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Apple Planning Major Product Launch For Retail 10th Anniversary?
[edit] question mark added to end of title
- callmevlad 15y agoYou forgot the question mark in the title. Not sure if Betteridge's Law of Headlines applies here, but let's not convert speculation into fact on a whim :)
- martythemaniak 15y agoNothing indicates major product launch (ie, no leaks or rumours like any other major product launch). Maybe some kind of party and/or fun-time goodies for people to go and play with?
- gacba 15y agoUm, since when do you have to lock your cell phone in a safe, sign an NDA, and get password-protected training files from Apple for a "fun-time party"? Not even Apple is that paranoid.
- adriand 15y agoSounds like my kind of fun-time party.
- msbarnett 15y agoIt is just a rumor, but it's interesting that it seems to line up with stories that were floating around a couple weeks ago about Apple retail employees being told that they weren't going to be able to book vacation days in late May. Usually those kinds of black-out dates have signalled product launches.
- frouaix 15y agoHow about a pure software product? There's been rumors of a cloud-music solution; or a relaunch of MobileMe.
- estel 15y agoYou wouldn't expect to "receive hardware to install" for a software launch, other than a small number of posters, banners and other promotional paraphernalia.
- cafebabe 15y agoApple is foreclosing.
- monochromatic 15y agoOn what?
- cafebabe 15y agoThey invested everything in building a few quantum computers in iPhone form factor. Each store gets one. Now they build an obstacle course that will eradicate half of mankind trying to buy it first.
- jpk 15y agoNot having worked, or knowing anyone who has worked in an Apple store, inferring the magnitude of the event given the procedure is difficult. Have they ever done this before? If so, what happened when they did?
- jokermatt999 15y agoAbsolutely nothing about what's planned, just that something is possibly going to happen. I wish tech news focused much less on rumors, and more on actual announcements.
- matwood 15y agoWith Apple rumors are pretty much all you have until a specific product launches.
- orofino 15y agoApple typically covers a large product launch with a large product announcement. I'd expect an announcement at least a couple days before looping in the stores for two reasons: 1) That many employees will be difficult to keep quite. It is my understanding that typically retail employees find out about a product launch along with the general public. 2) Soft launching or just launching via retail stores wastes a significant opportunity for Apple to garner extended coverage in the press. Why limit yourself to just one big press hoopla when with an announcement AND a launch you get two. All that said, BGR has nailed stuff in the past and Apple likes to keep people on their toes.
- DanI-S 15y agoApple, you are astonishingly good at building up consumer excitement. If I were ever to go into politics, I'd know where to look for campaign staff...
- MarketingMuppet 15y agoiTampon? Logical follow up :-)
- bonch 15y agoOne reason is that they usually don't release something that's not worth the excitement. If you keep a good track record, people will attach significance to everything.
- dr_ 15y agoA new iPhone? Rumor had it that it hadn't gone into full scale production yet, but who knows how accurate that is. It seems like camera parts and cases were already being leaked over the weekend. Plus if it's really just a minor upgrade, to a 4S, instead of the iPhone 5, maybe a full scale formal announcement really isn't necessary. It can still run the current OS, until iOS 5 is formally announced in the next month.
- joezydeco 15y agoYeah, but do you really need to tear up a whole store over a marathon saturday night for a phone upgrade?
- corprew 15y agoyes, if suddenly they added support for t-mobile and sprint. but it could also be something like upgrading / changing how their point-of-sale systems work to give an improved customer experience. that would make a lot of sense for a store anniversary, for example
- joezydeco 15y agoApple spent a lot of time over 10 years optimizing their POS system. Notice the cashier counters are gone? It's doubtful they're going to change all of that for a new carrier, and they certainly didn't do it for Verizon.
- simplezeal 15y agoMacBook Air with Sandy Bridge?
- lambada 15y agoUnlikely. Consumers just don't care about processor architectures.
- dkokelley 15y agoNot when you call it 'processor architectures'. Apple is a bit smarter than that when it comes to marketing. It won't be the MacBook Air with Sandy Bridge. It will be the MacBook Air S with 'more magic' inside. The 'S' is for Speed. :)
- pyre 15y agoDon't you mean 'Turbo?' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo_button http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo_button
- ShabbyDoo 15y agoMarginal improvements like this don't seem worthy of such an announcement. I'm sure a faster Macbook Air would be nice to have, but it's not profoundly different than the previous generation in terms of the value it provides to a consumer.
- LokiSnake 15y agoI wouldn't call it a marginal improvement :P, but it would definitely not require such an elaborate announcement.
- jmspring 15y agoMacBook Air Type-R. Extra stickers and a bigger exhaust will make it go faster and louder.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- eps 15y ago> Thanks, Lindsey S.! Lindsey S. from Apple's marketing department no doubt.
- yumraj 15y agoTV (real TV, not the set top box).
- spydertennis 15y agoWhy oh why would Apple build an actual tv when they can just build a box that plugs in to EVERY tv and puts iOS on them?? I don't understand why everyone thinks Apple are going to build a tv, it's a ridiculous idea.
- Ruudjah 15y agoThey already sell displays. Integrating ATV hardware into a display is not a big step.
