It’s very easy to forget the past, and the mistakes you made. Just keeping up is difficult, and sometimes the situation changes enough that you might want to revisit something you tried before, something that failed. Maybe it’s just worth giving it another try in the hope that there will be a different result.

And, no, I won’t consider that old saw that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is a classic definition of insanity.

Back in the early days of the Mac, Apple was urged to license the operating system. Do what Microsoft does, they said, and thus earn license fees from all those companies who will license the OS and expand the platform. After all, giving customers a wider choice of hardware has to help build a larger user base.

Continue Reading…

So Apple will probably have more iPad updates in the coming weeks or months. But that takes us back to Apple’s “other” entry in the personal computer space, the Mac. Where are the spring Mac refreshes? Are there going to be any?

More to the point, when Apple CEO Tim Cook asserts that the company loves its pro users, what are they going to do to express that feeling? Will there be new versions of Final Cut Pro X and Logic Pro X? How about the languishing Mac Pro? Does Apple really believe that the 2013 version of Apple’s workstation met the standards of the creative and professional communities? If it was a misfire, do they make some changes or give it up?

Some argue that Apple really doesn’t get pros anymore, even though it’s a market segment that really helped keep the Mac platform afloat, especially during the dark days of the 1990s before Steve Jobs returned to the company. There’s little doubt that the Power Macintosh G5 and the original versions of the Mac Pro surely meet the needs of many pro users. Almost identical from the exterior, they contained sufficient space for extra hard drives and expansion cards. The original Mac Pro even had two CPU slots. But with the tiny 2013 model, it reverted to a single CPU slot (although up to 12 cores are available), with half the RAM slots and no room for extra expansion cards and drives. Everything was supposed to be connected externally.

As of spring of 2017, that Mac Pro remains on sale at the same price, except for a reduction in the cost of an SSD upgrade. Critics argue that, if Apple didn’t intend to upgrade this model and plans to allow it to languish for a few years before putting it out to pasture, the price should have been reduced. After all, there are faster CPUs, faster graphics chips, and don’t forget the advantages of Thunderbolt 3 performance for creatives.

Indeed, you have to wonder why Apple didn’t simply upgrade the parts, something that could be done for a modest R&D expense, and keep the model current. At least it would reassure Mac users that Apple really cares about the platform and its most profitable customers.

Since the iMac is clearly Apple’s most popular desktop machine, it will no doubt receive a modest refresh soon, possibly with the Intel Kaby Lake processors and speedier graphics. The external ports may change from Thunderbolt 2 and USB 3.0 to USB-C/Thunderbolt 3. No doubt there will be complaints about having to buy adapters and dangles and such, but that, too, shall pass.

I’ve even lobbied for a specialty iMac, a 27-inch “pro” version with a faster Intel CPU, a higher-performance graphics chip capable of running two external 5K displays, and a pair of SSDs. Since the current model comes with a Fusion Drive, consisting of a standard hard drive and an SSD, the dual-SSD setup will be no big deal. This combo, which will no doubt put a high-end iMac with a pair of 2TB SSDs at over $5,000, would still be a bargain compared to a Mac Pro. A top-of-the-line Mac Pro is already pushing $10,000 without considering the cost of two large SSDs (if it had the space).

Perhaps an eight-core Intel i7 won’t quite match the capabilities of a 12-core Intel Xeon in number crunching, but it might be a worthy compromise for many people. It doesn’t mean there will be no market for the Mac Pro, but it’ll be a smaller market.

But it’s not as if Apple listens to me. Clearly there’s a marketing plan afoot, and that marketing plan no doubt does not include an iMac Pro or any fundamental expansion of that model beyond what it does now. To be sure, a top-of-the-line unit, with an SSD and the best CPU and graphics chip Apple has to offer, will exceed the performance of a Mac Pro in single-core functions. Maybe even quad-core, but when an app needs more, the Mac Pro gains ascendancy. Obviously, you can add more external stuff to the Mac Pro.

Based on Cook’s commitment, I’ll just assume there are plans afoot to upgrade the Mac Pro. I am sure lots of people would like to see a larger model, one that has a decent amount of external expansion. I don’t know what sort of feedback Apple receives for the current model, but it can’t be pretty.

