“Is it possible there’s a Mac out there or on the way that could be the last Mac you will ever buy? Certainly. It’s the circle of life,” Wil Gomez writes for Mac360. “There’s death, and taxes, and the last Mac you will ever buy.”
“Apple’s new MacBook, the thinner, lighter, Retina version, is a big seller. We’re expecting Apple to introduce an entirely new line of MacBook Pro models,” Gomez writes. “If the world continues to move in a direction Apple thinks it may move, one of those may be the last Mac you will ever buy.”
“For me, I’ve averaged about five years for each Mac I own (though I don’t upgrade at the same time; new model purchases are staggered), so let’s go with that number. Five years,” Gomez writes. “That means if you’re in the market for a new MacBook Pro, one of Apple’s flagship notebooks with new models due to arrive soon, then it’s likely you won’t be in the market for a replacement for about five years. What will an iPad look like in five years?”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yes, barring untimely death, we’ve considered that the last Macs we’ll ever buy could come within 5-10 years. We expect to definitely buy one more round of Mac desktops and notebooks and at least one more round after that. That’ll be 5-10 years right there. iPad Pro and iOS can already replace our road Macs, but as longtime Mac users, we have ingrained habits and therefore remain much faster on our MacBooks than on iPad. Younger users (under 12 or so) have no such issues and can usually blow us away iPad to iPad, but we are getting better and faster all the time. Old habits will die hard, but they will die eventually.
That said, of course, beyond 2026, we’d love to see the Macintosh and macOS live on in some capacity (professional machines; “trucks,” if you will) for many more years!
When we were an agrarian nation, all cars were trucks because that’s what you needed on the farm. But as vehicles started to be used in urban centers, and America started to move into those urban and then suburban centers, cars got more popular. And innovations like automatic transmission and power steering and things, you didn’t care about in the truck as much, started to become paramount in cars. And now probably, I don’t know what the statistics are, maybe one out of every 25 or 30 vehicles is a truck, where it used to be a 100%. PCs are going to be like trucks. They’re still gonna be around, and they’re still gonna have a lot of value, but they’re going to be used by one out of X people.
Of course, PCs are going mobile in an ever greater degree. So I think the PC is going to continue. This general purpose device is going to continue to be with us and morph with us. Whether it’s a tablet or a notebook, or a big curved desktop that you have at your house, or whatever it might be.
Steve Jobs: The Unauthorized Autobiography
In that case, the more I get into music production and game development, the more I will be one of those users who still uses a truck. 😉
Ditto photo / video …
… the SSDs which Apple sells aren’t even large enough capacity to hold my current inventory *today*, let alone what I’m adding to it each year. And while people may suggest the cloud alternative, there’s no ISPs at any price whose performance is equal/better than bandwidth to an SSD, which means “cloud” stuff is off the table too.
And at current trend slopes, we’re still a good decade away from any cost/value-effective technology crossover point.
Trucks (light duty like pickups, SUV’s, crossovers, minivans) actually outsell cars: http://online.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_3022-autosales.html I’ve heard this stat a few times and didn’t believe it. I guess trucks are used for industry and some people drive a car to work and then their company has a truck for them to drive and since they get heavy use they get replaced more often. Some of these are “light-duty” so if a large pickup is a PC and a cross-over is closer to an iPad, there is some spectrum here where some are fine with a car, some need a minivan, some need a pickup and then there are still BIG trucks like dump trucks and concrete trucks and cranes. I would think those BIG trucks fall into the server or mainframe territory if a pickup truck is a PC.
” then there are still BIG trucks like dump trucks and concrete trucks and cranes.”
Surely you realize that in the fantasy world of the future, concrete, and the food we eat, etc. will be teleported or delivered by 5 lb drones! Be optimistic and worshipful of the bright future!
Ironic sarcasm alert is now turned off, you may now flame me to your hearts content.
“The last Mac you will ever buy”
Well in my case that was 5 years ago.
And now, for me the last iPhone was the last Apple product I will ever buy!
Sorry Apple, I’m done with you!
No innovation and your tyrannical business practices to FORCE your customers to buy your crap technology whether it is your latest OS or whatever else you sell.
And yet here you are on an Apple website. Troll much?
