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The thing is, when Apple went through it's near-death experience, it was the creative industries that kept the lights on.

Apple now has all of their eggs in 1 basket. And it isn't difficult for phone manufacturers to become much smaller. See: Nokia.
I used to have that sentiment but ever since I have seen Apple's financial reports, it became easier to see why. The percentage of revenue from Mac line up has been sub-10% for a while, and lately is even less than web services. As a publicly traded corp they owe nothing to anyone but shareholders, so let's put that out of the way.

As for all eggs in a basket, I do agree but bear in mind we are seeing the landscape outside of their scope, so whatever amazing stuff they may actually have in their "pipeline" is of course unseen, but it can actually exist. Pulling out of display and router businesses are clear sign of fat cutting. I don't think Macs will suffer the same fate at least not soon. If the other tech competitors are anything to be referenced at, it is obvious that Apple has been trying to work on numerous fronts for quite some time now, namely in autonomous vehicles, AR, and perhaps some form of smart home network, may or may not involve a TV set. They are likely trying to push a cohesive package of digital lifestyle that have devices and services intertwined with each other, instead of the "one Mac being the singular digital hub" approach that we are used to.

But anyway all these are of course simply speculation, I am as frustrated as everyone else here being one of the long standing, Mac-using creative pros myself. For a company who used to do great things so consistently in the last decade, I still hold some hope that those hats may in fact have something up their sleeves, even without Jobs.
 
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Pulling out of display and router businesses are clear sign of fat cutting. I don't think Macs will suffer the same fate at least not soon. If the other tech competitors are anything to be referenced at, it is obvious that Apple has been trying to work on numerous fronts for quite some time now, namely in autonomous vehicles, AR, and perhaps some form of smart home network, may or may not involve a TV set. They are likely trying to push a cohesive package of digital lifestyle that have devices and services intertwined with each other, instead of the "one Mac being the singular digital hub" approach that we are used to.

But anyway all these are of course simply speculation, I am as frustrated as everyone else here being one of the long standing, Mac-using creative pros myself. For a company who used to do great things so consistently in the last decade, I still hold some hope that those hats may in fact have something up their sleeves, even without Jobs.

Pulling out of the display and router business is weakening the ecosystem, in my view. Apple's price structure is built around a walled garden. Pulling the walls down isn't going to help that.
 
Pulling out of the display and router business is weakening the ecosystem, in my view. Apple's price structure is built around a walled garden. Pulling the walls down isn't going to help that.

I don't like Apple pulling out of the display market. But, I've heard people on the inside complaining that even when they made their own displays everyone complained and bought the third party displays anyway. If you look at this forum, even when the Thunderbolt display was still current a lot of people were recommending other displays like Dell displays.

So I've heard some at Apple frame this like they're just giving into the feedback the pro community was giving them anyway.
 
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Pulling out of the display and router business is weakening the ecosystem, in my view. Apple's price structure is built around a walled garden. Pulling the walls down isn't going to help that.
Exactly. This was a big part of the "it just works" ecosystem from Apple. They are killing themselves from the inside out.
 
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Isn't 10% of Mac sales still in the billions of dollars?

10% sounds like a small amount, but 10% of multiple billions is a lot.

Think I read it was $2bn profit, I'm guessing it's still big business compared to pc manufacturers.

Knock on effect

I buy a pc, pc laptop - no longer incentive to keep buying iPhones (I look around more) - no longer sync with safari, iCloud etc... the 'apple tax' really does become 'the apple tax'. As other manufacturers have caught up (i.e. Unibody design, software / cloud services).

The only thing keeping me is fcpx but perhaps apple will f that up to, at least paying for Sony vegas isn't too bad if yours saving $1000s on not buying apple (mobile) hardware.
 
The abandonment of the ecosystem is why I have the "what the fu** are you doing Tim" expression. There isn't anything keeping me in the ecosystem once the macs are gone/castrated. There are other services and devices that are honestly just as good. Apple hasn't done anything to keep them ahead of the competition in the mobile space. By the time one switched to Windows or Linux, it's just as much of a pain to keep with iOS or android or other mobile device-they are fairly independent at this point as far as setting up and maintaining-the only reason I plug into my MacBook Pro is for charging on the go-and its great to have all my stuff synced for a seamless experience but Apple is saying an iPad Pro is enough... well I'll be headed to either an HP Z2 mini CAD, or a BOXX... and I won't need to be upgrading to the newest iPhone every year (I am still on a 6, and don't see a compelling reason to upgrade-especially if I have no reason to stay with the Apple ecosystem).

If Tim is really headed towards the fashion accesory brand of his dreams then iOS' demise won't be too far off, not being able to compete with modern competition pushing the limits and the reality distortion field battery is practically depleted. The 'Apple halo' effect that Jobs championed is really dead at this point I fear.
 
