“Apple plans to completely overhaul its product lineups, including iPad, iMac, iPhone and MacBook Air, in 2012 and is expected to finalize order volumes for key parts and components for the next-generation iPad in December, according to sources in the upstream supply chain,” Yenting Chen and Steve Shen report for DigiTimes.
“Inventory of key parts and components for the next-generation iPads will be sufficient enough for the production of two million units by year-end 2011, the sources pointed out,” Chen and Shen report. “However, the next-generation iPhone and iMac are unlikely to be revealed until the second half of 2012, the sources added.”
Read more in the full article here.
That was genius.
No one could have guess that Apple will release new models of its products next year, except for DigiTimes exclusive ‘source’.
Totally agree. Like they’ve never done that before. Next someone’s going to predict that the sun will rise in the morning.
YESSS!!!! Does This Mean We Will Have A MATTE OPTION SCREEN FOR THE NEW iMAC’S!!!! So excited. The Glossy Screen nightmare is FINALLY going to end with a professional screen option!!!!
This is going to be great… They couldn’t possibly NOT offer a Matte Screen Option for the new iMac, now that Steve has passed (god Bless his soul)
Yes PLEASE PLEASE offer a matte screen option on the iMacs!!!! I can’t get one now due to eye issues. I will wait and see but if no matte screen, no new iMac for me.
No mention of MBP or Mac Pro – will those be getting an overhaul as well?
More to the point-will the MBP (in its current form) or the MP (in any form) even be around?
Finally 4.5″ of goodness for the iPhone in 2012. So as to better study the Mayan calendar in detail to learn if it will be the end of the world for Android devices.
Hahaha! Yes, perfect! 😀
You’re insane if you think the iPhone 5’s screen will get as big as 4.5″. I’d say 4″ is the maximum Apple would go, and that’s assuming they’d even want to change their screen size (hint: they don’t)
Screen of iPhone 5 will be 5″
(8|)
DON’T KILL THE MAC PRO!! Even if it’s not making apple much money, psychologically it is an important element in certain market segments. Don’t give it away.
And the same thing applies to SERVERS! Come on Apple, you guys should be able to cobble together a hand full of the soon to be available A8 or A9 chips into a low power, dynamite blade server. In short, DON’T KILL THE SERVER!!
DON’T concede these markets to DELL and HP. Keep your fingers in each one. They may not be money makers for you but just being in those markets will pay off in other ways and in other markets.
I’m asking for my own education because I’m not as technically savvy when it comes to hardware, but are the server models of the Mac Pro and Mac Mini not adequate, or does Apple really need to make a dedicated server model?
“Apple plans to completely overhaul its product lineups in 2012.”
*gasp*
NO!
I’m not sure people here are understanding this. I am also anticipating an overhaul. That’s not just an update. It’s a significant change.
For one, I will be surprised if Apple does not change to touch screens on its computers. I’m tired of forgetting what I am on, reaching to touch the screen of my MBP, and then wonder why it’s not working. I know plenty of others are doing the same. Touchscreens must come.
I’m also expecting Apple to fully convert to all of its own processors on everything at some point, likely sooner than later. And there will be more. Likely full voice operation. Possible holographic integration. Major changes.
This will be not just an update with a couple new features, but a real “overhaul” that will really change everything, likely over the next 18-24 months.
Just got a new Mac? It will be more outdated much more quickly than you would have thought…
Some visionless posters here.
No gorilla arm for me, thanks. Touch gestures on a notebook should stay where they belong, on the touch pad.
Macs will not get touch screens. Here are the reasons.
(1) Touching the screen only makes sense when the screen is relatively small, because the physical movement needed to cover the entire screen is small. A 27-inch iMac screen is very large. I expect the max size for an Apple touchscreen device will be about 12 inches.
(2) Multi-touch gestures can be done with one hand. On a larger screen, it may often take both hands.
(3) While touching the screen, your hand and arm are blocking your line of sight to the screen. So you are constantly moving your hand(s) and arm(s) to the screen and off the screen. Again, on a small screen, the movement is small, so it is not annoying.
(4) A stationary Mac (even a laptop) with a touchscreen will require the user to position his or her body and lean forward (as needed to reach parts of the screen). The user’s body is moving to accommodate the device. With a small screen device (that is usually held when used), the user moves and positions the DEVICE to accommodate the user’s body.
(5) iOS for iPhone and iPad is designed to work with no cursor (pointer) on the screen. You cannot give the OS for Mac a cursor-less touch GUI, because a lot of users will need to use a keyboard and mouse/trackpad. And having both types of input would be inconsistent and confusing.
(6) If Apple intends to do this, they would have done it already with MacBook Air, along with Lion.
And I did not even mention “gorilla arms” or the need to constantly clean fingerprints off a huge 27-inch iMac display (oh, I just did…) 🙂
Gorilla arm will not occur with only an occasional touch. The trackpad isn’t going anywhere (we hope). I disagree that it would cause confusion. It’s just an additional option. True enough, touching the BIG screens could be difficult if done constantly. But not the MBP or MBA.
Are you all saying that you never unthinkingly reached to touch a screen on a portable to get it to do something?
I would not confuse a laptop screen for an iPad screen, because the user experience is completely different. With an iPad, the screen is usually held, and it is closer and more “horizontal.” With a MacBook, there is always a keyboard (and trackpad) in front of me, and the screen is stationary, more vertical, and a bit further away.
Now, if I was constantly using an iPad with the keyboard dock, THAT may cause some confusion. 🙂 About 12 years ago, I had this Windows CE device called a Vadem Clio, which was pretty cool for its time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vadem_Clio
It was an unusual “convertible” tablet with a “touch” screen, although it was better suited for stylus. While I was using it, I did sometimes touch my PowerBook screen by mistake. But using it in “laptop” orientation also highlighted the weakest of needing to lift my hand off the keyboard and hold it in mid-air, to touch and manipulate something on screen. And that was only with a 9-inch screen.
Plus, I don’t think Apple will implement something major in the Mac’s OS that is only used with smaller screens. That would cause inconsistency in the user experience, and compromises in the GUI for needing to support both touch-based and cursor-based input at the same time.