At its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco yesterday, a Steve Jobs–less Apple attempted to live up to the on-stage shenanigans of its maestro, announcing new products, taking one-sided jabs at competitors, and generally exaggerating things before a tittering, sycophantic crowd. None of the announcements were particularly surprising or innovative, but the Apple-friendly journalists, developers, and enthusiasts who attended the keynote event ate it up without question, as always. In this world, style wins over substance.
Among the key announcements is the iPhone 3G S, which will ship later this month. Built into the same form factor as the current iPhone 3G, the 3G S is "twice as fast" as its predecessor—the usual caveats about Apple's typically ludicrous claims apply here—and supports a higher-speed wireless network that AT&T won't start rolling out until late 2009. The 3G S also sports a better camera (with video support) and will feature unique software features that Apple will not provide to existing iPhone 3G users. It appears to be a nice upgrade, given the confines of the form factor.
Where Apple giveth, however, Apple taketh away. While the iPhone 3G S will retail for a reasonable $199–$299, depending on the model, those prices do not apply to existing iPhone 3G customers, who will instead pay $500–$600 to upgrade, thanks to the subsidization model used by wireless carriers.
Apple also announced that it would ship the third release of its iPhone software, iPhone Software Update 3.0, later this month. iPhone 3.0 is free to all existing iPhone customers, but it will cost $10 for iPod touch owners. It is a minor release with improvements to the core applications, cut-and-paste support, full support for MMS multimedia messaging (finally), and integrated search. However, AT&T, the exclusive carrier of the iPhone in the United States, is also dampening the positive vibes of this release by not supporting two of its key features: US-based iPhone users will not be able to tether their phones to their PCs or use MMS. It's unclear how or when these features will be provided, but one can expect AT&T to charge extra for the privilege.
On the Mac OS X front, Apple now claims that there are 35 million active Mac users, once you filter out the 40 million who are actually using iPhones and iPod touches. (Oh, Apple.) This is the first time in several years that Apple has suggested there are more than 25 million Mac users. (Put in perspective, there are more than 1 billion active Windows users.)
Apple said it will ship a minor upgrade to Mac OS X Leopard, dubbed Snow Leopard, in September. It looks, acts, and feels a lot like Microsoft's Windows 7, which will ship in October. But since Snow Leopard doesn't change the OS X experience as much as Windows 7 does on the PC side, Apple will charge just $29 for the release if you already have Leopard. (It's a whopping $129 otherwise.) In Microsoft terms, the release is essentially a service pack (and the type of thing Microsoft can and does distribute for free).
Apple consolidated its MacBook and MacBook Pro laptop lines into a single MacBook Pro line and upped the specs on all the machines. You can now get a "low-end" 15" MacBook Pro for just $1,599, but Apple didn't really lower prices, it simply added a new model; higher-end MacBook Pros still cost $2,000 to $2,500. In fact, a 17" MacBook Pro is roughly four to five times as expensive as a typical 17" PC laptop. (The 13" MacBook, uh, Pro, is now a much better deal, however. That said, its $1,199 starting price is roughly double that of a typical PC laptop.)
The company also announced a new version of its web browser, Safari, for both Windows and Mac OS X. Safari has evolved into a rebranded version of Google Chrome, with a different JavaScript engine and a few Apple design cues. In a bizarre move reminiscent of Microsoft, the version that's bundled with Snow Leopard will include special features not available elsewhere, like crash protection. The irony of this was, of course, lost on the adoring crowd.
All in all, it was a typical Apple event: condescending and self-congratulatory, with its moments of actual tech excitement somewhat diminished by hidden realities and mind-numbingly boring demos, in this case of third-party iPhone apps. No one presents a more positive picture than Apple, and that's apparently true with or without Steve Jobs. For the wider industry, the only news of note here involves the iPhone 3G S, which looks truly interesting. Unless, of course, you're one of the estimated 20 million or so who already purchased an iPhone 3G
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Hey folks, do you smell that? That, my friends, is the smell of real FEAR.
