blazedog
01-10-2006, 02:40 PM
Wow -- 6 months ahead of schedule. Whoever posted that Jobs was going to announce something at Macworld was dead on
Apple Shipping New Macs With Intel Chips Today
By Rob Pegoraro
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 10, 2006; 4:03 PM
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 10 -- Apple chief executive Steve Jobs loves his surprises, and his keynote opening the annual Macworld Expo trade show had a big one: The company is shipping its first machines with an Intel processor Tuesday -- six months earlier than it had predicted when it announced this switch last June.
The new iMac desktops he unveiled on stage at the Moscone Center here look like the iMac he introduced last year -- they offer the same basic design and sell at the same prices ($1,299 for a model with a 17-inch screen, $1,799 for a 20-incher), but instead of a G5 PowerPC processor, each has an Intel Core Duo processor. Jobs said benchmark testing showed these machines to be two to three times faster than their predecessors.
The iMacs will be joined in February by the MacBook Pro, an Intel-based laptop running on the same Core Duo chip. Jobs said this model was even faster than the PowerBook it will replace -- four to five times as fast, he said. It will sell for $1,999 and $2,499.
Both the new iMac and the MacBook Pro will run new "universal" versions of Apple's operating system and applications that can work on either PowerPC or Intel chips.
The most prominent part of that set of software will be iLife '06, also announced today. This suite of multimedia programs includes iTunes, the iPhoto picture-organizer and editor, the iMovie video editor, the iDVD home-movie creator, the Garage Band music-production application and a new program, iWeb.
Many of the new features in these programs are designed to help people make and share their own content. For example, iPhoto '06's "photocasting" feature lets users share their favorite pictures online, using the same Really Simple Syndication software many Web sites employ to get updates to readers. IMovie '06 can create video podcasts, and Garage Band can make audio podcasts. The iWeb program lets users easily assemble all these creations in Web sites that can be hosted on Apple's $100/year .Mac online service.
Jobs showed off that last feature by recording, live on stage, a fake podcast called "Super Secret Apple Rumors." ("The next iPod is gonna be huge -- an eight-pounder with a 10-inch screen!" he said; audience members, many of who spent far too much time over the past few days visiting Apple rumor sites to get a hint about Macworld news, laughed out loud at the parody.) Many of those rumor sites had predicted such developments as full-length movies being sold at the iTunes store, new iPod models or an updated Mac mini that could serve as a media-center computer in living rooms, but they struck out on those guesses.
Jobs said that Apple will introduce Intel versions of its other computers throughout the year, with this transition concluding by the end of 2006. That will put developers of Mac software under tight deadlines to finish converting their programs into so-called universal releases; until that happens, these older programs need the help of Apple translation software called Rosetta.
Jobs showed how that worked by running Microsoft Word and Adobe Photoshop on stage on a new Intel-based iMac; he warned that Photoshop would perform a little too slowly for professional use, but home users would probably be satisfied with the results.
Roz Ho, the manager of Microsoft's Mac business unit, joined him to report on Microsoft's plans for updates to Office -- which, as part of a new agreement with Apple, will now continue for at least the next five years.
Jobs also disclosed unexpectedly high sales figures for Apple's holiday sales quarter: He said the company sold 14 million iPods and had $5.7 billion in sales overall for those three months -- $1 billion of which occurred in its own 135 stores. Jobs also said that the iTunes Music Store has now sold 850 million songs and holds an 83 percent share of the paid-song-downloads market.
He did not reveal any new figures for Apple's market share in computers, although some industry analysts expect it to increase as security concerns continue to vex Windows users.
Apple Shipping New Macs With Intel Chips Today
By Rob Pegoraro
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 10, 2006; 4:03 PM
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 10 -- Apple chief executive Steve Jobs loves his surprises, and his keynote opening the annual Macworld Expo trade show had a big one: The company is shipping its first machines with an Intel processor Tuesday -- six months earlier than it had predicted when it announced this switch last June.
The new iMac desktops he unveiled on stage at the Moscone Center here look like the iMac he introduced last year -- they offer the same basic design and sell at the same prices ($1,299 for a model with a 17-inch screen, $1,799 for a 20-incher), but instead of a G5 PowerPC processor, each has an Intel Core Duo processor. Jobs said benchmark testing showed these machines to be two to three times faster than their predecessors.
The iMacs will be joined in February by the MacBook Pro, an Intel-based laptop running on the same Core Duo chip. Jobs said this model was even faster than the PowerBook it will replace -- four to five times as fast, he said. It will sell for $1,999 and $2,499.
Both the new iMac and the MacBook Pro will run new "universal" versions of Apple's operating system and applications that can work on either PowerPC or Intel chips.
The most prominent part of that set of software will be iLife '06, also announced today. This suite of multimedia programs includes iTunes, the iPhoto picture-organizer and editor, the iMovie video editor, the iDVD home-movie creator, the Garage Band music-production application and a new program, iWeb.
Many of the new features in these programs are designed to help people make and share their own content. For example, iPhoto '06's "photocasting" feature lets users share their favorite pictures online, using the same Really Simple Syndication software many Web sites employ to get updates to readers. IMovie '06 can create video podcasts, and Garage Band can make audio podcasts. The iWeb program lets users easily assemble all these creations in Web sites that can be hosted on Apple's $100/year .Mac online service.
Jobs showed off that last feature by recording, live on stage, a fake podcast called "Super Secret Apple Rumors." ("The next iPod is gonna be huge -- an eight-pounder with a 10-inch screen!" he said; audience members, many of who spent far too much time over the past few days visiting Apple rumor sites to get a hint about Macworld news, laughed out loud at the parody.) Many of those rumor sites had predicted such developments as full-length movies being sold at the iTunes store, new iPod models or an updated Mac mini that could serve as a media-center computer in living rooms, but they struck out on those guesses.
Jobs said that Apple will introduce Intel versions of its other computers throughout the year, with this transition concluding by the end of 2006. That will put developers of Mac software under tight deadlines to finish converting their programs into so-called universal releases; until that happens, these older programs need the help of Apple translation software called Rosetta.
Jobs showed how that worked by running Microsoft Word and Adobe Photoshop on stage on a new Intel-based iMac; he warned that Photoshop would perform a little too slowly for professional use, but home users would probably be satisfied with the results.
Roz Ho, the manager of Microsoft's Mac business unit, joined him to report on Microsoft's plans for updates to Office -- which, as part of a new agreement with Apple, will now continue for at least the next five years.
Jobs also disclosed unexpectedly high sales figures for Apple's holiday sales quarter: He said the company sold 14 million iPods and had $5.7 billion in sales overall for those three months -- $1 billion of which occurred in its own 135 stores. Jobs also said that the iTunes Music Store has now sold 850 million songs and holds an 83 percent share of the paid-song-downloads market.
He did not reveal any new figures for Apple's market share in computers, although some industry analysts expect it to increase as security concerns continue to vex Windows users.