The silver lining about the 2014 "update"

[ZipZilla]

Yes, they're slower/crippled/whatever

But at least the product still exists. That's the main thing. I really think a redesign is coming. This is a stop-gap refresh.

 

[MacTCE]

Yes, they're slower/crippled/whatever

But at least the product still exists. That's the main thing. I really think a redesign is coming. This is a stop-gap refresh.

Yes, but how long will it take to refresh them again? I'm hoping this the trend with larger gaps between upgrades.

 

[phositadc]

This stop gap update should have been released nearly a year ago. And it would have been a disappointment even then... Much more so now!

 

[giggles]

1) The product still exists and the redesigned motherboard (and to some extent redesigned case, in terms of cut outs on the back and new non-screwable black plastic base) suggests there will be more, I don't think this is a 1-shot design. This IS the REdesign as far as I'm concerned. What's a stopgap thing is the lack of quad cores, that will come back with Broadwell 14nm lithography.
2) It sips power, especially the base one
3) There's a 1TB pcie flash option (wasn't a given, Airs and 21.5" iMacs don't have it)
4) It's got two thunderbolt2 ports (wasn't a given, they could pull a "Air" and keep it a 1-thunderbolt device, it's got a full gigabit already after all)
5) It's still got an internal PSU (no power brick like on intel NUCs)

3, 4 and 5 are pretty unique in this form factor