“One of the memes to come out of the somewhat contentious rollout of the MacBook Pro is that Apple has given up on the desktop Mac,” Matthew Panzarino reports for TechCrunch.
“In a posting to an employee message board, CEO Tim Cook seems intent on putting that particular branch of discussion to bed,” Panzarino reports. “‘Some folks in the media have raised the question about whether we’re committed to desktops,’ Cook wrote. ‘If there’s any doubt about that with our teams, let me be very clear: we have great desktops in our roadmap. Nobody should worry about that.'”
You can rarely see precisely where you want to go from the beginning. In retrospect, it’s always written like that. But it’s rarely like that. The fantastic thing about Apple employees is they get excited about something, and they want to know how it works. What it will do. What its capabilities are. If they want to know about something in an entirely different industry, they start pulling the string and see where it takes them. They’re focused more on the journey, which enables so many great things to happen.
Just in the past couple years, pulling that string on Watch and fitness led to ResearchKit, and ResearchKit led to CareKit. We’ve got a ton of things on our roadmap that I can’t talk about, but that I’m incredibly excited about, that are the result of pulling that string and not being bound by the box that so many people in life get bound by. — Tim Cook
MacDailyNews Take: Pipeline Tim angles for a name change. 😉
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Patience, Padawns. Yes, they should be here already (as “Roadmap Tim” likely knows all too well), but they’re not, so let’s just say that good things come to those who wait.
Finally!!!! This makes me happy!! Good news! Say what you want about Tim Cook, but when he gives a statement, there is truth to it!
I have been waiting, and thy will come (as the Heavenly skies open up) – a new Mac will be shown!
Regardless of political beliefs, a new and updated Mac will make America great again! Just saying! 🙂
Yep I’m in desperate need of a new iMac. I’ve been looking for a reasonably priced late 2015 core i7 5k iMac but haven’t found anything yet. The ones on eBay seem to be getting top dollar and not that much less than just buying a new one.
Guess it makes sense at this point to wait another several months ?? to see what comes out. Fingers crossed.
I’d want an explanation to the term “great.” That’s a pretty vague statement as far as I’m concerned. Is he talking about much more powerful desktops, or some “great-looking” desktops? I’m guessing he’s talking about “great-looking” desktops and that’s not what matters to me. Apple should be able to deliver a complete package inside and out. I know Cook can’t divulge Apple’s plans but he sounds like a person who doesn’t really know what’s going to be inside the coming desktops.
I don’t expect Apple to be building desktop gaming rigs for most users but they should at least try to accomodate standard high-end desktop GPUs in their MacPro models and not just some AMD GPUs. Hasn’t Apple ever heard of nVIDIA? I’ve heard AMD GPUs are more open-source, so maybe that’s why Apple only does AMD.
Nvidia and AMD gpu’s are different, and are good and bad at different things. AMD’s FirePro professional cards are very good at what they do, and if the rumor mill is true, the new Mac pro will be getting the new MI25 Vega based GPU which would be a huge step up for parallel computing and 3D modeling. If apple were to go with quadri’s they’d have to enable Cuda acceleration in their own products instead of relying on OpenGL and Vulcan which are standards. Also, game developers don’t target the Mac and the current hardware can play every title for it, and that is where Nvidia cards excel. Quadro’s also aren’t gaming cards, they are good at what they do, but they aren’t meant for video games. Titan would be the GeForce they would probably target for a Mac Pro but it’s not certified for CAD work and other professional applications. It’s all what the machines are used for mostly that matters what parts are inside them. I’m not saying they don’t need to be upgrading the gpu’s, because they do, but the new amd instinct cards are probably what they’re going to be.
It’s because they’re cheaper and he only wants to maximize profit.
The Mac hardware today is a very restricted subset of the PC hardware industry. It has 2 very important and critical disadvantages for serious users.
1) Apple only offers a very limited set of options (lack of flexibility).
Only AMD GPUs, only mobile parts and only consumer class parts on the iMac. Or they offer Only AMD GPUs, in pairs, only workstation grade GPUs, and they come soldered and/or they have no standard connectors. It is the same with CPUs, only up to quad cores on the iMac (no six cores or more), only none overclockable parts. With the display Apple offers a very good built-in display on the iMac but you can’t use it like an standard monitor to connect a PC or even some other Macs.
2) Apple evades the possibility for the user to use standard PCI expansion cards, standard connectors and many times the part is soldered. This kills the potential to expand a Mac in a efficient way and keep updating it to get more from it.
