PS: The products or services mentioned in this article are more or less influenced by Mr. Qiao. I'm afraid only insiders know how many. It is only a time division method to classify these things into the period of "Apple under Cook". After all, Mr. Joe and Mr. Cook are both apple's helmsmen and should not be analyzed separately.
Apple first made computers, let's talk about computers first.
MacBook Pro
In 20 12, apple introduced MacBook Pro (hereinafter referred to as MBP) with retina screen. The screen resolution of 15.4 inch is as high as 2880x 1800 (four times that of 1400x900), while the screen resolution of 13.3 inch is 2560x6544. The native software quickly adapted to the ultra-high resolution through updating. As a good friend, Blizzard also adapted its own diablo 3 and showed it at the MBP conference.
Although Samsung soon released a product with a resolution of 3200x 1800 to compete with the Windows camp, Windows(8) was not good at adapting to ultra-high resolution at that time, and the situation did not improve until the appearance of Windows 10 Creator (beta version). At present, the mainstream resolution of high-end computers is1920x1080 (1080p). Even the ancient resolution of 1366x768 still exists in large quantities. After all, there are too many models that Windows needs to adapt to, and Microsoft's control over PC manufacturers is declining.
In addition to the retina screen, it is very important that MBP removes the optical drive and replaces it with SSD, which greatly reduces the weight of the notebook and greatly improves the running speed. After four years of small progress, in 20 16 years, MBP ushered in a big update-the fuselage thickness is the same as that of MacBook Air (hereinafter referred to as MBA), except for the smallest model 13.3 inches, all of which adopt Touch Bar (called Multi Touch Bar in China). HDMI interface, SD card interface, USB Type-A interface, and lightning interface (Thunderbolt should be translated as Thunder Rod, which is Zeus' weapon) are all unified into USB Type-C interface (integrated with Lightning 3). The advantage of Type-C is that it can connect various external devices (HDMI, VGA, RJ45, etc. ), and really achieved the goal of USB. The problem is that when users use existing equipment, adapters are essential. The pain of adapting to the new interface is inevitable, but it's better to adapt as soon as possible (just like I'm using a MacBook with only a Type-C interface now, and I haven't found anything unacceptable).
Touch Bar can be regarded as a new idea that Apple insists on not making a touch-screen Mac (Apple insists on using the touch-screen cantilever for a long time and is very tired)-a thin touch screen is combined on the keyboard (especially the T 1 processor based on ARM architecture is built in to ensure the user experience), which can realize more key functions than the traditional F function key.
The significance of the model without Touch Bar is to give some users a transition time, but Apple is determined to make a change.
Apple laptop
A few years ago, the MacBook Air (hereinafter referred to as MBA) was still undergoing routine updates. But after 20 16, I thought that Apple had given up updating the Air-except that the standard memory was increased to 8GB, other models remained unchanged, and the 1 1.6-inch model was directly cut off because of suspected conflict with the iPad Pro. This makes people have to worry about whether this once amazing product line exists. At one time, everyone was waiting for the MBA to be replaced by a retina screen. I didn't expect Apple to do this, but instead took out a new MacBook (hereinafter referred to as NMB or MB). So the MBA, which made a great contribution to Apple, was eliminated? No, at the press conference of 201810/0 on October 30th, Apple released the "Ship New" version of the MacBook Air, which adopted the classic shape of the Air, but eventually replaced it with a Retina display (2560x 1600, originally thought that the old Air would be That is, the resolution was changed from 1440x900 to 2880x1800–15.4 inch MBP, but the resolution of 13.3 inch MBP was finally adopted), and the old Li Lei 2 distributed on the left and right sides was changed into Li Lei 3 distributed on the same side (feeling crowded). However, the previous pioneer MacBook has not been updated and was removed this year.
