MacDailyNews Take: No, we hadn’t noticed. Because we know that Apple quite some time ago said they would be slowing down the pace of Mac OS X updates. And, Aune, is correct: Aug. 28., 2009 really isn’t all that long ago. The days of annual Mac OS X updates ended on October 24, 2003 with the release of Mac OS X 10.3 Panther. Strike one for Aune.
Aune continues, “While I certainly don’t feel that Apple is about to kill off the Macs anytime soon, it does feel like the company is lessening the importance of the product line inside of its corporate structure, and amongst the developers. In case you hadn’t noticed, when the last update to the MacBook Pros happened, there were some major changes made to the product line. Normally this would have involved Steve Jobs having one of his keynote talks where he gathers the press on short notice, but this last time around it just all happened on the Apple Store website without any fanfare.”
MacDailyNews Take: That statement is incorrect. Apple normally releases Mac feature bumps via press release, not with special events hosted by Steve Jobs. Only when totally new models (for example, the aluminum unibody models) debut, does Apple sometimes have a special media event. So, Aune’s now got two strikes.
Aune continues, “All of this is speculation on my part, but when you start adding up the various pieces, it does point to something.”
MacDailyNews Take: Strike three. You’re out. All of Aune’s “various pieces” add up to nothing. New Mac OS X versions haven’t come yearly since the last one in 2003 and MacBook feature bumps never get the Jobs keynote treatment. Those are facts that in no way support Aune’s “Mac abandonment by Apple” concoction. WWDC 2010 is mostly about iPhone OS this year, because Mac OS X 10.6 was just released late last summer and nobody who’s been paying even the least bit of attention expects Mac OS X 10.7 this year.
Full article here.
MDN – “Think before you click” ?
Excuse me, how were those iPhone apps written?
Some users are like kids who want to be the centre of attention all the time. Apple updates one product, the user of another product feels all hurt and abandoned. Apple has a small well defined product range. They will not update all the things all the time. Wait your turn and get over it. Why on earth should they talk about 10.7 yet?
It would be nice to get a new version of iLife soon…
I COMPLETELY agree with your takes, MDN! As usual, you are spot on.
How do you improve upon perfection? Is Microsoft really that hard up for new features to copy?
“…MacDailyNews Take: That statement is incorrect. Apple normally releases Mac bumps via press release, not with special events hosted by Steve Jobs. Only when totally new models (for example, the aluminum unibody models) debut, does Apple sometimes have a special media event. So , Aune’s now got two strikes. …”
I don’t think this is true. Apple tends to announce updates to OS X at WWDC. You see, OS X is the Mac, not the hardware.
I also don’t think it’s hard to see the majority of focus at Apple is on mobile devices now. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Windows leapfrog OS X in the next year or so.
Snow Leopard isn’t even a year old. The last few Mac OS X updates have been closer to a two-year release cycle.
Complete non-story.
I don’t expect 10.7 this year, I agree with that. I put it midyear 2012.
@ TheloniousMac: I wouldn’t be surprised to see Windows leapfrog OS X in the next year or so.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!!!!!!!
…no seriously though, there must be a typo in there somewhere, right?
If Apple was abandoning the Mac then wouldn’t they change the way they activate iPhones, iPods, and iPads. You need a computer to do that. Also why would Apple keep doing upgrades to Snow Leopard?
If Apple was really done with Macs, why waste money and effort on the existing software. Also why did Apple just release newer portables?
Seems to be more wasted effort if Apple were really giving up on Macs producing more newer models seems to be a waste. I see no pattern that Apple is giving up on the Mac.
I feel snappier!!!
The trolls, including some posters on this thread, are trying to spread among Mac users. Don’t fall for it. M$ is spending a lot of time trying to catch up with Apple on mobile right now. Apple is trying to capitalize on their mobile OS lead and first-mover advantage, including by adding key features that weren’t the focus in the v. 1 devices. What has happened with iPhone will also, over time, happen with iPad. Apple will pay attention again to the Mac before too long.
That said, it would be nice to get at least an iWork for Mac update sometime this year. Numbers and Pages would benwft from a boost.
They aren’t going to abandon the Mac overnight. The end of the platform is now visible though. To be fair, it’s not just Apple. The industry is shifting to low power, mobile, Internet dependent, “cloud oriented” devices. When people say the iPad represents the future, this is what they mean.
The quest for “the next big thing” shifts us back and forth from powerful personal computers to simple clients repeatedly. We are due for the shift to cloud clients now. Consider that the iPad is almost useless without the Internet. This is the new paradigm.
@John…
As connectivity becomes ubiquitous, Apple will change activation to be done over the net with the device as opposed to requiring a computer.
Apple will never let go of the mac. They have a very nice profit margin there and while the focus may be on mobile at the moment. That’s because apple is pushing to stay ahead in that Arena. While the macs are building up more people all the time it comes from People using iPhones and iPods and now ipads. Apple is using the mobile to win over the desktop
without the mac OS there is no iPhone or ipad
If anything people should say they are giving up on the AppleTV though I am awaiting to see that turn into a huge gaming device once iPhone OS 4 comes out. I wont be shocked if they allow games on it and it should. Use your ipad or iphone/touch as a controller.. people would be thrilled
TechnoBuffalo news, opinions, postings, etc., on my ignore list.
Reason: Ignorance
Doesn’t Grand Central mean anything? Developers must tap into this first before Snow Leopard can shine? But then developers are flocking to mobile apps now, so not sure what kinds of applications developers and the customers are willing to spend resources on to take advantage of all that SL computing power.
@Original Jake…
I’m not trolling, I’m bemoaning. I see what’s coming and it makes me a bit sad. The Mac has been a big part of my life since 1984.
Everything I see Apple doing now is about cheap mobile devices. Keep an eye on iTunes and the coming war with Pandora and Netflix. Steve is going to sell you media consumption devices, and services that stream media.
Applications will shift to SaaS (software as a service).
John Gage, the 6th employee of Sun, is famous for the phrase, “The network is the computer.” He was right. The network is indeed the computer.
Almost everything your conventional computer does now will move to the Internet. The majority of apps on the app store are already just clients for Internet based services.
It’s an iPad world. We just live in it.
We are attached to our computers. I suspect we will be attached to our net based digital presences in the not to distant future.
I hope the Mac platform doesn’t go away. I mean, sure, it may be more relegated to the pro market, the musicians, the graphic designers, the animators, the film editors, and so forth, but the Mac platform is just too essential to that pro market to abandon completely. If the consumer market wants to go with the iPad, that’s fine.
Hacky journalism: “Idea”, “Yeah, I can do it.”
Gush on for 5 paragraphs in 15 minutes. Article done. Screw any facts or research online even. I’m hot.
My editor is happy.
Off to the Beer Garden to collect more intelligence!
@fonz:
But Mommy loves me most of all…
@Eric
Even those pro applications can and will move to the cloud eventually. It’s all about bandwidth and availability. The old model of purchasing a massive application that reside on your Mac or PC will evolve into a subscription based model. This excites the crap out of developers because it will obliterate piracy. Heck, even software development will be cloud based.
We won’t be storing lots of data locally, or storing applications, or media… we will just be carrying lighter and ever more disposable client devices.
I don’t know, I played with a friends Window 7 lap top the other day, and Wow, that new “snap” feature was really cool, and that new innovation, “task bar” just blew me away