Which way is up?
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Boyzeee
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Seems like it's time for this thread.
MacOS 12 iOS 15 iPadOS 15 tvOS 15 WatchOS 8 osOS 18.1.2.4 There will be some talk about xCode, Metal, App Store policies (in light of all the gubmint and lawsuit hogwash), and Craig Federighi will resist cracking any jokes since he doesn't have an audience of worshippers to preach to. Hardware may talk about the M1X/M2, although I think Apple has "shot its wad" as far as announcing Apple Silicon prior to a piece of hardware it goes in. Thus, a new chip does not get discussed unless there is also a new Mac to shovel it into. That said, the outlier is the new MacBook Pro. I cannot think of any other hardware, other than a new iMac Pro, but it seems that might be announced alongside new MacBook Pros in the fall. - AppleNova is the best Mac-users forum on the internet. We are smart, educated, capable, and helpful. We are also loaded with smart-alecks! :) - Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Mat 5:9) |
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Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472 Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
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So you think it will be macOS 12 instead of point releases like we saw through 10? I can kinda see that though it would be a changeup. Then again, we have 11.3 now instead of 11.0.3 so I think you might be right.
Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.” Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it. |
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Sneaky Punk
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What Apple should do is slow down on the major updates for goodness sake. Every two years is more than enough, fix the problems that they have left lingering for 8 years now. Rant over.
Yeah Mac OS 12 will be it, cause, hey why not. |
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It was always the odd one out in that regard. It's an extremely minor thing, but I'm happy they finally unified that. 11.3.1! |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Toronto
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We're exactly four weeks away today.
I think the machine I'm most looking forward to seeing is the rumoured smaller Mac Pro. Even if my wallet and brain combine to force me to eventually settle for the 27-30" iMac, it will just be great knowing that non-Hollywood Pros once again have a real machine of their own. Stepping up to a Power Mac 7200 and then to the Power Mac G4 was a big stepping stone for my early days in business. Using an iMac for the last decade has been fine. But it's nice for the platform to have machines that are dedicated to business people and midrange creatives, so that software makers know the Mac isn't all about iApps and email. It also makes people feel more secure in running a Mac-only office. |
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Sneaky Punk
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I have my doubts about a Mac Pro coming this year, not sure why, but I’m betting it will be the last machine to be updated.
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
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Agreed. They also want to refine the M1 (X, Z, ++, XTREME) or bump it (M2), to hit with a splash. Not to mention that the RAM issue needs to be address for the Big Iron.
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Mr. Vieira
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
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I think so as well.
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Ninja Editor
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Bay Area, CA
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And they need to work out whether they’ll allow external (to the package) GPUs or if they’re just going to make a high-end GPU and low-end GPU variant for every CPU variant.
