Mac line up seems disjointed overall after this event. The MacBook Air now occupies essentially the same price points (slightly low actually) as the MacBook with only small differences in size and slightly more functionality. I can't imagine who in the world is buying a MacBook after this. Then the Mac Mini with 4 core base models and 6 core top end models, which appear to be the desktop class processors, are poised to be faster than the iMacs. Granted the iMacs have those wonderful screens, but you have to think the 21 inch iMacs look like really bad buys right now.
We'll see if it clears up. I'd say even though they added a new product to the cluster, it's still better than it was a week ago, since the $1199 MBA is a more compelling product than the retina MacBook. But until and even when they get it down to $999 or $1099 the $1299 region is going to remain a mess. Given that you can get a more capable machine with more ports that's still thinner and lighter than the MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air it replaces, I don't see the point of the retina MacBook. I'm guessing it probably has its small hardcore contingent just like the cheap Airs. Hopefully in another year we finally see them cut all that stuff down back to the simple MBA/MBP dichotomy.
On the plus side, they actually killed the $499 Mac mini rather than leaving around some version of it alongside the $799 model. I think from an actual user experience standpoint it's much better to have a more expensive "good" model that is
actually good than a price-point-hitting model that you wouldn't recommend anyone buy unless they really just don't care about performance at all.
On the down side, I don't begrudge them selling 128GB models, but I do begrudge them charging $200 to double that. Yeah, it's faster than it was in 2014, but those BTO prices have still remained unchanged.
Agreed .
I'm also getting concerned that Apple might start to believe their own gospel, that tablets can be serious tools and content creators .
That dubious Photoshop presentation had one clear message to the industry - don't count on Apple to cater to professionals . At least that's how it will be percieved, with no word on MPs and the silly expensive Minis ( in usable configuration ) .
What exactly about the Photoshop demo did you find 'dubious'?
On the Mac Pro side of things, do we have any concrete details on when at least the -W Xeons are hitting? Seems like that's the most germane point to possible iMac Pros and Mac Pros than anything else, but finding that stuff feels way harder than it should be (I end up with rumor sites from six months ago with leaked roadmaps that might have changed, etc.)
The hypothetical Mac Mini I'd get would be $1599 with the processor upgrade, 512GB storage, and 10gE (plus the cost of 32GB RAM, which looks like around $300ish.) That still beats my Mac Pro by 40–50% in single and multi-core Geekbench. I was actually quite impressed with the performance of my Mac mini when I was using it for design and graphics work, it looks like it'll be a pretty good machine for people assuming you don't need GPU power.
