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Tim Cook To Investors: Apple is Working on Future Products That Will 'Blow You Away' (macrumors.com)

Speaking to investors on Friday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said he has "never been more optimistic" about where the company is today and where it's heading. He said the company is "planting seeds" and "rolling the dice" on future products that will just "blow you away." A story adds: Cook went on to say that Apple's eventual goal is to be able reduce the price of the 2018 Retina MacBook Air, which currently starts at $1,200. In reference to the Apple Watch and the AirPods, Cook said there's a "long, great roadmap" of "fantastic" products on the horizon. [...] On the topic of services, Cook said Apple is well on its way towards meeting the goal it set in 2016, which was to double its $25 billion revenue by 2020.

218 comments

  1. Really? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 5, Insightful

    He's been saying basically the same thing for years: "We have amazing products in the pipeline".

    But all I see is more expensive laptops with unreliable keyboards and a problematic T2 chip.
    Hell, when they released the 2018 MacBook Air, they kept the 2017 model, which is really the 2015 model, at the same fucking price it has been for years.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
    1. Re: Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Not this time.

      Now introducing the Apple iGun. 9 millimeters of action will blow you away! Each bullet features custom engraved emojis! Don't like how that shit head is driving? Tell him how you really feel with a full mag of poop emoji bullets!

    2. Re:Really? by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 0

      Hey, when you see a cellphone WITHOUT rounded corners AND with dual notches - you'll be Blown Away.

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    3. Re:Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The only thing that will "blow you away" will be the insanely high prices!

    4. Re:Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They're going to port the notch over to the touchbar but since it doesn't actually house anything it'll just be a virtual notch that sits there and does nothing.

    5. Re:Really? by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 2, Funny

      Courage!

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    6. Re:Really? by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      A bigger notch. 8K iMac.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    7. Re:Really? by dryeo · · Score: 4, Funny

      What I heard was a futuristic way of dialing a number. A circle area with numbers that you touch and and drag in a circle. The further you drag, the higher the number that is entered. It'll also have feedback in the form of clicks, just go a little way, one click, a bit further, 2 clicks, right up to 10 clicks, which will bravely represent zero.
      Users will eat it up as it's modern compared to the old fashioned square number pad.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    8. Re:Really? by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1, Funny

      I guess it took them 10 years to perfect The Wheel...

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    9. Re:Really? by Maven0 · · Score: 1

      The next model will have the biggest notch. It will go all the way across to hide the cameras into the bezel.

    10. Re:Really? by alaskana98 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That 'courage' line from Apple still makes me shake my head today.

      Hey Apple, let me give you an example of courage. 'Courage' is huddling on a barge, wet, cold, trembling, sick to your stomach with fear, knowing that you are about to land on a beach filled to the brim with blood thirsty Nazis ready to pump a barrage of hot lead into your body, knowing that your chances of survival are about 40% or less and still somehow finding the will to off that boat and charge the beach.

      Sorry, I digress. I guess it is a pretty courageous thing to do to remove a analog headphone jack on an iPhone.

    11. Re:Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I didn't realize yellow-fever suffering nazi traitors read the onion... it's literally fake news! You would think that wouldn't appeal to your goostepping cadence.

    12. Re:Really? by cheesybagel · · Score: 0

      I think his "amazing products" will probably be gold plated iPhones with encrusted diamonds or some shit like that.

    13. Re:Really? by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

      A bigger notch. 8K iMac.

      Picture this... an 8K iMac WITH A NOTCH.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    14. Re: Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, but this time it is going to the iFan.

    15. Re:Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The I.E.D!

    16. Re:Really? by jools33 · · Score: 1

      its the new macbook laptop that doesn't require any dongles, thats the blow away product.

    17. Re: Really? by dbialac · · Score: 1

      I hear they're working on a new charging device for Airpods. It hooks up to the airpod while you're using them and has a cord that hooks up to the lightning adapter. Very innovative!

    18. Re: Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not courage. If they put you on a boat and the front open towards enemy fire pounding the shit out of everything with no cover until you reach land the only logical thing to do is charge and try not to die.

    19. Re: Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AK MAC 9 Assault rifle.

      Prefect for Kinder Kiddies 9 -3 years of age with milk holder and lullaby screen.
      Lunch box apple. no way.

    20. Re:Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This brings to mind the local telco advertising “wireless television”.

    21. Re:Really? by tsa · · Score: 1

      What I find unbelievable is that Apple needs investors. They have the yearly budget of a small country in their pockets.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    22. Re:Really? by tsa · · Score: 1

      I saw a film of that in a museum. It was hell. War is terrible. Those people all were heroes.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    23. Re: Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Those Nazies were courageous indeed. Against all odds they held off barbaric beach attack as much as they could. They were outnumbered 1:10.

    24. Re: Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      SEC is okay with Tim but not Elon?

    25. Re:Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's all about keeping customers from looking elsewhere. In the 60's, when antit-trust law meant something, the US government took IBM to court over the same type of anti-competitive practices and won.

      The Government further averred that IBM predatorily priced and preannounced
                      specific hardware that the Government termed "fighting machines." (Id. at 12-14.) IBM
                      allegedly introduced certain products "knowing [the products] had unusually low profit
                      expectations." (Id. 1 at 12 .) Allegedly, IBM "developed and announced" the specified
                      hardware products "primarily for the purpose or with the effect of discouraging actual and
                      potential customers from acquiring . . . [competing products] . . . in markets . . . where IBM's
                      monopoly position had eroded or threatened to erode." (Id. 3 at 12.) Also, in an effort to deter
                      entry and injure competition, IBM allegedly "announced future production and marketing [of
                      certain products] when it believed or had reason to believe that it was unlikely to be able to
                      produce and market such products within the announced time frame . . . ." (Id. 5 at 13.)

                      Additionally, the Government alleged that IBM was engaged in various below cost and
                      discriminatory discount conduct in marketing its products to educational and scientific
                      institutions (Id. at 14-16) in order to injure peripheral manufacturers and leasing companies. (Id.
                      at 16-19.)

      (emphasis mine)

      We need better antitrust laws again.

    26. Re: Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some company made this (as a joke)

    27. Re: Really? by dougdonovan · · Score: 0

      WOW me tim.

    28. Re:Really? by AHuxley · · Score: 0

      All new software has to code around the notch.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    29. Re: Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am sure the investors will be blown by Tim... Again and again until they swim away in bliss, hence getting blown away.

  2. Let me guess by quonset · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Apple will make a PC (not laptop) which has hardware which isn't five years old, which the user is able to swap out parts as needed, AND doesn't cost a kidney to buy.

    That would be mind blowing.

    1. Re:Let me guess by Moof123 · · Score: 1

      +1. You can't get the desktop hardware you actually want, and the Apple tax on the outdated mid to low end stuff you have to settle for is just insulting.

    2. Re:Let me guess by dryeo · · Score: 1

      Please keep your fantasies at least somewhat close to reality.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    3. Re:Let me guess by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apple will do that over Timmy Crook's cold dead body.

    4. Re:Let me guess by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      They have such a PC already, I believe it is called a Mac Pro.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    5. Re:Let me guess by Spamalope · · Score: 1

      New Apple laptop and desktop products will be DRM locked to the Apple app store to en$ure you have the full APPle price experience. $25 billion in revenue doesn't just happen you know.

    6. Re: Let me guess by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A $1500-$2000 computer with a $5000 price tag. Real courage I'm seeing.

    7. Re:Let me guess by drinkypoo · · Score: 0

      They have such a PC already, I believe it is called a Mac Pro.

      The Mac Pro is grossly overpriced, had an outdated CPU even at launch and never did have a current one, and some parts are extremely nonstandard. The last time they had a Mac Pro with all standard parts and a competitive CPU, it was PowerPC-based. Of course, that was horribly overpriced as well, and some of them came with a defective cooling system...

