Thoughts On Apple’s Mac Updates. Or Lack Thereof.

This was a weird week in the computer world. Both Apple and Microsoft had events to launch new products, held one day apart. The odd thing was, for creatives, the Microsoft event seemed to offer more excitement. While Apple launched its long awaited MacBook Pro replacement, Microsoft announced its new Surface Studio, which I think took many people by surprise. While Apple’s new laptops are a nice evolution, Microsoft offered something new and different, and it appealed directly to the creative market, something many creatives feel that Apple seems only half interested in these days.

I’ve been an Apple fan for as long as I can remember. I’ve been using the company’s products since the 90’s. My first mac as a PowerMac AV 7100. In all that time I always felt that Apple was the best choice for the creative professional, and that they wanted to cater for the creative market. Lately, it feels like it’s hard to tell any more. When it comes to the Mac the company seems to lack focus. For many of Apple’s products its been years between updates, where as in the past, the Mac would receive several updates a year. Some Mac users, especially those who rely on the high end, seem to be in a constant state of fear and uncertainty about the future of the platform, and Apple does nothing to dissuade that.

I wrote earlier this week about my thoughts on a potential Mac Pro replacement. While it didn’t come at this event, many of the points that I made still stand. The Pro market may not be sexy for Apple any more, but it’s a corner pin for a lot of other industries, and right now it’s not clear if Apple even cares about that industry any more.

I know some people will just dismiss this as the typical post Apple event whining, but I am normally positive and upbeat after an Apple event, even defending Apple’s decisions to the more skeptical of my colleagues and friends. Not this time though. The new MacBook Pros are undoubtedly powerful laptops in their own right, and there’s nothing wrong with them, apart from the price increase. (And maybe the 16g ram ceiling)

The bigger question that people are asking is where is the new iMac, where is the Mac Pro, and where is the new Mac Mini, all of which haven’t been updated in a long time, in some cases years. Why is it that Apple takes years to revise their computers, and why is it they can only seem to manage to do one at a time? Some people may not think that these are fair or even legitimate questions, but they’re questions that are being asked, and not just by me. Apple’s long history of killing products by letting them die a slow death of neglect is also a worrying thing to remember. The xServe, Aperture, and Shake all got the slow death treatment. This is certainly a worry I have, especially when the Mac Pro hasn’t received a single update since it was released three years ago. Three years is a long time in computer terms.

Microsoft clearly senses an opening here. Their event, a day before Apple’s was focussed squarely on the creative market, and the company made no bones about that fact. They’re even calling the next Windows update the “creators” update. The Surface studio easily won the excitement prize for the week of announcements. Many people were both genuinely surprised and excited by the Surface Pro. What’s more, many long time Mac users that I’ve spoken to are tempted by the product, even though they also expressed their frustration, because they don’t want to move to windows.

It think the reason that those same people are so frustrated, and I know it’s the reason that I am, is because the Surface Pro is the Mac that people wanted Apple to come out with. It’s truly innovative, and different, and it’s what a lot of artists and creative professionals would love to have. The Surface Studio may not be perfect, and may have flaws, but it seems like a genuinely innovative product, and for Apple fans who are used to seeing this kind of thing coming from Cupertino, it’s a little weird that it’s coming from Microsoft.

I really want to see the silver lining here. The new MacBook pros are certainly nice and capable, and the touch bar seems like a good idea. I’m sure Apple will eventually revise the rest of the Mac lineup. The surface Studio, while it may not be for me because I really, really don’t want to switch to Windows, it is at the very least competition for Apple, and competition drives innovation. Maybe if Microsoft does make serious inroads into the creative space, then Apple will be forced to re-double its efforts there, or at least do something to re-assure its customers.

If not, if it doesn’t do something to address the Mac Pro and the rest of the languishing lineup soon, a lot of people in the creative market are going to start to feel very uneasy.

Incidentally, for another take on this, see this post by Marius Masalar