Desktops and Laptops: Where's the hype?

[OroborosNZ]

iPhone rumors are blitzing it on macrumors...

In my country, virtually everything Apple is on sale, indicating new product is coming in. Not exactly cutting edge sleuthing. But the last mention of a content creation machine was in May where MacRumors thought an updated MacBook Air could be coming out in June. Nope.

Accuracy of reporting isn't the point in a rumors/special interest site. I get that. But given that 16 of 17 products on MacRumors Buyers' Guide is not "Buy Now", I'm really wondering why MacBooks, Mac Pros and iMacs haven't been getting a lot more press. OK, cool, the iPhone might have a new camera: radical changes for cover manufacturers, interesting changes for software developers. But surely SOMETHING'S happening with the big ticket tools.

I see no hype for them. What am I missing?

-Oro

 

[BenTrovato]

Normally this is where we'd complain how Apple isn't paying attention to the Mac. Unfortunately dumb consumers continue to pay for overpriced hardware and so Apple doesn't need to refresh their lineup as they remain profitable.

 

[pat500000]

iPhone rumors are blitzing it on macrumors...

In my country, virtually everything Apple is on sale, indicating new product is coming in. Not exactly cutting edge sleuthing. But the last mention of a content creation machine was in May where MacRumors thought an updated MacBook Air could be coming out in June. Nope.

Accuracy of reporting isn't the point in a rumors/special interest site. I get that. But given that 16 of 17 products on MacRumors Buyers' Guide is not "Buy Now", I'm really wondering why MacBooks, Mac Pros and iMacs haven't been getting a lot more press. OK, cool, the iPhone might have a new camera: radical changes for cover manufacturers, interesting changes for software developers. But surely SOMETHING'S happening with the big ticket tools.

I see no hype for them. What am I missing?

-Oro

No hype? That's because there weren't any macs to be hyped about.

 

[fastlanephil]

Apple is still making them but the days of mass Apple fans anticipating the newest and greatest traditional Apple computer products are over. It's sort of like going from Black Friday to standing in line at the food bank. It don't make the news no more cause it's a little pathetic.

 

[ScottishCaptain]

The hype went away with the awesome hardware and software.

These days, all I ever read about is emojis (or some other international support thing), the latest greatest release of iOS or Mac OS X (both of which I know will break something I've come to rely on or make my systems slower or somehow harder to operate), or whatever political ******** Tim Cook is busy stirring up this week.

I don't want a smaller, thinner, or lighter computer *or* laptop. I don't care about fashion. I care about function. Apple doesn't. Therefore, there's nothing for me to get hyped up about. They'll continue to sell the same old **** as long as they possibly can, then kick out a few marginal product upgrades, and the cycle will repeat. Innovation and R&D is hard and costs money, so why engage in it if you don't have to?

I'll get hyped up again when I can buy a non-disposable product that isn't fused together with glue and might actually last more than 3 years without falling apart or failing in some other mysterious way. You know, something with RAM slots, or PCI-e slots, or any of the other standardized things we've been using for the past decade. I hear the 3.5mm stereo jack is on the chopping block though so I doubt any of that is going to change anytime soon.

-SC

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

I see no hype for them. What am I missing?

Likely all the Mac rumors. There's a couple of them on the front page.

You do have to realize that Macs only account for about 10% of Apples revenue, meaning that rumors of them should be quite few, compared to all the rest. Yes they are the coolest things, and yes we all love them, and yes Apple don't care because they don't make enough $$$.

 

[ActionableMango]

I see no hype for them. What am I missing?

Here's one on the front page.
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/08/10/macbook-pro-lineup-overhaul-4-years/

 

[filmak]

This is why there is no hype, they have just admitted that "they were the Mac company", not anymore.
Unfortunately, iOS devices are leading the way now.

First page too. https://www.macrumors.com/2016/08/10/eddy-cue-and-craig-federighi-maps/

"When we were the Mac company, if we impacted 1% of our customers, it was measured in thousands. Now if we impact 1% of our customers, it’s measured in tens of millions.*..."

*tens of millions = iOS devices

So who cares about Macs and updates and keynotes about them ...

Also, they say, please go and buy a display from somewhere else and leave us alone... we have bands to make and rose gold to paint...

 

[OroborosNZ]

Yeah guys? I posted on Sunday. Replying days later with news of posts on this site after that date is a little redundant. I do browse the site regularly.

@filmak: no-one uses iOS devices to make apps for iOS devices. You need a Mac. We can be pretty sure Apple cares about a healthy ecosystem for the iPhone, so they care about the Mac product lines.

What might be on the cards is a few cuts, though. They're crowding their own space out in the Air/MacBook/MacBook Pro line so we might see something drop there. But even that rumor currently sitting in this week's output is basically a repeat of a post that happened two months ago. The lack of hype seems to indicate lots of products will be updated at the same time, but these would be incremental, predictable upgrades with maybe some finesse tailoring of the chassis.

Gimme an 8-core MacBook Pro. THEN I'm taking notice.

 

[filmak]

no-one uses iOS devices to make apps for iOS devices. You need a Mac. We can be pretty sure Apple cares about a healthy ecosystem for the iPhone, so they care about the Mac product lines.

and no one buys a 2013 mac pro to write iOS apps in 2016. (the GPUs are even older).
We need a Mac, yes. Where is it?
Apple cares? Where are the Macs?