Isn't 10% of Mac sales still in the billions of dollars?

10% sounds like a small amount, but 10% of multiple billions is a lot.

Think I read it was $2bn profit, I'm guessing it's still big business compared to pc manufacturers.

Knock on effect

I buy a pc, pc laptop - no longer incentive to keep buying iPhones (I look around more) - no longer sync with safari, iCloud etc... the 'apple tax' really does become 'the apple tax'. As other manufacturers have caught up (i.e. Unibody design, software / cloud services).

The only thing keeping me is fcpx but perhaps apple will f that up to, at least paying for Sony vegas isn't too bad if yours saving $1000s on not buying apple (mobile) hardware.
This. I still use Apple hardware, (95% of the time). But the frequency with which I buy their stuff has slowed massively. My next phone will probably still be an iPhone but I’m already using non Apple software where possible and easy to do so. My next computer, probably something like an HP Omen, onto which I will probably try and shoehorn OSX.

EDIT: Then again, maybe not;
Expansion slots
1 PCIe x1
1 PCIe x16
1 MiniCard
 
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The abandonment of the ecosystem is why I have the "what the fu** are you doing Tim" expression. There isn't anything keeping me in the ecosystem once the macs are gone/castrated. There are other services and devices that are honestly just as good. Apple hasn't done anything to keep them ahead of the competition in the mobile space. By the time one switched to Windows or Linux, it's just as much of a pain to keep with iOS or android or other mobile device-they are fairly independent at this point as far as setting up and maintaining-the only reason I plug into my MacBook Pro is for charging on the go-and its great to have all my stuff synced for a seamless experience but Apple is saying an iPad Pro is enough... well I'll be headed to either an HP Z2 mini CAD, or a BOXX... and I won't need to be upgrading to the newest iPhone every year (I am still on a 6, and don't see a compelling reason to upgrade-especially if I have no reason to stay with the Apple ecosystem).

If Tim is really headed towards the fashion accesory brand of his dreams then iOS' demise won't be too far off, not being able to compete with modern competition pushing the limits and the reality distortion field battery is practically depleted. The 'Apple halo' effect that Jobs championed is really dead at this point I fear.

And this is precisely why I want to lose my **** at people who simply see Apple (currently) succeeding based purely on iDevice and associated sales alone. It's the ecosystem and the bigger picture.

I don't care that Apple are making more money just by selling iPhones than Macs. If profit is the only measure by which they should be judged, maybe Apple should find another business that makes them even more money (diamond mining? oil exploration?) and just give up making technology all together?! The whole point is they're a technology company. I want to see them making MORE technology, not less. ARRGHHH.
 
The guys of the Accidental Tech Podcast nailed it in their last episode.

They assert Apple is run by bunch of sweaters who aren't cool. Steve Jobs was at least aware in which ways he was and wasn't cool, and could identify people who were cool where he wasn't. The problem with current Apple leadership is not just that they're not cool, but they probably think people consider them cool (because, you know, they're Apple).

The title of Apple latest idea, a reality TV show called "Planet of the Apps" perfectly illustrates just what a bunch of dorks (with dad jokes) they are.
 
The draw of the ecosystem and the "it just werks" mento were indeed what drew me in the first place. When I was entering college in the 2000's, when deciding which laptop to buy, I saw how easy the Airport Base Station worked and went for it together with a G3 iBook. These wasn't a cheap purchase decision but technologically it was to convenient compared to anything else on the market. Later on with iTunes, iPod, and iPhone 2G, my collection of Apple devices simply grew itself not because of brand loyalty, but the fact that each time Apple always offered the exact device that tackled the exact need that I had.

I think the age of personal computing innovation is already passed. They can only add that much features and make it that much more user friendly before being bloated, like the current iTunes for example. If I were Apple I would probably be looking more on how to captiilize the brand appeal and explore on where to penetrate deeper into normal people's lives, thus their focus on smart homes, transit, entertainment, etc.

The odd question that we all ask is why can't they keep offering evolutionary updates to "boring old products" instead of trying to be smart like the touch bar when it is still the same old fuuking laptop anyway. If it is not a floating translucent 3D touch enabled hologram AR portal, then why didn't they stick the same skylake in the 2015 chassis as far back as a year ago, while keeping a few USB-A ports to make us less angrier.
 
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As of now I am looking at buying a 2013 Mac Pro... a used one of course would not spend what Apple ask on the new section...
Me too. I am thinking of getting a second hand or refurbished one with 4 Core, 1TB flash and buy separately a new 8 Core and 64GB ram and upgrade it myself. However, at this point, I am going to wait until WWDC17 to confirm if Apple are still committed to the Mac Pro or they literally have lost the plot!
 