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  3. So I suppose once... by rnturn · · Score: 1

    He said the company is "planting seeds" and "rolling the dice" on future products that will just "blow you away."

    ... people started lining up outside Apple stores with tents and sleeping bags to be sure they're the first to be "blown away"?

    Hey... I thought it was Microsoft working with the military that was working on products that will blow us away.

    --
    CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
    1. Re:So I suppose once... by bob4u2c · · Score: 1

      future products that will just "blow you away."

      I was thinking quite the same, more products that turn out to be "bombs" (double entendre intentional).

    2. Re:So I suppose once... by mentil · · Score: 1

      Apple Rocket Launcher confirmed. They had to one-up the Boring Company Not-A-Flamethrower.

      --
      Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
    3. Re:So I suppose once... by Luckyo · · Score: 1

      That's easy. Just talk to islamists about them in appropriate tone.

    4. Re:So I suppose once... by bob4u2c · · Score: 1

      Wouldn't that then be the: i-Not-A-Rocket-Launcher?

      If so, I have two of those in the basement, junk as far as I'm concerned. They only took out a small mailbox, and the re-fill cartridge was 5 times the cost of the whole unit.

  4. "reduce the price" by Sebby · · Score: 1

    Tim Cook: "We'll reduce the price of the MacBook Air by a certain percentage"

    Investors: "What percentage?"

    Tim Cook: "Zero"

    Investors: ......

    Tim Cook: "What? Zero is a percent!"

    --

    AC comments get piped to /dev/null
    1. Re:"reduce the price" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A price reduction only ever happen when Apple switches their CPUs over to ARM. They'll be able to cut Intel out of the loop and save at least $100.

      It's possible they could switch to AMD, but the low-power Zen products aren't quite there yet. And the savings probably wouldn't be $100.

    2. Re:"reduce the price" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since when has Apple ever made a bullet-point out of reducing prices? Never. Apple is a premium product.

      The fact that they're running scared on prices just shows that people are getting wise to the price-increases-sans-substance. They turned the money dial all the way to 11 and blew the speakers.

      Meanwhile, most of the proclaimed improvements seem to be of the form:
      - We removed a port.
      - We changed a port for another similar port.
      - We now have a pink AND blue version.
      - We put a notch in it.

      My guess is Apple will eventually be seeing 50% of its profits coming from USB-C dongles, and that's going to be a shrinking market.

    3. Re: "reduce the price" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One thing Apple cannot do is cut prices. Their business model is pay slightly higher premium to components vendors to get newer generation techs and claim them as their innovation.

    4. Re: "reduce the price" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or perhaps -50% so that the price Will actually rise Even more (50% increase)... Short sighted investors would love that

  5. But will they blow me bigly? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If not, Tim better get to work on my DAMN balls

  6. One more thing, meet... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... THE iTANK!

    (Shells sold separatly. Choice of color: White)

  7. I hope they pull it off by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Honestly, I've worked with a whole bunch of folks over at Apple. They have a ton of smart folks over there, and a huge warchest. They can do amazing. They just need to do some rediscovery of who they are as a company.

    1. Re: I hope they pull it off by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

      They are lost in a sea of the kind of people who swarm to as successful a business as they have become.

    2. Re: I hope they pull it off by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This x100 and they know nothing

    3. Re:I hope they pull it off by Iamthecheese · · Score: 1

      They can, but they won't. Apple thinks changing the user interface, making a phone less convenient, using cheaper hardware in ways their target market won't recognize, and faffing about with bezels is invention. If they patent ANYTHING this year that someone else wants to copy for a reason besides marketing I'll eat my shoe.

      --
      If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
    4. Re: I hope they pull it off by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apple died with Jobs, they will never rediscover who they are as a company, now it is about keeping things going till the execs can cash out

  8. Literally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He mean, literally, blow you. Tim Cook gives you: The iToyboy!

    1. Re:Literally by novakyu · · Score: 1

      But what about for women? Or for heterosexual men?

    2. Re:Literally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But what about the sexless types, or types who say that they are a pink unicorn? You know the whole twenty or whatnot different human types the LQBT movement has?
      iPinkUnicornSex-o-Toy

    3. Re: Literally by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apple fan boyz are called faggots

  9. blow us away? by Tablizer · · Score: 4, Funny

    iFan

    1. Re: blow us away? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well there is already a gaming fan...not kidding.
      Maybe Apple can do it better?

    2. Re:blow us away? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apple being trashed on Slapdash. Who would have thought?
      This place gets more like El Reg every day.

    3. Re:blow us away? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      iFan

      No. iChinstrap, with matching kneepads.

    4. Re: blow us away? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      iBlowJob from Tim Cook wearing a Steve Jobs mask.

    5. Re:blow us away? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      iFart: AI who perfectly mimics aceholes. The presidential edition will be a collectors item

    6. Re:blow us away? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      iVac but in reverse

    7. Re:blow us away? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      its going to be the new and improved iMuslim, it will blow us away

      steve akbar!

  10. Correction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He said the company is "planting seeds" and "rolling the dice" on future products that will just "blow you away."

    Blow your bank balance away more like...

  11. 'Blow You Away' priceing!!!!!!!!!! by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    'Blow You Away' priceing!!!!!!!!!!

    Mac pro 2020 DUAL CPU DUAL GPU 4TB SSD BASE only $9999

    1. Re:'Blow You Away' priceing!!!!!!!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think that you left our a couple of digits...that should be $999,999.00

    2. Re: 'Blow You Away' priceing!!!!!!!!!! by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

      I think the Lisa was ten grand when it came out.

    3. Re: 'Blow You Away' priceing!!!!!!!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The lisa was a game changer tho.

  12. MFGA! by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    He's been saying basically the same thing for years: "We have amazing products in the pipeline".

    "Really terrific products coming, believe me! Everyone will love 'em; even the Jetsons will be stunned how futuristic they are. Boy Elroy is still floored from the greatness of the prototypes. Bing bing, bong bong, Wham! bigly shocked. I and I alone can invent the future, and #MakeFutureGreatAgain!"

    (sorry, couldn't resist)

    1. Re:MFGA! by tsa · · Score: 1

      We have products, we have the best products.

      --

      -- Cheers!

  13. Sounds a bit desperate by misnohmer · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The only reason to make a statement like this, which effectively boils down to "Apple's value is going increase, but you have to take it on pure faith because I just can't give you any concrete reasons why", is if you're desperately trying to uphold investor confidence in light of Apple's image fading as a premium technology leader. No doubt this was attempt was fueled by all the announcements from the rest of the industry about the foldable devices, which look so much "cooler and leading edge" than Apple products.

    1. Re:Sounds a bit desperate by yodleboy · · Score: 1

      Apple probably has a foldable in the pipeline. The problem is, they will either release it too soon to try and ride the wave while dealing with people 'unfolding it wrong', or they will try to make it perfect and miss the boat. Tim Cook seems to be content to talk about innovation while watching the competition do the actual innovation.

    2. Re: Sounds a bit desperate by misnohmer · · Score: 1

      He doesn't sound so content, if he is resorting to empty platitudes, rather than concrete data, to prop up investor confidence.

      There is money to be made in the "me too" products, but that is not the same business model Steve Jobs used.

    3. Re:Sounds a bit desperate by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      They were putting a lot of effort into automotive, but it failed. No iCar or self driving tech, and Android is close to being entrenched in automotive infotainment systems.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    4. Re:Sounds a bit desperate by Kjella · · Score: 1

      Every CEO says this fluff at regular intervals, doesn't matter if the arrows are going up, down or sideways they always speak up the future at least in public. The only difference is that Apple is clickbait-worthy enough that someone will write an article about it. Plus I mean as CEO he's the one picking the direction R&D is going, you're basically asking him to write his own performance review. But I also think the expectation that Apple is supposed to do something new and revolutionary will let them do gambles other companies might not have, I don't think stuff like "Lets do a Galaxy Watch" would happen at Samsung.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    5. Re:Sounds a bit desperate by danomac · · Score: 1, Insightful

      The foldable devices aren't ready yet for Apple to steal and put the Apple logo on.