I’d also like to see a refresh for the Mac mini. It is just the perfect computer for many people who don’t need lots of power, and maybe have an older display and a set of input devices at hand. They also make decent no-frills servers. I even ran all of my sites on one for a while as a test, and I doubt anyone noticed.

In any case, there is lots of potential for Apple to do good things this year. The iPad refresh may not have been encouraging, but I hope it was only a low-key beginning, and that the excitement is only beginning. Maybe.

As most of you know, the latest iPad is sort of a throwback. It reverts to the original name — it’s evidently considered to be a fifth generation model — and uses an older form factor. So instead of the one utilized by the iPad Air 2, it reverts to the slightly thicker and heavier iPad Air design. More than likely, the difference won’t be that noticeable unless you place them side by side, but still…

One excuse is that the new model uses an A9 processor, instead of the A8X installed in the iPad Air 2, which was released in 2014. Thus it allegedly runs hotter and maybe requires a thicker case to better circulate the heat? If that’s true, how does one explain the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, which uses the iPad Air 2 case? It contains an A9X chip, meaning it’s faster than the A9. Hotter? I wouldn’t say, except that I haven’t read that many reports of overheated iPads. But it does raise suspicions about the presumed logic behind the change.

It’s not that Apple is going to tell us, right?

Now it may well be that it costs just a wee bit less to use the older form factor, and thus Apple is saving money and passing that savings onto us. I’ll go with that, although I can’t see whether it would be more than a few dollars. The other possibility is to better differentiate this “mainstream” iPad from the iPad Pro.

Now I suppose that Apple could be asked to explain the reasoning behind this decision. Maybe it’ll make perfect sense if they were to say something, anything. But that will probably never happen. For some reason, the media, when granted the opportunity to interview an Apple executive, never seems to ask questions such as this one. Or maybe Apple is putting so many restrictions on what the media can ask that we’ll just have to speculate.

Or maybe it’s not worth the bother. I’ll go with that.

Now it appears that Wall Street has recovered from its initial shock about subpar iPad upgrades. After dropping a point or two, the stock price was rising again as of Tuesday. Perhaps investors have come to realize that we’re barely three months into the year, and Apple has plenty of time to deliver more compelling upgrades across its product lines. Perhaps the first iPad refresh was done to get some new product into the channel before the quarter ended, and concentrate on the rest for the second quarter and beyond.

Or perhaps this lower-cost product is critical in helping to improve on Apple’s declining share in the educational market.

So will there be a 10.5-inch iPad Pro with an edge-to-edge display, as rumored? If that’s the case, would it make sense to keep the existing model in the lineup in refreshed form, or sell it for less? That would be in keeping with Apple’s previous practice. At least the iPad’s somewhat confusing lineup of current and back catalog has been simplified, so maybe Apple has prepared us for something better.

Besides, it’s not as if Apple has given up on iPad promotion. I was watching the streaming version of one of The CW’s super hero shows this afternoon and, among the ads were one or two featuring the iPad. Apple was touting the models offering a cellular connection. But you’d still have to justify paying $130 extra for the privilege regardless of model.

There are also published reports that code discovered in the dark recesses of the forthcoming iOS 10.3 update may allow for more flexible use of the Apple Pencil with higher refresh rates. Or perhaps there’s a new model under development; an Apple Pencil 2?

Indeed, it also points to one of the best things Apple can do to address the iPad’s productivity limits. Having True Tone displays with a wider color gamut, more CPU power and cameras that more closely match those in the latest iPhones will help a little. At the end of the day, however, the main issue is the OS. Most the things that keep me from using an iPad for productivity can be laid on iOS and its multitasking limitations.

After all, if you’re going to run productivity apps on some sort of PC replacement or successor, you’ll no doubt want to be able to easily switch among several apps and different documents. The multitasking constraints in iOS 10 don’t make that terribly easy. And what about managing and merging multiple assets or files as you can with a traditional PC, and being able to flexibly upload them to places other than iCloud and similar services?

Some might argue that the iPad — and the iPhone for that matter — shouldn’t offer multitasking that mimics what’s offered on a Mac. Apple should be taking you “beyond” the PC with a more modern, flexible environment. But there are still tasks that people expect to accomplish on this new-fangled machine if they want to give up their Macs and Windows boxes.

