Mactel = marketing & design matter

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
I would suspect that there will be no Intel stickers, and that the Apple/Intel partnership will produce chips with unique names - only for Macs. Why? Because design, exclusivity, and marketing really do matter for Apple. I don't think they would pollute their designs with those crappy little stickers. A differently branded Mactel chip would also separate out the new Macs (at least semiotically) from the swarm of crappy computers out there.

-pu
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 34
    cubistcubist Posts: 954member
    Fantasy. When the machines come out and have completely generic hardware and Intel stickers on the outside, you'll realize that it is software, and software alone, that makes a Mac.
  • Reply 2 of 34
    Software and Industrial Design.
  • Reply 3 of 34
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by cubist

    Fantasy. When the machines come out and have completely generic hardware and Intel stickers on the outside, you'll realize that it is software, and software alone, that makes a Mac.



    In the past was the total Mac experience, software plus hardware (call it design, quality, whatever, it is hardware). I had doubts that Apple (see S. Jobs) cared about hardware specifics (e.g. PPC vs. x86), until recently when I learned that Jobs was ready to start the transition back in 2003, but alas IBM dropped the G5 and Apple remained on the PPC train. And they would never abandoned it if IBM keeped its interest to advance the 970 line in order to produce competitive desktop and mobile CPUs.
  • Reply 4 of 34
    Who really cares about a sticker that you can get off 30 seconds after you open the box. Apple will probably care as it provides some rather large amounts of money for advertising and promotions. Let 'em stick it on and we'll simply take it off - no bit deal.



    Now spend a few moments thinking of the effort that S Jobs & J Ive will be putting into the Mactels. Add a lot of effort from the programmers for the new basics, like iLife 06 and (even) iWork 06 and then 10.5 later in the year. There is going to be a lot to drool over.



    Removable stickers are a non-issue - it's everything else that counts.
  • Reply 5 of 34
    I'm wondering what naming convention Apple is going to use.



    I believe that using the Gx moniker has traditionally helped Apple to market the machines. It acts as an easy way of differentiating product lines at first glance - 'iBook G4', 'iMac G5' etc.



    So what will they do woth Intel? We know Intel is about to rebrand their product lines, and will likely make a big marketing push this year with 'Centrino Solo' and 'Centrino Duo' but will Apple ride this wave? Or will they choose to go down their own route and continue with the Gx naming convention.



    Certainly 'iBook Centrino Solo' or 'iBook Centrino Duo' does not have the same immediacy as the 'iBook G4'.



    Is the G5 the last of the G's??
  • Reply 6 of 34
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Nine-Seventy

    I'm wondering what naming convention Apple is going to use.



    ...



    Certainly 'iBook Centrino Solo' or 'iBook Centrino Duo' does not have the same immediacy as the 'iBook G4'.



    Is the G5 the last of the G's??




    I think this is the most interesting point in this thread. We should speculate on how Apple may differentiate its models (not against competitors, but against itself). I would guess that they will drop the Gx nomenclature, and all hints to the processor itself. My guess is that we will have "ibook", "imac", etc. without any suffixes. If they need some discriminator, maybe renew the duo name but in reference to the number of cores "ibook" or "ibook duo". The fact is that with the rapid pace of processors in the intel world (hell, if we start with Yonah in Jan, by next year, we'll have Merom) we don't want to constantly rename. This is how Apple had been until the ibook g4 really. The wallstreet powerbooks were just "Powerbook" and the Lombard follow-ons the same. I can't remember if my TiBook had G4 on it or not...





    EDIT: I forgot to mention that if Apple uses a particular nomenclature that differentiates by processor generation, I wouldn't be surprised if other Intel manufacturer's copied the name.
  • Reply 7 of 34
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    "G" is a Motorola-introduced means of designating PowerPC CPU generations. Apple has used it in marketing a lot, but they were not the ones to create it. It also makes significantly less sense on Intel-based computers.



    I would not be surprised to see Apple just switch to a different letter, however, though "G" for "generation" is rather catchy.
  • Reply 8 of 34
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by atomicham

    I can't remember if my TiBook had G4 on it or not...



    It did.



    Apple used "G" to differentiate from a previous generation. For example, the first iMac was just that. But the G4-based iMac was called "iMac G4", and, since the G3-based iMac continued to be available for a short period of time, it was rebranded "iMac G3".



    Likewise, the first iBook was just the iBook, but the iBook G4 was named as such.
  • Reply 9 of 34
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    I think we'll see the "i" and "Power" nomenclature go bye-bye.
  • Reply 10 of 34
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    It's a possibility, but seeing as how popular it has become thanks to iTunes, iPod, iYouKnowWhatIMean, I don't see that happening.
  • Reply 11 of 34
    Quote:

    Originally posted by atomicham

    EDIT: I forgot to mention that if Apple uses a particular nomenclature that differentiates by processor generation, I wouldn't be surprised if other Intel manufacturer's copied the name.



    I havn't thought about that but it makes perfect sense since evey PC vendor is a sheep following Apple's lead even before they switched to Intel. When PC vendors grow tired of shanting "Intel Pentium 4 955 Extreme Edition dual core processor with Hyperthreading technology" they might go with whatever Apple calls Intel's processors.



