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Apple Transitions Hardware Leadership
redletterdave writes "Apple will begin transitioning the leadership role within its hardware engineering department, now that Bob Mansfield, who led the engineering of many of Apple's most successful products since 2005, has decided to retire. Apple was quick to name Dan Riccio — currently the VP of hardware engineering for the iPad — as Mansfield's successor, mentioning that Riccio will learn the new role over several months. During that time, the hardware engineering team will continue to report to Mansfield."
I thought Steve Jobs invented everything, designed everything, fixed everything and sold everything at every apple store in the world.
the year of the linux diskterp!
I wonder if this will continue for Apple.
iOS 6 is a yawner. Yes, what we need -- more facebook integration. Already, there is a backlash against FB. The latest Android announcement had some cool items in it including another method of protecting against piracy that does not depend on if a device is not rooted.
The Retina Display Macbook Pro has a cool screen, but cannot be repaired or upgraded.
Mountain Lion?
Jobs's RDF is gone.
What Apple needs to do is start figuring out how to get themselves enterprise-friendly without losing their consumer market. Enterprises buy stuff in such large chunks that a few good contracts are a lot better than lines around the building of hipsters.
First, redo the Mac Pro. Make a chassis that works like a tower, but can have a rack drawer attached so it can be slammed into a standard enclosure. Offer not just 8Gbs FC cards, but NICs with enough packet offloading power so FCoE is workable.
Second, make something like BES but for managing iPhones. Yes, Exchange can do a lot, but having a dedicated policy management server that can handle data transmissions, perhaps even backups of phone devices would bring a lot of revenue.
Third, the ARM processor supports worlds. In this day of BYOD, offer iPhones and iPads with a "work" partition and a "home" partition. That way, the employee only needs to type in the long password when accessing the "work" side, and the Exchange erase only blows that out. It also allows for apps to only see a subset of data, so the FB app isn't able to access work contacts.
Fourth, make an antipiracy mechanism similar to Google's LVL or new encryption mechanism in Jelly Bean. That way, apps don't have to rely on the fact a device is not jailbroken. As an added bonus, more money can be spent on features, not anti-jailbreak BS.
Fifth, make a business friendly Mac desktop that can push the Dells and Compaqs out of the offices. Take an iMac, toss the camera and mic, and sell that as a business PC with service plans to follow. Lots of cash there to be made, as most companies would switch to Macs if they could, only for the artistic value of the machines.
Is this the Borg Collective Press?
I've heard before that Apple will stop making hardware
Apple stopped making hardware a long time ago. They design it, they badge it, they sell it. They don't make it. (Not that there's anything wrong with that in principle, although it can become tough when the people who do make the stuff start to sell it to end users themselves, which inevitably happens)
now apple needs a real desktop or at the very lest least a imac with a EASY TO GET TO HDD SLOTs. NO other AIO makes you take the screen off to change the HDD and most of them have at least 2 hdd slots.
And don't replace the hdd with a SDD on a card.
The mini needs to be a little bigger so it can have been cooling and a easier to open case.
But what apple really needs is a $1000-$1500 (base price) desktop with a mid-range video card in a X16 slots + 1-2 open pci-e slots. with 4 ram slots and at least 2 hdd bays.
keep the big mac pro tower at the $2500++ UP range With PCI-E slots and high end / pro video cards. Some pro work needs pci-e cards as well good cpu power.
Need to put my glasses on before I sit down at the computer--Misread the article as "Apple Transitions to Hardware Leadership".
Define "make." They certainly have invested a lot of technology and design into the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and iMac cases —especially the unibody designs. They may not assemble it in-house in California anymore, but it's not like they're slapping together outer case components from other companies. That qualifies as "make" in my book.
Cheaper, more efficient, open source..
Apple, it's time to stop feeding the Intel/Nvidia beast.
Drop the cost, drop the margins, take over the world.
iPad2 Launch Video: Steve Jobs asks those who worked on iPad2 to stand and take a bow.
Actually, Apple has found that their most profitable product is reality distortion fields, so that is what they're going to build and sell from now on.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Then virtually nobody in the tech industry makes anything, by your definition.
I loved Bob Mansfield because he made me laugh.
Currently hooked on AMP
The mini needs to be a little bigger so it can have been cooling and a easier to open case.
If it was bigger then it wouldn't be a mini now would it?
But what apple really needs is a $1000-$1500 (base price) desktop with a mid-range video card in a X16 slots + 1-2 open pci-e slots. with 4 ram slots and at least 2 hdd bays.
I think you are confusing what you want with what Apple needs. What you are describing is a PC with OS X. If that is what you want, build it yourself. Fact is that most people never open their PCs ever. The few that do aren't really much concern to Apple. Desktop PCs like what you describe are a market with a limited future. Laptop and tablet sales are where the profit and the demand is. Why would Apple introduce a product in a dying market segment with features that hardly anyone will use? Makes no business sense at all.
But if I had a time machine, I wouldnt think it twice and just take his spot in history.
Hey may not had the skills of a Torvald or an Stallman, but boy HE knew where to put his money.
...Obviously Jobs did not invent, bundle, market or sell a sense of humour. You need more than one button for that.
If he jumped, why did he do it?