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It's always going to be a minefield in terms of deciding when to buy, but I think after SO LONG without an update, I'd just stick with what I had or buy something cheaper in the interim and see what Apple release this year. There has to be new macs in the pipeline.. HAS to be!
 
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Me too. I am thinking of getting a second hand or refurbished one with 4 Core, 1TB flash and buy separately a new 8 Core and 64GB ram and upgrade it myself. However, at this point, I am going to wait until WWDC17 to confirm if Apple are still committed to the Mac Pro or they literally have lost the plot!
My only issue with the current one is how long Apple will support it (with OS UPDATES).
I mean I am prefectly happy with the specs (afeter all I am working on a MacBook Air) especially if i can get it for a reasonable price, but I don't want to end up with an obsolete HW in 2 years.. if i can get to 10.15 that would be awesome.
 
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My only issue with the current one is how long Apple will support it (with OS UPDATES).
I mean I am prefectly happy with the specs (afeter all I am working on a MacBook Air) especially if i can get it for a reasonable price, but I don't want to end up with an obsolete HW in 2 years.. if i can get to 10.15 that would be awesome.
I suppose we cant know that information unfortunately!
 
I really think Apple should spin off its computer devision into a separate company under Apple inc.

Because they could compete with other manufacturers if they wanted too, and to me it seems as if they are currently throwing money away by not even trying to keep their Mac users happy.
 
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The last bit of Apple's innovation got me a bit worried *cough* Planet Of The Apps... I really hope it's just an attempt for them to expand their ecosystem even more, and that maybe it will improve over time. Because so far it seems like a pretty stupid entry in the already stupid reality-TV category... When they said they were going for "original content" I thought maybe a series, another Mr. Robot or something, somewhat related to technology and the "hi-tech" world... But then came the "trailer"...

Anyways...

Meanwhile, they could go back to what made them in the first place: making great computers.

I still love Apple, but man do they piss me of these days!!!
 
Well, for me the wait for "pro computer" is over - after extremely overpriced GPU replacement sold my nMP at exactly half its current store price, money was more than enough to build myself a kickass PC.

i7 7700K, 32 GB DDR4, MSI 270X titanium mobo, 1 TB NVME SSD (2 GB/s sequential read, whaaa?), GTX 1080, 802.11ac, silenced NZXT H440 case, Noctua industrial fans everywhere, etc. etc. Overclocked CPU a bit to 4.6 GHz, still enough cooling on idle (300 RPMish) fan speeds. Took about a day to assemble and set up.

In noise level it is comparable to nMP (silent at idle, you can hear airflow when under load). Runs circles around nMP, everything is so-o-o snappy.

Windows 10 is not that bad, actually. :) And Apple has lost a customer. It was good while it lasted.

P.S. And I can play games again, huzzah! D700s did not really cut it anymore, they're too old.

P.P.S. Even if I've decided to go x99 route (Xeon/ECC memory etc.) - that would still be like 2/3 of nMPs price and still have better warranty out of the box.

P.P.P.S. Guess the only way Apple could get folks like me back would be to release a proper midtower workstation with proper PC compatibility. So probably never. No much use for overpriced laptops inside a laptop and overpriced laptops inside a monitor.
 
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There isn't anything keeping me in the ecosystem once the macs are gone/castrated.

I don't think Macs will be gone, or even castrated. Apple is seriously working on the new APFS (Apple File System). So it seems they are still planning a future for Macs. But perhaps only for the laptops and iMac.
 
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Apple now has all of their eggs in 1 basket. And it isn't difficult for phone manufacturers to become much smaller. See: Nokia.

iOS (product and related services) is the vast bulk of their revenue now, but the Mac still brings in some $30 BILLION per year. Should iOS disappear tomorrow, Apple would still be healthier than at any point prior to 2007 and the launch of the iPhone just on current Mac sales alone.
 
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There is one big issue that may sink Apple: Tim Cook. Jobs was said to show people what they didn't know they needed. That may be true but he showed them something that would functionally change their lives and the status quo. Cook, on the other hand, is a marketing guy who comes up with the next big thing that's glitzy and trendy but it just doesn't seem to have the same level of innovation and chance to change things the way Steve's ideas did.
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Apple is seriously working on the new APFS (Apple File System).
Yes, but I think that is more a function of them building their ecosystem with a common file system for sharing data than improving the Mac file system.
 
There is one big issue that may sink Apple: Tim Cook. Jobs was said to show people what they didn't know they needed. That may be true but he showed them something that would functionally change their lives and the status quo. Cook, on the other hand, is a marketing guy who comes up with the next big thing that's glitzy and trendy but it just doesn't seem to have the same level of innovation and chance to change things the way Steve's ideas did.
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Tell me again how Apple is not successful under Cook?
 
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