      Then they'll act like they invented it like they always do.

    6. Re: Sounds a bit desperate by snadrus · · Score: 1

      Apple was frequently a late-mover:

      The iPods with flash like Nano were ripoffs of existing MP3 players.
      Wireless Charging
      Fingerprint sensor
      High-end mobile screen resolutions after Retina.
      Tablet Stylus

      --
      Science & open-source build trust from peer review. Learn systems you can trust.
  14. In other words by Snotnose · · Score: 2

    I have smoke and I'm blind as a bat, please fart so I know where to blow it.

  15. Uh oh by sacrilicious · · Score: 1

    "planting seeds" and "rolling the dice" on future products that will just "blow you away."

    Sure hope we don't see them mustering more "courage", next thing you know they'll be removing the keyboard and telling us to type with our credit cards.

    --
    - First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then ???, then profit.
  16. Apple didn't used to need to say it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They would be hush hush up until a major event, then hype the shit out of it and produce a product.

    Cook apple is looking like cooked apples. All mushy and lacking in substance.

    1. Re: Apple didn't used to need to say it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You have to consider that investors are growing skeptical of Apple lately, so either he speaks up or Apple's share price risks stagnating or falling.

      I think Apple is being killed by its NIH syndrome. They've literally built all of their other products and services around iPhone. Watch? Gotta have an iPhone. Home Pod? Needs an iPhone. Air Pods? You know it.

      Now look at the services. Sure, iTunes and Apple Music can be used on other devices, including Android, but practically nobody but Mac and Apple TV users bother with either, especially considering how Apple builds the software to perform like shit for other platforms. Apple Music in particular doesn't sell well to anybody but phone users. Apple also drives some revenue from ads in iPhone specific apps, like Siri and Maps, both iPhone exclusive (save Siri for the very unpopular Home Pod.)

      Now look at what Apple has been doing to drive revenue in the face of declining iPhone sales: Raise the price. They stopped listing iPhone sales volume in their financial statements, instead listing only sales revenue, and even then, combining it with Apple watch and other hardware devices. However, as we have seen, Apple has hit a price ceiling with iPhone, and its volume has really fallen off. Tim Cook tried to blame it on users repairing their phones, but the feedback from both Chinese and US customers is the same: They're too expensive.

      So sure, iPhone revenue might be able to be carried for a while, but without volume, who is buying all of this shit that's attached exclusively to iPhone? New innovative products aren't for shit until they fix that problem, and why many have ditched their Apple shares.

    2. Re: Apple didn't used to need to say it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Suggest you actually look at the numbers instead of repeating a lazy narrative.

    3. Re: Apple didn't used to need to say it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He would look at the numbers...

      Except APL isn't sharing them... Badum tisss.

    4. Re: Apple didn't used to need to say it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He would look at the numbers...

      Except APL isn't sharing them... Badum tisss.

      Nobody is sharing numbers - yet they are widely available, Go figure and search for "market share" on Google,

  17. Blow you away? by Luckyo · · Score: 1

    So far, batteries only catch fire. I guess they have more... interesting chemistry in the works.

  18. Apple just copies ideas from others... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Apple hasn't innovated in a really long time.

    The only thing they are good at is taking your money!

    1. Re: Apple just copies ideas from others... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apple has not innovated ever...

      They have copied and sold stuff as their own innovations

      But without Jobs they No longer knopw how or what to copy and claim as their own ishit

  19. Announcing the iR-15 by MikeRT · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The only slightly non-standard .223/5.56 rifle that fires proprietary ammo so disproportionately expensive you'd think it was designed by the same people who designed the main gun on the new LCS vessels.

    1. Re:Announcing the iR-15 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sadly, the FAMAS exists already.

  20. Luv the Apple hate here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Basement dwelling losers still sucking on their mom's tit commenting on Apple while picking their noses, jerking off on their keyboards and running Linux.

    1. Re: Luv the Apple hate here by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

      You mad, bro?

    2. Re: Luv the Apple hate here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mad, bro?

      There's nothing wrong with you that being tied to a tree and gutted wouldn't fix.

  21. After all these years apple still does not get it by PerZon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Technology for the masses not the classes

  22. lol @ apple trying to walk back their price hikes! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They already had everything priced at the limit. They must now realize they pushed way too far. Apple stuff is great, but you can only soak your customers so much...

  23. Wait... what happened to the famous pipeline? by sandbagger · · Score: 2, Interesting

    They've killed off much of the ecosystem of products -- time capsules, excellent routers and repeaters, monitors -- and the entire line computer like is now made of laptop parts, they killed off their support for education, and their pro applications and computers. Could it be that the famous pipeline of products they promised after Jobs's death was smoke and mirrors? For shame!

    --
    ---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
    1. Re:Wait... what happened to the famous pipeline? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > entire line computer like is now made of laptop parts

      Not true. The iMac Pro has a custom Xeon processor in it... in a system that is difficult to open and service, even for experienced IT workers. Apple went to great lengths to make a proper cooling system for an all-in-one rather than put together a tower. But you know it's really ridiculous when someone builds a "rack" of iMac Pros (https://www.slashgear.com/imac-pro-server-rack-macstadium-private-cloud-02532722/).

      Also, the Mac Mini comes with an i3-8100. Of course, it costs $800, whereas I've seen i3 PCs cost $400 (or discounted to $300). If form factor is important, you can always buy a NUC i5-8259U kit. It will be cheaper and have more threads than the Mac Mini.

    2. Re: Wait... what happened to the famous pipeline? by lokedhs · · Score: 1

      That's such an odd thing. What possible use is there for a rack-mounted Mac?

    3. Re: Wait... what happened to the famous pipeline? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Another dumb nerd.

    4. Re: Wait... what happened to the famous pipeline? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lol, the NUC would cost just as much and youâ(TM)d have to run windows (shit) or Linux (PITA, and issues with lacking software).

    5. Re: Wait... what happened to the famous pipeline? by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Some universities ran supercomputers build out of rack mounted Macs ...

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    6. Re: Wait... what happened to the famous pipeline? by Voyager529 · · Score: 1

      1. Sound booths in performance venues where there is already a rack mount for amplifiers.
      2. Home theater installations (though to be fair that might be more Apple TV territory).
      3. OSX Server was pretty damn simple to set up in its heydey; it was great for centralized management of Macs.
      4. Computing clusters.
      5. Some media production houses have custom desks that can fit a 2U rackmount computer in them (or at least, they did)
      6. Because it's definitely more serviceable than the current soldered/glued/fused together options.
      7. Because some people might prefer it for literally no reason other than that they prefer it.

      Ultimately, I don't think the GP is arguing that it would be the Mac's dominant form factor. However, the lack of one shows hubris which assumes that people are willing to do workarounds in order to keep a Mac in an environment. Now, to be fair, that's at least partially deserved...but a nontrivial part of the enmity comes from the professional community who relied heavily on Macs during the 90s and 2000s when they were fit for purpose...and are quickly finding out that Tim is increasingly relegating Macs to "iOS App Compiling Devices" at the expense of basically everything else.

    7. Re: Wait... what happened to the famous pipeline? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      [citation needed]

      i work in HPC and i cannot find a record of any actual Mac clusters, except for things people built in their offices with spare parts for specific applications. I can find nothing at the institutional level.

      (also their routers have never been good and i have no idea where you guys got these ideas from except if maybe you've only operated a tiny network and used only apple products in it. Also, Time capsule is a curation nightmare. Gosh.)

    8. Re: Wait... what happened to the famous pipeline? by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

      Couldn't have looked that hard.

      Virginia Tech in 2004 upgraded their PowerMac G5s to Xserve G5s .
      https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles...

      Feb 01, 2005 - University of Illinois preps 640-node Apple Xserve G5 cluster
      https://appleinsider.com/artic...

