Hopes and Dreams for the Next Mac
January 6th, 2016In 2015, the sole major improvement (or at least change) on the Mac platform was the introduction of a slimmer, lighter MacBook. But the MacBook wasn’t for everyone. For road warriors who didn’t need a lot of power, and could survive without having to hook up a bunch of extra stuff, it made perfect sense.
At first, the tech media, in large part, dismissed the product as an overpriced indulgence, since it only had a headphone port and a USB-C port that doubled as a charging connector. To get multiple functions, and still keep the charging cable connected, you needed an adapter. What about all that stuff you travel with?
Well, for many people, none of that’s necessary. Although the MacBook’s Core-M processor offers lower power than any other Mac — even the iPad Pro benchmarks better — it’s quite enough for what most people do when on the road. Well, if you’re not handling 3D rendering, mathematics or high-energy games. So it has more potential than you might think when you look at the tradeoffs.
For 2016, there will be no doubt be a refresh, to take advantage of a new, faster generation of Core-M processors that also promise speedier graphics. Both would be useful improvements. Maybe Apple will find a way to drop the starting price to $1,199. Cutting the price of note-books is not uncharted territory for Apple.
But what about the rest of the Mac lineup?
Well, the 27-inch iMac is probably going to stay as it is for a while, having had a decent upgrade last year. But there is just one 21.5-inch model with a 4K Retina display. Most of the rest of the line, except perhaps for the entry-level model, will probably be similarly outfitted by the end of the year, at least that’s what I expect. I don’t foresee any changes in the form factor, but it would be nice to be able to upgrade RAM on the smaller iMac. It’s not that it would change the design all that much to give customers something they used to have.
But most Macs sold these days are note-books, and the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro have existed with the same form factor for several years, even though the internal components have been regularly upgraded. So is it time for Apple to make them thinner and lighter? What about moving the MacBook Air to all Retina displays? Good question! It may still be about the cost of those displays, but being able to provide the $899 model with Retina would be real nice.
Regardless, having a fairly low-cost Mac note-book out there, even if it lacks a few features, is actually an important achievement for Apple. The price is still higher than many PC note-books, but it keeps Apple in the ballpark. So I don’t see this model disappearing, any more than I see Apple discontinuing the $1,099 21.5-inch iMac. It may be underpowered, an underachiever, but it is still good enough to put iMacs in the hands of people on a more restricted budget, and some of these potential customers may not even be all that concerned about what they are giving up.
Back to note-books: With Apple’s penchant for thin, thin, and thinner, it is quite possible there will be all-new MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros. The MacBook has been touted as the forerunner of a future generation of MacBook Airs, though the price is a little higher than one might have expected for an entry-level note-book. But the adoption of USB-C on at least some Macs, perhaps integrated with the new Thunderbolt 3, which uses the same connector, is a near certainty to my way of thinking.
I hold out little hope that Apple will consider making it possible to upgrade RAM and storage on these new computers, however. It may be that there aren’t enough people out there to sway Apple to move in this direction. I don’t assume the needs of the so-called power user are getting much weight.
I’m not going to push the envelope to suggest there will be any new models out there.
I suppose it’s likely that the Mac mini will get a simple component upgrade, but not much else will change. The fate of the Mac Pro is a little cloudier. Apple made a huge splash of breaking the mold for its high-end workstation in 2013. The first units shipped by the end of that year, but Intel has updated its Xeon processors since then, and all we’ve heard from Apple are crickets. So is this model going to fade away out of disinterest? It’s hard to know since Apple has not exactly been forthcoming about actual sales for individual Macs. But this is a showpiece, so I would expect some sort of upgrade.
That is, unless Apple decides that it needs a Mac workstation that restores some of its former level of internal expansion. The current Mac Pro has been polarizing, but there may not be enough demand for a wholesale revision, or even an alternative. But the original is probably not going away.
And what about a new line of 4K and 5K displays? It’s about time, but there have been issues of connectors and ports that have, up till now, made it difficult. But I don’t think Apple expects Mac Pro users to continue to go elsewhere when they need high resolution displays.
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Looking at the 2015 MacBook, I would expect a charging USB-C port with Thunderbolt 3 to be on all Mac notebooks. It needs to be a minimum of two ports, one per side. Consumer MacBooks to have a minimum of 8 GB of RAM and 256-GB SSD storage.
