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I just hope those new Mactel DON'T have an "Intel Inside" sticker on them!

"Intel-based Mac mini"

Price it at $299. Take the margin hit. Grow the installed base. Make a Mac mini / iPod combo offer.

The switch to Intel chips is a mistake.

An Apple a day keeps the Virus away. Another reason to buy Apples. Woohoo.

Please stop calling it MacTel. There are no MacBM's or MacOrolas

there is no reason why I can't keep low-end machines/laptops Intel based, and the super power machines stay PowerPC.

and if things have gone really well with the switch of OS X to run on both processors, the Mac mini is the perfect machine to switch first, with little to no 3rd party software ready - because the mini is all about the built-in apps and iLife. Period.

Just for you, HAMMER.

I agree. "MacTel" just sounds old-fashioned. Reminds me of "Ma Bell". Outdated terminology and references.

How about just . . . Macs.

MacTel MacTel MacTel MacTel MacTel Developers Developers Developers Developers Developers... oh, wait a minute!

"Emporer Gates, they're releasing the new MacMini ahead of schedule".

"Darth Balmer, what shall I do with you. You don't have the slightest clue, do you?"

"No my lord but I have many spies in the rebel Apple Alliance. They can't beat Windows, we're far too powerful for them now".

"Gooood, now leave me so I can continue testing my new secret weapon for infecting Macs from Xbox and iPod connections".

If this is true, I'll be in line to get one of the first ones in January then...

Ampar,

I'm inclined to agree with you that that would be a killer marketing move, it just doesn't jibe with Apple's strategy to date. They sell things they think they can make a profit on.

A nice outcome would be if they received such a huge price break on the Intel chipsets and other components (due to those components being commoditized for x86), that they actually could produce a Mac mini for $299, and still make a profit.

OT: Rumors of a release of a PB 15 first, and perhaps discontinuation of the 12"?

Something reminds me of the way rumour sites covered that the new iPod mini would feature a new color screen, but missed the fact that the iPod mini was being replaced by a whole new product line.

So I suspect there will be a significant realignment of their protable product line.

A new ultraportable class?

Somewhat bigger more consumer/student oriented iBooks, in personalized colors and maybe more on the appearance front.

!5, 17, 19 inch PowerBook series, maybe not that much smaller than the current series, because...

The zillions of ports are limit to how thin you can make a full-featured laptop.

USB2 is pretty nice in this regard, but ethernet?

Maybe we're headed for a USB2 (or 3) future with thinner powered connectors for slimmer devices.

And perhaps I should stop rambling now...

A new ultraportable with built-in iSight and mic, combo drive, USB2, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB HD and backlit keyboard would be sweet.

I’ve been predicting a January MW announcement with a late January ship date since the move to Intel announcement last June. All you had to do is listen to SJ’s very carefully chosen WWDC words to know there was no way it was going to take a year. He was merely giving himself a roomy safety net, with perhaps a dash of indirection to stave off any Osborne myth effect.

I agree, though, that it would be best to stay dual platform, keeping PPC for the high-end Macs. That’s the part of the announcement which didn’t make any sense to me (i.e. a complete transition to Intel). I suspect politics may have played into that. If so, it would be easy enough to just keep the PPC around longer and let the market decide its fate in the Mac lineup. Why stop building ’em if the customer still wants them?

enamic5 "An Apple a day keeps the Virus away. Another reason to buy Apples. Woohoo."

No, not an Apple a day. A Mac a Day.

Someone has to be the most bullish bull and looks like USB wants that spot.

I think it foolish and very un-Foolish to raise price targets based on rumors from a company notorious for the innacuracies of their rumors.

Plus, a move to an Intel Mac mini is only significant if it changes the price point and/or increases the feature set to include Digital Hub technologies such as Front Row.

MDN word: army

Randolph is correct. SJ requires every hardware product released by Apple to have a certain amount of return. Marketshare doesn't mean squat in the short-term, so flooding the market with computers that don't produce a profit is just a waste. Slow and steady wins the race. Thing is that Apple hasn't been slow lately. Go Apple!

Rainy Day, you make a good point. Unless of course they expect the Intel benchmarks to blow the G5 out of the water. Anecdotal evidence about the Intel developer machines is that they screem. Intel based Macs will be the first opportunity we have to finally get a relatively fair benchmark comparison between Intel and PPC running the same OS. Oh, one other thing to consider is it costs Apple more to support 2 different processor architectures AND they can secure better volume discounts if they go 100% Intel.

check this out, its a video done of the previous era of mac clones, with specific references to intel so its kinda on topic, thought it was bloody great. its a home video type thing obviously done by mac fans. great stuff.


http://pulsar.esm.psu.edu/Faculty/Gray/graphics/movies/Apple-Music-Video-We-are-a-clone-now.mov

MacBM....

sounds kinda rude

Botvinnik, you always were a tool of the Soviet government; how can we trust what you say now?

Trying to selling a product with little or no profit is a big mistake. Look at Dell and how they've messed things up by trying to take market share.

The Mac Mini will be revised from learning about customer needs for that product. Whether Apple can cut the costs and still make a tidy profit will depend on what they get from Intel.