Paul 'paid shill' Thurrott reeks of it in his coverage of Apple's WWDC and Microsoft reek of it in their advertising.
Witness as the stench gets stronger over the coming months.
"At its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco yesterday, a Steve Jobs–less Apple attempted to live up to the on-stage shenanigans of its maestro, announcing new products, taking one-sided jabs at competitors, and generally exaggerating things before a tittering, sycophantic crowd. "
Just like Paul's blog! Especially the "tittering, sycophantic crowd"!
Of course, Paul's bitterness is the audience of dozens that he has, while people actually give a d@mn about Apple, with or without Jobs.
I should come here first for the real news - good work...
I can just see the idiots @ applepolooza now dying to get out of their contracts...oh the gadget ****
that sExchange license news is troublesome...
" ... live up to the on-stage shenanigans of its maestro"
Yeah, right. You mean like the same "shenanigans" that brought us the iMac, Mac OS X, the iPod, the iTunes Store, the iPhone and the App Store. Those shenanigans are sure making a lot of customers happy and a lot of shareholders happy.
" ... style wins over substance"
Well we know Microsoft has no style and based on their failure at every business except the Office apps and the OS I'd say no substance as well.
"...Where Apple giveth, however, Apple taketh away."
Not Apple's fault; that's S.O.P. in the wireless biz.
" ... once you filter out the 40 million who are actually using iPhones and iPod touches. (Oh, Apple.)"
Paul, you are such a douche -- it's already been pointed out that Apple said iPhone and iPod touches when they quoted 75 million OS X users. The only obfuscation is yours.
" ... It looks, acts, and feels a lot like Microsoft's Windows 7"
Don't you mean just the opposite?
Try, Windows 7 is the service pack to Vista, which Microsoft is charging a heck of a lot more that $29 dollars. There are significant knew technologies in Snow Leopard (mentioned in another comment).
Boy Paul, you've sunk to a new low here. It's one this to be opinionated, but this is borderline trash. Shame on you!
To not even mention Exchange support in Snow Leopard tells me you have something to hide. I can forgive your comment that OS X now acts like Windows 7, but you should realize it detracts from your impact as a technology writer. Full 64-bit, Grand Central, Open CL, were you sleeping during that part of the presentation?
A $29 upgrade is going to promote user adoption and allow developers take advantage of these new features. Apple will move forward, yet again. Microsoft would kill for that. Developer can't utilize things like Windows Presentation Foundation because their customers still rely on XP. And the corporate world is still stuck on IE6.
I have heard your complaints (valid) about the lack of cut and paste on the iPhone, but now you say 3.0 is a minor release, even though it also added voice commands, turn by turn (finally), compass, external device support, and greatly enhanced APIs. Geez, I'm starting to sound like a fanboi and don't mean to.
It's one thing to bend or sway the conversation, but people will see right through this. You have damaged your reputation.
Paul's characterization of Snow Leopard as a service pack is once again incorrect. Snow Leopard has new features and new technologies, like Exchange support (alone worth $29) and 64-bit computing. Which Windows service pack has rolled out significant new features or technologies? Is Paul referring to XP Service Pack 2? PLEASE!
In is Leopard review (2007) he also incorrectly used the term "service pack" to describe Apple's latest OS. A 'service pack" is a Microsoft term, and it is always understood by Microsoft people to mean "bug fixes" and no new features or technologies. I'll give Paul the benefit of the doubt and say he is merely pandering to his fanboy base, but there is a pattern here to suggest that he is willfully spreading false information.
To anyone else reading this column beware, there are better (less biased) sources for Apple product information.
Always funny to read Shillmaster Thurrott trying to calm the Windows crowed.
Wonder why Apple doesn't need to make big changes in their OS? Because they've been on the right track for years. They don't have to duct tape something like Vista and then sell that service pack as a new OS and charge a premium for it ..
Wow Paul. New pone customers get the deal while existing customers who already have the existing hardware and who are locked into their current contract have to pay regular prices for the new phone and have it work with their existing contract.
... just like **every other phone on the market**.