    I really don't see the i- and Power- moniker leaving us. There's really no need to. We might need to keep an eye on USPTO/TESS the comming days.
  • Reply 12 of 34
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Chucker

    "G" is a Motorola-introduced means of designating PowerPC CPU generations. Apple has used it in marketing a lot, but they were not the ones to create it. It also makes significantly less sense on Intel-based computers.



    I would not be surprised to see Apple just switch to a different letter, however, though "G" for "generation" is rather catchy.




    The G-designation was introduced by Apple in 1997--not Motorola--with the PPC 750-based successor to the PPC 604/603-based PowerMac 9600/8600/7300. The designation was meant to promote the new computer line as Generation 3 of the Power Macintosh line. Retroactively, the PPC 601/NuBus-based Power Macintoshes became Generation 1. PPC-603/603e/604/604e/PCI-based computers became Generation 2. As we all know, Generation-4 PowerMacs were based on the Motorola PPC 7400/7500 family. Generation-5 is based on IBM's PowerPC 970 family.



    The G-designation of PowerBooks and iMacs associated new models in those families with the processor they are based on. The first iMac used the same processor family as the PowerMac G3, but it was called the iMac. It was the lampshade upgrade that was named iMac G3. The PPC-7400/7500 family-based iMac was the iMac G4 and the PPC 970-based current model is the iMac G5. We see the same with the eMac. The eMac was always the eMac and not the eMac G4.
  • Reply 13 of 34
    cubistcubist Posts: 954member
    Well now, in another thread I pointed out that Apple does need to make the processor architecture very obvious to prevent consumer confusion. They need a very simple moniker so consumers know which software they can buy. If they say "iBook Centrino Solo", software will have to be labelled with all kinds of different versions. I should think it would say "iBook Intel", with Intel's new logo.



    It's hard to believe Apple didn't say anything about logo programs back at WWDC. Publishers should be designing their packaging now. Or maybe they did say something, and it's all under NDA...
  • Reply 14 of 34
    cubistcubist Posts: 954member
    Sorry for the double post. I realized after reading another thread that they don't have to have Intel in the logo. Since they want people to make Universal Binaries, they can simply make a special logo for Universal Binaries and that will take care of the consumer confusion problem. No need for Intel in the name.
  • Reply 15 of 34
    rageousrageous Posts: 2,170member
    i love how people think that Apple needs to lessen confusion by renaming all their shit.



    iBook Intel?



    How about not renaming any of their stuff? I bet that would lessen confusion. Either continue with the Gs, which much like the "iEverything" crazy had roots in one thing (internet) but have since just become a marketing designation, or just drop the Gs. Same for the "Power" moniker. There is no reason that must remain exclusive to PowerPC based computers whatsoever. When someone says they are power cmputing, it has nothing to do with their processor.



    When you start calling them Intel this and with stickers and then half the other half of your product lines still with IBM PPCs, then people are going to get all f'ed up trying to figure out what they need.



    Best way to lessen confusion about what's in what? Downplay it. Stress CONTINUITY.
  • Reply 16 of 34
    kedakeda Posts: 722member
    Apple has used the 'G' moniker to differentiate their products, and create brand identities. The 'G5' in the iMac's name certainly set it apart from previous machines. As a matter of fact, many people I know refer to the new Macs as G5s.



    I think Apple will keep its naming conventions, and will either call the new machines G6 or drop the chip-specific references all together. After all, the core brands here are 'i' and 'Power' Mac.
  • Reply 17 of 34
    ibook yonah

    yonah book



    power yonah



  • Reply 18 of 34
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    I know it seems foolish for Apple to drop the "i" and "Power" nomenclature, but they've dropped other very well-known, popular products before...



    (cough)iPod mini(cough)



    Might we just see ONE line of laptops, designated by screen size and/or cores?:



    Apple Notebook 13

    Apple Notebook 13 Duo



    Apple Notebook 15

    Apple Notebook 15 Duo



    Apple Notebook 17

    Apple Notebook 17 Duo



    I just blew your mind.
  • Reply 19 of 34
    rageousrageous Posts: 2,170member
    dropping the iPod mini is not the same thing as dropping the iPod name, or even the "i" in iPod for that matter.
  • Reply 20 of 34
    Quote:

    Originally posted by CosmoNut

    I know it seems foolish for Apple to drop the "i" and "Power" nomenclature, but they've dropped other very well-known, popular products before...



    (cough)iPod mini(cough)



    Might we just see ONE line of laptops, designated by screen size and/or cores?:



    Apple Notebook 13

    Apple Notebook 13 Duo



    Apple Notebook 15

    Apple Notebook 15 Duo



    Apple Notebook 17

    Apple Notebook 17 Duo



    I just blew your mind.




    It would be very hard for Apple to drop the "i" in their consumer products, they have a lot invested in the maketing and a well established brand identity with it. Using that brand identity would be a boon to the marketing of any other consumer products that they come out with to fill out the spokes on their digital hub.



    Having said that, it wouldnt be imposible for them to do so, they have done it before though with less well recognized monikers like the Performa line. This would be especially true if Apple wanted to consolidate their computer lines. Note that Apple's latest computer is outside of the Power/i naming convention.



    However I think that the iBook Solo and PowerBook Duo are better names than MacBook Solo (Apple is the company, the computer line is Mac or Macintosh) or Mac Notebook Duo.
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