Mac Event Soon?
Monday, March 2, 2009 at 1:18PM Apple Event on March 24th? Other Products Maybe Sooner? - Mac Rumors
Well it's March and time for all the rumoured hardware product announcements to start up again (see above!)
In all fairness, I think there is a huge chance we'll see some pretty major announcements from Apple in the next month with respect to the Desktop range of Macs. Every single one, The iMac, The Mac Mini and the Mac Pro are all well overdue for a refresh both in processor upgrades but also in the area of graphics processors and Mini DisplayPort updates. An what about the Cinema Displays and thre recent withdrawl of the 20" model? The only monitors available for sale on the Apple store are the 24" LED model, only really usable with the new MacBook Pros, plus the very old 30" model.
I think it's unlikely we'll see any major design changes on the iMac or Mac Pro, but the Mac Mini may surprise us.
Will Apple spring all the updates out at a separate media event or just drip feed them?
Well, you know, I think they just might. They need to create a splash and a complete re-launch of the desktop range just might give them an extra boost in light of the economic downturn. They need to do something following the fairly lukewarm reception the Philnote received in January.
As well as the re-launch of the Desktop machines, they really need to start cranking up the hype for the forthcoming Snow Leopard release slated for later this year.
I'm sure they've got enough up their sleeves to fill a 60 minute special event.
Reader Comments (4)
If they have any sense they will update the desktop line up to the following:
Mac Nano - optical driveless mac mini replacement. Designed to be similar specs to existing minis but cheaper and smaller, should also ahve hdmi out for media center use.
xMac - midi tower mac built with similar specs to the iMac but no screen with some user replaceable parts. maybe should use a 3.5inch drive for better storage capabilities.
iMac - more of the same.
Mac Pro - more of the same.
I personally think the the iMac will be released on the 03/03/2009. But we will have to wait to see updates for the Mac Mini and Mac Pro. My best guess is that mac pro and Mac mini will be released on the 24th of March. That way people who were willing to spend lets say £488 on a Mac Mini might just go for a £780 iMac and Apple wins. Apple is in no hurry to bring out the Mini in a rush cuz that might eat into the iMac's market. So they will wait for the iMac sales to pick up. Anyhow if you look at the various product inventories John Lewis is completely out of iMacs, and I dont think they are going to wait till 24th March to start selling them again. However the Mini is still up for sale be it only the 2.0 Ghz model.
I was speaking with an anonymous source who said it is most likely the mini and that Apple is going to soon begin phasing out the iMac. He feels that the future lies in Apple touch screens with
the mini.
How interesting Frank!
Not heard that one before.
Have to say though that moving to a high end display with a swapable box seems reasonable. I would imagine a lot of people are put off getting an iMac due (probably a high level of windows users as well) to the perception that they are :
1 - paying extra for the screen built into the iMac
2 - going to have to keep the machine for a while without being able to upgrade due to the screen.
Having an upgraded mini (or xMac as Adrian says) with the ability to use the 24" LED or a new 20" LED with mini Displayport seems a good way to future proof yourself for the future.
Especially as Apple can connect the monitors with just two cable s for video and audio.
Very interesting!
Not sure about the touchscreen though. I'd like to see an external desk level device or a touchcreen in place of the numeric pad in the thin keyboard