Review of Feb 28 Apple Announcements
Last week's dip into predictions didn't pan out for the most part. What we ended up with is an Intel-based Mac mini, an iPod speaker system and an Apple-branded leather case. Unfortunately, it looks like some people had unrealistic expectations for today's announcements.The fact that the media event was small and located at building 4 was probably intended to be an indicator, but some sites don't see it that way. Really, this room is just a few dozen rows of seats and a stage. Not a place to showcase major new products. It's funny to think the internet can flip over it.
iPod Hi-Fi
The iPod Hi-Fi speaker doesn't excite me personally, but perhaps there's a market for it. I'd rather plug the stereo into an AirPort Express and pipe music from iTunes without getting the iPod involved. I'll have to reserve judgement until I see it in the store, though.
Some are complaining that it's "too big," which seems a bit oxymoronic. If you want something that serves as a primary stereo system, you need some space to do the job.
$100 Leather iPod Case
What is there to say about this? I've had an ongoing sense of awe about the lack of attractive cases for the iPod. There are tons of designs out there and they all look ridiculous to me. Apple comes to the rescue, unfortunately it's to the tune of $100 of fine Italian leather. Perhaps they didn't want to obliterate the third party case market.
Intel Mac mini
The biggest surprise for me with the new Mac mini is that a dual-core model is available. This adds up to an impressive piece of machinery for $800 and a very small footprint. AirPort and Bluetooth are now standard too, which is nice. I'd vote for the higher end model coming with 1GB of memory, though. The price increase is a little disappointing as well, but $599 is still within tolerance.
By the way, it looks like one page on the mini site has a minor but funny-in-a-nerdy-way typo:
The Intel GMA950 graphics supports Tiger Core Graphics and the latest 3D games. It shares fast 667MHz memory with the Intel Core processor, for an incredible value proposition.
Congratulations! The new Mac mini can draw arbitrary paths with alpha transparency and resolution-independent rendering! You see, Core Graphics is just another name for basic Quartz, which was a big deal back in 2001 (sooo tempting to put a Vista joke here). This was probably supposed to read Core Image.
There's quite a bit of discussion going on about the video capabilities of the mini, specifically the fact that it uses integrated Intel graphics, not a separate GPU. In theory, this means that you shouldn't expect 3D games to perform well, but media playback should work great.
The Most Significant Point of the Day
The one thing that is easily missed is that universal binaries are now an absolute necessity for developers. It's now much cheaper to walk into an Apple Store and leave with an Intel-based machine. Get those compilers churning!
Review of Feb 28 Apple Announcements
Posted Feb 28, 2006 — 17 comments below
Posted Feb 28, 2006 — 17 comments below
Roberto — Feb 28, 06 868
$499 is under the psychological $500 barrier. $599 is hugely expensive for Apple's Intel bottom end.
Intel was supposed to bring a cost advantage as well -- what happened? Is Apple just not passing it on? That's a good way to kill sales in the end, you know. Ask Sculley.
And the boombox thing is a major distraction from Apple's core strengths. I hope that dies a quick death.
Scott Stevenson — Feb 28, 06 869
That may be, but there is the addition of the two wireless components as standard and the remote. Maybe they should have left them optional for psychological reasons.
In general when comparing against wintel counterparts, I really think you have to factor in the value of iLife and Mac OS X versus XP Home Edition.
Intel was supposed to bring a cost advantage as well
Was that a public statement or just speculation?
Murph — Feb 28, 06 870
Well said Scott..
A few months ago I helped a retired couple pick out a new computer for themselves, and I wasn't going to force them into learning a new OS, so they chose a Dell laptop. After setting the machine up, I found out that it came pre-installed with demo versions of crapware by Corel: PhotoAlbum and some others. I had to remove those, and find some capable replacements, being Picasa..etc.
I now just got a phone call last week from them, and they were worried about a Trend Micro message informing them their antivirus subscription is running out after 3 months (another trial version). They almost paid the $80 fee to renew. I'm sure Corel and Trend Micro paid Dell to install demo versions..what a great way to market your software.
The point of this story is that we could have spent easily another $100 on software that should be included (good thing they didn't want to make home movies). Buy and Mac, plug it in, and instantly do everything a computer is capable of in a digital lifestyle.
Mac OS X "raises the bar" of what a computer experience should be like. No one should have to hate their computer. The Apple HIG (Human Interface Guidelines) are what switched me and why [strike]I spent[/strike] am spending so much time learning to develop for the Mac. Standards for software design are so important to me.
MJ — Mar 01, 06 873
When your most expensive component doubles in price on a low margin device, someone has to eat the cost.
Josh — Mar 01, 06 874
There are two small things that bugged me about the new Mini:
1) No option to upgrade to a 7200RPM drive. Whats the point of offering a dual core option and not offering an upgrade that may have a larger effect on system performance?
2) It would have been nice if Apple kept around one version of the PPC Mini at a sub $500 price point for those of us who buy for small businesses where cost and flexibility are more important that FrontRow and Dolby 5.1 Sound.
