“We’re only a few days out from Apple’s 2019 Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) now, and that means we’re about to exit an Apple world dominated by talk of iOS 12 and macOS Mojave, and enter one focused on the next versions of both,” Jason Snell writes for Macworld.
“I would wager that at this year’s WWDC, Apple will spend more time focusing on macOS than at any point this decade,” Snell writes. “But for those who see WWDC as a battle between the Mac and iOS for Apple’s attention, it’s going to feel a little bittersweet.”
Snell writes, “The renewed focus on the Mac side will in large part be about Apple giving iOS app developers the ability to quickly bring their apps to the Mac.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Snell also wishes for unification of automation, which are currently different in iOS and Mac, perhaps by Apple bringing Shortcuts to the Mac and rolling in some AppleScript/Automator goodness in the process. That would certainly be a nice bit of wish fulfillment for users of automation on the mac and on iOS devices!
How’s about a keyboard that works on aMBP for the prior 3 years. Would be more beneficial than any sw update
How about a workable 2019 Mac Pro that isn’t priced to the heavens just because of the new modular design nonsense and ends up being a kludgy mess that fails to appeal to pros anyway?
Oh and it’s ready for ordering not at the “end of December” but in September or sooner.
Here’s what would blow away everyone. Imagine if Apple said, “available today” instead of “we have an exciting pipeline”.
My top 10 wishlist:
1–Mac Pro workstation — if properly priced and configurable, we’d buy several
2–Mac tower for home use. we need more than a mini can offer and will not buy an unexpandable all-in-one when we already have multiple displays.
3–Kids want laptops for school and we’re waiting for affordable durable ones. Must have all new Macbooks across the board. the current lineup makes no sense and all have horrible keyboards. Apple had better announce something there.
4–all new Airport family
5–all new Apple displays in 22”, 27”, 32”
6–a public commitment to keep software and hardware updated a minimum of every 2 years, and at least a 6 month notice before software is discontinued. Apple should be ashamed of how its treated Mac users for the last decade.
7–agreement that Macs will honor the spirit of the Right to Repair. RAM, PCI cards, and SSDs shall henceforth be user replaceable without special tools and will use standard interfaces. No price gouging either.
8–Apple makes a public commitment to diversify manufacturing locations around the world.
9–Announce the retirements of Cue, Ives, and the rest of the dead wood
10–Bring back great desktop apps. All new iTunes, Aperture, iWork. charge a modest price for them but make them the best apps in their categories — with continuous improvements every year. Bonus 11–Mac Server. Use it to build the best new cloud service and sell it to companies that need to host their own stuff. There is a dire need here.
Most excellent list, I agree.
Except on Number Nine you left out the biggest dead wood of all — Tim Cook…
True enough, Tim IS deader wood than Natalie.
If I hear the words “exciting pipeline” one more time, I think I’m gonna puke.
And your list is spot on.
Apple needs to offer Macs that allow the user to decide whether or not they are over-engineered. Not every user needs SSDs in their desktop or laptop. Not every user needs a discrete GPU in their desktop of laptop, but LET THE USER DECIDE!
Hear, hear! I like the list too. So many missed opportunities.
The days of the Mac Pro are over in the creative community save for a few fanboy holdouts.
What will be announced, if at all, will be a poseur’s computer and the most expensive way of buying a mid level PC on Earth not a professional Workstation.
AMD have just lit up Computex with Ryzen 3000 a consumer part that will decimate Intel’s HEDT chips. Threadripper 3000 will mop up the rest later.
AMD ripped intel a new one. apples probably pissed at intel right now. 12 core amd based mac would be nice. less cost, less wattage. its everything apple wish intel was.
And so we see how competition is good!
The only company forcing Apple to use Intel chipsets is Apple. They could install AMD chips if they wanted to do so. But they would be stupid to abandon the x86/64 platform based on software compatibility.
Interestingly enough, AMD hasn’t been able to unseat Intel as the high performance chip leader in as long as I can remember. It can undercut prices, but here’s the Geekbench benchmarks:
http://browser.geekbench.com/processor-benchmarks
Best Intel single core score: 6215
Best AMD single core score: 4803
Not even in the same league.
You will see that Intel has DOZENS of chips that outperform the current best AMD processor. Obviously AMD will make a leap forward with its forthcoming Ryzen 3000, but that doesn’t mean Intel is just sitting around twiddling its thumbs. Hell, all Intel has to do is lower its last generation chip prices to wipe the floor with AMD in profits and sales. You know, because Apple thinks that old slow chips are good enough. Apple is so focused on profits over performance that it thinks its flagship Mac Pro should go 6+ years between processor updates.
After all the mismanagement of Mac hardware for so long, I wouldn’t expect Apple’s incompetent product managers to offer the latest and best. Apple is only interested in driving consumers to subscriptions. Creative professionals, scientists, educators, students, …. Cook doesn’t give a stale pipeline fart about them and it shows.
•0. Never sell anything with just 128 Gig of storage. Anyone who is satisfied with that would be better off with a Chromebook.
•1. Fix hopelessly neglected finder. It is a slow clumsy waste of space and the find command buries properly spelled results under hundreds of irrelevant “context” hits.
•2. Hard drive slot. If a Sony playstation can have this, there is no excuse for a Mac not having one. External drives with tangles of wires are inelegant and add failure potential.
•3. Front accessible ports for SD cards, USB sticks, and headphones. RCA output for connecting to a stereo. People use this stuff, and having to turn your computer is another risk for damaging wires or unplugging things unexpectedly.
•4. Sliding lens cap for FaceTime camera. You told us once it was unhackable. It never will be.
•5. Real keyboard and mouse. (See Naga hex, lights not necessary. Working drivers are.)
•6. Mac compatibility. Stop breaking our software. Future Macs will still be able to run 32 bit software – if it is for windows!
•7. Nobody cares about making it a millimeter thinner! Add an inch just to remind yourself that it doesn’t matter, and maybe allow for some heat dissipation.
•8. HDMI input. You’ve got that wonderful 5k screen, why can’t we connect stuff to it? Cable TV, Playstation, live camcorder output, even a second computer. It’s a huge waste of space to need a TV right next to your iMac. (Also, a hardware button for switching inputs.)