“One can argue that Apple Inc. is the iPhone company because the iconic device makes up more than 60-percent of the company’s revenue and profits,” Kate Mackenzie writes for PixoBebo. “So be it. But all of Apple’s major products make a lot of money and cause envy among competitors, regardless of the industry segment. Macs comprise about half the PC industry’s profits. iPads, too. Ditto Watch. Who makes more money selling music than Apple?”
“The future seems to be a heady froth of thinner, lighter, faster, and Apple has a few Mac products that are not,” Mackenzie writes. “Look at the Mac lineup. Are there a few models that Apple could throw to the curb and no one would notice?”
“Yes,” Mackenzie writes. “Here’s my look at what Apple could do to the Mac that may seem drastic but probably means little to the company’s revenue and profits. Sooner or later we’ll say goodbye to these Macs.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s no secret that the 11-inch MacBook Air is our favorite Mac ever, so it’s tough to see it on the list, but not that tough when the gorgeous, perfect-for-the-road 12-inch MacBook is available! Most likely (barring a come-from-behind move by the next-gen MBP) the MacBook is destined to be our next all-time favorite Mac.
And just how does she think code gets developed for all the other products? Mac Pro is where that happens. I guess she thinks you use a watch to write all that code.
Only a masochist or a dongle addict would consider it “the gorgeous, perfect-for-the-road 12-inch MacBook”. I’ve been on the road with one of those people. Me: a 15″ 2015 rMBP. He: the 12″ MB with about a half dozen dongles. Me: connecting up to a client’s AV system by just plugging it in (them: HDMI, VGA, or DVI). I chose HDMI as I didn’t need a dongle. He: needed a compound dongle (out of the several he had) that gave him power and DVI.
Me: I carry two dongles. 1) Ethernet 2) DVI
He: last I saw was at least four dongles and he’s said on trips where he does not know what he needs to plug into it’s as many as six different ones.
Yes, for some the 12″ MacBook is the perfect machine. However, I’d bet that for the vast majority of road warriors that need to plug into clients/customers or potential clients/customer systems the 12″ MacBook is absolutely NOT the perfect machine.
Fair enough – perfect for some, not for others. As things become more wireless (e.g., AppleTV) the need for USB-C dongles is reduced along with the need for wired connectivity. As usual, Apple has pushed the envelope, much like it did by going with USB on the original bondi blue CRT iMac in 1998.
In your case, the MBA does not appear to be a great option, either. That leaves the MBP as your best option, as you astutely figured out.
It would have been nice if Apple could have bridged the gap by providing a mini Display Port on the 12″ MacBook…
People should not conflate an apparent lack of interest on Apple’s part (long periods between refreshes or redesigns) with the impending demise of a product line. Also, Apple is not necessarily going to ditch a product just because it is low volume/low profit. The company has the money to support a few low profit items that connect to the core of the company – such as professionals needing high-end equipment for cinematic and scientific endeavors, rendering, publishing, and other artistic and creative efforts.
I agree that the MBA is on its way out. In fact, I expected it to disappear sooner, right after the 12″ MacBook was released. I have no idea why it has survived so long.
The demise of the Mac mini is a bold prediction, but I am not sold on it. For those who want a separate computing element, the Mac mini is the only option. It fills a niche in Apple’s computer lineup and helps protect the company from criticism that there are no low-cost Mac options. If you get rid of the MBA and the Mac mini, then Apple is left without any offerings in the sub-$1000 class. The low-end Mac mini has to go – few people would be satisfied with that device. Apple can surely field and updated model with significantly improved specs in the same $499 price range.
The Mac Pro is a puzzler. When the trash can model was released, I thought “Finally, Apple is serious about supporting the pro users again and touting its ability to produce high-performance, cutting edge hardware.” But, as interesting as the design appeared, it was not the computer that design professionals were seeking. It harkened back to the ancient days of Apple computer when its computers were known for being full of proprietary interfaces and difficult to upgrade. Since making that effort, Apple has let the trash can Mac Pro languish – a big design effort followed by disappointment and a big lull. But I do not believe that Apple is ready to drop the high-end Pro niche. That would sever most of Apple’s remaining ties with the people that helped keep Apple going during the dark times and gave Apple its cachet as the computer of choice for creative professionals. Instead, I prefer to believe that Apple is regrouping after its trash can experiment, which not only involved a completely new computer design, but also included a pathfinder effort to reintroduce personal computer manufacturing to the United States. That was a huge effort and the first round did not pay off that well, by all accounts. But Apple plans and plays for the long term. I believe that a new (and much improved) Mac Pro is on the horizon. At least, I fervently hope so…
I hope you’re right. I have a little more time leeway before I have to decide but I will never pick the current Mac Pro design for my pro work. I’m still using two older Mac Pro’s but one just died and the other is sorely in need of replacement. Still loving my incredibly fast 2014 MBP 15.
