Mac at 25: What's next for Apple's Mac?
 HardwareOne look at our gallery of Macs through the years is enough to demonstrate just how far the personal computing industry has come from the days of bulky plastic and tiny screens to products like the MacBook Air.Desktop computers seem likely to get smaller and larger; smaller in that people will consider even a Mac Mini too big for their home electronics cabinet, and larger in that they will get assimilated into various other household gadgets such as televisions and home security systems. The other trend that will eventually come to roost is the home server which is not for the faint of heart at the moment but seems eventually destined for every home. Apple will have some answer to that market as it develops, and the Cupertino probably won't call it a server. Smart phones like the iPhone are, indeed, all the rage, but they aren't going to displace notebook computers with real screens and real keyboards. Reasonable people can disagree on how big those screens and keyboards may be, but any real work or real entertainment will require something larger than a handheld gadget. The MacBook will continue to evolve with existing features like solid-state drives and multitouch gesture inputs joining science-fair projects such as flexible displays and advanced voice recognition technologies. One of the main questions around the Mac in 2008 was whether or not Apple would bow to a coming recession by either cutting the price of its MacBooks or introducing a so-called Netbook. It's hard to imagine Apple fighting with its PC counterparts on the bargain shelves with the basic MacBook lineup, but if the cost of computing power continues to decline as performance flatlines, cost-cutting might happen on its own without poisoning Apple's margins. And few would be surprised to see Apple come out with its own take on the Netbook if the trend toward that style of computing keeps going, recent comments notwithstanding. Tags: Apple iPhone, Apple Macintosh, PC, Apple iLife, computer |
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Devlin says...
There is no denying that the Mac is a mature product. I happen to be one of those people that are always taken in by newer technology (both hardware and software), but after owning my MacBook Pro which happens to be my second Mac the newer unibody Macs don't do it for me anymore. Now it's more about aesthetics to me and how I prefer my last generation MBP and 1st gen iPhone over the current offerings because of their mostly metal bodies.
That is not to say I won't purchase another Mac, now it'll only be after my current one dies which I hope is well into the next generation.
There is no telling what can happen in a quarter century but for the immediate future, at least, these are what I think we'll be seeing in Macs to come:
1. Solid-State Drives offered as standard equipment
2. Blu-Ray drives
3. HD resolution on the 15" MacBook Pro (and possibly the MacBook after that)
4. Higher resolution iSight camera
5. Multitouch screens in conjunction with multitouch touchpads
Jan 29, 2009 17:55
There is no denying that the Mac is a mature product. I happen to be one of those people that are always taken in by newer technology (both hardware and software), but after owning my MacBook Pro which happens to be my second Mac the newer unibody Macs don't do it for me anymore. Now it's more about aesthetics to me and how I prefer my last generation MBP and 1st gen iPhone over the current offerings because of their mostly metal bodies.
That is not to say I won't purchase another Mac, now it'll only be after my current one dies which I hope is well into the next generation.
There is no telling what can happen in a quarter century but for the immediate future, at least, these are what I think we'll be seeing in Macs to come:
1. Solid-State Drives offered as standard equipment
2. Blu-Ray drives
3. HD resolution on the 15" MacBook Pro (and possibly the MacBook after that)
4. Higher resolution iSight camera
5. Multitouch screens in conjunction with multitouch touchpads
Jan 29, 2009 17:55
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