  24. Getting into the defense contracting business, eh? by ToTheStars · · Score: 1

    Or perhaps iHVAC? "Our air conditioners really blow!"

  25. Musta taken by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Timmy a lotta courage to say all that to the big mean investors.

  26. First they took poor emac's ESC key away... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Put it on that damn mutable touch-bar along with the function keys. (I use the ESC key more than the vowel keys.) Then Apple decided to replace the x86 chip with an ARM.

    I can't wait to see what they come up with next. Providing, of course, I can see it from my new Linux notebook cause I'm sure as hell not running that creepy Windows 10 spyware crapola -- correction: telemetry. The part where Microsoft keeps a record of every program I run is just way too 1984-esce creepy for me!

  27. Been saying that since Jobs died by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Talk about a broken record, Cook might be completely out of good ideals anymore. Apple has been floundering for some time now. Any brilliant new ideals and products should have come along by now. So far I have not seen anything remotely Apple event worthy.

  28. You have it all wrong! Announcing iRobot by HannethCom · · Score: 1

    He didn't mean that the technology would impress you. He meant it will blow you away, literally!
    Announcing the iRobot. This is not for home use. They have repurposed their self-driving car unit to make a military robot with iGuns that will blow away enemies.

    Special discounts will be given for companies that want to purchase them for deployment in the following cities:
    Mountain View, CA
    Ann Arbor, MI
    Atlanta, GA
    Austin, TX
    Boulder, CO
    Cambridge, MA
    Chicago, IL
    Irvine, CA
    New York, NY
    Pittsburgh, PA
    Reston, VA
    San Francisco, CA
    Seattle, WA
    Washington, DC

    --
    Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon what's the difference? All steal money from devs and control with walled gardens.
  29. Is this another "Funding secured"? by Gabest · · Score: 1

    Does he have to announce it on twitter like Elon?

  30. They have had successes, and more to come by SuperKendall · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They don't have a new amazing thing every year.

    But the Apple Watch has turned out to be quite a hit.

    The AirPods, possibly even a bigger hit.

    The iMac Pro was a great update to the Mac, as was the new Mac mini...

    It's really easy to claim someone is not successful, if you simply define away anything they were successful at.

    I agree that some of what he is saying is hype... but I also think, some is probably not. They have a lot of money and a lot of long term R&D at work.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:They have had successes, and more to come by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      People joke about the "distortion field", but it seems to me that there's an even stronger one in reverse. Some people are incapable of seeing anything Apple does as anything but a failure. Take the Apple Watch for instance. Not only did Apple go from zero to the biggest watchmaker in the world in under two years, but they now outsell the entire Swiss watchmaking industry combined. And yet there are hordes of people who consider it prime evidence of how badly Apple are failing. You know, that Apple that profits $5m dollars every hour.

    2. Re:They have had successes, and more to come by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      >>It's really easy to claim someone is not successful, if you simply define away anything they were successful at.

      And it is easy to be successful if you claim everything they do is a success.

      FInancially, of course Apple is fine. What you described were iterative improvements on their own (iMac Pro, Mac mini) or other people's (Watch, AirPods) products. That isn't to say these improvements aren't good. But they aren't very innovative, either.

      I share the sentiment of an earlier commenter that their laptops are falling behind, would love to see that addressed as I still prefer MacOS.

    3. Re:They have had successes, and more to come by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Insightful

      None of that has "blown you away."

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    4. Re:They have had successes, and more to come by phantomfive · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Not only did Apple go from zero to the biggest watchmaker in the world in under two years, but they now outsell the entire Swiss watchmaking industry combined.

      You should realize that the Swiss watchmaking industry is not very big. The watch industry is not very big, having been destroyed by the cell phone industry. It's an impressive sounding fact, but a number would give more concreteness and clarity.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    5. Re:They have had successes, and more to come by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People joke about the "distortion field", but it seems to me that there's an even stronger one in reverse. Some people are incapable of seeing anything Apple does as anything but a failure. Take the Apple Watch for instance. Not only did Apple go from zero to the biggest watchmaker in the world in under two years, but they now outsell the entire Swiss watchmaking industry combined. And yet there are hordes of people who consider it prime evidence of how badly Apple are failing. You know, that Apple that profits $5m dollars every hour.

      The "distortion field" is nothing more than a hipster fashion sucker field. Apple sells fashion to the same type of idiots that think Air Jordans are worth $700. I remember the shit I used to get a few years ago when people would ask me why I still had a wristwatch when I had a perfectly good cell phone I could dig out of my pocket if I wanted to know the time. I used to laugh at them when they pulled out their phone every five minutes and hit the button just to see the time. They wouldn't be caught dead with a wristwatch. Oh the indignity of such an anachronism on their arm. You might as well be wearing a stovepipe hat.

      Now the same type of idiots are extolling the virtues of having an Apple watch. OMG! It's soooo awesome. You can read your emails or texts without taking out your phone. You can answer calls. It's the bomb.

      It's suddenly become an onerous chore to dig that phone out. The Apple watch people will always be chasing the latest fad to be part of the in crowd.

      P.T. Barnum was right. There really is a sucker born every minute. Some companies can build a very successful business not on building insanely great products, but selling insanely successful fashion statements to perpetually self-insecure hipsters. As long as the sucker thinks Apple is cool, they will be successful. When the day dawns that Apple is just as cool as MySpace, I hope my 401k has already dumped their stock.

    6. Re:They have had successes, and more to come by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I myself own 3 Swiss watches, a Longines and two Swatches. My other watch is Japanese, a Casio G-shock.

      I wouldn't been dead in a suit in anything other than my Swiss watches. I'd love to have more as these are seriously beautiful when you go above the $1000 mark.

      The G-shock has a solar panel display meaning I never have to change the battery, the main appeal, especially when you have to re-pressurize the seals to keep it waterproof. It's also much tougher than any other watches I have tried. I need this toughness. I've already broken about 3 or 4 g-shock straps. If you know where to look you can find genuine replacements for about $20 and they're easy to put back in yourself.

      How can some silly iwatch compete with either of the reasons I use a watch. I'm not in the mood to take it off every night when I go to sleep or attach myself to a charger, I have a phone for everything the iwatch does and quite frankly all the watches I do use appeal more, either for their durability or their class.

      If I was going to splurge out on a gimmick, unfortunately I use android.

    7. Re:They have had successes, and more to come by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      You should realize that the Swiss watchmaking industry is not very big. The watch industry is not very big, having been destroyed by the cell phone industry. It's an impressive sounding fact, but a number would give more concreteness and clarity.

      The Swiss watchmaking industry is actually quite big. People imagine most of the Swiss watches are made with people putting gears in by hand in some cabin, but the low and middle end Omegas and Rolexes and of course Swatch are all mass produced products on automated production lines.

      Of course, the bigger news about the Apple Watch would be that Apple has turned what was a joke category of product (smart watches) into something respectable.

    8. Re: They have had successes, and more to come by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LOL someone wo talks about not functional craftsmanship. Fucking idiots who pay for meaningless shit.

    9. Re: They have had successes, and more to come by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LOL you use a watch? What a curmudgeon. You are a dinosaur a relic of times gone by. Time to put the watch in a museum.

    10. Re: They have had successes, and more to come by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LOL Fanboi ultimately can't hide his google boner.

    11. Re:They have had successes, and more to come by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      The Swiss watchmaking industry is actually quite big.

      How big?

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    12. Re: They have had successes, and more to come by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yep. And it keeps perfect time all day every day. It's waterproof to 100m. No charging every night. No digging in my pocket to get the time. No praying for a power outlet while waiting in airports. It cost me less than $50. And when the battery runs out in about 10 years, I'll buy a new watch.