Recently helping another video editor and graphics friend of mine update his PC for 4K work only tantalized my yearning to call the shots on my own machine and pro requirements. Apple needs to recognize one size does not fit all (needs)!!
Pro’s can also be tinkerers and demand a path to upgrading and really where do you find that but with the dark side offerings and workstations? Their focus on AMD only seems very misplaced too for those who need Nvidia solutions. I hope the word is getting back to Cook & Ives. They stand to really lose much of their pro market if not.
One reason the MBA still exists: price.
If they dropped the MBA, they would have had to price the MacBook more aggressively.
I would expect them to keep the current 1.1GHz m3 processor MB as the entry level ( dropping the price to $1099 or even $999 ) and significantly increase the specs on a new one.
An m3 Macbook should NOT be the same price as a MBP. Sure, it’s super thin and all that… and when introduced commanded a premium price, but now that the market’s had a chance to come out with alternatives, and once a thinner MBP is released, it will no longer be able to command that premium.
I believe Apple’s mysterious product maneuvers are the result of inventory issues, deliberate efforts to deplete overstocked parts ordered in bulk on the cheap years ago. Brilliant on the front end, Tim Cook sought to lock up supplies of salivatory components, only to see them sometimes supplanted in quality or fall off in applicability later. My idea is that Tim Cook is also brilliant on the back end, flushing the warehouses by low-end product redesigns that seem ludicrous to outside tech-heads like us (unconstrained, in our armchair theorising, by manufacturing realities) but he’s managed to float the bottom line much higher than any other tech company — the rest will do a massive write-off instead and take the PR hit, expecting it to blow over. Only Tim Cook would think of leveraging the Apple brand to scrape the barrel in this way. Seen this way, as a conservator of value, he’s the CEO of the century.
As usual, you give Cook way too much credit. A company cannot be healthy in the long term if it sells stale products. Apple under Cook is developing a reputation for selling overpriced, underperforming products across the board.
That’s his strategy — attempt to fool people into paying a lot of money for a brand name rather than for computing capablity and ease of use. That only works for a short time, because most of us aren’t that vain. Clueless Cook is milking old products thinking that people only care about being stylish. Apple is so far behind in hardware capability, and has so many holes in their Mac and Mac accessories lineup, they are losing pros left and right. And the average user just keeps using their old machines because there’s nothing to justify buying a new one. Mac sales show it.
I saw it happening 5 years ago and no one here believed me. Now Cook owns this.
I can see Apple getting rid of the mac pro and mac mini and just expand the iMac line
low end iMac, mid range and an iMac pro. pro version would allow add ons and connect extra monitors if you really need it
Oh you can can you? Simply because YOU have no need of those models? Very sympathetic, empathetic and magnanimous of you. You only show you’re complete lack of understanding of the different needs of Mac users. Your own needs are not the barometer for Apple’s product line. Neither are mine. It’s a big world out there with lots of different needs.
He didn’t say he had no need for those models; he simply said that he could see Apple getting rid of them. And he’s right.
Apple is clearly not focused on what we “need.”
I think it’s implied. And I disagree about simply “seeing that its something Apple would get rid of.” Based on what? A feeling? It’s a postulation, a conjecture based on personal feeling and not salient facts.
Based on Apple’s track record of not giving us what we want in the Mac lines. It’s a sadly clear record these days.
It may not be those particular models but his point seems to be “don’t count on anything” because what Apple does defies logic. Being a model that you use and like is not sufficient to guarantee that it will be in the Mac line-up next year.
Are you fan’s Dad or Captain Obvious? Apple has been known to delight and disappoint over it’s entire history. Not a hot news flash. Being a model that I use and like is not sufficient to assume that it WON’T be in the Mac line-up next year. There’s an unpleasant tinge of retired Mac model schadenfreude in what you say, whether you intend it or not. You must be a pessimist by nature.
Kate has been a self proclaimed Mac lover for many years (dating back to Tera Patrick era for Mac360). But if you read Kate’s posts on various sites (including Mac360) she has been, for many, many years anything but a Mac lover. She has even advocated dumping Macs completely as far back as before Steve Jobs died. She just recently advocated dumping your Mac laptop and getting a Chromebook.