@Gene,
Experiencing difficulties posting comments here using my iPad. It is saying this, “ERROR: JavaScript and Cookies are required in order to post a comment.” I have not changed the settings and the iPad had no issues posting mostly all of last year. A Safari on iPad review shows these requirements are met.
Used to post using Firefox a long time ago, but stop use after getting this same message. Again, nothing got changed except a newer version of the browser.
Was able to post this using Safari (like I did on my last comment a week ago).
@DaveD, I post on an iPhone or Mac with Safari. I’d have to check the iPad, but it is really weird there’d be a problem.
Peace,
Gene
I posted these comments from my MacBook Air via Safari to clarify my last sentence.
@Gene,
Did a test post from Firefox 43 and Opera 34 on my MacBook Air. JavaScript/Cookies error message appeared on both browsers. I can only post (as I’m doing now) on the MacBook’s Safari.
Kind regards,
Dave
@DaveD, Well, I’m using same Firefox as you.
It works, but I also disabled a WordPress plugin that might have been doing something redundant. Seems to work. Please try and let me know.
Peace,
Gene
In your articles you often appear cool and cautious about the iPad Pro. I would like to point out the tremendous value of this iPad to people like my wife who is legally blind with advanced AMD. This means she has no central vision. For a couple of years Luda has managed with a regular iPad fairly well until yesterday when her new iPad Pro arrived. Wow! she is so very thrilled! Now, on the larger screen, and using the Zoom setting she can read, type, watch movies with ease. A whole new window of life has opened up for her, and suspect for many others with major vision problems. Your comments on this model are quite valid, but you perhaps did not see the full potential of this new model.Yes, this iPad is very over priced. JohnB. A long time Mac user. Powell River British Columbia Canada
@Gene,
Tried to post from and still no go on Firefox.
Back to Safari to post this.
Regards,
Dave
@DaveD, I think I have it licked now.
Please try again.
Peace,
Gene
@Gene Steinberg, I may have it licked.
Please try again.
Peace,
Gene
@Gene,
From Safari…
Tried unsuccessfilly three times to post from Firefox 43. Noticed that it was making the attempt to as it took more time before showing the JavaScript/Cookies message. That message is now appearing as raw HTML.
Regards,
Dave
@DaveD, I’ve discovered the source of the problem, which involves a WordPress plugin we use to protect the site from comment spam and provide a contact form.
I’ve discovered a workaround that should make it work. Please try to post again.
Peace,
Gene
@Gene,
Still no go on Firefox 43 (posting from Safari).
Regards,
Dave
@Gene,
Noticing a change with Safari with the first posting failed with error message. Pressed “Post Your Comment” button again worked.
Try again please, after reloading page.
Peace,
Gene
Test post from Firefox 43…
@DaveD, I’m glad we’re past that. In case anyone wants to know what happened, we’re using a plugin known as WP-SpamShield, for WordPress blogs. The solution was to engage something called “compatibility” mode for SpamShield in the config file.
And so it goes.
Peace,
Gene
@Gene,
One more for the road.
Test post from Opera 34…
Kind regards,
Dave
@DaveD, FYI: Diagnosing conflicts or glitches in WordPress remains reminiscent of the Classic Mac OS. So if you get a real bad one, your site comes up blank, or with some sort of weird, inscrutable error message.
Peace,
Gene
@Gene,
I do remember trying to unravel extension conflicts in Mac OS. Those were not the good old days.
Went back to my iPad which began this journey and unfortunately still encountering the JavaScript/Cookies message when posting from there. I restarted the iPad and my test post did not get beyond the message. Could be from my end, but still on iOS 8.4.1.
Kind regards,
DaveD
Testing with an iPad Pro.
Peace,
Gene
@Gene Steinberg, That was with the desktop version of the site. It fails with the mobile version, which creates another complication I have to research.
Peace,
Gene
@Gene Steinberg, Try switching to the desktop version, or try again with mobile. I made a change.
Peace,
Gene
Test post from iPad…
Are we good now?
Peace,
Gene
@Gene,
Yes! (from iPad).
Thanks.
Dave