macOS Big Sur is Version 11.0

[ferrarr]

What I expect them to do (outlined in my post above above) and what I want as a consumer seem to be diverging at a exponential rate. So in all honesty I expect in 2 years time that a Sony PS5 and a sub £1000 PC laptop running Adobe Premiere Pro will probably suit me better than an iPad Pro 'Mac Edition' dolled up to look like a proper computer! The 'Mac' will by then in all probability be a 'computer' with no user upgrade potential, an enforced App Store 'Walled Garden' and no ability to dual boot Windows to play games and use specialist apps like during the Intel era!

It's quite frankly disappointing that Apple think that it is progress to continue cutting out features (we salute you MagSafe, any useful port that isn't USB-C and physical function keys that don't crash requiring a reboot) while not cutting prices to suit! The new Mac Pro and 16" MacBook Pro were a step in the right direction in functionality but now no one is going to invest in them because of the CPU ISA shift! That inevitable lack of sales will give Apple another excuse to likely cull the 'Pro' models in the not too distant future!

You came back, and did it again.

 

[BigD]

@MacInWin

is true? Just move along from Apple, get your Sony and cheap laptop with Windows and move on. Nobody is forcing you to stick with Apple.

I don't know yet as the Apple iPad Pro 'Mac Edition' has not launched and neither has the PS5. The 16" MacBook Pro might be the last fully featured laptop Apple ever made (if you can forgive the lack of ports and Touch Bar monstrosity but hey the keyboards fixed after 8 years) before the iOS merger begins with macOS under the guise of the ISA change! So maybe that model is worth picking up on eBay once the depreciation starts in earnest !

 

[Slydude]

My suspicion is that the folks at Apple have a mountain of data which leads them to the conclusion that moving to the ARM processors had benefits that outweighed the risks Apple is not the only customer that is less than pleased with Intel's performance and pathway to move forward to higher performance chips. Look no further than the recent increase in interest in the Ryzen processor. That likely would not happen if everyone was pleased with the status quo at Intel.

When it comes to Apple and trends in technology beware of conventional wisdom. Here are just a few examples where the conventional wisdom was, shall we say, less than spot-on:
1. I was around for the shift from PowerPC to Intel and IIRC there was much anguish about that possibly being the death of the Mac as we knew it. Turns out it wasn't. The transition had its bumps but overall the transition went rather smoothly.

2. Prior to Apple's decision to allow Mac clones, there were many suggestions that this move alone would increase Apple's market share. In reality, the opposite seems to have happened. Market share for Apple itself declined as Mac users purchased clones rather than paying for an honest to goodness Apple product.

3. Many of us have lamented Apple's decision in recent years to make Macs that are super thin and usually can't be upgraded by the user. I said a while ago that this trend was driven primarily by data. Like many of you on the forum I enjoyed being able to upgrade memory and hard drives among other things.. I suspect though that we are the exception among both Mac and PC users. I bet the data indicates that most users did not upgrade their own machines. When the time came to do that they either paid a technician to do it or purchased a new machine. Admittedly, I know several people who buy user-upgradeable PCs but they are the exception rather than the norm.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

What I expect them to do (outlined in my post above above) and what I want as a consumer seem to be diverging at a exponential rate. So in all honesty I expect in 2 years time that a Sony PS5 and a sub £1000 PC laptop running Adobe Premiere Pro will probably suit me better than an iPad Pro 'Mac Edition' dolled up to look like a proper computer! The 'Mac' will by then in all probability be a 'computer' with no user upgrade potential, an enforced App Store 'Walled Garden' and no ability to dual boot Windows to play games and use specialist apps like during the Intel era!

It's quite frankly disappointing that Apple think that it is progress to continue cutting out features (we salute you MagSafe, any useful port that isn't USB-C and physical function keys that don't crash requiring a reboot) while not cutting prices to suit! The new Mac Pro and 16" MacBook Pro were a step in the right direction in functionality but now no one is going to invest in them because of the CPU ISA shift! That inevitable lack of sales will give Apple another excuse to likely cull the 'Pro' models in the not too distant future!

You are still bellyaching about this transition? *rolls eyes* There's one in every crowd... always...

 

[BigD]

Great! We're the exception but we are still the vocal minority who will not go unheard as the option for a proper computer is quietly removed from the table under the premise of faster and more efficient CPUs. It's a smoke screen all this Arm ISA stuff and while definitely driven by data will make Apple a gadget jewellery business and not a 'real' computer manufacturer.

I often think Apple would be happier operating a design house and thereby able to operate in a purely hands off way in regards to their human interactions with the consumer a bit like they did with the Bandai Pippin product. They wouldn't have to get their hands dirty and could outsource all the grubby little points of contact with the 'great unwashed' users. This would be especially welcome no doubt in the case of those of us that question their 'Geniuses' or who attempt to price match them with Amazon on batteries and chargers (it worked for me but they probably only did it to shut me up) rather than us immediately bending over to shell out £2,000+ every time we walk through an Apple Store's doors!

I am but a number to Apple and not a particular lucrative one. I understand and I know they don't need my money or my blessing for their future roadmap. My consultancy services are available however and I am waiting eagerly for Tim's call

 

[BigD]

Anyway, it's Friday under semi-lockdown conditions so I'm off to play Elite Dangerous on my Boot Camp partition. I suggest others enjoy the option too while it lasts!

"See you in the black Commanders!"

 

[BigD]

Grrr! Updates! But I did have a great little arcade dogfight in the the Combat Tutorial! Sometimes that's all you need before back to work! Take heed Apple; games can aid productivity too!

 

[dmccloud]

It waits to be seen if Apple can ramp up their Apple Silicon to workstation level tech. I doubt that will ever be their priority as they know they'd have a hard time getting 3rd parties to optimise their heavy lifting video editing / 3D rendering apps to make use of this niche 'Pro' level custom Arm hardware. Adobe for example are not the best and are definitely not the fastest at this sort of optimisation task. I don't expect that Apple will want to compete in that 'Mac Pro' niche beyond the life of the current Mac Pro line. It's a dead end for Apple Workstations IMHO but with more control of their margins by having an in-house CPU / GPU source they'll keep the profit nice and high on the glorified iPad Pro 'Mac Edition' machines. Since these will more than likely fly off the shelves for the hipster market it's $$$ and job done but RIP for useful 'Pro' Macs at that point.

Yet Adobe already had an ARM-based version of Photoshop running on the iMac they were using during the WWDC keynote. That would seem to indicate that Adobe is not as slow on the uptake as you have claimed. Also, with Rosetta 2 being able to translate x86 to ARM code during installation, that would actually ease some of the pressure on developers to get their software completely updated prior to the first ARM-based Macs hitting the market.

 

[BigD]

That indicates that Apple put in some of the leg work to get Adobe some development support ahead of time. That is encouraging, however will Adobe prioritise optimisation of their Apple Silicon products ahead of their x86-64 'bread and butter' market going forwards?

 

[dmccloud]

Adobe has made the bulk of their revenue from the Mac platform for decades - that is their bread and butter, not "x86". Think about this this way - why would Apple give Adobe a head start on ARM development if either party was looking to dissolve the partnership?