Apple isn't the top destination for comp sci grads any more, that would be Facebook, Google, Amazon, Twitter.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
enterprise needs easy to remove hard disks and other stuff
Now with some enterprises they will take out the HDD before sending the system for repair / warranty work.
enterprise also need to be able to roll back to older OS's (so apple can't get away with saying this system that just came out can only run 10.8 or newer.)
Apple needs to give enterprise some kind of road map for hardware and software.
enterprise also may like more choice of headless systems.
Apple needs a real server with dual PSU, hot swap HDD"s ECT or at very least let os X sever run in a VM on any hardware.
round the corners, add a button or two and file a patent.
Apple needs to focus on having server applications/OS that are useful in an enterprise environment before they worry about the hardware. 10.5 and 10.6 Server weren't terrible, but there's little they could do that AD and a Linux box couldn't do much better. 10.7 Server is absolute rubbish and isn't suitable for, well, anything.
I'm not saying they shouldn't come up with enterprise-ready hardware, just that they have bigger fish to fry.
Insert witty
In a world where a single natural disaster can and unfortunately sometimes does cause devastation over vast areas, as it seems anyone near Washington DC is all too aware tonight, your comment is far too close to the truth to be funny.
A tiny number of big manufacturers are now responsible for actually making the hardware for almost every major computer and mobile device manufacturer in the world. I'm not sure whether we are down to single figures yet, but if not, we're close. There is a reason you could hardly find a new hard disk to buy not so long ago unless it was part of an entire new computer. It's because there literally weren't enough stocks of those devices to satisfy market demand, after major natural disasters brought production to a halt at too many of those few key facilities for an extended period.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
This is one of the reasons Apple has diversified assembly outside of China. They have a long way to go before it is balanced.
I must say, this is another case of the overrated tag being abused and ... overrated.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
I've heard before that Apple will stop making hardware
Apple stopped making hardware a long time ago. They design it, they badge it, they sell it. They don't make it. (Not that there's anything wrong with that in principle, although it can become tough when the people who do make the stuff start to sell it to end users themselves, which inevitably happens)
So, you're saying that, like pretty much everyone else, Apple uses Contract Manufacturers to execute THEIR designs?
I had no problems buying new hard drives when half of Thailand was under water. They just cost a bit more.
Actually, Apple has found that their most profitable product is reality distortion fields, so that is what they're going to build and sell from now on.
And Apple will ramp up its spinmod production.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Sheesh! Cut it out folks!
Ok, I use Linux even when it is not convenient to do so (not because of Linux itself, but because of the other systems in the IT pipeline that interact with it. )
Ok, I have used Apple, and been in situations where I think Apple was the best thing for other users, and had to maintain Apple products for others as well as windows products and my own linux computers.
The results of years of doing this, for a regular guy in a regular, non-tech job, just getting shit to work for the family and friends on a day to day basis:
1) I love linux, as do all the members of my family from the 9 year old chrome-head to the 50 year old artist-wife with minus 1 computer skill level. I do not recommend it for everyone, i don't care about the YOTD or any other fabled time when linux will rule the world. Frankly, I am sick of the fuss about all this stuff.
2) Windows is improving. I still avoid using it, mostly because I have not needed it or used it for more than one or two required business programs at work. I had WinXP at home on a VM for the last 5 years and used it maybe once or twice a year at home, ususally because I had to convert a DRM file to a non-DRM format and it was safer to do in a VM than to find and download a program outside the repos. I am not saying that windows sucks, only that it is no longer of interest or value to me. The problems for file conversion have disappeared in the last 2 years and now i don't even bother to keep windows in a VM.
3) Apple. Oh dear, Apple A. I have recommended Apple to many people: for example, students who are computer illiterate and the overfed children of over-rich parents who need to appear stylish to their peers (other over-fed plush dolls). They can usually not manage to F** it up as quickly as they can F** up a windows PC. But they can, of course with the extra effort they are so good at applying. Apple B. I know lots of over-fed computer savy folks who were sucked in by the Apple marketing program and bought into the Apple kool-aid program. I do admit that it used to help that it didn't need the constant attention to Anti-virus and anti-malware upkeep that windows required, but that advantage has quickly eroded away, although it is still a slight advantage. Apple C. Real geeks who use Apple products migrated over from windows and found it superior to windows for a geek. Yes, very true, but why didn't they give time to linux (since it is obvious that they tried a distro or so for a few days, weeks or months and decided it was too [hard/confusing/time-consuming] to let them just get some work done so they paid the money (the Apple tax) to get a linux that had been stripped down and made stupid enough for over-fed rich kids who need to be protected from themselves) when spending that time would get them ability and credibility in the real world? Well, they probably had a day job that required them to be up and running right away-- no room for messing about with your computer to figure out how to do what they needed to do. The people who did have the time were either out of work or in school and learning on someone else's nickel.
OK? Can we stop fighting now? People do stuff for good reason's, just not our own reasons. I had the time to work through linux and the determination to do it because i did not have to use my computer ability to make a living. I had a Mac, a win PC and a linux PC running in the house for 3 or 4 years while I meandered through the learning process. I do not assume that everyone else has that leisure and I appreciate that your choice is not mine, and probably couldn't be. It is OK.
Subversion of spatial scale luxury decoration ideas.