WWDC delayed for Panther and 970?

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
From MacMinute:

Quote:

Apple today announced that it has rescheduled its 2003 Worldwide Developers Conference in order to provide developers with a more complete preview release of the next version of Mac OS X, code named "Panther." Originally scheduled for May 19-23 in San Jose, the conference will now be held June 23-27 at San Francisco's Moscone Center. "Our annual Worldwide Developers Conference provides our developers an in-depth look at the future of the Mac platform, and giving everyone a preview release of Panther is the best way to do that," said Ron Okamoto, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. "Moving to June ensures that every developer will leave the event with a copy of Panther in their hands."



This is fairly significant. It moves it closer to the MWNY time frame we were looking at for a release. We will also see Panther here (64 bit anyone?).



I don't think Apple would make people change their plans so late unless it would be worth their while. What do you think?
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 169
    davegeedavegee Posts: 2,765member
    Well.... this IS interesting...



    My spin on this is that Apple is not only going to show Panther but also show the 970 at WWDC and since we all know what's gonna happen to PM sales once a 970 is demo'd (NDA or no NDA the info WILL LEAK) Apple wants to close the window between WWDC and MWNY.



    The doom and gloom spin is Panther is lagging and Apple just wouldn't be ready for a preview release in May so they pushed it to June...



    Dave
  • Reply 2 of 169
    fran441fran441 Posts: 3,715member
    Not only that, but www.apple.com now 'confirms' Panther and the location has been changed from San Jose to the Moscone Center in San Francisco.



    Very interesting.
  • Reply 3 of 169
    escherescher Posts: 1,811member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Fran441

    I don't think Apple would make people change their plans so late unless it would be worth their while. What do you think?



    The 1-month delay for WWDC is without a doubt significant. However, I can't help but think back to MWSF 2002, when Jobs screwed up everybody's travel plans by moving the MWSF keynote by one day, just to get the FP iMac G4 on the cover of Time Magazine.



    The move from San Jose to San Francisco, and the move closer to MWNY (in time), makes me think that Apple is trying to reposition WWDC as the second must-attend event for Mac professionals (after MWSF, instead of MWNY/Boston).



    This whole change makes me want to make the trip out to WWDC. It might be a fun time to attend the Mac developers' equivalent of the Haj to Mecca.



    Escher
  • Reply 4 of 169
    newnew Posts: 3,244member
    how much is the WWDC?

    I suddenly got an educational budget with my new job that also includes travles.
  • Reply 5 of 169
    fred_ljfred_lj Posts: 607member
    EXPENSIVE; at least by my regard -- over $1,000 for a pass, and it differs according to what you want to attend specifically. They really do want to limit it to the pros. at this event. Moving it to the Moscone is a definite flag as to something else happening -- perhaps the 970 intro won't be as secretive as we think. But the thing is, they had better make some good deals on the old Power Macs to clear out inventory. Everyone's going to be willing to wait -- offering a top-of-the-line G4 Power Mac for under $2k would do it for a lot of people.



    The plot thickens...you'd think Apple is pretty much screaming "here it is!! All bets are off...til June!"



    Then again, how many times have they disappointed? It is a bit unsettling that Panther's preview release WON'T be ready til the. As I am not in any facet knowledgable in this, how fast could programmers make the move to 64-bit coding?
  • Reply 6 of 169
    aphelionaphelion Posts: 736member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by DaveGee

    Well.... this IS interesting...



    "My spin on this is that Apple is not only going to show Panther but also show the 970 at WWDC and since we all know what's gonna happen to PM sales once a 970 is demo'd (NDA or no NDA the info WILL LEAK) Apple wants to close the window between WWDC and MWNY". Dave



    My take exactly. This gives me more hope for a MWNY release, or at least announcement with a release date. Let's just hope that 2003 being the "year of the laptop" was misdirection on Steve's part.



    And Fran (or anyone) what would the change in venues be significant to the issue? Bigger? Smaller? What are the differences?