    13. Re: They have had successes, and more to come by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because airports don't have clocks every 30 feet

    14. Re:They have had successes, and more to come by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The AirPods are a "hit" only because the current iPhones don't have a headphone jack and non-Apple bluetooth headsets (even top brands like Sony) have annoying interoperability issues with Apple products and cost just as much anyway.

      Is that "success" at anything but fucking over the customer? Gee I don't know.

      How many units of the iMac Pro are they selling? Yes if you build the exact same specs PC the price is fair but nobody does that. What is your metric of success? That it exists?

      We should sing the praises of Apple updating the Mac Mini after four years? Why? Every computer company should update the parts in its computers whenever Intel issues a new generation of CPU. This is the bare minimum customers expect.

      Apple Watch, you got me there, I don't know. I do know that when it came out a lot of people bought one but stopped wearing it pretty quickly. It had pretty severe limitations that made it not useful for more use cases. Are more people wearing it now that it doesn't need to have an iPhone mothership within radio range? Maybe. So I guess hurrah for Apple releasing a product four years too early.

    15. Re: They have had successes, and more to come by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes watches arnet fashion accessories.

    16. Re: They have had successes, and more to come by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Donâ(TM)t know, but estimates are that Apple sold 22.5M watches in 2018. That is at least a $7B business, and it is growing quickly.

      That is small only when compared to the iPhone.

    17. Re: They have had successes, and more to come by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Really, someone who prefers timeless craftsmanship has a "google boner"? You are a fucking idiot, ijunk shill.

    18. Re: They have had successes, and more to come by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      iwatch is an ugly junk that can't last even a month on a charge. Not to mention it has abysmal lifespan, compared to a stupid Timex.
      I've been wearing timex for years, replacing a coin battery each couple of years or so.

    19. Re: They have had successes, and more to come by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What a bizarre thing to say. Do you believe that once people enter an airport they never leave again (except maybe with a new, fully-charged cellphone)?

      Not to mention, I guarantee watch-wearers look at their watches in airports over the clocks, because they know where their watch is but would have to look for the clock.

      You don't want a watch, fine, but the counterarguments are crazy. Here's some truth:

      1. Pocketwatches used to be common, even in an era when clocks were *more* common, and major clocktowers were kind of a big thing.
      2. Wristwatches overtook them because they were more convenient.
      3. Cellphones in pockets, at first, supplemented them because they had different functions.
      4. Some people dropped the wristwatch as redundant.

      Point #2 still stands, and we know that's important to the populace because it *already happened*, en-masse shifts from pockets to wrists. People wore them even though they went to places that had clocks! If sufficient functionality moves to the wrist, then smart watches will overtake pocketwatches again. And even if not, wristwatches will remain. Waterproof, almost-immune-to-batteries, and I wear it when I would not have my phone.

      (all that plus there's a jewelry aspect to wristwatches that pushes price well above value, and which far exceeds the conspicuous consumption of iPhones that people complain about)

    20. Re:They have had successes, and more to come by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ~22.77 billion Swiss Francs

    21. Re: They have had successes, and more to come by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The guy is obviously one of the hipster dickheads I was describing. Of all the points I made, he chose to answer only a minor one and you shot him down pretty hard on that too. He unwittingly proved my point.

    22. Re:They have had successes, and more to come by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They haven't shown anything interesting in *years*.

      Apple is withering on the vine.

      I miss the beautifully built reliable workhorses that they built for many years.

      I bought my first mac in 1984 and have had more than one ever since. This is typed on a mac. I can think of 4 offhand within 100 feet of me right now at home.

      I am pretty sure I will never buy another one. It makes me sad (yeah I'm a loser, whatever) and really wish this wasn't the case. I stopped upgrading to the latest generation about 5 years ago. It is sad to see it happen. Kneecapping final cut was about when everything started going weird.

      Never owned an ipad or iphone.

      They are devolving from an industry leading computer copmany that professionals loved into a gadget company for the phone sucking masses.

    23. Re:They have had successes, and more to come by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Every single one of those were ideas that Jobs had and passed on before he died. I seriously doubt Apple has anything whatsoever in the pipeline other than Jobs' dreams. With him the company is doomed.

    24. Re: They have had successes, and more to come by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They don't have to release a new product every year, but they should do it every few years. It's been YEARS before something was unique to them.

      And if you think the watch was a hit, you're deluding yourself. It's a rounding error on their sheets.

    25. Re:They have had successes, and more to come by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      None of that has "blown you away."

      It blew my wallet away.

  31. Itâ(TM)s going to be HUGE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    In fact so huge you wonâ(TM)t believe it.

  32. Not possible anymore. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    With 10.14 blocking support for NVIDIA cards and Apple refusing to cooperate with NVIDIA so they can bring back the web drivers, macOS is all but dead to me.

    It doesn't matter what they release. They could come out with a new Mac Pro in the classic form factor and it wouldn't matter because their software has critical show stopping issues now that prevent me from using it.

    I used to use Mac stuff in a professional capacity, but it seems like 10.13 is the last macOS for me and once my 2010 Mac Pro dies, I'm off to find other (non-Apple) hardware. Apple has already made it clear NVIDIA and CUDA support is not returning, and without powerful graphics hardware and a mature GPGPU API, I'm dead in the water.

    1. Re:Not possible anymore. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When they switch to ARM and start putting neural engine chips in the laptops with CoreML optimized for it, you aren't going to miss some power hogging space heater from Nvidia. But I agree that in the meantime, MacOS is pretty useless for ML at the moment.

    2. Re:Not possible anymore. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Before you switch to non-Mac, see if you can wait until Apple releases their redesigned Mac Pro, and check it out. A TechCrunch article says that to redesign the Mac Pro, Apple hired "award-winning artists and technicians that are brought in to shoot real projects", and has them run through their regular workflows. Apple watches the pro users work, to see bottlenecks in the workflows, and then fixes the hw or sw problems that cause the bottlenecks.

      If they're listening to their users like that, and fixing bottlenecks, then hopefully they're also improving overall speed.

    3. Re: Not possible anymore. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LOLOLOL!

  33. Was Any Really Disappointed Last Time? by zenasprime · · Score: 1

    WHen they blew everyone away with MacOS Themes... I mean Dark Mode?

  34. Since he promised by SPopulisQR · · Score: 1

    Truth is that Apple was a true pioneer and serious contributor in automating many processes that were analog or manual. Famous Apple software products are true marvels. Now if trend is about to continue and T.Cook is promising some automated blow marvel. What could that be? Auto blow?

  35. Away? by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

    As much as they charge, they should just work on a product that will blow me.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:Away? by sheramil · · Score: 1

      I was thinking it's going to be either a vacuum cleaner or an onahole. Possibly a combination of the two.

  36. Removing Keyboards by HannethCom · · Score: 1

    No, not with your credit card silly!
    You all have phones right?
    You can also use an iPad as a bigger keyboard.

    --
    Microsoft, Apple, Google, Amazon what's the difference? All steal money from devs and control with walled gardens.
  37. In-no-way-vation. by az-saguaro · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I read the article.
    I can't wait for the future.

    " Cook said that Apple is "rolling the dice" on some future products that will "blow you away "
    Thank goodness they are just rolling the dice, and not betting the farm, because the following are all too ho-hum. Yawn.

    " eventual goal is to be able reduce the price of the 2018 Retina MacBook Air "
    That would be nice. Hardly revolutionary. The only minds to be blown are those who cannot believe that Apple would make a budget minded model, and I think their heads are safe for now.

    " in reference to the Apple Watch and the AirPods, there's a long, great roadmap of fantastic products on the horizon "
    They have already risen over the horizon. In the past, Apple moved the industry and society when they founded new concepts, not spinning what's already in the barn.

    " while Cook did not go into more detail "
    There's your sign.

    " rumors have suggested that AirPods coming in the near future will be available in new colors (black) and support and the ability to be wirelessly charged "
    Thank goodness, lack of black is the only thing that has kept me from buying into the Apple ecosystem. And don't all you cynics be discounting the wireless charger - less chance of scratching that beautiful new finish. Now, if they gave you a jar of Turtle Wax with the phone, that would indeed be revolutionary.