Right, there are certain tasks that remain the province of the “truck.” But even if the iPad is the “car,” it’s still far short of the capabilities it needs. Apple doesn’t have to mirror macOS in making the iPad more productive. Surely the OS architects at Apple can devise innovative ways to expand your opportunities to be creative without repeating the PC-oriented ways of doing things. Aren’t there better solutions?

Once iOS offers additional productivity features, I sure there are app developers who will be only too happy to take advantage of those features.

For several weeks there have been rumors, taken credibly, that Apple was planning some fairly major iPad upgrades any time now. This after a long dry spell throughout 2016 during which a single new model was introduced, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, based on the iPad Air 2. With falling sales, there were growing concerns that Apple’s tablet — despite being number one in a declining market — was not getting the attention it deserved.

Or maybe Apple was figuring out what to do with it.

In recent weeks, Apple has been promoting the iPad anew in web and TV ads, and there were growing rumors of a spring media event in which the iPad Pro, both sizes, would be refreshed, and an all-new 10.5-inch edge-to-edge form factor would be launched. You’d come to believe it to be true in light of all the specifics that were published about specs and features.

This had to be a no-brainer, right?

Well, maybe it will be. But not yet. So on Monday afternoon, there was notice on Apple’s site about a maintenance window for Apple’s online store on Tuesday morning. It would appear to coincide with the usual times new products are launched, so anticipation grew.

Until the store was upgraded that is.

So there was an iPad update all right, more or less. But it was underwelming, to put it mildly. The sole new model was a cheaper 9.7-inch iPad with some upgraded components, including an A9 processor. Curiously, Apple is using the original iPad Air case rather than the somewhat thinner and lighter iPad Air 2 design. Perhaps this was done to keep the price down, since it lists for $329 for the standard 32GB version. An optional 128GB configuration is $429. The Cellular version is $130 additional in either configuration.

The model name reverts to the original without the model generation or other identifiers — iPad.

The iPad mini 4 receives a storage upgrade to 128GB. The single model lists, curiously, for $399, plus the usual $130 for Cellular, and you wonder just how many people will pay more money for less tablet, even if the storage capacity is higher. After all, the maxed out iPad is only $30 more. The iPad mini 2 is history.

Now I have reviewed most of the regular-sized iPads over the years — and even had the 12.9-inch iPad Pro in here for a couple of months. This one, however, I’m going to pass by, if only because I fail to see that it will offer anything significant for iPad customers, other than a way to upgrade a vintage model, or get one at much lower price with slightly better performance.

The title of a old pop song, “Is That All There Is?” comes to mind.

But I want to be fair to Apple. Perhaps this simplified model lineup, an iPhone SE with greater storage capabilities at the same prices, and PRODUCT(RED) versions of the the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, were all meant to buy some time.

Perhaps there will be more new iPads over the next few months, and perhaps some long-awaited updates to Mac desktops. Maybe there will be a media event to launch this new gear, but the products just aren’t quite ready to launch.

I would prefer not to believe that the rumors of a new iPad form factor were wrong, since there appears to be enough credibility in them to indicate that they come from the usual Asian supply chain sources. Recent rumors have even mentioned possible production delays.

On the other hand, this move may only buttress the complaints of some of Apple’s critics that the company has run out of good ideas. What about the curious form-factor change with the iPad, and why did Apple abandon the thinner and lighter version and revert to an older design? Was it to better differentiate the “Pro” versions? How much money is Apple saving by this move?

I wouldn’t presume to suggest the iPad will suddenly become more popular in the remaining days of this quarter. Even if the expected new models had arrived, there would hardly be enough time to make a significant difference. Apple’s standard press release treatment is hardly conducive to increasing demand, nor is the publicity it generated.

Still, I am optimistic that Apple does have a long-range plan for the iPad intended to restore its luster. So this lame product upgrade should only be regarded as the first of many. Despite such reality checks, Apple’s stock price predictably declined somewhat as a result of the less-than-stellar news. There will probably be a few weeks of fear-mongering before Apple finally gets some more products out the door.

Will it even hurt this quarter’s sales? Well, Apple no doubt figured all that in its usually conservative guidance, so the answer is probably not.

In any case, I look forward to the next press release — or maybe there will be a real media event the next time.