New Apple Innovations Released Today

[Lionheart]

Hey all,

For those that didnt know, (I didnt), today was a major Keynote announcement at Apple.

I'll try to summerize. (I just finished watching the Keynote. They are usually pretty long, but this one was shorter and condensed. I was also able to download the source instead of online streaming, so I could fast forward through the things I wasnt interested in).

First. Apple is massively successful in their iOS work, iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. So much so, that they have taken tons of the innovations and features and are bringing it into the new Mac OS, which is called 'Mac OS-X Lion' (yeah.. sounds cool).

This will feature a new navigation mode similar to iPhone and iPad, all Apps on pages, and you can create folders for them, and its a popup menu flick through, just like iPad/iPhone. They are also now creating 'full screen' mode apps, as they didnt before with Mac things, but always did with iPhone and iPad, and it looks better, so they are bringing that over also.

By the way, they call that 'Back to the Mac' meaning coming full circle from their excursion into micro devices and all that they have learned.

Now, second, they are incorporating 'Face Time' (future of phone calls, seeing who you talk too, featured on new iPhone 4 and iPod Touch Gen4). So now your computer can call other iPhones and iPod Touches. And... it has full screen mode. (pretty cool).

Third, the launch of the newest Macbook Air. They are now super super thin (far more thinner then before) and share iPad manufacturing technologies. Also. They found people really liked 'instant on' as like the iPhone and iPad have. You dont boot them down, they have a very unique sleep system.

One of the things that allows for this on the new 'Air' is a new 'in shop' created HD that is SSD or Solid State. They have no HD. Its chips on the 'logic board' (apple talk for MoBo or Mother Board). The SSD HD chips are 2X faster then the normal HD and they are super thin so they take up 10% of the normal space (90% less then normal). The computers will feature up to 256 Gigs of HD Flash, (they use Flash on their new HD's). They are also the worlds largest user of Flash style memory and they have become pretty good at using it, as seen with the iPhone/iPod-T/iPad.

The new touch pad is improved and bigger, (mainly bigger). They were experimenting with the Air having a touch screen, but all the Beta testers had sore arms with it, (the reach over the keyboard for long periods of time, like all day, every day, was too much). So they increased the size of the finger pad instead.

Once more, they have integrated manuvering through the various new screen selection centers into the finger gestures (finger stroke types, such as 3 finger strokes vertically opens such as such view, etc). So you can manuvere through perhaps 10 or 15 different opened windows of Apps (programs) and select which ones to go to next via new, elaborate presentation layouts or what ever you would call it. (You have to watch the keynote at Apple to see what I mean).

So now the new Macs will be alot more thinner, operate more like an iPhone or iPad, instant on and tons of gestures, full screen apps, and now they wish to do some cool freeware and payware apps for the Macs as well, and in 90 days they open up an online Mac App store, (similar to the App store). They are inviting in Dev's to create some cool Apps for the Mac platforms.



I had always wondered why Apple didnt have an 'instant on' for their computers.. For the world for that matter. On my iMac, I let it sleep rather then turn it off. It sleeps the HD and has no (hardly) power useage. The iPad though, I pick up and its blink-on! That fast. Super fast... So now their computers will start to act like that..

Also, the new menu selection system for Apps is just genius. Its pure iPad but nicer looking.

They showed how you can purchase an App online for a Mac at the Beta Mac App Store. It downloads just like on iPhone and iPad. Even the icon logo jumps off the sales page onto the bottom bar as like iPhone. Then a bar shows up under the iCon showing its download progress, like on an iPhone. All downloads will be automated now, and they will have auto-updating (when you click OK) as like normal Apps in iPhone.


Nice......

[stiz]

Now, second, they are incorporating 'Face Time' (future of phone calls, seeing who you talk too, featured on new iPhone 4 and iPod Touch Gen4). So now your computer can call other iPhones and iPod Touches. And... it has full screen mode. (pretty cool).


so apple has done what skypes been doing for how long??? allbeit not to Iwhatever but its been doing pc-pc and pc-landline for years! :173go1:

As for everything else ... meh all they want to do is turn the mac into one big iphone so they can say "its just like an iphone, all those apple lovers out their will find all their stuff but on a bigger screen and an even more outragouse price .. but its made out alluwhat so thats ok!!"

[Chacha]

...Interesting!

Now, I have to hold on purchasing my MBP...

[Bjoern]

"Innovative"

For Apple maybe...

[Rezabrya]

Most of this is pretty dumb in my opinion. It sounds like they are just trying to make their Macs into a large iTouch or iPad. Keep the technology's separate.

[mmann]

My first computer was an Apple II. Here in Canada I paid over $2000.00 for the base machine (no monitor and no floppy disc drive or cassette drive). One year later Apple did next to no innovations on the computer other than raise the price another $100.00.

Only with the arrival of clones did Apple change the way they do things; they brought out a completely closed system that shut out all clone makers. Of coarse this closed system resulted in even higher prices.

No wonder my next system was an Atari ST and after that an IBM clone. I haven't owned a single Apple product since that Apple II, and I am doing my utmost to keep it that way!

Regards, Mike Mann

[Kiwikat]

Apple... the only company where the inability to upgrade is a feature!!! :173go1:


Linux may as well be instant on if you have it running on a newer computer. Boot times of 2 seconds or less... ;)

[stiz]

i dont mind boot times ... gives me time to make a coffee :wiggle:

Also theres talk about a replacement for the BIOS, which funnerly was only ment to be used for a few years way back when, and was never intented (or designed!) to be used for this long!