    " more ambitious products are also rumored, including a pair of augmented reality smart glasses and perhaps even a full self-driving vehicle "
    AR and VR are certainly hot topics, but that is because everyone else is already making geek goggles (e.g. MS), or already gave it up (Google). Self driving cars - now there's an idea - why didn't anyone think of that before?

    " on the topic of services, goal to double its $25 billion revenue by 2020 "
    Thank goodness, I was starting to think that this was a fabricated story, fake news, but there it is, the real Apple.

    " two new products in the services category, including a new streaming TV service with original shows and a new Apple News service with subscription for a monthly fee "
    Perhaps they should ask Amazon, Google, Netflix, Hulu, MS, and the others for some brotherly advice.

    " Cook also said that Apple is pushing for regulation against tech companies like Facebook and Google that build data profiles of their users. Apple has long been an advocate for customer privacy "
    Okay, good for them. We pay our respects.

    Innovation can be hard, and for every million products made, only one comes along that changes everything. Apple and Jobs used to do that. Now, the Cook in the kitchen is just making re-hash. Why is this even news? (Trick question see above, 2 times $25 billion).

  38. Blown? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've never been a huge apple fan. Nice stuff, and all, but prices. If I'm finally going to get blown, it may be worth the money...

  39. Rolling the dice on future products by fox171171 · · Score: 1

    "rolling the dice" on future products that will just "blow you away."

    "Rolling the dice on future products" is not exactly confidence inspiring.

    I'd translate that to "We haven't got a clue what we're going to pull out of our ass next, but you'll be blown away by the insanely high price that we'll have the gall to charge for it!"

  40. Double service revenue... by QuietLagoon · · Score: 1

    Tim Cook said that service revenue would double in the future. That hardly sounds like productsthat will blow me away. I'm starting to wonder, is Apple's innovation cycle done, and Apple now has to rely upon service to survive?

    1. Re:Double service revenue... by mr_lemonade4796 · · Score: 1

      Yes. Services is the future of Apple revenue. They've said it already, many times, the focus is shifting to services. The ship has sailed on hardware sales. It is a problem for everyone.

  41. Sure by finkployd · · Score: 4, Informative

    You mean a laptop with a keyboard that doesn't suck? I say this as a 10 year MBP user who is getting a Thinkpad next week because it sure feels like they have abandoned the pro market. If I want an OS that is abandoned and turning into iOS and a keyboard that is unusable, I'll be sure to come back :/

    1. Re:Sure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I’d buy a thinkpad also but for Windows. Only thing keeping me a Mac user is macOS and the great iPad Pro hardware. IOS for iPad is so locked down that it makes this amazing tablet useless for anything other than streaming me Aida consumption.

    2. Re:Sure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I need a new laptop and I'm pissed. Used to be able to know I could go to apple and buy a machine I really liked that was blazing fast and a joy to work with. a bit overpriced but close enough to worth it. long gone.

    3. Re:Sure by finkployd · · Score: 1

      I'm with you. I ended up going with a Lenovo X1 Extreme.

    4. Re:Sure by finkployd · · Score: 1

      I've not really seen anything with MacOS that has impressed me in the last several releases. Windows however has been steadily improving. Windows Subsystem for Linux closes a lot of the gap for me.

    5. Re:Sure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just got an Alienware m17 with core i9, 32 GB RAM, 1.5 TB SSD, and a GeForce RTX 2080...it blows me away whilst I blow myself!

  42. Not "blown away" by walterbyrd · · Score: 1

    Seems like incremental improvements to already decent products.

    Nothing wrong with that. But I am not "blown away."

  43. Bye Apple. by s0nspark · · Score: 4, Informative

    I used to be quite a fan of Apple products, going back to the Powerbook days... and for a while it was a pleasure to set aside Linux and Windows in favor of a OSX-powered Macbook. My frustration with their horrible attempts at simplicity and the decline of reliability in macos pushed me back to Linux and that in turn brought me to Windows 10 with WSL. My Apple TV is gone in favor of a Roku with Plex. My company-supplied iPhone is the only Apple product I still use and when I am up for a refresh I will be switching to something Android so I have choices again about how I manage my data and what I can do with my own device. Oh! Did I mention that I have been trying for over EIGHT MONTHS to get Apple to clear an activation lock on a company-purchased phone where the user mistyped his recovery phone number and now can't access his Apple ID? I've been told everything under the sun about what to do and what the result will be. In the end, the group responsible for actually unlocking the phone so we can reset and reissue it only communicates through form letters via email and there is no way to contact them directly. EIGHT MONTHS I have been going round and round... That device will eventually just get thrown away, I guess. I am SO done. Bye Apple.

    1. Re:Bye Apple. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I used to be quite a fan of Apple products, going back to the Powerbook days... and for a while it was a pleasure to set aside Linux and Windows in favor of a OSX-powered Macbook.

      My frustration with their horrible attempts at simplicity and the decline of reliability in macos pushed me back to Linux and that in turn brought me to Windows 10 with WSL. My Apple TV is gone in favor of a Roku with Plex. My company-supplied iPhone is the only Apple product I still use and when I am up for a refresh I will be switching to something Android so I have choices again about how I manage my data and what I can do with my own device.

      Oh! Did I mention that I have been trying for over EIGHT MONTHS to get Apple to clear an activation lock on a company-purchased phone where the user mistyped his recovery phone number and now can't access his Apple ID? I've been told everything under the sun about what to do and what the result will be. In the end, the group responsible for actually unlocking the phone so we can reset and reissue it only communicates through form letters via email and there is no way to contact them directly. EIGHT MONTHS I have been going round and round... That device will eventually just get thrown away, I guess.

      I am SO done. Bye Apple.

      Liar

    2. Re:Bye Apple. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe them. apple is shit.

  44. Another crock of apple bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    who is stupid enough to believe this crap?

  45. No they were not iterative by SuperKendall · · Score: 2

    iterative improvements on their own (iMac Pro, Mac mini) or other people's (Watch, AirPods) products.

    I'll grant the Mac improvements were more iterative.

    But AirPods and the Apple Watch were not at all iterative. AirPods had quite a lot of innovation all in one, from the charging case to the custom pairing method that was WAY easier than any other bluetooth device I had ever set up before.

    The Apple Watch even moreso - just like with the iPhone, it seems like no-one can remember what a horrible piece of crap smart watches were before the Apple Watch. I know as I had a few Pebbles - I really, really wanted that platform to do well but there way simply no denying how much heads and shoulders better the AppleWatch was by any measure. It was a true leap and the truth of that is evident in how weak competition is against it even now, years later.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:No they were not iterative by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 0

      The wealthiest tech company in the world's biggest product for more than a year is a marginally better pair of wireless headphones? This is the company that was playing "Knowledge Navigator" at Epcot in the 80's.

      The Watch is only popular among people who didn't mind wearing the Casio calculator. People who insist on fashion aren't even in the market and that would have killed Jobs's soul. Even Motorola's watches are more stylish.

      If anything Apple should be praised for ongoing software improvements to enable lifestyle computing with a half-decent security architecture (unless you live in China). The most likely next Apple product won't have a screen - it'll be AI-powered helpers that make a difference to normal people. How much more does iPad hardware need to improve, really?

      Unfortunately they're pricing themselves out of the normal-people market at the same time. It's not clear what their mission even is going into the 2020's.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    2. Re:No they were not iterative by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      People who insist on fashion aren't even in the market

      There has actually so much publicity around this all I can assume is that you are a liar.

      Didn't even read the rest of your post, nor will I read a response as I find it pointless to discuss anything with people who simply lie outright to try and "win".

      Straighten up buddy.

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  46. Riiight by slashmydots · · Score: 1

    The only thing they're going to blow away is their stock price.