Another Frank/Mac/Joe pseudonym jackal psycho troll transparently vents his vitriolic spew. Why are you even on this site if you are done with Apple other than to get some ADD/ADHD starved attention like a little kid might? You have come to the place most sane people would disagree with you for your spectacular specious declarative nonsense. If this is what you want I expect never to see your dubious type again. Really. Prove your done by going away. Your work here is doofusely done. (He’ll be back, his trollicky type always does.)
hey!
I was talking about Joe, not joe, assuming you’re not one and the same.
So, if I follow your logic correctly, I should probably be going on a Microsoft forum to complain about the shitty Apple products Apple coerces their customers into buying using nothing short of tyrannical business practices.
A good example here is the headphone jack on the “new” iPhone 7 which Apple will use to coerce you into buying their absolutely horrible Beats headphones!
No thanks Apple.
We’re DONE!
I wish you really were done, but I have a feeling your lame ass will continue to come here to spout your obvious lies and bullshit.
Yes that would be infinitely preferable. Whine and moan on Microsoft sites all you like where they’ll appreciate most your Apple biting diatribes. What you call “tyrannical” is no different at any other company. Google and Amazon tyrants much? I’d call that a big yes. Microsoft is no slouch in the tyrannical department either so essentially there’s no escaping the phenom. You’re just trading one for another though I think Apple is fairly exemplary over the rest in most respects, though as always could use improvement. Nature of business no matter where you plunk your dollars. It’s in business’s nature to do what is required to be at the top and drive customers to their brand short of anti-trust problems.
BTW there are plenty of other bluetooth headphones you can buy out there. I wouldn’t buy Beats either.
THE 10 BEST WIRELESS BLUETOOTH HEADPHONES
http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/best-wireless-headphones/
Yeah, “Forced” progress moves on. You can be on the train or stay off it. I’ve never been “forced” to upgrade anything. You have to make a choice based on various conditions.
Unless Apple want’s to cede control to outside companies, Mac OS and more powerful Mac’s had better be made, there is no future in so called A.I. or anything else without hardware and software under one roof.
Until the iPad Pro comes with dual 27″ screens, I’ll be using a Mac.
This, as I read this on a 30″ Cinema Display 🙂 This kind of nonsense about how “everyone will do their jobs with a phone screen” is clearly by someone who’s never actually held a job that required a computer…which, sadly, now seems to comrise all of so-called “computer journalism”.
My work environment is a 27″ iMac with a 30″ Cinema display (built like freaking Mac trucks…both of the ones I have are about 10 years old and still going strong!) and I STILL use Mission Control to have about 5 desktops…
That will NEVER work on a phone…
The iMac screen size needs to be 32″ or 36″ what is Apple waiting for?
Absolutely. As an editor and writer and sometimes film editor, I run two 27″ Macs. I use my 9.7″ iPad Pro for final reading and tweaking, but no hand-held device could ever replace the big screen and typing for the work I do. Yes, a 30″ or 32″ iMac would be great!
same here, got a couple of upgrade Mac Pros connected to big Cintiqs and second monitors.
Lots of people don’t realize how important and great a time saver screen real estate is. For example I can run a program and palettes on one and a training video and manuals (or reference files etc) on the other … Some supervisors like senior designers need even more , like a third monitor to keep an eye on subordinates work, look a schedules etc.
right now Apple is behind in GPU performance in running multiple monitors at high res
(as I’ve shown before, Barefeats.com tests shows a 2010 MP with upgraded video — GTX 1018 card — outperforming a current macs
2010 upgraded MP : 195 fps
Cylinder MP: 73 fps.
A 5k iMac has 75,
Macbook Pro Retina: 27 fps.
(I understand games have a limit to fps playability but take the numbers as indication of raw GPU power)
no Mac today can have it’s GPU upgraded.
(see stats above) apple should work on their desktops pronto.
weird TVs etc keep getting bigger and bigger yet pundits seem to think for high end COMPUTERS the screen should get SMALLER….
—–
btw I also have a iPad Pro 12.9 and a Macbook Pro.
When that day comes I believe I’ll be running unix. I just don’t want a dumbed-down, although beautiful, iPad to replace my desktop computer.
Ahem. That iPad? Running Unix. IOS is a heavily cut-down version of OS X.