The $499 PPC Mac Mini made it possible for me to switch our office over to nearly 90% Macs where before it was 70% PC's and growing (It was impossible to recommend a $2000 PowerMac for document editing when we could build a PC with the required software for half as much). I'm sure that the new Intel machines will be faster and will work out fine, but it would be nice to avoid that little niggling doubt that you get when introducing a "different" machine into the network. (Every little problem gets "Is it doing x because its an intel?" attached to it...)
Graphics
Strangely enough the one thing that everyone is griping about(Integrated Graphics) is probably the dumbest complaint. As long as it supports Core Image, then it is an improvement. Would we be better off if Apple included a nearly-as-anemic ATi entry level chipset with 64MB of dedicated RAM and took away the extra the second SO-DIMM slot to make room on the PCB? I'd gladly trade 64MB of RAM if I can pack 2GB into the system...
Scott Stevenson — Mar 01, 06 878
Interesting point.
Dan Price — Mar 01, 06 879
The integrated graphics chip has exposed Apple as hyppocrites. This coming from a company that bashed 'Intel Integrated Graphics' on its iMac page only a month ago.
What worries me is that this is a chip designed for Windows. It's optimized for DirectX and only supports the OpenGL 1.4 spec which is rather pathetic.
Source: http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/gma950/
Benji — Mar 01, 06 881
Eric Trepanier — Mar 01, 06 882
If these were new Intel PowerMac (or Mac Pro?) then I would not complain. These machines are very expensive to start with and anyone who can spare the dough to buy one can afford an extra 100$ (or a few) if some new-fangled feature or two justifies it.
But one of the major value-proposition of the Mac mini is its (low) price and I think that a 20% increase is going to be a turn-off for many (would've been for me). Granted there's a couple of sweet new features to look forward to (I *really* dig the remote and Bonjour-enabled Front Row) but I still think they should have made an effort to leave the price unchanged.
Now I am sure that the new Intel Mac minis will sell well regardless (probably better than its PPC-based uncle), but it would have sold even more at $499. And more Mac minis = bigger market share, more Apple accessories & software sales, more enticement for better 3rd party hardware and software support.
Now, one thing I did notice in the new Intel Mac mini specs is that they have digital line-in and -out. Is *that* an Intel-first? I was under the impression that my Mac mini did not have digital audio support. Was I mistaken all along?
PS: Just wanted to say that I really appreciate your site design and I am a big fan of your Cocoa tutorials. I was really amused at John G.'s comments regarding the fact you're not really a professional Web developer (or designer, not sure I remember which). In any case, I'd proudly call myself a professional Web designer if I could *design* Web stuff half as well as you do. Cheers and keep those excellent Cocoa tutorials coming!
Eric Trepanier — Mar 01, 06 883
For the record, I didn't actually pay 499$ (US) for it since I am in Canada, but actually 750$ (CA). It still was a good deal since it did have the wireless built-in (which I use) and it *also* included a free (200$ mail-in rebate) 3-licenses copy of Microsoft Office Student Edition and a free (100$ mail-in rebate) Lexmark printer/scanner (slow as hell but well-supported).
The point remains though that the appeal to these machines (beyond the obvious fact that they're Macs) is their price and a 499$ price tag does indeed happen to be below the hypothetical 500$ price barrier.
Preston — Mar 01, 06 884
Engadget and others are whining now that the event didn't impress them enough. God. They're the ones who hyped the event beyond what it was ever going to be. If you want something impressive, wait until the Apple 30th anniversary this April.
John — Mar 01, 06 886
Even if you lose a minimum of 80MB of that extra RAM (which you still have to pay for, of course) to the integrated "64MB" video hardware? The PowerPC Mac mini had "integrated video" too in that it was soldered to the (tiny) motherboard. Dedicated VRAM vs. "I eat your regular RAM," that's the real sticking point.
Well, that and suck-tacular 3D performance, but the PPC mini shared that problem. The Intel mini adds a new one, though. This is not progress.
Wolfgang — Mar 02, 06 890
Oh, oh, oh! I'm so excited! If they don't introduce quantum computing I'll finally leave this planet. :-)
Scott Stevenson — Mar 02, 06 892
Apple is generally pretty good about this, so there might be a good reason.
Now I am sure that the new Intel Mac minis will sell well regardless (probably better than its PPC-based uncle), but it would have sold even more at $499. And more Mac minis = bigger market share
This is the classic balancing act: market share grab versus margins. There are a lot of factors that go into finding the middle ground. Sometimes the cheaper entry price pans out, but you have to keep quarter-to-quarter profit in mind, as that affects Wall Street perceptions which effects everything.
Just wanted to say that I really appreciate your site design and I am a big fan of your Cocoa tutorials
Many thanks.
Scott Stevenson — Mar 02, 06 893
Some people are calling it a "keynote," which strikes me as odd. That term has morphed into meaning what happens whenever Steves steps onto a stage.
If you want something impressive, wait until the Apple 30th anniversary this April.
The Mac's 20th anniversary passed without much fanfare, I'm not totally sold that we're going to see something big -- at least not in terms of a product announcement.
Jon H — Mar 06, 06 909
Who cares about 80M when you can have 2 gig?? That's like 3%.
John — Mar 06, 06 912