  47. Especiall if thos le Nazis ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... have been your former colleagues, and will be your future colleagues again, and the only reason you idiot do this, is to make Russia, France and Great Britain, who *actually* do the job and are already "way too close" to winning against^Wwithout you, believe you'te not on the Nazi side, and forget about you doing all that business with the Nazis, keeping your own concentration camps and racism and nationalism, and planning on hiring all the nasty Nazi scienists and concentration camp doctors. (Operation Paperclip.)

    You can downmod this comment, but you cannot run away from reality. Even if the Catholiban leaders tell you you can.

    Prism, Prism on the wall, who is the biggest Nazi of 'em all!?

    1. Re: Especiall if thos le Nazis ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just ignore the orders of magnitude in scale...

  48. Here is what I'm reading :-) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...future products that will just "blow you credit card away."

  49. We are talking about Applle users here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Where even the women are gay men.

  50. Apple has lost most of is appeal ... by Qbertino · · Score: 2

    ... to me.

    No viable affordable low end models anymore. MS style hoops to jump through to get xcode. Flaky OS lately. Obscenely priced mobile hardware - although I have to admit that people lap that shit up like it's no tomorrow.

    This is why Apple is making such obscene amounts of money. Apple its first and foremost a fashion brand these days. They really don't need to care what experts think.

    Hence I'm back to Linux as my main OS. I miss the hard and software integration, but that's the smaller price to pay right now. AFAIAC they need to really get back to 2003 form again if they want me interested again. 13 inch iBook g4 was their high point for me. MB air a close second.

    --
    We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
    1. Re:Apple has lost most of is appeal ... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      No viable affordable low end models anymore.

      The only one they ever had was the original Mini. All the other ones were huge pains in the ass, or just garbage like Performas. Mac II series had cases that were works of art, especially the IIci. Performas had nasty cheap sharp metal like a budget PC. And of course, later minis have been castrated, yet not cheaper. All iMacs are torturous to service...

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  51. Tim Cook does not get it ... by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 2

    We want a 17" (or more!) Mac Book Pro, call it Expert Book if you want.
    With:
          o perhaps a touch screen
          o build in iOS emulator, to run some apps
          o enough ports, and not silly removal of ports so we need dozens of dongles, removing the SD card slot e.g. was just plain stupid, my old 17" even has a PCMCIA it is super useful
          o RAM ... a Pro should have RAM
          o true function keys - if you want add a glowing touch bar on top of it, I don't mind
          o a fullscreen mode that works again, not the silly one we have at the moment
          o perhaps: display the content of one window on a external screen/projector (I have dozens of ideas like this and wonder why no one does that)
        o oh, and a SIM card slot would be nice, it simply sucks to pair the Mac with a Phone to have mobile internet (yeah, not a priority, I bought a mobile hot spot long ago).

    And as people are complaining about the non useable keyboards at the moment, perhaps you want to go back to the 2014/2013 keyboards?

    I'm basically at the point joining the Hackintosh community ...

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    1. Re:Tim Cook does not get it ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We just want a new improved version of the Macbook Pro 2015 Retina. That's what we got with the new Mini, would it be so difficult? My 2015 is getting old, and the new ones suck (I used one for a year at work.)

      Oh, and a Siri device that works like Alexa. You guys completely lost your lead on that one, and nobody understands how that happened, except that we do, because we know that you guys started navel-gazing instead of changing the world.

      You've done the hard part Apple, all my iDevices and Macs 'know' about each other. Now get them to talk and interoperate like Amazon is doing with Alexa. All this iHome stuff is cool, now do the Apple thing and get it to work automatically so I don't have to futz with it.

    2. Re:Tim Cook does not get it ... by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 1
      I have a 17" MBP too, and have refused to even consider buying a new one with the current sizes. I like some of the suggestions you made, however, you seem to be mixing software & hardware features together.

      perhaps a touch screen

      Gimicky & would run up cost. There's no real advantage to a touch screen on a laptop, it is an inferior method of input compared to the keyboard & mouse.

      true function keys - if you want add a glowing touch bar on top of it, I don't mind

      I have a touchbar on my 2018 15" MacBook Pro at work, and don't find it useful at all. Just function keys without the touchbar would be preferable.

      perhaps: display the content of one window on a external screen/projector (I have dozens of ideas like this and wonder why no one does that)

      It can already do that, unless I don't understand what you mean.

      --
      Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
    3. Re:Tim Cook does not get it ... by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      It can already do that, unless I don't understand what you mean.
      Have an icon on the window, so its contents is "streamed" to a second screen, but the window remains on the main screen, so you can continue using the other windows (even bring some to front etc.) without covering the stuff on the other screen. That way presentations etc. are much more easy.

      Touch screens are extremely useful, especially if you one worked with one.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  52. Correction by Artem+S.+Tashkinov · · Score: 2

    "Blow your wallet away."

    There, fixed it for you

  53. Military by Njovich · · Score: 2

    Looks like the military has found a new partner after Google dropping out. Not really the 'blowing away' you were looking for, but certainly nice for the shareholders.

  54. RDF effect? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Someone under the influence of an Reality Distortion Field? :-)

  55. New Products by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That blow us away eh? I'm looking forward to the release of the new iLeaf Blower from Apple.

  56. Blown away as... by LordHighExecutioner · · Score: 2

    ...Samsung Galaxy 7 owners ?!?

  57. Right to repair by BeemanIT · · Score: 2

    Forgot to say their Legal dept was figuring out new ways to kill small business and the right to repair the idevice you paid for.

  58. I'm sure by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    Knowing Tim and how "innovative" and "courageous" he is, it's quite likely that it's gonna blow, all right...

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  59. Re:After all these years apple still does not get by pauljlucas · · Score: 1

    Given their current stock price and that they were the first trillion dollar company, apparently they get it just fine and are content with allegedly not providing technology for the masses.

    --
    If you reply, do so only to what I explicitly wrote. If I didn't write it, don't assume or infer it.
  60. Pricing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Remember, it wasn't very long ago that the cheapest Macbook could be purchased for less than $1000. So Cook's "goal" of eventually reducing the price of the $1200 2018 Retina Macbook Air is completely arbitrary. Apple is now pretending to be the good guy by possibly reducing prices on the same (or similar) products which they drastically raised the prices of recently.

    Does Tim Cook think that the public has no long-term memory? Declining sales of the recently jacked-up sky-high prices of the latest iPhones says "no".

    1. Re:Pricing by jsepeta · · Score: 1

      Note that Apple has changed their focus from "unit sales" to "activated iphones" to mask the effect of flagging sales. And this happened because they jacked up the price of the flagship phone from $500 to $1500. Most people simply don't have that much disposable income, and even the "lower priced" $700 model is adequate for 3-5 years.

      I wish Tim Cook would stop talking and do more:
      1) listen to customers. the keyboard on the MacBook Pro is fucking unusable for anyone who needs to type for more than a couple of minutes. It's frustratingly horrible.
      2) Mac Pro doesn't need to cost $10,000+. Just add Thunderbolt, USB-C and USB-3.x to the damned thing, along with support for new Xeon processors
      3) Mac an inexpensive laptop in the $500 range for education. It doesn't need to be the thinnest - it needs to be indestructible.

      --
      Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
  61. Re:You're the world's most boring faggot Kendall by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    POS comment by a POS person

  62. I work at Apple and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm in a closet on coffee break, I need to be quick before I am discovered. I am a product designer at Apple and Apple will definitely blow your socks off with... OMG someone's coming... WHOA! That was CLOSE! Luckily they just had a quickie and left without noticing me.

    Anyway... Prepare yourself... We are introducing the new iPhone LIV!