New MacBook
After the last generation of "Xiaobai" of 20 10 was launched, the MacBook (hereinafter referred to as MB) gradually withdrew from the historical stage. Five years later, the return of MB was incredible, but it was no longer the entry-level model of notebook product line, but the so-called "lighter than the times before the times". Thanks to the extremely low power consumption (TDP 5W) and the fanless design of the Core M processor, MB has become the thinnest Mac notebook in history, and its interface has also changed a lot-there is only one USB Type-C interface besides the 3.5mm headphone interface (which has also become a criticism of many people. If we consider the future wireless development-iCloud is the core, it is no big deal). At the press conference, the confident Cook even subtitled "Remodeling Notebook". Limited by its extremely thin and light body, Apple introduced a butterfly keyboard with a key stroke of ≈0 (in order to ensure the backlight effect, there is an independent LED light under each key), which is also full of controversy, and many people find it difficult to adapt or even unbearable for a while, but as far as my personal experience is concerned, the feel is good, and the probability of typing mistakes has also dropped a lot (I used to hate this keyboard, but I soon got used to it after trying it many times). Faced with the voice of some users, Apple did not turn a deaf ear or go back (there was no other feasible option), but introduced the second-generation butterfly keyboard with better input feel, which was used for 20 16 MB and the new MBP.
In my opinion, MB is more like a tablet Mac (weight: MB+1iPad air ≈113.3 inch MBA), while iPad is like a computerized tablet computer.
Unfortunately, in order to make way for the new MacBook Air and iPad Pro, the MacBook was eliminated again ... Maybe it will be resurrected as the first Mac equipped with an ARM architecture processor in the future?
iMac
In 20 12, apple made a big slimming for iMac, and the thinnest part was only 5mm! In 20 14, a 27-inch iMac with a resolution of 5K was introduced (5120x2880, four times that of 2560x 1440), and the 20 15-year 2 1.5-inch IMAC also adopted a 4K screen (4000). Whether it is a 4K screen or a 5K screen, there are too many pixels. In order to ensure excellent display effect, Apple has introduced a sequence controller (TCON), organic passivation, optical orientation and optical compensation film. For 5KMiMac, a finer screen display is one thing, and more importantly, users can easily edit videos with 4K resolution on it without worrying about insufficient display space.
Considering the cost, the iMac sold in ordinary stores is either equipped with a traditional mechanical hard disk or a better Fusion Drive hard disk (fusion storage, which is slightly faster than the mixed storage in the Windows camp, but it is still not an opponent of pure SSD). Only the customized version can be equipped with pure SSD, of course, the price will rise sharply.
Unfortunately, until this year, the iMac model has not changed. Although the shape is beautiful, it has some aesthetic fatigue. Will Display Pro XDR released this year be the shape of the new iMac in the future?
Mac Pro
The 20 13 Mac Pro that looks like an aero engine is amazing! The Mac Pro equipped with more powerful CPU (Intel Xeon E5) and graphics card (AMD FirePro) is only one-sixth the size of the previous generation! The fuselage shining with black metallic luster exudes a mysterious atmosphere. Unfortunately, Mac Pro is not updated once a year (hardware configuration). Maybe Apple will greatly update the iMac this year to gradually replace the Mac Pro-the 201615.4 inch MBP has been replaced by the workstation version of the discrete graphics card, and so should the 20 17 iMac.
Finally, this year, the Mac Pro, which returned to the "traditional modeling", was released, and the hardware performance was greatly improved-not to mention the ——CPU and graphics card; 1.5TB memory is larger than the hard disk of many computers (the maximum memory of the old Mac Pro is only 128GB). The tower chassis makes it possible for professional users to upgrade their hardware, and it is absolutely invincible with the 6K resolution display Pro XDR (the contrast ratio is 100000: 1, which makes the LCD reach the contrast ratio of the organic light-emitting diode display)!
Mac mini as the cheapest MAC, the update speed of Mac mini is also very slow. The biggest advantage should be that the interface is very complete. I think the Mac mini will develop into the main Apple device in the living room. However, with the strong rise of iOS devices, APPLE TV seems to be the right solution. But for computer users, the Mac mini with strong expansibility is still valuable, so Apple finally launched a new MAC mini at the press conference of 2018101October 30th. Users can expand their own memory, but hard disks can't. Considering that the standard hard disk is very small (128/256GB), it may be an external solid-state hard disk through Thunder 3.