So any desktop Mac becomes an expensive computer device or gadget, a desktop iPhone computer. This could only be intentional and with the purpose to obtain the biggest profit for you.
So forget anything Tim Cook says about all that wonderful Apple culture centered on the user and the people.
Say what you want about Tim Cook, but when he gives a statement, there is truth to it!
I could debate that, but even taking it as true, he didn’t give a statement of any substance.
“we have great desktops in our roadmap.”
> “we have great desktops in our roadmap.”
Yeah, I’ve written out roadmaps which has what he’s alluded to:
Its a map where where an existing product’s line, instead of continuing to the right (and/or branching), instead has it turn and go down – – which indicates discontinuation.
TL;DR: roadmaps also include the dead ends.
-hh
Tim Cook: Show me…don’t tell me!!!
Oh brother
“Great desktop” is relative. It could just be a marginally better version of the 2013 Mac Pro.
Talk is cheap. Mac users have seen very little reason for optimism.
Cook has a very poor track record for Mac updates and his only new Mac products have been highly controversial because, despite being labelled as “Pro”, they aren’t being designed for the pro, by working with hardcore users to figure out what they really need.
The the 2013 trashcan removed internal expansion and PCI slots, forcing external expansion boxes that in real world use were no better than any cheap PCI Express card.
The 2016 MacBook Pro removed SD card slot, and also has no user customization post-purchase, and greatly sacrificed battery power in order to conform to Ive’s styling demands. You can’t plug in your new iPhone 7, but you can plug in your 1985 Sony headphones to it, thank goodness.
Apple needs a leader that understands the difference between PRO and fashion markets. Timmy and Ive are ruining Apple’s reputation by the minute. If it wasn’t for Jobs’ app store money printing machine, Cook would be working for Swatch attempting to sell wrist computers. Because you know he has a pipeline and he’s never been more excited about consumer disposable products.
Good job, Tim. After several years of generational Mac users complaining about your lack of interest in developing Macs of superior technological process you have now seen the light. You are a day late and a dollar short. You have only tacitly admitted your failure and incompetence. It is better that you resign. You are culturally incapable of performing the duties as CEO of Apple.
More “Tim Cool pipeline bullshit.”
Real artists ship. I heard that somewhere.
Maybe a Mac Pro loaded with 10 A12s and room for another 50?
This is THE most stupid idea I’ve hear in well over two years, and given the past 15+ months of the U.S. political process I’ve heard a LOT of truly stupid ideas!
Just one reason why: just how many PCIe lanes do those theoretical A12 (or A12x) support? Conversely, how many PCIe lanes does a true leading edge Mac Pro *workstation* require? (Don’t even me started on the interconnects, e.g., Kaby Lake natively supports TB3 in its workstation variant yet the A series supports NONE.)
Apparently this guy thinks otherwise. lol
https://www.nextplatform.com/2016/04/28/arm-server-chips-xeon-class-matter/
That guy is also a first class grade A moron.
I bet his credentials are nothing in comparison to yours.
Karl Freund has been an executive in the server and processor business for over 35 and is a frequent speaker at technology and investment conferences. He has been an outspoken advocate for alternative computing technologies such as ARM chips and GPUs, and is the author of the armservers.com site. Freund holds a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University in applied mathematics and a master’s degree in computer science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Okay, we’re now just a little more than five years out from S. Jobs death. I recall that it was reported at the time that S. Jobs gave T. Cook a five year “pipeline” of Apple’s future. So, metaphorically like a college football coach in their fifth year, it’s Tim’s team now. Now, let’s see some “execution!”
I don’t expect radical redesigns of Macs every year, or even every two years, but they’re not even keeping everything up to date with current specs. I know that by degrees in recent years there haven’t been the massive jumps in performance there has been in previous years so upgrading components doesn’t have the importance it perhaps did previously, but to go so many years without updating models is just lazy.
Even if they do want to focus on portables for their main cash flow the simple fact is that people develop apps, develop content/media on Macs, even if it’s only serving a small section of the market it’s surely important that Apple have top of the range devices they can sell to support their platforms?
an even thinner underpowered iMac, with shit AMD and an even WORSE thermal envelope then current models..
Gotta burn the insides out so people will be another one ASAP.
Usually the iMacs just throttle down their processors, so you’re not going to burn anything. You’ll just suffer from frustration by having an already underpowered mobile GPU run even slower thanks to some Jony Ive slim-jim design concoction. It’s all part of the “greening” of Apple. Less of everything, except cost.
