karmadave

Seems like a pretty compelling case of collusion and price-fixing. Don't these people take their own Compliance training? 

I remain skeptical. Not because I don't think Apple can pull this off. They've done it 2x before so clearly they can. Consumers probably won't notice any difference other than better battery life, etc. Will large corporations buy any laptop that doesn't have an x86 compatible processor? Clearly they buy lots of iPhones and iPads so perhaps. Fortunately for Apple the Mac is a small portion of their overall revenue so the risk is relatively small. Especially compared to their last major transition when Mac was the majority of their revenue. This is a multi-year adventure so it will be interesting to follow Apple's progress.

Apple has had operations, in Austin, for over 30 years. Austin is an attractive location for a number of reasons: - Central location within the US - Plentiful land to build new facilities - Relatively affordable housing (as compared to the Bay Area) - Diverse and well-educated population - Lower taxes (no personal state income tax) than California - Cool, hip music scene :-) On the downside, Austin is oppressively hot and humid for much of the year. Traffic is also pretty bad and although the price of gas is cheaper, using the toll roads costs $$$. I travel, to Austin, frequently for work and it's definitely one of my favorite cities. If I was a young person, looking to buy a house, start a family, etc. Austin would be very attractive especially compared to the high cost of living in the Bay Area...

Looks impressive, however there are a few drawbacks.

1. Single CPU only. Most professional workstations offer a dual CPU option.
2. AMD graphics only. Curious as to whether nor not nVidia GPU's will even work in this machine.
3. Limited storage bays. Two (2) SSD's seems quite limited compared to most professional workstations.
4. Price. $6K seems a bit over-priced for an 8-core workstation with minimal RAM, SSD, and Graphics.

Overall, this is a niche product and likely not a huge money maker for Apple. That said, I am glad they are re-engaging with professional video and audio producers who've been waiting years for Apple to (re)introduce a truly modular professional workstation...

I'm still skeptical that Apple's ARM designs will 'replace' and not 'augment' Intel in the Macintosh. However, one thing that ARM does give Apple is the ability to design it's own iOS and iPadOS compatible CPU without having to licensing or royalties to chip 'monopolies' such as Intel. IDK. Maybe Apple will use this as an opportunity to 're-imagine' the computing platform for the next 10-15 years. Certainly leveraging the mobile platform, is a good start, and incorporating 5G into ALL their platforms could be very interesting as well. Like a lot of people, I will be watching the WWDC20 keynote with keen interest this year.

In spite of Intel's recent challenges (many self-inflicted), for a Hedge Fund CEO to call for 'to boost its position as a provider of chips for computers and data centers' seems like an empty statement. Intel already controls 90%+ of these markets and it seems when you have a commanding position you seek to diversify into other segments. GPU's would seem to be the most likely. Apple is to be applauded for the M1, however Apple's Mac sales account for a relatively small slice of the desktop/laptop market and 0.0% of the datacenter compute market. Thanks for the advice though 

Excellent choice! Gelsinger is a long-time Intel executive, before going to VMWave, and will turn the ship around...

I think Apple's decision to discontinue building their own wireless router has more to do with economics than anything else. Apple's routers appeal mainly to Mac users and thus this limits their sales volume. I am also very intrigued at the emergence of mesh routers for the home. Mesh has been the norm in commercial for many years, but these systems have been too expensive for home use. With wireless routers, like AmpliFi and eero, the price is almost low enough for mainstream use. 

Microsoft is definitely going after Apple's mindshare of creative professionals. I think in relation to their past, Microsoft has out innovated Apple. However, Microsoft is still fundamentally a software company and hardware is still a relatively small portion of their business. These devices, including the Surface Book, are targeted at high end professionals so they will likely be at least a profitable venture for the company. It will be interesting to see how Apple's announcements tomorrow compare. Will we see a few surprises? 

Apple is still one of the largest, most profitable companies ever. The challenge is that investors demand growth and Apple's sales are not growing at the moment. I would imagine this is extra incentive to get their next generation products to market sooner than later and make sure they have a healthy pipeline of new products. Unfortunately, the iPad and Watch are not selling enough to make up for the decline in iPhone sales. Tim Cook is a very capable executive, but Steve Jobs was really the one who drove the company to bring innovative, new products to market. He simply cannot be replaced...