Thoughts on desktop Macs
by Volker Weber
Announcing the Mac event as 'Hello Again' may have set the expectations too high. Everybody reads their own wish list into an iconic event like Hello where the original Mac was introduced, and Hello (Again) which was the debut of the Bondi Blue iMac.
I can see how Apple has viewed the introduction of the Touch Bar as a defining new moment. But most people expected nothing more than a complete refresh of the Mac line-up. Given the fact that Apple has been unable to keep their announcements secret lately, that expectation was probably misguided.
Here is my view on the state of the desktop Mac:
- The iMac line does not need a design refresh. I find it perfect as it is. There need to be regular refreshes of the technology inside, and that is happening. You see these iMacs everywhere, from offices to retail locations, and I think they are doing their job very well.
- The Mac Pro is dead. I think the machine has not been selling as much as Apple would like it to have. And thus it got neglected. There could be a tech refresh, but I don't see that coming. There would have been a few already.
- Apple does not make screens anymore. That goes inline with my statement about the Mac Pro. This is just not a good business to be in. Profit margins for screens are very slim and I think people are no longer willing to pay a 50% premium for an Apple enclosure. Not in the professional space, where Apple needs to sell them.
- Mac mini? No idea about that.
That means the iMac is the desktop Mac. It is a sustainable, profitable business. Go back to the photo above. You can sometimes see the future even without announcements. Watch, iPhone, iPad, Macbook, iMac. And that was not this week. This Macbook has ports.
Speaking of ports, do you know what else is a profitable business? Adapters and cables.
Comments
Speaking of screens and profit margins: The backsides of these new – developed with Apple – LG screens are interesting.
There is only one thing missing from the iMac line: a wireless keyboard with TouchBar at a 400 dollar price point. If the TouchBar really becomes the productivity booster that Apple believes it will be, this seems like the next logical step. I would definitely buy one...
Davy, very unlikely. Apple switched to BT LE so you dont have to recharge the keyboard every few weeks. Adding this strip would mean several recharges a week.
This would be Steve's point of view:
https://youtu.be/tCW9CKnLjBU
@Thomas, and yet he picked an operating execution exec as his successor, not a visionary (as described in https://hbr.org/2016/10/why-visionary-ceos-never-have-visionary-successors)
You always value what you're not good at more highly and undervalue what you're good at.
Thanks, Craig. I was not as clearly aware of that as you stated it here :)
