“With the WWDC keynote now just five days away, a list of alleged part numbers provided to AppleInsider suggests Apple may be preparing to revamp nearly its entire Mac lineup.],” Neil Hughes reports for AppleInsider.
“A total of 27 new parts are on the list, and 14 of them appear to be new Mac hardware, while the remaining 13 parts are listed as ‘standalone kits,'” Hughes reports. “All of the part numbers also reportedly appear in Apple’s reseller system.”
Hughes reports, “A total of 14 new Mac models arriving next week would mean that Apple may upgrade an uncharacteristically large number of its computers at once. At present, a total of 20 different Mac models, not including build-to-order options, are listed in Apple’s store among its five product lineups: MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, iMac and Mac Pro… The three parts identified as ‘K5BPLUS’ are believed to be new Mac Pro desktops.”
Read more in the full article here.
New annual pattern from now on:
New iPad(s) in March
New Macs in June
New iPhones and iPods in September…
And don’t forget the new rumours in January, February, March, April . . . . .
Heh, heh. Ain’t that the truth. No doubt the guessing and speculation will continue even as the keynote presentation is broadcast…and immediately afterward.
we are DOUBLING DOWN on secrecy….
because form now on
APPLE are preparing 2 designs on every thing.
If Apple is updating all their hardware at once, they probably have some awesome secret new feature, and they intend reap all they can out of it before the all copycats can jump on it.
That, or they were waiting for Intel’s Sandy Bridge chips which only came out a month ago and Apple had a convenient keynote already set up at which to announce them.
Actually, I believe the current models are Sandy Bridge. It is the Ivy Bridge the just came out.
The new Intel E5-2600 Xeon processors are Sandy Bridge architecture. They are not the new 22 nm technology of Ivy Bridge.
Hope that’s not too confusing.
New Ivy chips came out today in samsungs new computer lineups June 6
It does make sense to get all new Macs running the latest chipset as quickly as possible. But logistically, it’s much easier to roll out one type of computer at time, like Apple historically has done. That way, Apple can focus its best people on one thing at a time, getting the new iMac just right before turning its collective attention to the new Mac Pro or new Mac Mini or whatever.
The latest Intel chip is only a modest evolutionary improvement over the last. That alone doesn’t seem like enough to justify spreading its resources and manpower out thinly. I think there has to be a bigger payoff to make it worth the extra logistical cost of doing every new Mac at once.
Ahead of Apples switch to 3D maps, Google introduced MapsGL today. Ivy Bridge has been placed into several other computers months before Apple. The elongated iPhone 5 prototype has been leaked many times over now – it’s well documented.
Is Apple stepping back; acting more of a follower than a leader? Where is this doubling down on secrecy?
Maybe the secrecy is evident by the fact that you don’t know the important stuff they’re doing, and only see the expected stock upgrades?
My guess is that there will be little change in the MBP 13 inch and that it’s primary market will be schools. The price may even drop. We will see changes in MBA displays and configurations, and these will be the main 13 inch option provided. The big change will be in the 15 inch MBP model, which will feature a Retina display.
Stock manipulating. The New Dell Times: “Tim Cook, new Apple Computer [sic] CEO, failed to bring new products to market when we said he would.”
I can’t wait for the new Mac Pros. And I’m not even buying one. I’m just tired of seeing people constantly complain about the lack of an update.
Hopefully it’s true that their will be new Mac Pros with new Intel Xeon processors because that may mean some top executives realized that while the Mac Pro isn’t really important to sales numbers (it’s a small profitable niche) it is definitely important to Apple’s image. Making something that’s the best has intangible rewards. Does anyone believe that Daimler Benz makes the most expensive Mercedes model just to satisfy the bean counters?
I definitely think that the Mac Pros are an important offering for Apple. I actually originally planned to purchase one when I was looking to replace my old G5, but after analyzing my needs I went with an i7 iMac and external FW800 storage which is ok for what I do.
There are definitely use cases though where the expandability (and raw power of having 12 cores available) is needed.
Here’s hoping the rumors of new Mac Pros are true, and supply isn’t constrained because they are canceling it (I really doubt they would).