          * 54" of HiDef Micro-E-LCD-LSD Touch Screen display
          * Internal Nuclear Reactor for charges that can last 24 hours or more without needing to be plugged in!
          * 38 128MP cameras strategically located on the device that allow you to capture your entire world
          * 128TB EMC PowerMax Storage to store your favorite Podcasts and Music (and our surveillance data)
          * 256 Core Blade that Supports up to 24 virtual OS instances - one for each member of your family!
          * Standard headphone input jack

    As soon as we figure out how to get it to make a phone call, it will be released!

  63. Leaked. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This has already been leaked: rose gold headphone dongles.

    They are coming people. Apple fan boys: Start camping at the Apple store now to make sure you get the new dongles.

  64. Sold in Korea as... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...the iDeath.

  65. innovations? 10 off the top of my head: by bussdriver · · Score: 1

    1) replaceable parts? like legos... now you can upgrade your RAM, easily! (but only with Apple RAM with it's special lego shape to make everything easier!)

    2) remove all audio from apple computers. courageous new USB dongles!

    3) wireless laptop charging stands-- no more charging cables! just buy a stand for everywhere you go!

    4) Remember how Apple invented a way to tell time by putting a screen to your smart phone on your wrist?
    Now you can do math with a tiny tablet the size of a pack of cards without having to pull out your smart phone... we call it... the iCalc. It does math!

    5) Sick of cables and losing wireless mics for talking on your phone? Now wear an apple badge and live like it's Star Trek... It is a nice big white Apple logo so everybody can see you are an Apple user.

    6) Apple Electric Car: it has it's on BAR and wifi and drives for you. Just drive everywhere Siri knows about and trust Apple Maps to get you to your destinations. With full Yelp and Facebook integration so everybody can know everywhere you go.

    7) Apple ID: We all know you love using your Apple account! Now, everything you do will require your Apple account and we've teemed up with Governments so you no longer need a Photo ID-- it's on your iPhone! You can wirelessly hand your ID to the police without having to give them your phone!

    8) Oh, and don't worry about privacy, our new AI will know from your expressions that you are being forced to unlock your phone. You can bypass this feature by painting your face black and blue if you truly need still get in...

    9) Non "PRO" models will be rebranded as "CHEAP" and their prices will remain the same.

    10) iParent. Since most parents have handed their children over to us already, we've taught Siri to be a parent. Now you will have more time for Facebook because you know your children but knowing they will finally get the parenting you haven't had the time to give them in your busy modern life.

    1. Re:innovations? 10 off the top of my head: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > 5) Sick of cables and losing wireless mics for talking on your phone? Now wear an apple badge and live like it's Star Trek... It is a nice big white Apple logo so everybody can see you are an Apple user.

      Seeing the airpods in the train every day, so people like to show that they have overprized apple stuff. Combine that with people that like to make sure everyone can hear their music and conversations. I'm pretty sure this joke would actually be a hit. So don't give them ideas!

    2. Re:innovations? 10 off the top of my head: by mr_lemonade4796 · · Score: 1

      >5) Sick of cables and losing wireless mics for talking on your phone? Now wear an apple badge and live like it's Star Trek... It is a nice big white Apple logo so everybody can see you are an Apple user. You can already get Star Trek badge bluetooth devices. It has an authentic chirps when you get a call, touch it to answer and live in the future!

  66. iGun? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I was thinking they would pick up those military contracts that Google and Microsoft staff have opposed.

  67. What's he supposed to say? "Put a fork in Apple... by jsepeta · · Score: 1

    As long as Tim Cook doesn't promise 'Magical' products I'm ok with it. However I'd like to ask him personally if he thinks having a shit-ton of dongles hanging off your products was Jonny Ive's best design.

    --
    Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
  68. Courage... by mschaffer · · Score: 0

    Maybe they will have the courage to fix the notch problem by having the courage to remove the screen from the iPhone? After all, every red-blooded iPhan has an iPad and an iWatch.

  69. Services are not "products" Tim by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fix your laptops and desktops!

    You know, actual products. Hardware.

  70. Will blow North-Koreans away by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Finally, a secret weapon more powerful than Little Kim's nuclear rockets! Now that's what I call the art of the deal.

  71. "Reduce the price" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > Cook went on to say that Apple's eventual goal is to be able reduce the price of the 2018 Retina MacBook Air, which currently starts at $1,200

    Apple's *never* been in the business of "reducing the price" of any of its products.

    They'll do everything in their power to reduce their *cost*, but not their price. Reducing their price has *never* been stated as one of Apple's goals.

  72. On popular demand... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... Apple will happily pay its taxes in Europe.

  73. New ideas? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'd like Apple to come out with someting revolutionary - like a good projected keyboard for your phone, or a set of VR augmented glasses that work and aren't obtrusive. Have them hooked up to the AirPods. These have already been done, but not well.

    Foldable laptop scrren with projected keyboard , or VR gloves- have your laptop in a nice little modular, compact package, and have it syncable to your TV or a bigger screen for doing serious work, or gaming.

  74. doesn't sound good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the ipod was revolutionary, so was the iphone.

    dropping the price of a laptop is in a whole different (little) league

    if they released a touchscreen tablet running osx that could outperform the most powerful desktops and was truly useable with just your fingers for professional cad, video, image, audio and all the other 'heavy' tasks.

    that would be cool.

  75. Blow me away? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How about products that blow me?

  76. Cook needs to RESIGN by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Words from Cook are worse than meaningless, because I have SEEN what has become of Apple under Cook's "leadership". Apple has been making products which quite simply are not worth buying, at least not for people who are both smart and are paying attention.

    Cook is the wrong person for the job of leading Apple.

    If Cook remains in control, I am DONE buying Apple products.

    How many more symptoms need to occur before the Apple Board tells Cook he needs to leave. Apple cannot ride on Jobs' reputation any more, and all the talk about "future products" from Cook is just a bad joke.

  77. Re:After all these years apple still does not get by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Given their current stock price and that they were the first trillion dollar company, apparently they get it just fine and are content with allegedly not providing technology for the masses.

    -

    WRONG..

    The current financial state of Apple is due to momentum which was created when Jobs was involved. Once that momentum disappears, reality will set in and pronouncements like yours will be revealed to be the clueless idiocy they always were. That's right, you don't have a clue, because you stupidly assume the present is a predictor of the future. I find your stupidity amusing, but don't quit your day job and try to make a living predicting the success of a company, because you will starve, son.

  78. Re:After all these years apple still does not get by sad_ · · Score: 1

    Hi Tramiel, how are you doing? :)

    --
    On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
  79. Re:After all these years apple still does not get by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    Apple's niche has never been "masses" and I don't think they'd do well at it. They've almost always targeted the top 15% or so of consumers and have made a nice living off them (except for the mid 1990's). Why change your spots? Some make Porches, some make Chevy's, both exist in the marketplace and serve different customers.

  80. Correction [Re:After all these years appl] by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    Correction: "Porsches"

  81. Re:What's he supposed to say? "Put a fork in Apple by mr_lemonade4796 · · Score: 1

    I am sure someone reminded Cook not to use the word 'Magical'

  82. SOCK PUPPET ALERT! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    udachny is a sock puppet of roman_mir. the latter uses the former to try to convince more people that the foundational principles of his cult are righteous and sane. they both often post at -1 (and have their postings limited here on slashdot) because they have poor karma scores here as a result of repeated abusive behavior and their consistent religious proselytizing that is seldom on topic with the discussion thread. don't let him convince you that his doctrine would actually benefit you, or even result in him being less offensive.

  83. if you have to ask... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you have to ask, you just won't understand.

  84. Apple and oranges by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Comparing what Cook said to what Musk said is like comparing Apple and oranges. (rimshot) Like Trump, Musk's tweets are often fake news. Everyone knows this, the SEC was very clear about this, and a court upheld the SEC's opinion. The contemptible Musk and his fanbois bitch and moan about it though Musk were not free to use Twitter at all. However, as far as the SEC is concerned Musk could stick with what he does best by tweeting about divers being pedophiles because they dare to scorn his worthless and useless "inventions"?