Why SOOOOO long with no updates???

[apulk]

Been wanted to upgrade my wife's iPad Mini to a new Mini for better performance but don't want to buy a model that is already nearly 1 1/2 years old in technology (speed, memory, screen). AND want to upgrade my late 2013 MacBook Pro but also don't want to buy into a version that hasn't seen an update in over a year. Is it my imagination or is the refresh cycle getting WAY worse than it ever has for Apple? Even a processor upgrade every 6 months would be enough to make me upgrade.

Has apple forgotten about anything not iPhone???

 

[AlliFlowers]

The mini may be done with. Everything else has gotten the usual annual refresh, with extra iPads a few months ago.

 

[jmoore5196]

I think annual upgrades face a law of diminishing returns, which is why Apple has lagged with iMac, Macbook and MacBook Pro updates.

I think the writing is in the wall for the mini.

Sad to say, I think the bean-counters are driving the long update cycles. As long as outdated hardware continues to sell, the need for updating becomes less apparent to analyticals like Tim Cook. As Apple continues to generate an ever-larger percentage of revenue from iPhone, the less important Mac users become to the company’s immediate future.

 

[cobracnvt]

At least the side benefit of these cycles are that there are deals to be found.

 

[maflynn]

Is it my imagination or is the refresh cycle getting WAY worse than it ever has for Apple? Even a processor upgrade every 6 months would be enough to make me upgrade.

There are exceptions but for the MBP its not getting worse

 

[apulk]

I think annual upgrades face a law of diminishing returns, which is why Apple has lagged with iMac, Macbook and MacBook Pro updates.

I think the writing is in the wall for the mini.

Sad to say, I think the bean-counters are driving the long update cycles. As long as outdated hardware continues to sell, the need for updating becomes less apparent to analyticals like Tim Cook. As Apple continues to generate an ever-larger percentage of revenue from iPhone, the less important Mac users become to the company’s immediate future.

You're right -- very sad. The profit margin on the Mac Book Pro today vs. the day it was last updated has to be much higher. The costs of all of the key expensive components have come done, R&D costs fully written off, so why upgrade if you are able to milk people. Oh well, I'll find plenty of other things that I could spend the $3000 on -- like a new AC unit for the house
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There are exceptions but for the MBP its not getting worse
View attachment 768991

Actually -- your chart confirms it -- it is getting way worse. If the average if 303 days now -- it's now 30% longer than average since the last refresh. If you take out the one 527 day then the average is much lower so this update wait is about 40% longer than that average. That's crazy.

 

[cobracnvt]

There are exceptions but for the MBP its not getting worse
View attachment 768991

The 2017 update was actually very quick, only 9 months.

 

[maflynn]

Actually -- your chart confirms it

I disagree
Except for 2015, they were all under 300 days. 2 out of 7 that exceed 300 days does not equate to a trend of getting worse. 2015 was definitely an exception as apple skipped a CPU generation. We don't know yet if 2017/2018 will be the same.

Its my belief that the delay this time around is to redesign/improve the keyboard.

 

[cobracnvt]

I disagree
Except for 2015, they were all under 300 days. 2 out of 7 that exceed 300 days does not equate to a trend of getting worse. 2015 was definitely an exception as apple skipped a CPU generation. We don't know yet if 2017/2018 will be the same.

Its my belief that the delay this time around is to redesign/improve the keyboard.

I agree. I'm hoping that the next model comes with very desirable improvements.