Every Apple product has to have a low power requirement to make the company look responsible in saving the planet. I get that part. Unfortunately, for all the energy Apple is saving, the Windows gamers will simply overclock their gaming rigs that much higher to use it up.
True!
The iMac 27 thermal performance is very good when new but after 2 years of use it gets to be worrying. I have 2 iMacs 27 with a top core i7. They idle at low temps (32-35º celsius) but just browsing the internet rise temps to over 60º celsius (CPU utilization 5-7%), room temp 23º c. To me this is unacceptable on a top desktop Mac model. A reference machine I built stays at 45 celsius after 2 years doing the same thing side by side (I used iStat and other measurement tools and the PC is overclocked@4400). Consider also the iMac is hard to service. Yes it looks like Apple wants you to buy a new top machine every 2 years. So the iMac is a big iPhone.
The iMac 27 has a lot of space inside that could be used for more critical engineering and about 25-30% is used for low-fi speakers. I have one more year of AppleCare but I am disappointed as I have to stop my work to send the machine to service to find out what is the Apple policy about this.
That should not be. I think you’ve got dust bunnys under the hood leading my to poor airflow.
I will believe it when I place the order for my new iMac and iPad.
Not too impressed. For me for the past couple of years, it seems each new release is a little more disappointing than the previous. I sold my 2011 Mac Mini (USB 2 only) and had hoped to purchase a new 2014. Once I saw the details of the 2014 machine, I was happy to find Best Buy still had new 2012 models on sale even. Same is true with MacOS releases. While there are a few new features I wish I had, I am perfectly happy running Mavericks. Going to put in a new SSD (since I can) this Christmas. At some point I fear Apple will create a bridge too far for me. Just my opinion.
I put a SSD into my 2009 Mac mini. Definitely breathed new life into the unit. I too wanted to buy a new mini (it’s my media server) but the thought of spending $800 for a decent spec’d machine was too much.
Instead I have ordered a new MBP. Once that has arrived I will replace the mini with my 1st gen rMBP (2012). That unit is still going strong and just needs a new battery. The upshot is I get a faster server with built in battery backup that can run for another 2-4 years before it starts showing its age. I may also upgrade the SSD since in this model, it is feasible to do that.
So Apple with their lag in Mac updates has lost yet another sale from me. I have delayed purchases for several years because the new models are not compelling enough.
Given that Macs are often well powered and last for years, Apple really needs to try harder to get users to upgrade. Yearly updates to the latest specs is essential but rarely happens.
Same here with my 2011 27″ iMac. Added big SSD and 32GB RAM. Went from thinking I needed a computer to enjoying a huge improvement. Still content 2 years after the mod.
I’ve been loving Macs since ’85, and the iMac is okay, but I am REALLY hoping Apple goes back to a more conventional design with the next Mac Pro (if there is one).
“Great desktops” from whose point of view? Better be great from the pro’s & customer’s POV (and not just Jony’s) and that means not hobbled, restricted, over-designed, too small & tightly constructed and – upgradeable. (I.e. 2013 Mac Pro didn’t work for many.)
It’s not good when a company’s CEO has to actually come out and making a statement saying they’re dedicated to a company product. That would be like the Boeing CEO coming out and saying the company is still dedicated to building commercial airliners. It should really speak for itself by way of what the company is producing. Does Alphabet/Google have to tell the world they’re still into refining their search engines?
Chevrolet builds a lot of vehicles but at least buyers can depend upon Chevy putting out an updated Corvette every year and the Corvette is just a very tiny part of Chevrolet’s lineup. Apple is really just screwing around with loyal users by deliberately neglecting products. Apple isn’t a company exactly strapped for cash to be able to upgrade products on a timely basis. I’m guessing this neglect has to do with making it easier to quickly troubleshoot products at the Genius Bar.
How does a company like ASUS manage to come out with a complete lineup of high-end motherboards every year and yet Apple can barely manage a couple of new designs every few years? Of course, only Apple is trying to squeeze everything down into some super-slim case for looks instead of function.
If a company has to be constantly speculated upon by outsiders and loyal users then it would appear something is at least slightly wrong with how the company is being operated.
From the non-Mac PCs world: Tim
Cook you s** of the b***h, if you don’t show us new idea, how are we going to copy from Apple Inc.? You are such a loser and incompetent competitor. Also, just give us the hardware configurations and form factor of the machine, don’t suggest any software hardware & UI integration, as we won’t be able to copy neither.
