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Apple hardware Q4 and 2014
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I think one of the biggest problems when the new MacPro is released will the sudden drop in traffic on the COW. Although the speculation will probably be replaced by moaning about the new MacPro’s specs and how much faster and cheaper the equivalent PC is.
Steve Connor
There’s nothing we can’t argue about on the FCPX COW Forum
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[Marcus Moore] “Though I would say the expanded mobile offerings are temporary in the near term. As soon as Apple can bring the cost of the rMBPs in line with the legacy offerings- count on the non Retina machines to go away.
Then we’ll be back to MacBook Air and MacBookPros.”
And I agree with you on that. But what it tells me is that Apple is very much paying attention to market/pricing conditions in their offerings. They’ll consolidate when the market prices allow for it.
Just as one might consider consolidation when Retina prices drop, some might consider what might happen when Thunderbolt reaches 100Gbits and GPUs can be supported in that environment… but until then…We are seeing the beginnings of price drops in Retina models (so it seems) but we might be a year or so away from the laptop consolidation.
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[Marcus Moore] “Well, we’ve already seen the response when Apple neglects even the narrowest percentage of it’s Mac lineup [the MacPro]”
Do you expect the same if the Macmini goes the way of the dodo? REALLY? Or iMac for that matter? If they offer a 4K display along with a 2,000 dollar computer everybody will be “happy”and that’s it! Don’t have the money? Buy an Air, you’ll be fine with that. You can even connect to the new panel when you grow up.
[Marcus Moore] “25% of Mac buyers are consciously choosing a desktop option.”
A bit of a problem with the Apple desktop is that both we here and people in Apple know that in a very near future that percentage will drop to 20, then 15, 10, you get the idea…If they manage to offer a powerful yet simple desktop computer they might outlive its demise and make a quick buck out of their audience. The real money is in the consumer market anyway, so throw them a bone and they’ll shut up.
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[Christian Schumacher] “Sorry, that’s just plain wrong! Their diversification wars will be fought in the consumer space, not content provider space. (despite the “macpro”future update) They will be striving for consumer orientated products (and services!) and there you’ll find your expansion.”
Consumer vs professional? I don’t think Apple sees it that way in their business models. I can certainly see a fair amount of very professional use of the iPhone and iPad. I’d think RIM didn’t consider their onetime penetration into the business markets as “consumer.”
I really think Apple makes “product” and users use. I think they look at markets by needs, not an artificial divide between “consumer vs professional” or even “consumer vs provider.”
Might you want to look at the number of content creator apps or business professional apps developed iPhone and iPad?
[Christian Schumacher] “Now you’re pushing it. Do you really think they won’t kill the non-retina one?”
When Retina manufacturing prices drop.
… and maybe they’ll consolidate the desktops when Thunderbolt can handle 16xPCIe GPUs.Right NOW Apple is aware of the need for differentiation and right NOW that’s what they’re doing across both iOS and OSX products. That it’s happening on BOTH product lines might really indicate where Apple is NOW in understanding CURRENT market conditions.
[Christian Schumacher] “One thing apple desktops have in common though is that they don’t sell as well as theirs laptoppies counterparts,”
But you’re assuming that that would be how they’re comparing things as they develop. Perhaps they’re looking at how their desktops are comparing against similarly price (key is pricing) Windows desktops. While I don’t have the numbers readily available I’ve seen market research that indicate that Apple’s “all in one” (iMac) leads in the over $1000 all in one category. That may be far more important to a company that thrives by expanding diversity. Using your reasoning Apple would only make iPhones since even iPads don’t even come close to the iPhone revenue.
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[Christian Schumacher] “If they manage to offer a powerful yet simple desktop computer they might outlive its demise and make a quick buck out of their audience.”
When Thunderbolt supports 100Gbits for 16x PCIe GPU and equivalent cards that might happen.
Even in the “content consumer” market there are tablet gammers and there are the hardcore desktop gamers who demand crazy powerful GPUs with high frame rate 3D model rendering. Until the technology gets there, across the board, … it hasn’t.
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[Christian Schumacher] “Do you expect the same if the Macmini goes the way of the dodo? REALLY? Or iMac for that matter? If they offer a 4K display along with a 2,000 dollar computer everybody will be “happy”and that’s it! Don’t have the money? Buy an Air, you’ll be fine with that. You can even connect to the new panel when you grow up.”
It seems like whatever Apple does there’s always a group for which it was the most important thing in the universe. But I think MacMinis have proven to be a popular machine, whether it’s for small business server use, or for people looking for the cheapest “entry” Mac. And if Apple unceremoniously dropped the iMac? i ABSOLUTELY believe there would be an uproar. 20% of people clearly want an iMac. Apple doesn’t just toss that away.
[Christian Schumacher] “A bit of a problem with the Apple desktop is that both we here and people in Apple know that in a very near future that percentage will drop to 20, then 15, 10, you get the idea…If they manage to offer a powerful yet simple desktop computer they might outlive its demise and make a quick buck out of their audience. The real money is in the consumer market anyway, so throw them a bone and they’ll shut up.”
I think there is a bottom to that number [who knows what that is]. Laptops have scooped up more users as they’ve become powerful enough for more users. Just like how less people now need a MacPro than before- an iMac is enough for a majority of desktop users.
In the near term, I doubt we’ll see any significant changes in the lineup.
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I’ll take the bullet. I have been waiting for them to release the Mac Pro for a long time. Heck with it…I’m buying a maxed out iMac and then they will release the new Mac Pro. Buyers remorse!
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I recommended that a friend of my buy an iMac. and if when the MacPro gets released, he finds it compelling enough an improvement to warrant it, then his iMac will still be current generation and he can probably recapture a lot of it’s value.
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[Craig Seeman] “Using your reasoning Apple would only make iPhones since even iPads don’t even come close to the iPhone revenue.”
No, I said Apple is now working and growing in personal services and appliances. The iPad conceptually is the perfect example of this. All the required expansion you mentioned earlier has to materialize in offerings of said appliances/services. That is what makes sense in my reasoning. On the other hand, I’m not disputing “professional” use, this is not the gist of what I said. Merely that Apple has already positioned itself as a prime mobile company of which selling desktops is fast shrinking business and couldn’t possibly account for anything more than a little more time before it dies in the future. Of course, there’s plenty of high businesses married to Apple already and the majority of them don’t need desktops in any shape or form. Hope this clarifies.
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[Christian Schumacher] “selling desktops is fast shrinking business and couldn’t possibly account for anything more than a little more time before it dies in the future.”
Yet Apple seems to be shrinking a lot less than the rest of the PC market. How far in the future do we go?
There’s still a wide technology gap. It’s narrowing but it has a ways to go.And it seems each time the gap shrinks in one area, there’ something pushing hard in the opposite direction. For example HEVC (H.265) pushes both CPU and GPU demands on encoding many fold higher. When that hits as a delivery need, the current MBPr or top iMac might feel like a slug compared to a MacPro which may allow you to at least upgrade the GPU as the demands increase.
Consider the recent release of several new GPUs for the Mac which currently only serve the MacPro market.The nVidia GeForce GTX 680 or the AMD Radeon 7950 are examples. Apple opened those doors with OSX 10.8.3. That doesn’t sound like a company about to consolidate its desktop lineup and certainly not dump 16x PCIe slots.
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