When I was a kid, people who did wrong were punished, restricted, and forbidden. Now, when someone does wrong, all of the rest of us are punished, restricted, and forbidden... and the one who did the wrong is counselled and "understood" and fed ice cream. |
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We're following a similar trajectory to the Intel transition, but I think at a different pace this time. Back then, it was the iMac and 15-inch MacBook Pro after 7 months, the Mac mini after 8, the MacBook (replacing the iBook) after 11, and the Mac Pro (replacing the Power Mac, of course) and Xserve after 14 months. Now we have the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and 13-inch MacBook Pro after just 5 months, and the iMac after 10. So consumer products are being launched a bit faster than last time, but the high end hasn't yet launched at all. I think that speaks in part to shifting priorities — the Air is now good enough for many, many Mac buyers, to the point where Cook said the majority of Macs sold were already ARM (that was before the iMac, and with various Intel configurations of some of the same products still being around). The Mac Pro certainly doesn't matter as much to the Mac platform in 2021 as the Power Mac did in 2006. That's in part because Apple doesn't find that segment very interesting any more (remember Xgrid, Xsan, OpenCL, etc.?) post-Bertrand Serlet, but also in part because, generally speaking, market trends have shifted. |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Toronto
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Yes, the MacBook Pro and the higher end MacBook/iMac configs are likely next in line for updates. But the latest Mac Pro is VERY new technology, designed by people who knew the M-series processors were coming. This isn't like they are reinventing the wheel here. The way they address the RAM issue in the high end Macs is very likely ready to go now, and moving to a smaller Cube-like enclosure isn't the same as rearchitecting the garbage can Mac Pro back into the modernist cheese-grater. I know I'm stepping out on a limb here, but I still believe we see the smaller Mac Pro (or whatever it's called) this year. |
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Do they just enjoy putting a lot of R&D into products that take years to prepare, don't really take the world by storm, and then… are one-offs? |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Toronto
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Status machine, also positioned at Edu and scientific markets. The modernist cheese-grater (did we ever settle on a nickname?) is going to stay right where it is at the very top of the heap. The "small Pro" won't compete with its ultra-high-end bells and whistles and I would agree with PB that it will be the very last Mac to be upgraded. That's what I'm guessing anyway. |
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Mr. Vieira
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
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I'll go out on my own limb and say that I can easily see Apple moving away from that ultra high-end, expensive market and kinda going back to what they had in the G4/G5 days...a reasonably-sized (and priced) tower that allows reasonable modification/upgrading and in the $2,500-3,500 range.
I truly believe this current Mac Pro, and that accompanying display, aren't long for this world. Maybe another year or so, max. Just a gut hunch. Check back next summer and we'll see what's what. Then again, maybe these things, because they are so high-end (and expensive) are selling better than I assume to the very companies that need such muscle). I know I've yet to see any in the wild at any of the places I stop by, visit or do freelance work for. Granted, I haven't been doing much stopping by/visiting this past year or so. But before things went sideways, all I ever saw were 27" iMacs (not even the pro), lots of 15-16" MacBook Pros and then boatloads of Mac Pro (the old-style cheese grater/G5 design). I will admit that I don't work with high-end animation/3D/modeling/video-based outfits, so maybe I'm not going to see these current Mac Pros in the joints I go to anyway. It's entirely possible that I may be no barometer whatsoever. |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Toronto
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I disagree with that.
A company so deeply invested in AppleTV+ needs an outrageous halo machine to court big name movie directors, celebrities and tv producers. And I imagine the machine is genuinely useful to the 5% of power users that truly require its capabilities. The Mac Pro's not going anywhere. If there's another Pro machine in development, it's an addition to the line. |
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None of these scenarios make much sense to me. If both stay around, why is there suddenly room for a fourth desktop? Given ~80% of Mac sales are laptops, why would there be four desktop lines and two laptop lines? If just the small one stays around, why did they make the big one at all? |
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Sneaky Punk
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Mr. Vieira
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
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We're all gonna go out on limbs and fall out of the tree.
All I can say is I'm glad I'm not a demanding, "pro" user. I'd either be unable to afford the stuff or ignored/neglected completely, depending on which year you ask. Tough racket. I don't envy that crowd in recent years. As long as Apple makes an iMac and sub-$1,500 notebooks, I'm good/covered. Vector drawing (Illustrator, now Affinity Designer) doesn't appear to be particularly demanding on a system like other pursuits (animation, 3D modeling, video, high-end imaging, etc.) can. |
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Eh. Hot take: most of the blogosphere who “neeeeds!!” a Mac Pro or iMac Pro could get an iMac or MacBook Pro instead. The cooling is worse and there are fewer cores, but it’s fine.
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Mr. Vieira
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
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I've thought that for a long time. I know a handful of people who truly need a Mac Pro, but even they aren't as hot on it as they once were). But they've always had towers, audio cards, loads of RAM, a few drives installed, etc. I've never been part of that world, doing those things (music/audio, etc.), so it's never been something I've had to think about or buy for.
