect to projectors, and it's nice to know that I can hit any projector on campus without worrying about a dongle. I use the SD reader all the time as a photographer! Yes, the Thunderbolt to HDMI dongle is cheap, and external SD readers are a dime a dozen (even USB 3 ones are relatively cheap and widely available). Each of them is just one more piece to carry!
There is some potential of losses worse than just the easily adapted HDMI and SD interfaces. I'm somewhat concerned that they'll eliminate conventional USB and Thunderbolt ports, replacing them with ONLY USB-C. As of May 19, 2016, B+H Photo doesn't list a single USB-C SD card reader, meaning that the simple act of transferring photos to my computer would require BOTH a dongle and a card reader. USB-C can drive a projector just as well as Thunderbolt/DisplayPort, but it means a new dongle, a dongle that, at least at first, will be much less common. The major university I teach photography at STILL has many more of the old Mini-DVI dongles around than the newer Thunderbolt/DisplayPort ones - and many of them are VGA on the other end, even though most of our projectors support higher quality HDMI connections. In most buildings, there's at least one Thunderbolt to HDMI dongle around if you know whom to ask, but it is rarely the one in the classroom or in the bag with the projector, and the library doesn't issue them. It'll be years before big institutions get around to stocking USB-C adapters (which means that anybody with a USB-C only computer needs to carry a couple of them - there's no recourse if one breaks)!
Adapters from Thunderbolt 3 ports to Thunderbolt 1/2 devices exist, but they aren't just a cable... It's a $100 active adapter that's one more pain in the a$% to keep on hand.
In the worst case, I could see them eliminating discrete graphics, leaving us with a giant MacBook...
At least for me, the ideal MBP would be something like a redesigned 16" Retina 4K model around the same weight as the existing 15.4" Retina (I won't complain if it's even a bit heavier), with Skylake and a new GPU, options for more RAM and SSD than the existing model, and all existing ports PLUS a couple of USB-C ports. I'm not even going to ask for Ethernet back, because I know Jony Ive's not listening, even though it's very useful at big institutions, where WiFi is often slow or overcrowded. It might have the programmable keypad I mentioned above if they were REALLY feeling generous, but I think it'll probably have a 12" PowerBook keyboard, maybe with a (welcome) larger trackpad.
A perfectly reasonable MBP would be in the existing case with Skylake and a new GPU, adding a couple of USB-C ports at the expense of SOME (not all of either one) of the USB and Thunderbolt ports (something like 2 USB-C, 2 USB 3.0, 1 Thunderbolt, 1 HDMI, the MagSafe charge port and the SD reader). It would be nice if it had extra RAM or SSD, and/or a 4K or wide-gamut screen. Depending on how the CPU, GPU, RAM, SSD and screen options looked, my reaction to this machine would run anywhere from "oh, well, ho-hum update - still a nice machine, I'll buy it and be happy with it" on up to "looks the same, but REALLY nice under the hood - I like that top model a LOT and am happy to pay for it"
A MBP I'd grumble about, but almost certainly buy in the end, would lose HDMI and the SD reader, but keep at least one USB 3.0, one Thunderbolt 2.0 and the MagSafe charge port. It would have to gain almost nothing in other ways for me to decide to buy a remaindered 2015 MBP instead. If they did a reasonable update to the CPUs and GPUs, especially if it had RAM, SSD or both options beyond what the 2015 has, I'd not be happy about the lost ports, but I'd still prefer the newer chips to a remaindered machine that's two years old in many ways.
The MBP that would REALLY cause me to go looking on the remainder shelves would be something like no ports other than USB 3.0 (probably plus MagSafe, but who knows), a 35 (or even 15) watt processor that's not much faster than the 45 watt Haswell, and no discrete graphics. Sure, it's 3.5 lbs and has a 12 hour battery life, but it's SLOW - that's not a MacBook PRO!
I'm sure everyone else has their own priorities, and has priorities for different Macs - what I generally own is a top-end PowerBook, which has evolved into the 15" MacBook Pro Retina(I've had at least 7 Mac laptops, going back to the PowerBook 170, and 5 of them have been at that position in the line). iMac enthusiasts are perhaps even more concerned about getting a slimmed-down machine at the expense of power than top end PowerBook fans; while those whose preferred Mac is the PowerBook Duo/12" Aluminum PowerBook/MacBook Air lineage may be happier?
to associate different fingerprints with limited access to an iPad so my kids can automatically have access to only the things they need without explicitly enabling and disabling guided access.
I think my concern about the iPad Pro is that the designers are too concerned about an ideology - that the touch metaphor is the defining feature of iPads - and not concerned enough about satisfying the use cases it creates. The focus should be on how the user is using the device, and when I'm looking at a vertical screen behind a keyboard I want to be able to use it as a laptop that's as capable as the competition's.
Also -- Yes Please on integrating Siri and Spotlight with messages. Most of what I'd like Siri to do are things I don't want to do out loud, can't say clearly enough or require the ability to respond and refine an inquiry. Done correctly, this feature could replace most of my forays to another app for searching.