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Apple Announces iLife '11, FaceTime Mac, Lion, Mac App Store, MacBook Air
Apple once again streamed their latest keynote where they unveiled iLife '11 (more fullscreen and Facebook in iPhoto, Audio editing and automatic trailers in iMovie, Rhythm correction and lessons in Garage Band). FaceTime for the Mac will connect video chat to phones with a Beta starting today. Next we get a preview of OS X Lion which will have an App Store and new UI bits shipping this summer. The Mac App Store will launch on Snow Leopard in 90 days. The New MacBook Air is under 3lbs, 13.3" screen, Core 2 Duo, solid state only storage. There's also an 11.6" version starting at $999 with 64gb of storage shipping today.
It gets rid of a lot of developer headaches, including finding a place with high bandwidth mirrors for consumers to download and fetch updates.
Yes, Apple gets a 30% chunk, but IMHO, it is a good thing to have long term.
Will the app store have the same lock down?
With no apps that can use plug ins?
No games with user maps or mods?
No sex apps?
No fat app?
$99 year fee even for free apps?
fixed price points?
will you be able to buy app and use it on all systems you own? will app dev be able to have app that you need to buy per system?
can apple pull a app at any time?
Will there be a max app size?
As Ron Gilbert just put it
"For you Apple apologists claiming Apple will never lock down the Mac, step one is in place and you all let it happen."
Reviewing just the first hour of video games.
Linux does it, but it sure as hell isn't better.
I tried to RTFA in this story, but I couldn't find it. Is it that hard to include a link to a source?
more fullscreen and Facebook in iPhoto, Audio editing and automatic trailers in iMovie, Rhythm correction and lessons in Garage Band
Why can't all this functionality be available through one integrated program instead of being fragmented over many sources?! The end user will get confused!
I mean, App Store for iPhone / iPod touch? I get that. It's basically the first of its kind and creates its own market share. Apps which would have been trivial and/or freeware for a desktop could be sold to mobile users if they were good or early to market enough. Kinds of apps that would be made wholly useless given a full-size-screen web browser and a keyboard could have a market, too.
But for the Mac? When roughly all Mac users are dual booting Windows anyway?
They are *not* locking down OSX. You will still be able to get apps anywhere you want.
Gone!
Actually, it's worse than lame as they're now locking down Mac OSX just like they do with iOS.
You mean except for the fact that it was explicitly stated that the app store wasn't the exclusive place to get apps for Mac OS X? How can it be locked down when nothing has changed beyond having a new source for downloading apps from?
New MacBook Air...the love child of a MacBook and iPad...
Correction: they're not doing it now. Wait a few years. Just like Microsoft with its Xbox - ultimately, it will have Windows for business, and XBox for consumers. Apple will work on a similar distribution.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
I know that every other comment under the sun here is going to focus on the app store and DRM concerns, but I'm also somewhat concerned about the fact that CPU speeds on these new Macbook Airs seem to be... rather pathetic. C2D 1.4 and 1.86 Ghz processors? Is Xcode really that much better at leveraging the GPU, to where they can release something like this when announcing Lion and its new features that sound like they're going to brutalize processing power. With CPU speeds like these, it almost seems like they just didn't want to say the word 'Atom'.
My own pointless vanity vintage computing page
Linux repositories are a general purpose mechanism; you can point at any "app store" you like with them. Furthermore, they do extensive dependency management and checking.
Apple's App Store gives you one source of applications and it doesn't seem to do much in the way of dependency management.
Apple clearly got the idea from Linux distributions and other commercial vendors, but they are misusing the idea to lock down their machines.
And for a huge number of consumers, they'll be quite happy with the locked down device with Apple as gatekeeper. They'll have everything they need or want, will pay a bit extra for that, and won't even notice the /. crowd wailing and gnashing its collective teeth over Jobs' "war on openness".
When will /. readers acknowledge that they're not the entire fucking market for computing devices?
Anyone who loves or hates any language, platform, or manufacturer, doesn't know what they're talking about.
They just released the hybrid device (MacBook Air) that will eventually replace all consumer devices with built-in DRM. Steve will have no incentive to allow you to buy any software outside of the App Store, since he gets a 30% cut.
No, seriously guys. You already consented. He's going to stick it all the way in.