[Lionheart]

Apple... the only company where the inability to upgrade is a feature!!! :173go1:



oops.. Not always right KK. Some computers are upgradeable, and with parts from stores like BestBuy, Frys, NewEgg, etc. I thought you would have known that. For instance, I upgraded my iMac with a 1TB HD and memory cards from Fries Electronics. Supposedly I can retrofit another GC in it, but I think I would rather order one with dual high performance i7 6 cores and dual nVidia chips.

On another note, the HD's presently look like they might not be, unless they plug into the MoBo (Logic board). Some SSD HD manufacturers are now making PCII card socket HD's now, so that seems to be the way/new direction that computers are naturally taking. I imagine flash drives will take over the 'record player' style HD's of the present.

I was thinking about that laptop today while working. Prices start at $1K for a 80 gig 11 inch laptop. I dont know how much the top of the line 13inch is with 256 gig HD. I am pretty happy with my Alienware with its 2 500 gig HD's and dual nVidia cards. It will run Gmax. But, the technology for computers is being ushered in by Apple. Some amazing hardware that is now being manufactured... and... the new Lion OS will be pretty dang sweet and fresh with its new interface and expandability like iPhone and iPad. That I really appreciate.

Bill

[stiz]

But, the technology for computers is being ushered in by Apple. Some amazing hardware that is now being manufactured...

these being the apple computers that use intel/amd chips+graphics cards? :monkies:

[Kiwikat]

these being the apple computers that use intel/amd chips+graphics cards? :monkies:

Glad you went there so I didn't have to! :wavey:

I was referring to the flash memory and/or SSD's that are proposed. If they are soldered to the motherboard they obviously won't be upgradeable. But who cares? You can pay 500 dollars more from the apple store to get a 200 dollar better SSD for your m@c. Totally worth it!

Apple needs to drop their prices further. Their total market share for personal computers is still insignificant. I'd buy a macbook if I could get one for the price of a cheap ASUS laptop. They have the same components so they should be the same price! :wavey:

[mmann]

Apple needs to drop their prices further. Their total market share for personal computers is still insignificant. I'd buy a macbook if I could get one for the price of a cheap ASUS laptop. They have the same components so they should be the same price!

But the ASUS laptop has the misfortune (for ASUS) of having the name ASUS and not Apple on it, therefore it is worth significantly less!! This is Apple's marketing strategy. People will pay an inflated price for a product because of the name on the case and not based on the components in it!

Regards, Mike Mann

[stiz]

thing is though the masses are slowly becomeing more clever about what their paying for, specialy now, so in all honesty i dont think apples brand priceing wont be able to keep them afloat for that many more years :monkies:

[Wing_Z]

Thanks for that "Lionheart overview", saves me reading my Applespam!
Those SSD's fall neatly in the Apple philosophy, don't they?
Click...on, and it will be a soft-touch switch as well...

Apple makes a premium product, and have a sound business model.
They sell fewer machines to the faithful, at a higher price, and make as much money as anyone.
Nothing wrong with that, everyone is happy.

And you have to hand it to them, nobody makes products that have that Apple magic.
I just love the tactile feel of their materials. It appeals very widely.
Here's an example of Apple:
I set up a wireless network, and spent nearly 2 days with WIN7 protocols and passwords (Not a Windows issue, the Netgear software is 'orrible) to hook up a PC to the subnet.
My daughter breezes in, plonks her Macbook on the kitchen counter, says Oh we have WiFi! and starts sending email.

That's Apple.

[Lionheart]

Hey Wing_Z, I couldnt agree more. Saddens me that I cannot afford all models of the Apple. I could use the top of the line MBP for mobile use and the tower Mac with all the goodies.

The way I see it, and perhaps KK might learn from, is its like cars. KK seems to think an Apple is just like an Asus, but it is far from it. They 'make' alot of their parts and usually design some in house such as the screens and batteries, logic boards, etc. They may contract out their screens and things, but they design them first, to be the best, and they have 'that' manufactured. The cases for instance are machined out of a block of aluminum, (not molded or casted), but a billet of Aluminum. Its like saying 'why isnt the new BMW 6 series as cheap as the VW Golf? They are the same thing!'. No... They are far from the same thing. You can want and wish and knock down that BMW 6 series all day long, for many years, but the difference is there and the costs alone of manufacturing and design, engineering, testing, is all there. They make their own OS even.


When I cant get things to work on the iMac in Windows mode, I can always boot up in Apple mode and the things work fine, such as the wireless (when its down for some mystery reason) or the printer, etc. Always functions fine in Apple mode.


Now that new Apple Air is pricey. Its a specialty thing. Not for people that cannot afford it. I wish it was. I really do. I think they would sell trillions if it was $400.00 instead of $1,000.00. But, thats the way it goes. (I would have been able to go out and get one then, lol...


6 Series...

[Kiwikat]

Your analogy with the cars might be correct if we're talking about Apple's mobile market. I'm talking about their "mainstream" computers. They use the same types of components that Windows based computers do. The same types of hard drives, same types of processors, same types of ram, same types of graphics cards. Usually they just have a fancy looking exterior. The build quality is better than your average computer, but for that price it better be! The fact remains that you get no better performance or reliability (if you know what you're doing) with a mac vs a computer you build yourself. Yet you save hundreds if not thousands of dollars. I never have problems connecting to wireless or printing with my windows computers.

OK the Mac OS is different from Windows. And that's really the ONLY reason I see for anyone to buy one. Almost all the mac users I've talked to at my school agree with that! But if you want something different, you can use Linux, which happens to be a LOT cheaper (read free), faster, and even more secure (since so few use it).

Your car analogy would be correct if the VW golf and BMW 6 series had the same performance. Apple is more like a VW golf with a BMW body thrown on top of it, but it still has the BMW price tag. Maybe it has a nicer steering wheel too, but it works no different from the golf's.

Is a different OS with less software available for it and a flashy looking case worth an extra 50% or more? I'll leave that up to you.