I think the stronger argument you’ve made is regarding the iMac Pro, although whose to say that’s not getting a redesign. The question with the iMac Pro is whether Apple will continue to refresh it, I think we’ll see a 2018/2019 model but there’s uncertainty beyond that.
But my view in terms of the redesign is based on information from an insider source as well as the fact that from previous schedules, a redesign is 2 years overdue so this makes sense. With a scheduled redesign in the works anyway, Apple would make sure they get it out on the 20th anniversary year. So I’m not saying they realized the 20th anniversary is coming up and decided to do a new design, if they had already introduced a redesign there would be no point in doing that.
With iMacs being the best value Macs you can get, I doubt sales are dipping. While I think it’s unlikely, if the redesign is delayed, it would be for other reasons.
For now, let’s just look forward to October when Apple will finally refresh most of the Mac lineup. I’m excited to see if the iMacs will go 8-core and hoping we see the new Mac mini there (even though it might make more sense to launch alongside the new Mac Pro.
The iMac Pro was positioned as temporary appeasement for a "pro" userbase dissatisfied with Apple's Mac offerings, while Apple figures out what to do in this space. So I find it hard to believe that Apple would launch the iMac Pro, charge those customers (that they are trying to appease) huge sums of money for it.... and then redesign it the following year. I just don't see that happening.
In terms of a redesign being "overdue", there is plenty of evidence of where Apple's users and fans have insisted that a product is overdue a redesign, but Apple steadfastly does nothing about. And I also see the launch of the iMac Pro in the existing iMac chassis design as evidence that Apple is quite happy with the current design. I don't think that Apple would have launched a brand new high-end very expensive computer in a chassis design that it thought was overdue a redesign. And from my own subjective perspective, I still think the iMac looks just great!
Don't get me wrong - if Apple do indeed redesign the iMac this year (alongside the rest of the Mac range perhaps) then I'll be as happy as the next guy. I just don't see them doing it.
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That report made no mention of the MacBook Pro as well. Apple should want to refresh both products before the holiday shopping season.
This was the first ad campaign I'd seen Apple do for the Mac in a while, period. Doesn't surprise me that it only focuses on the MacBooks, as those sell more units than Apple's desktop Macs with a higher margin of profit, and issues such as the defective keyboards have tarnished their reputation somewhat.
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I have a hard time believing the 2015 MacBook Pro was struggling before Apple decided to redesign it. Rather, it was a case of Apple wanting to be ready for the future before a redesign was strictly necessary, though in my opinion it ended up being a rushed and not well-though-out redesign with a high price tag that definitely turned some customers away.
Against the new crop of laptops from other manufacturers that were thinner, with thinner bezels, USB-C, and so forth, yes, the 2015 MacBook Pro (which was already a three-year-old design) was somewhat dated.
I don't buy the "ready for the future" argument because I'm not sure what the point of that is for them. That's not really how tech firms do business. And if their goal was to "be ready for the future before a redesign was strictly necessary" then why not just add USB-C to the existing design and ship it? It would be FAR cheaper and less disruptive. But they didn't do that, because it needed a redesign. And if they hadn't redesigned it, Apple would be shipping, in 2018, a design from 2012, in a highly competitive market. That's bad for business.
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Refreshing a line isn’t about lacking sales that’s a rediculous statement. Otherwise Apple would never do anything... because of all the people who jump on the bandwagon.
If you think it's a ridiculous statement then I'm not quite sure how to reply to that. In my view this is basic business sense. If you have a better idea for what makes businesses launch new products other than to make money from them then by all means please share it!
It will cost Apple millions of dollars to design, manufacturer and ship a new product (iMac, MacBook, whatever) at their scale. And that excludes the opportunity cost of doing that instead of doing something else. You only do that if there is a compelling business case - a Return on Investment - for doing it. And the most common - and the most likely - business case is revenue.
So - in my view - the only thing that will trigger Apple to redesign the iMac is a compelling business case for doing it - and that is most likely to be to drive sales/revenue. Which is why I keep coming back to the question of whether the current iMac chassis design is hurting sales; and my view is that it probably is not. This also explains why Apple hasn't redesigned the Mac Mini - because it hasn't seen it as worthwhile enough to bother.
The other dimension here is the relative competitiveness and size of each market. I think I posted on this before. The smartphone market is highly competitive and massive, so Apple is forced to redesign the iPhone every couple of years. Tablet market is next, so it gets the next most frequent design changes. Laptop is somewhat competitive, but less so than phone and tablet, so it gets less frequent design changes. AIOs like the iMac are far less competitive, and a far smaller market, so it gets a correspondingly little amount of design attention. You can see this by looking at the Apple's range and thinking about the markets these products are in. This is all good business sense - put your dollars where it gives you the highest return.
I don't understand what "Otherwise Apple would never do anything... because of all the people who jump on the bandwagon" means.
But again, happy to hear other suggestions for how Apple is choosing which product lines to refresh.