    ...
  • Reply 7 of 169
    programmerprogrammer Posts: 3,457member
    Wow, when I read the title of this thread I thought it was a joke or somebody was smoking cracking. Apple never moves WWDC. That's doing to mess with a lot of developer's schedules, and getting a conference center of that size this close to the date is difficult (and usually expensive). They must have a damn good reason.
  • Reply 8 of 169
    kim kap solkim kap sol Posts: 2,987member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Aphelion

    My take exactly. This gives me more hope for a MWNY release, or at least announcement with a release date. Let's just hope that 2003 being the "year of the laptop" was misdirection on Steve's part.



    And Fran (or anyone) what would the change in venues be significant to the issue? Bigger? Smaller? What are the differences?

    ...




    OT: Aphelion. 1 question. Why do you bother with the ArsTechnica Battlefront? Stop posting there...there are too many PC-biased idiots on ArsTechnica (like Evil Merlin, seta, Mr Miagi, pdampier, Venture)...making intelligent conversation impossible over there.



    I'd stop wasting my time over there if I were you. But then again...I'm not your mom so you can do whatever you want.



    In fact...if the Mac crowd stopped being so offended everytime obvious trolls such as Evil Merlin, seta, Mr Miagi, pdampier, Venture open their mouths, the Battlefront would just disappear and we'd never have to hear stupid comments from those trolls again.
  • Reply 9 of 169
    overhopeoverhope Posts: 1,123member
    Bringing in a little ray of optimism, might it not be the case that Panther is massively ahead of schedule and thus the WWDC version will be pretty near final?



    Panther is going to happen regardless of the 970 situation.
  • Reply 10 of 169
    aphelionaphelion Posts: 736member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by kim kap sol

    OT:...Why bother ...



    sheesh, kim, don't even bring up that rabble of anti-mac flat earthers that is arse battlefront. I got tired of seeing the gang banging that those you mentioned (and others) give to any positive Apple posts and posters.



    In that forum I am the "Anti-Venture" in this, I am plain old Aphelion don't confuse the two.

    ...
  • Reply 11 of 169
    atomichamatomicham Posts: 185member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Overhope

    Bringing in a little ray of optimism, might it not be the case that Panther is massively ahead of schedule and thus the WWDC version will be pretty near final?



    Panther is going to happen regardless of the 970 situation.




    True, but, I do not believe Apple's reason for moving the conference for one second. They state that they want to make sure that every developer has access to Panther, so, they moved it back a month and to Moscone (which I'm sure is considerably more expensive for Apple to host at compared to San Jose). That reason is a smoke-screen.



    In June, they could cheaply and easily mail a CD to each developer who attended in May without moving the conference. There is something significant going on because this changes everyone's plans. Many people who bought a cheap e-ticket may be screwed (no changes allowed, etc.). Apple wouldn't do that to everyone just to give them a friggin' CD. As for sessions about Panther, those can go on without a preview release in hand.



    I, personally, believe that something major is happening and it has only a little to do with Panther as part of that bigger picture... That's just my gut feel.
  • Reply 12 of 169
    Quote:

    Originally posted by DaveGee

    Well.... this IS interesting...



    My spin on this is that Apple is not only going to show Panther but also show the 970 at WWDC and since we all know what's gonna happen to PM sales once a 970 is demo'd (NDA or no NDA the info WILL LEAK) Apple wants to close the window between WWDC and MWNY.



    The doom and gloom spin is Panther is lagging and Apple just wouldn't be ready for a preview release in May so they pushed it to June...



    Dave




    I totally agree with you Dave. This is just more evidence that Apple is going with the 970. Unless Panther has really fallen behind in development. But you are right, PM sales would drop like a pancake to the floor and no one would buy. Smart move by Apple to minimize the effects of the drop in sales as we all know if they announced the 970 at the old date, May, the indo would be leaked and sales would drop. Move the date closer to MWNY and you don't lose as many sales. Smart move.
  • Reply 13 of 169
    kim kap solkim kap sol Posts: 2,987member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Aphelion

    sheesh, kim, don't even bring up that rabble of anti-mac flat earthers that is arse battlefront. I got tired of seeing the gang banging that those you mentioned (and others) give to any positive Apple posts and posters.



