“With Apple’s recent announcement that they will move to Intel technology in 2006/7, the most common question I hear is, ‘Should I hold off buying a new Apple computer?’ The short answer is ‘yes,’ but for most of those asking, not as long as you might think,” Rob Enderle writes for Designtechnica.
“Ror those thinking of switching from Windows to Apple, you should likely hold off until you have the opportunity to choose between Apple’s new platforms and Microsoft’s next generation operating system,” Enderle writes. “How about if you were planning to stay on Apple and desperately need new hardware but now don’t want to buy because you know it soon will be obsolete? …The magnitude of this change suggests that existing Apple hardware will become largely obsolete by 2008/9… if you need new hardware, you should buy with the understanding that the hardware’s life cycle will be shortened.”
“It occurs to me that Apple hardware, especially iMacs, should be really inexpensive in the 4th quarter unless Apple cuts back dramatically on manufacturing (which is possible.) I can’t think of a better deal for a PC for an elderly relative or a guest room (or possibly a kitchen) in your home,” Enderle writes (MacDailyNews Note: Barring earthquakes, of course). “Apple clearly has enough of a reserve to survive what will undoubtedly be a painful move, but it should leave them stronger than they were; that means abandoning them at this time would not be wise.”
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Intel-based Macs running both Mac OS X and Windows will be good for Apple – June 10, 2005
Is it sensible or folly to wait for an Intel-powered Mac? – June 09, 2005
Apple+Intel news is no reason not to buy a new PowerPC-based Mac today – June 07, 2005
Tech Pundit Enderle: ‘This year will be more difficult for Apple Computer’ (iMac G5 and earthquakes) – January 24, 2005
“For those thinking of switching from Windows to Apple, you should likely hold off until you have the opportunity to choose between Apple’s new platforms and Microsoft’s next generation operating system,”
So… Longhorn’s coming out when?? 2007? 2008? 2009? Dare I say it? 2010?
Hey first post! what d’ya know! Wasn’t even trying!
that guy’s a douche
LMAO!! Sometimes your comments really have me howling MDN.
What an xxxx Enderle is. A professional journalist? My foot he is.
If you buy a Mac today, in 2010 it will still be running like a dream. It will run Tiger as well as on day one and all the other software you care to load. And with the binaries, the chances are it will also be running OSX version 10.8 and beyond too.
My answer is to wait, and buy after they update the Mac line that you are looking at, such as Powermac, iMac, iBook, etc…. Because you know, once you do cave in and buy too soon, they will update that line the next day.
The big question (at least for me) is whether third-party Mac software developers will still be bothering with “universal binaries” after 2008/2009. By that point, will most of them just figure it’s a waste of time and code only for the new MacIntel computers?
My initial reaction was that there is reason to worry about PPC-based Macs’ ability to run Mac software released after 08/09, but now I’m starting to think that maybe the developers will stay with the universal binaries. After all, since they’ll have to do universal binaries for the 2006-2008 period, and if Apple’s Xcode developer tools make it almost trivial to continue to do so even after 2008, why not?? Why blow off even a shrinking market of PPC-based Macs until at least 2010/2011??
Am I missing something?
Or maybe SJ was right that Apple has little to worry about during this transition?
The idea that one should hold of for an intel chip more than one would for, say, a G6 is stupid. And since all programs will be compiled for PPC as well, there will be no obsolesence based on a chip change.
apple PC? that just doesnt sound right….this article needs a new headline.
almost like saying “lamborghini sedan”.
pass the douche to the left
I would have thought the question Enderle heard the most was “Why are you such a pompous arse?”
Enderle: When Paris Hilton does an ad for Apple, that’s when we should buy!!! Paris Hilton rocks!!!! My Enderle group consists of me , myself, I and my wank. My wank likes Paris a LOT!
Poor Rob; believes that by appending “-technica” (as in the well known arstechnica) his credibility might increase. Ehh, no…
Just remember Rob is a marketing analyst not a tech analyst. Microsoft is one of his clients. They probably paid Designtechnica, one way or another, to run his piece.
Rob gets paid very well to tell people to wait for Longhorn before switching to Mac. He is just doing his job. Designtechnica is the one to blame for not labeling the piece as a paid Microsoft advert. After all, that’s what it is.
So Rob suggests that you wait until 2007 and buy Longhorn, if you are shopping for a Mac right now in 2005.
That’s why they pay him the BIG bucks! What a genius!
That’s it, I’m going to make a Rob Enderle widget of wisdom. Rob has the answers.
He should just answer the question…”Should I hold off buying a new Apple computer?” This question would imply that the asker already owns a Mac. His first comment says that “For those thinking of switching from Windows to Apple…” He dosesn’t even understand a simple question.
Of course this is great news if that is the question he hears most often! Wouldn’t you think the questions HE should hear most often is when is Longhorn going to ship.
Enderle has reached the end of his shelf life. Besides that, he’s a prick.
I’m already sick of hearing this stupid debate.
Not much has changed in the old rule of thumb for buying computers: if you need a new computer, buy one. if you don’t need one, don’t buy one.
There’s an old 7200 sitting in the other room here at work that doesn’t get used for much except copying floppies to zip disks…but you know what? 10 years old and it’s still running just fine on OS 8. The computer didn’t melt down, explode or turn into dust when 9, 10.0, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, and 10.4 came out. It kept working as we added more Macs to our dept. over the years and now has it’s own, small niche to fill. It still works. If you need a Mac now, buy it. If you don’t, don’t. Period.
I wonder which will come first, G4/G5 Mac obsolescence or Longhorn release?
It occurs to me that Enderle has been largely obsolete since 1982/3.
G4 and G5’s have bee obsolete for awhile now…
so are you stan
so are you stan.
Is Enderle trying to insult folks in general, Apple computer users, or the elderly with this?
“I can’t think of a better deal for a PC for an elderly relative or a guest room (or possibly a kitchen) in your home,””
The suggestion being an iMac G5 is only good for basic e-mail, web-browsing, and looking at your kids’ photos?…
And, what if you wait until ’07 and decide to get the dual-core, dual-processing G5 PowerMac running at 3.5 GHz that suddenly appears? Are you an idiot for buying a PPC?
Enderle is a shill. The website should rename Shill-technica.com