I think people like you _want_ Apple to become some evil company because you dislike something else about the company or its users.
No, seriously guy. No one consented to anything. It's a product announcement and evil DRM wasn't part of it.
"From the depths of my skeptical and rationalist soul, I ask the Lord to protect me from California touchie-feeliedom."
Then RMS rides in on his gnu brandishing his katana and saves the day.
</nerdgasm>
So both of them got Macs (at different times) and now I don't get any questions... Because shit just works for them...
Your father-in-law is apparently ridiculously more tech-savvy than mine, who needs to visit the Apple Store Geniuses for help multiple times every month.
I honestly don't think Apple has made money off of him, in the grand scheme of things.
Oooh ooh, I can play that game too!
Apple is not currently murdering small children. Wait a few years.
Sounds sinister, doesn't it?
# (/.);;
- : float -> float -> float =
What now? The new Airs aren't much different than what was out yesterday -- the only differences are a new case, a higher-resolution screen, some updated specs, stereo speakers, on-board Flash, the same trackpad as the rest of the Macbook line, a smaller version, etc. Its still an OSX laptop, nothing 'hybridized' about it. There's no more DRM in the new Air than in any other MacBook. Nothing has changed in that regard.
Second, Steve said you could still get software from other sources. It would be platform suicide to do anything else. They're just trying to make it more convenient for developers and users. I'm personally curious to look at the terms and see if open source software can be distributed using it -- in those cases it could basically be a repository just like on any Linux distro.
Finally, I haven't consented to anything like that. If OS X Lion were to implement the changes you seem to think exist, I would stick with Snow Leopard. If the changes were made retroactive and made it difficult to use old versions somehow, I could install Ubuntu. The Mac platform suits my needs for now (a Unix platform with nice laptop hardware integration) -- its not actually a cult, so I can re-evaluate my options at any time.
Quit the FUD.
I can still install the development tools so that I can build and install standard Unix software and use XCode to build Mac software.
The fear is that Apple will start charging $99 per year to use XCode.
I can still install Eclipse when I want a different development environment (basically when I'm not developing Cocoa-based apps.)
The fear is that Apple will start charging $99 per year to use XCode so that you can compile, install, and run your own copy of Eclipse.
And I can still install apps in any of the ways that I've always done...whether that be by MacPorts, Fink or the traditional application installation methods (dragging the .app to Applications or installing the .pkg.)
The fear is that Mac OS Xi will require mandatory verification of digital signatures in the same way that iOS already does, blocking MacPorts, Fink, and drag and drop.
Apple gets a 30% chunk, but IMHO, it is a good thing to have long term.
Wow, and people talk about the "Microsoft tax".
Getting 70% is a developer fantasy. By the time you find a publisher, and they sell to a distributor, who then sells it to a retail store ... a developer is lucky to get 15% to 20%. Digital distribution is a game changer. For a small developer implementing an online store with support and returns, paying for international payment processing, bandwidth, etc is non-trivial. If that adds up to less than 30% then the difference may easily be justified by the increased traffic and exposure of a high profile site like one provided by Apple. Unless you are a large corporation Apple's deal is not bad at all.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I don't normally defend Apple but you're really comparing two different product lines. They still have a replacement for your 12" powerbook, it is called a MacBook Pro (13"). Ok, it is one inch more, but it is still small and has all the bells and whistles you're droning on about.
The Air series seems to target portability users where weight and size requirements trump all others. A MacBook Pro 13" comes in at 4.5lbs, while the MacBook Air 13" comes in at 2.9lbs, and the 11" version at 2.3lbs.
You simply can't argue much when the thing has nearly half the volume and weight of the fully loaded version. If the weight simply doesn't matter get the Pro. But for some people like myself, every pound counts when you're on the go. So I'll gladly shed things like dvd drives, ethernet ports, firewire, and even a GHz of CPU if it means 2 pounds less in weight. Obviously I have limitations: the atom cpu is much too slow for my needs and most integrated graphics solutions still don't cut it these days. The Air still comes with a good GPU and a good CPU. So there isn't much to complain about.
ultimately, it will have Windows for business, and XBox for consumers. Apple will work on a similar distribution.
Yeah, I think they'll call their business distribution OS X. It'll be a lot like Windows.
Libertarianism is rich wolves and poor sheep playing gambler's ruin for dinner.