Actions speak louder than words, Mr. Cook. So where is the MIA actions then, hmmm???
Riiiiight. I’ll believe it when I see it. Tim Cook is the worst.
I miss the days when Apple dazzled with great product releases, as opposed to going long stretches and releasing products with minor upgrades. I’m so weary of Tim Cook saying “Wait until you see what we have in the pipeline.” I’ve been a militant Apple customer since 1978. But my frustration is building. You can neither build nor maintain a reputation on what you’re GOING to do someday.
Same here, since 1980. But, I fear that under Cook, Apple has peaked. We need great Macs!
Whatever Apple under Cook releases for Mac will initially probably look great but then will barely be updated for the next 8 years. Amazing with a company the size of Apple how they let major product lines stagnate like the Laptops, Desktops and even iPod Touches. I can imagine Steve Jobs would be horrified if he saw the stagnation in various product lines and innovation going on at Tim Cook’s Apple.
The last time Pipeline Tim said we should expect an updated Mac Pro we got the Trashcan HTPC. I have one of the last generation Mac Pro towers and it is faster than anything Apple currently sells new. It needs to be retired and 6 + years is a long damn time.
I am done with buying sealed up boxes that cannot be upgraded or maintained. Maybe a call to Jon Rubinstein is in order. He was head of HW engineering the last time Apple made a real Mac Pro.
Windows 10 or Mac OS. Your choice, Tim.
I hear a lot of anger and angst on this forum. But no worries, folks. New desktop machines will be released soon. Same as always, many people will love them, some people will think that they are OK but should be better, and others will think that the new desktops are the worst things ever and the sign of the Apple apocalypse.
BEHIND THE CURVE: The Apple way of today…..
Pardon me, MDN, but screw you and your political agenda. I am a Mac advocate. But this site has become an Apple hater site and you don’t give a crap as long as you get ad clicks. Once again, screw you and g’day.
“We’ve got a ton of things on our roadmap…” – T. Cook
Is that a Google map he’s looking at?
Apple should keep things simple. They made a mistake naming the iPads with Pro. They should just name it iPad. The Apple Watch and Apple TV are good. Two different sizes a piece. The iPhone and iPad I am on the fence with three each. As far as laptops, they came along way to make them thin. Thinner than the MacBook Air. So that means they should drop it and stay with the MacBook and the MacBook Pro. As for the desktops, the Mac Pro should be dropped because they made the iMacs just as powerful. They should stay with the two kinds they have now but make the screen size bigger to match with the pc side. Make a 23 inch for the general user and a 29 for the power user. And the displays should be glass from end to end. As for the Mac Mini, because Apple had miniaturized the logic boads on their notebooks, they should bring that to the mini as well. Make it into a smaller package and still continue with what they have now with the i5 and i7 processors and a inexpensive one to compete with pcs. It will be the same but it will use the “m” processors and sell it for $299. Apple should not go back to the past with so many things to confuse the customers. They should remember from Steve, keep it simple.
More BS from Tim
Tim, ya know who’s NOT excited???? YOUR CUSTOMERS!!!!!!!!!
Remember us???? We don’t think you do.. so please leave the job and let someone who will remain focused and meet realistic time-lines to new products and not offer empty promises. Bye Tim… GOODBYE!!!!!
https://www.change.org/p/apple-board-of-directors-remove-tim-cook-as-ceo-of-apple
Missed products I would have purchased if they were available:
• 2 New Mac Pros
• 3 Laptops – which are not in stock in store for 1TB HD
• 3 Apple TV’s – if they were 4k
• 2 new Displays
• 2 iPads – if they were refreshed
• 1 Mac Mini
• 2 new iPhones, if they updated it and offered a 4 inch with ALL the features
LOST REVENUE TO APPLE – due to Laziness
Software that needs help
iTunes – what a mess this is, just a bloated mess that functions like it made by the clueless
Mail – still in the dark ages with features and functionality
Safari – missing things that other browsers can do
iCal – lacks so much potential
Spotlight – needs lot of work, not accurate
Aperture – um, WHY did you stop making this?? Oh wait, I know, you could care less about the pro market
AppleTV – 4k, audio out, content, slow… bad remote…
Let’s conclude – Fire Tim
https://www.change.org/p/apple-board-of-directors-remove-tim-cook-as-ceo-of-apple