- spydertennis 15y agodisplay != living room tv
- spydertennis 15y agoWhy am I being downvoted? Turning their display into a tv may not be a big step but turning their display into a tv that will replace the current living room tv certainly is.
- msbarnett 15y agoThis is a crucial point. The displays Apple sells are nothing like your average Living Room TV in dimensions, service requirements, or capabilities. Apple doesn't have the retail floorspace to stock or sell 50" TVs, they don't have experience with cable tuners and all of the other associated crap that distinguishes a TV from a simple display, and they don't have in-home warrantee repairmen; expecting the purchaser to schlep a 50" behemoth to the genius bar for service is out of the question.
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- simonista 15y agoIt seems strange to think that if it were specifically for the anniversary that it would be happening 2-3 days AFTER said anniversary (Saturday night and Sunday instead of thursday). Also, Sunday seems like a strange day for a new product launch.
- fonosip 15y agofor the retail 10th aniversary. I guess a sale is in order
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- lotusleaf1987 15y agoIt's probably just a Macbook Air refresh. The MBA uses Intel Core 2 Duo and the Core 2 Duo's have been completely discontinued, with only a few being manufactured until the end of Q1 2011:http://www.cpu-world.com/news_2010/2010060901_Intel_to_disco.. http://www.cpu-world.com/news_2010/2010060901_Intel_to_disco.... Apple will have to move to Sandy Bridge at some point in the next year. Some may argue Apple is special and Intel will continue manufacturing things for them, but they have to move all their fabs to the 32nm process. Also, the iMac and Macbook Pro were both refreshed recently getting Thunderbolt and the Sandry Bridge line.
- Luyt 15y agoDoes an upgrade of the Macbook Air justify the current secret activity we see at the Apple stores? Employees not allowed to take vacation? Gigabytes of training materials distributed? Black curtains and mandatory meeting on next Sunday? No, I think it must be something bigger. For example, the iConsole. Apple is going to compete with the XBox and the PS3.
- lotusleaf1987 15y agoI don't really know what the normal level of secret activity is at Apple stores. Why would Apple release an iConsole and not just add those features to the AppleTV?
- Luyt 15y agoWhile the Apple TV could certainly offer game features, its appearance doesn't appeal to the target audience (the Xbox and PS3 definately look much more exciting). Therefore, Apple will probably have designed the iConsole in a somewhat more exciting look than the usual Apple products, which are all quite minimaistic (which I like, BTW).
- lotusleaf1987 15y agoI can tell you right now with 100% certainty that's not even an option.
- Luyt 15y agoNext week, Apple will announce its entry into the console market with the iGame. That's my guess.
- younata 15y agowhy do they need to enter the console market? They already dominate the handheld market, which is a better thing to dominate. It may just be me, but I play games on my iphone far more often than I play stuff on any of my consoles.
- astrodust 15y agoApple is very well positioned to take the console market by storm, but they need a year to spec up the hardware. The iPad is close to 360-level performance. Another 9x increase would put it potentially beyond.
- jsz0 15y agoLet's say if Apple were to launch a cloud service that required large amounts of data to be uploaded or downloaded wouldn't Apple Stores be a nice oasis in the desert for the slow cap stricken broadband connections most people have at home or on 3G iOS devices? One you get that initial sync done the incremental updates are manageable.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- mikecane 15y agoiTunes Live?
- ary 15y agoLet's be realistic. New product announcements from Apple happen at planned press events. The 10th anniversary of their first store will probably just have fancy new store displays and a give-away. Edit: Disagreement probably warrants a reply, not a down-vote.
- cageface 15y agoIdiots are rampantly downvoting everything on the site lately. It's another sign that the quality of participants here has declines as the site's popularity has grown. At this point I'd be happy to see the whole karma system canned.
- scootklein 15y agoif you're going to comment on the quality of participants, i would suggest you refrain from using words such as "idiots"
- cageface 15y agoHow else should I describe what is essentially vandalism?
- ary 15y agoI'm not sure that the surge in membership has anything to do with it. Even at my karma level I still can't down-vote, so new members certainly aren't bringing me down. Seems more religious to me.
- mtodd 15y agoI know of at least one change that isn't a new product for consumers but isn't a new change to the store displays either. Nor a giveaway. Might be what this is.
- ary 15y agoCare to share what you think it is?
- huntero 15y agoIf I had to guess, I'd say this will be the launch of Apple's cloud service. Coming right on the tails of Google I/O, it should take the spotlight from Google Music(what little it has). Also, this early announcement will allow developers to come to WWDC with some background on the service. Actually, if I was a betting man, I'd say nothing is going to happen at all :)
- spullara 15y agoGoogle Music was such a non-event they should probably delay launching iCloud till they need to.
- jodrellblank 15y agoBlack curtains? Training materials? No central event? New hardware to install but no manufacturing or shipping or boxed stock rumours to match? Could be a service offering. Could it be the official step-down of SJ?
- astrodust 15y agoMaybe they're revealing he's actually a replicant created when the real Steve died six years ago, and now you too can own your very own!
- Kilimanjaro 15y agoMacBooks in delectable colors from just $799 and MacMinis in nano size from $499.
- daimyoyo 15y agoThe thing that strikes me about this is that while all this is going on, there's no Stevenote scheduled. It's interesting that no one seems to realize how odd that is.