R
Rene Ritchie
What's your next dream Mac?
The Mac is doing great these days, not only growing faster than the PC market as a whole, but growing where the PC market pretty much isn't. The craziest thing about that is this — Apple hasn't even introduced new consumer-level Macs for a while. Last year's new Mac Pro aside, all we've gotten lately is spec bumps on the existing favorites. Part of that is due to Intel's continued delays of the next-generation Broadwell chipset, but whatever the reasons it feels like the already successful Mac line could get even more successful when new models start to hit the stage. So, here's the question — which next-generation Mac are you most looking forward to?
The fabled Retina MacBook Pro, whether it's a beefed up MacBook Air or a slimmed down Mac Pro, seems to be hit hardest by the Broadwell delays. We keep hearing it's coming but it still hasn't arrived. It would have higher density than the current 13-inch MacBook Air, but likely at the expense of its tremendous battery life. It would be lighter than the current 13-inch MacBook Pro, but likely at the expense of its sheer power. Could it be the best balance of both worlds?
The iMac has also been rumored for a Retina upgrade, be it to 2x or to 4K. That would certainly be a dream-machine for a lot of photographers and designers. Apple typically puts new panel technology into iMacs first, but depending on cost and yield, could we see that trend reverse an Apple release a 2x or 4K Thunderbolt display first this time? It would certainly match in numbers and price points with the new Mac Pro...
If the opposite of Retina holds more appeal for you — no display at all! — then a Mac mini upgrade has likely been on your wish-list for a while now. It's the machine that's seen the least love lately, and doesn't even have a Haswell option yet, never mind PCIe Flash storage, Thunderbolt 2 ports, and all the other modern bells and whistles.
Then, of course, there are the flights of pure fancy, like ARM-based MacBook Airs, running iOS, with multitouch displays, that can detach into iPad Air...
Which next-generation Mac have you been dreaming of? Vote up top and let me know why you voted the way you did in the comments below!
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