I think 90% of the planet would probably do just fine with a MacBook Air. Luckily for Apple, a lot of people don't agree with that. |
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¡Damned!
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Purgatory
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I may not need the Pro-est of Pro machines, but I do need a solution to connect an external breakout box (to get to a SAN) and it wouldn't hurt to add eGPU capability. So far there's nothing that I've head that's hopeful on either issue.
So it goes. |
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Yeah, it's unclear to me if lack of eGPU is A) M1 hardware limitations, B) they haven't gotten around to writing an ARM driver for that, C) they're not planning to have eGPU any more at all.
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¡Damned!
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Purgatory
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Hopefully we'll get some of that info ironed out at WWDC. Not that I'm expecting new machines, but I would expect a glimpse at the future of Apple silicon, including plans for user-upgradable RAM, discrete GPUs, etc.
So it goes. |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Toronto
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The pre-WWDC weirdness has begun.
IMO, it makes more sense to complete the 13" MacBook Air/Pro and iMac lines before updating the 16" MacBook Pro and Mac Pro lines. But here we are. The 15" MacBook Pro used to share a lot of its guts with the iMac line. So introducing a new 30" iMac alongside a new 16" Pro might not be completely crazy. |
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Fingers crossed that there's something with 32 Gigs o' RAM.
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Mr. Vieira
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
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While WWDC is a sensible, reasonable venue for such a Mac's unveiling (developers + next-generation, pro-level notebooks), that Prosser guy appears to be more in the "miss" column than "hit", so I wouldn't go placing any large bets on it. We'll see soon enough.
EDIT: Read Prosser’s Tweet. While it’s replying to another tweet re: new, next-generation MacBook Pros at WWDC, note what he actually writes. “i can confirm macbook pro is coming” Well no shit. So can I. At some point between tonight and, say, September 26 2024, there will be a new, redesigned MacBook Pro! Hey, I’m a leaker and Apple pundit! I know, I know. It’s referring to that other Tweet. But I like how he opted to leave off “WWDC” or “in two weeks” or anything else that holds him to anything. If WWDC comes and goes with no new notebooks, it makes it really easy for him to say “hey, all I said was new MacBook Pros were coming. I never said when, and I never blatantly specified WWDC! Show me where I did.” I believe he’s already done this sort of thing on a couple of occasions (missed a big call and proceeded to blame other factors, make excuses, exploit any wiggle room lurking in his phrasing, etc.). Honestly, I’ll believe it when I see it. The Apple rumor/leak racket is nothing like it once was. Any puddinghead with a Twitter account can say anything and get coverage/attention. Even if said puddinghead has a spotty track record of accuracy and insight. Would be cool if he’s right, and I hope he is. Even a broken clock… Last edited by psmith2.0 : 2021-05-25 at 09:13. |
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Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Toronto
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Oh great, the Mini's going to be more mini...
(It's another Prosser leak) With regard to these renders, I would wonder why they'd move the ethernet to the power brick in the iMac and leave it in the Mini. Unless, of course, it complicates server applications to move the power supply and ethernet out of the machine. 16 GB Max RAM also seems sketchy. Can a regular joe network a bunch of these to get added performance, I wonder? |
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Well, Apple can't seem to decide whom the Mac mini is for. I wouldn't be shocked at all if they move it downmarket again. Only to move it upmarket again a few years later (and not revise it at all in the meantime). Quote:
16 GB Max RAM also seems sketchy. Quote:
There was that era where Apple did things like Xgrid, Final Cut Pro distributed rendering, and Xcode distributed builds, but… none of those seemed to truly catch on, and these days, for better or worse (in terms of privacy / data sovereignty / etc.: worse!), the fashionable way of doing that is to rent an unspecified amount of machines in the cloud. It's kind of a bummer since, with Rendezvous/Bonjour discovering local machines, the solution was… almost there? But still too nerdy. |
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