Therefore, I’d strongly suggest that this is just one more of her click bait pieces.
While it is in theory possible that Apple could completely abandon all but the iMac on the Mac desktop line, Apple knows that the Mac Pro is one of the defining Macs. They could easily come out with something with a radically different design to replace the current Mac Pro, but abandoning this market segment is extremely unlikely.
And as for Apple not wanting to compete on price… Apple has NEVER had price as the primary driving factor for its products. Yes, price often factors in at some point, but it is never the primary factor and sometimes is not even in the top 10.
Further, on the day the current Mac Pro first shipped it WAS price competitive with offerings from HP, Dell, and others. If on that day you tried to build an equivalent machine from HP, Dell, and others their machines were either more expensive or at most a couple percent less expensive. Unfortunately in the interceding 2 1/2 years, systems with equivalent (or better) capabilities have come forth with significantly lower prices from HP, Dell, and others.
The same can be said for the 5K iMac when it first shipped. The 5K iMac could be had for slightly less than the price for which Dell sold a 5K monitor! So, at it’s introduction, you get a 5K monitor for less than Dell and get a decent desktop computer FOR FREE.
Who says Apple cannot compete on price? Not those who really pay attention.
Puhleeze. At least read the articles all the way through before going into screed mode. I read her articles often. She’s an avid Apple follower and veteran Mac user. Did you read the piece on the Chromebook? Totally faceitious; she dissed the Chromebook, and the ZDNet writer who actually advocated it over the Mac.
What I appreciate about Kate’s perspective is that she does not toe the Apple Inc line. She speaks her mind. Agree or agree to disagree, but don’t disparage someone with a bona fide opinion who also writes in complete sentences. Even a well known presidential candidate cannot do that. He wants to boycott Apple and tweets from an iPhone. What does that say?
That said, she’s probably correct that Apple keeps the Mac mini and Mac Pro around– not because they’re big profit centers (they’re not; it’s all in the notebook and iMac line)– but because Apple knows the value of a broader line of products.
Dear People at APPLE,
Please create a Mac Pro that gives us the opportunity to turn it into an insanely powerful supercomputer.
We buy the basic model and then, if we want to get crazy, we buy nano-blades from you that can be slipped into the base unit turning it into something so powerful friends are afraid to visit for fear of being vaporized and transported to a distance galaxy.
Thank you for listening to what every member of my family at the dinner table agrees is a very reasonable and sane request.
Your request gets my vote, and a high five.
It’s funny isn’t it? If Apple were to give the pro market “what it really wants” (to quote Susan from CITIZEN KANE) they’d make a relative killing compared to what they make now on the Mac Pro. At the very least they’d put a smile on many more people’s faces.
Why downgrade to a macbook from a macbook air. You can get an i7 processor that is faster than the fastest processor on the macbook, and cheaper. It boggles the mind, oh wait, can’t get the macbook air in rose gold, that must be it….LOL
Apple hasn’t been interested in the content creation market for quite some time, hence the lack of interest in both the Mini, and the Pro. Content CONSUMPTION is best done on your phone, your tablet or a laptop. Regardless of the fall out, Content Creators are not the future of Apple…. and I say this as a content creator myself. I’ve high end Macs for over 20 years in my recording studio, but the handwriting is on the wall. Both Helen Keller and Stevie Wonder can see it. it’s just a matter of time before Apple puts theses in the EOL lane.
i Think the Mac mini sells very well. If you track the Refurb Store, Mac minis do not last long. Great Thin Client, great grandma computer, great home theater PC for many. A Mid level Mac Mini (Intel Iris Graphics) can drive a 4K Display via Mini Display Port to Display Port (2.1 spec) at 60 frames and via HDMI at 30.
The Trashcan should have never been called a Mac Pro. It is a nice but grossly overpriced engineering exercise that completely missed the Market. Mac Pro users do not care about thinner, lighter and trendier. We like a user accessible box that supports industry standard connections and takes INTERNAL EXPANSION- not a mass of Wall Warts and cables going everywhere.
Apple wants to sell sealed boxes with overpriced laptop components as desktop computers. Some would like something for the long haul. When I wanted USB 3 all I had to do was order an inexpensive card and installed it in minutes to add USB to my Mac Tower. How is that iMac with soldered in memory working out for you?
If the MBA is out then a “filler” MacBook with high end MBA spec should be introduced. I think that will fill in any gaps.
Steve admitted that many of us will always need trucks. As an AV pro, that would include me. I need a Superdrive- OK, I’ll attach one externally, but even in a laptop I prefer power and flexibility to light and thin.