The PBs are really needing a refresh first. They are very long in the tooth. I bought my 1.33 GHz PB two years ago and the current model is only up to 1.7 gHz!!

I agree wholeheartedly Neil. Ampars business plan is a mistake. Apple can afford to price their models a little higher I think. It's the smartest purchase possible considering what you get. Plus, Dell has been shooting itself in the foot with their "$100 rebates". I think by now everyone realizes what bullshit that it is.

this is wishful thinking but "not gonna hapin"
You'll be lucky to see a MINI in January, and even that I doubt. You won't see an intel powerbook until january 2oo7.

STop the frenzy, it's like when we were waiting for that damn phone for crying out loud.

ipod + mac deal is dumb.. but I think they should be including rebate coupons with each iPod sold..

however, that is kind of abusive of monopoly powers

hehe

"Checks also indicate that the company may be ready to launch lower-end Intel-based Macs earlier than its original June 2006 target, with the possibility of an Intel-based Mac mini at Macworld"

What happens if there are no Intel-based Macs at MW?

Apple never promised to deliver the new Macs by then. Setting price targets based even partially on pure speculation is a dangerous game.

I was curious this weekend, so I stopped by my local Circuit City to check out the features of Pentium M Windozzze laptops - that chip being the progenator of Yonah. I saw a few Sonys, HPs & Toshibas that appeared inline with Apple's PowerBook range. They mostly had a 1.67GHz (approx.) cpu, FireWire (err, I mean, IEEE 1394 - boooring!), widescreen 15-17" displays (which looked nice, even if all they had to show was the ugly XP desktop), multi-format DVD burners, Altec Lansing speakers, nVIDIA or ATI GPUs with 128MB, 512MB-1GB DDR, 100GB S-ATAs in 5400rpm rangeUSB2, the "final shedding" of legacy ports, 802.11b/g Centrino sets, and weighed in at a svelte 6.5-9.5(+) pounds...

But the prices are what took my breath away, because the top of the line (and weight) Toshiba Ozimo (or was it Quasimodo?), complete with TV/DVR (!) was in the $2,000 neighborhood...

And while I accept that Apple has/will price their kit at a premium, it is heartening to see how much lower the price points are.

Here's to a 2.1GHz dual-core Yonah, 15" WUXGA PowerBook featuring 1GB DDR2, 100GB 7200rpm S-ATA HD, multi-format SuperDrive, Centrino 802.11g/n(?), bluetooth 2, FireWire 800, gigabit ethernet, built-in iSight, decent stereo speaakers, and a "chubby" 5.5 pounds, loaded with iLife '06 (featuring Front Row + TV/DVR)... And I'd spend $2,200-2,500 for that rocket...

But I believe this will appear before the iBook, "maybe" alongside the mini, but 3-4 months before the iMac and 9-12 months before the PowerMac... Be realistic, the PowerMac has a wee bit of breathing room before Conroe emerges, the mini is meant as a second Mac or a "get your feet wet" with MacOS X machine, but the PowerBook has no room to grow in G4 land - it can't wait for the 64bit Merom - hell, slap a Celeron in the iBook if you're that antsy.

hammer said
"Please stop calling it MacTel. There are no MacBM's or MacOrolas"

"PowerPC" is IBM's name for the chip. Maybe the new laptops will be the
"YonahBook" or the "iMerom"

MW = nuclear
as in, the new power source for the YonahBook.

I hope the rumour is true. An Intel Mac Mini would be very tempting while I wait for the Intel iBook so I hope the wait will not be too long.

Rumors or not, if Intel Macs are introduced in January, just what applications, other than the few pre-loaded from Apple, will be available?

There won't be many fat-binaries available, so people buying new Macs, especially Windows switchers lured by their iPod experiences, will have a paltry few third party applications to run. If any. This will certainly reinforce the old "there's no software for Macs" myth, except now it will be TRUE!

iLife and iWork applications will be fine initially, but what about... just about everything from interface tweaks, system utilities, hard-core graphics and business applications and, heaven forbid.... GAMES?

I'd rather than Apple waited until more software is available. Releasing Intel Macs too soon could be a huge mistake.

MDN Magic Word: window

Let's hope Apple doesn't shatter their own window of opportunity!

By switching to Intel, Apple will offer a low end Mac mini for $199. This will put all competitors out of business (bye bye Dell). There will be no reason NOT to switch to a Mac.

The lowest end Mac mini will have:

- Two USB 2.0 ports
- No Firewire
- Combo drive
- Centrino chip varient with built in wireless
- No modem
- 512 MB of RAM (TWO slots, one on each side)
- 64 MB video
- iLife 06
- Mac OS 10.4.5
- Will be black or white plastic like iPod.
- No free software support. 1 year hardware
- No floppy drive
- No viruses
- Windows free certified sticker
- 10 free iTunes songs
- One free incident with Apple Genius (maybe a tip jar will finally be added at the juice bar)

IONLYUSEOSX:

I think if the Mac Mini were to become a 'Media Center', the omission of firewire might be a mistake. I would prefer to see fw800 and gigabit ethernet!

if they can make money on that IONLYUSEOSX then id say...do it...do it.
wouldnt ya like to see microsoft and dull bummed up the cracker jack. AYEEEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!