Don't be so sure, because the CEO said that iPad Pro is all you need... who needs a computer? So we can wish, yes, but not be so sure about something completely out of our control.

 

[linuxcooldude]

Don't be so sure, because the CEO said that iPad Pro is all you need... who needs a computer? So we can wish, yes, but not be so sure about something completely out of our control.

He also said “Yes, the iPad Pro is a replacement for a notebook or a desktop for many, many people." Note he did not say for ALL people. He's referring to the average consumer and not the Pro or Prosumer.

 

[merkinmuffley]

"big ticket tools" are not Apple's high margin products, phones are. That's why we've seen phone updates and no new "big ticket tools"

 

[filmak]

He also said “Yes, the iPad Pro is a replacement for a notebook or a desktop for many, many people." Note he did not say for ALL people. He's referring to the average consumer and not the Pro or Prosumer.

If we 're really talking about many, many people, there is where the attention goes... also it's named Pro, now what is the Pro nature of this product is another story...

I didn't find any word to be sure to whom he is referring, average consumer, or pros etc, how do you know his intentions?

 

[linuxcooldude]

If we 're really talking about many, many people, there is where the attention goes... also it's named Pro, now what is the Pro nature of this product is another story...

I didn't find any word to be sure to whom he is referring, average consumer, or pros etc, how do you know his intentions?

But yet they still sell Mac Pro's, laptops and iMacs. We wouldn't see these products if Tim meant for everyone to use iPad Pro's instead. Till then, its just another semantic story.

 

[filmak]

But yet they still sell Mac Pro's, laptops and iMacs. We wouldn't see these products if Tim meant for everyone to use iPad Pro's instead. Till then, its just another semantic story.

But till now, as of today, they haven't show any new macs or any plans or any interest or a hint about new macs for a very long time, a very rare thing, so many many Macs appear to be like abandoned, look at Mac Pro, mini and others, not to mention the old 2012 mbp, also the displays are discontinued and they told us to look somewhere else for other great displays. So after all these facts, they commented about the iPad Pro, so it's worth discussing about it, as it is their most recent statement, don't you think?

 

[linuxcooldude]

But till now, as of today, they haven't show any new macs or any plans or any interest or a hint about new macs for a very long time, a very rare thing, so many many Macs appear to be like abandoned, look at Mac Pro, mini and others, not to mention the old 2012 mbp, also the displays are discontinued and they told us to look somewhere else for other great displays. So after all these facts, they said about the iPad Pro, so it's worth discussing about it, as it is their most recent statement, don't you think?

When they discontinue everything except for their iOS line, then come and see me. Lets leave the semantics for the other posters.

 

[keysofanxiety]

It's sort of like going from Black Friday to standing in line at the food bank.

Boy, talk about gratuitous hyperbole. Apple still make some great computers and they will be updated.

 

[filmak]

When they discontinue everything except for their iOS line, then come and see me. Lets leave the semantics for the other posters.

Agreed. Anyway, the current situation may be symptomatic, due to several reasons, but still there is a long pause in Macs.
I hope that you agree that no mac user needs only iOS devices, we all want to work as we have been used to.
i.e. How will the iOS apps be developed without Macs?

I really believe that it's not reasonable or even possible to discontinue at once all macs and continue with iOS devices only, but the current silence is a little bit worrisome.
The silence before the TB Display was similar. Fresh memories.

So there may be a major redesign of all Macs, or some changes in product line, or even an EOL for some of them, or hopefully even better Macs, as long as we 're healthy we will see...

Speculations... MacRumors... Semantics = synonyms.
[doublepost=1471012203][/doublepost]

When they discontinue everything except for their iOS line, then come and see me. Lets leave the semantics for the other posters.

Anyway, peace. No more semantics. Cheers.

 

[hartleymartin]

I am not happy with where Apple seems to be taking their computer line. The MacBook Pro is starting to look like an overgrown iPad and not a portable computer.

In my opinion, the best laptops Apple ever made are the non-retina unibody MacBook Pros. The education market was prime for this because it was a portable computer that could function just as well as a desktop and in fact, makes it possible to live without a desktop computer.

Some of us are old-fashioned though. I tend to see a laptop as an adjunct to a powerful desktop computer, hence why I got an old Mac Pro. Not to mention a couple of scares with a HDD going bad and a friend's MacBook getting stolen with all her data (college essays!) going missing with it, I like having a desktop where I can back-up all the data.

 

[Tech198]

Normally this is where we'd complain how Apple isn't paying attention to the Mac. Unfortunately dumb consumers continue to pay for overpriced hardware and so Apple doesn't need to refresh their lineup as they remain profitable.

dumb customers eh? like us ?

/opps silly rant.

Maybe it's Apple's fault... If they thew enough just as good a marketing behind the Mac Pro as they do with the iPhone, it would sell better. (refresh cycles plays a role too), but i think it's just due to lack of marketing .

see? Apple abandons the "pro's" (its not only software)

I don't think it would be price, because pro's can easily afford it..... That's what it was meant for. But now the "trash can" is now the name of it officially.