I understand that, but, I need a computer that I can use to CREATE rather than CONSUME. I don’t see iOS offering me that solution, as much as I love my iPads and iPhones.
Just cause it hasn’t been turned on, doesn’t mean it’s not there iOS is Mac OS.
That’s very true. Maybe Apple will have a solution for applications and websites that function fully on a touchscreen sans mouse/trackpad.
I get your point but do note that you already are running unix…
http://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/brand3612.htm
The same is true for all prior versions back to 10.5 Leopard.
The last Mac you will ever buy, is the last one that Apple makes. Jeez….
Mine is a 2009 17″ that is ready for an upgrade! But I’m not upgrading unless they do a 17″ model!
I want a 32″ or 36″ screen iMac.
Maybe the better question is when will you buy your first Surface. Apple seems to be ignoring the Mac and just milking it for cash by dumbing it down for the Facebook crowd.
Unless they come up with the elusive upgradable Mac Pro tower, I’ve already bought the last Mac I’ll ever buy. HP Z-series workstation in my future.
Upgrading every 5 years? Sure, when we could upgrade the Mac within that 5 year period with new disks, new RAM, new video, new connectivity, etc., etc. With the newest systems upgrading almost anything after purchase is out of the question unless you want to void warrantees or risk damaging things, and I expect for most categories this trend to hold for the foreseeable future.
As it is, if you want to stay current you’ll need to upgrade every time Apple comes out with a new machine. Some of us (well, really, a LOT of us) run our Macs flat out. I sometimes bring my maxed out rMBP to its knees when I’m on the road. They’ll never be fast enough, let alone faster than we need. Thus every increase in capability is something of which we immediately want to take advantage.
Bought my last Mac? I hope not. But, my next desktop (Pro Machine ??) may not be a Mac if all Apple does is “upgrade” the trash can to last year’s processor, last year’s GPUs, last year’s bus speeds, last year’s SSDs, etc.
5 years! WTF?
I upgrade my Laptop every 2 years and with some models it’s been even 1 year. After selling my current laptop my upgrade to a new usually only costs $800 or so.
Desktops I keep longer, however I get some new Mac every year because i deploy them for certain tasks.
MacPro 2014 – at home video editing
Macbook Pro 2015 – my main computer and video on the road
MacBook 2016 – newest edition, mobility and ability to work on planes even in coach ( I also take the 15″ with me too.)
Mac Mini 2014 – integrated as an input in the home theater
Mac Mini 2010 – test pilot, no business function
iMac 2015 – Administration and bookkeeping
MacMini 2009 – runs phone valet voicemail
MacBook Pro 15″ 2010 – Legacy computer, running Snow Leopard
MacMini G4 – Legacy computer running Tiger in case I need to get to classic
Then there is also fully functional the G4 Cube and the original 1985 512K Fat Mac on display.
And tucked away a iMac second generation, a 9600.
one more time; the apps that run on iOS are done on Macs.
The application that builds this website, and millions of others, to mention the content cannot be run on some dumb touchscreen device.
How many times do we have to repeat the obvious.
I can easily code and build websites with an iPad. Easily.
The need to have a Mac to run Xcode will soon erode and will be able to done on an iPad in the not to distant future.
5 years! WTF?
I upgrade my Laptop every 2 years and with some models it’s been even 1 year. After selling my current laptop my upgrade to a new usually only costs $800 or so.
Desktops I keep longer, however I get some new Mac every year because i deploy them for certain tasks.
MacPro 2014 – at home video editing
Macbook Pro 2015 – my main computer and video on the road
MacBook 2016 – newest edition, mobility and ability to work on planes even in coach ( I also take the 15″ with me too.)
Mac Mini 2014 – integrated as an input in the home theater
2013 MacBook Pro 13″ for my wife
Mac Mini 2010 – test pilot, no business function
iMac 2015 – Administration and bookkeeping
MacMini 2009 – runs phone valet voicemail
MacBook Pro 15″ 2010 – Legacy computer, running Snow Leopard
MacMini G4 – Legacy computer running Tiger in case I need to get to classic
Then there is also fully functional the G4 Cube and the original 1985 512K Fat Mac on display.
And tucked away a iMac second generation, a 9600.