    In that forum I am the "Anti-Venture" in this, I am plain old Aphelion don't confuse the two.

    ...




    Well...I did get banned several time from Ars for calling bullshit on the one-way thinking going on in that forum. You may remember my many identities. Anyhoo...I sometimes go back there to see that...nothing's changed! And the same winlots are at it. God knows how long they've been on that forum. Speaking nonsense about Apple, a company they don't care about, is such a waste of time...it can only really mean two things:



    1. They secretly see Apple as a threat to their mediocre platform of choice.

    2. Or they really have time to kill making me wonder if these guys even have the job they say they have.
  • Reply 14 of 169
    willoughbywilloughby Posts: 1,457member
    I wouldn't be surprised if Apple didn't attend MWNY now or MW Boston 2004. WWDC is now Apple's big summer event.



    I bet Job's will even keynote it.
  • Reply 15 of 169
    gizzmonicgizzmonic Posts: 511member
    I've got a question: has anyone actually confirmed that Panther will be 64-bit ready?



    I agree with Fran and Programmer though, Apple definitely has something big planned. It's got to be hardware. If the PPC970 is being produced in big enough quantities, it wouldn't surprise me to see the Xserve, Powermac, and maybe even the iMac switch to this new architecture.



    Does anyone have any more information about whether the initial run will top out at 2.5Ghz or 1.8? If Apple is able to top out its lineup at 2.5Ghz, then it's conceivable that the iMac might actually get a PPC970, if Apple really is concerned about closing the performance gap and boosting sales.
  • Reply 16 of 169
    tmantman Posts: 66member
    If Panther turns out to be 64 bit, how does Apple showcase it without tipping their hand on the 970?
  • Reply 17 of 169
    othelloothello Posts: 1,054member
    i can't see that the iMac will get the 970. the consumer and pro ranges will be kept seperate by one using the G4 and the other the 970...
  • Reply 18 of 169
    When I saw this headline on Macsurfer I was floored. Damn. Making the decision to move an event this size on such relatively short notice is not something they are going to take lightly. Some other developers I know are going to have to pay a little extra to change their travel plans.



    Over the last few years, WWDC has gotten a little bit bigger each year, I've been told. I went last year for the first time. There were some sessions held across the street from the San Jose convention center, so part of the reason for the move may be that they're simply running out of room at the San Jose venue. Some of the OpenGL sessions I went to in the Graphics & Imaging track were standing room only. They've added an IT track this year and have also rolled the Quicktime Live conference into WWDC, so I can see how they could start exceeding their capacity.



    But if it were simply an issue of crowding, I think that Apple would come out and say something like "Developers are flocking to OS X so quickly and in such large numbers that we have to move WWDC to a bigger venue" and spin it that way.



    So, I really think that they have something big up their sleeve and are delaying this for something along the lines of a 64-bit Panther and IBM 970 PPC processor.



    WWDC is an incredible event, but it's not the kind of thing the typical Mac zealot is going to enjoy. Unless you spend a significant amount of time writing code for the Macintosh, it's not worth the $1300 registration.



    It's not in our budget for this year unfortunately... I'm gonna keep whining and begging though...
  • Reply 19 of 169
    nitzernitzer Posts: 115member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Willoughby

    I wouldn't be surprised if Apple didn't attend MWNY now or MW Boston 2004. WWDC is now Apple's big summer event.



    I bet Job's will even keynote it.




    Hmm... developers will be carrying Panther in one hand when they leave WWDC. So the question becomes, on what hardware do they start coding their 64-bit apps?



    I think we may see developers walking out with 970 PowerMacs in their other hand.
  • Reply 20 of 169
    zapchudzapchud Posts: 844member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by othello

    i can't see that the iMac will get the 970. the consumer and pro ranges will be kept seperate by one using the G4 and the other the 970...



    well, I hope that the consumer and pro ranges will be kept separate by one using single 970's, and the other dual. Maybe I hope for too much, even though I will disappointed if this is not the case at some point...
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