Macworld Forums

2012's Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off on 11 June. There's loads of speculation over what Apple could announce during the event.

We'd like to know what you'd like to see launched at WWDC.

Ashleigh Allsopp,

reworking of iOS to extend what Apple TV can do.

It's also about time that multi-user support was available for iPads. I don't want to lend other people an iPad if they can snoop around all my personal e-mails, which are automatically synced via iCloud.

Ashleigh Allsopp,
I'd really like to see an updated Mac Pro. I feel that Apple have somewhat left the 'pro' end of the market swinging of late. Not everyone wants a laptop and some people need that extra 'Oomph'. I don't think it even needs an overall update as its already a truly beautiful piece of kit (just my own personal opinion as I'm aware that not everyone likes it!). It just needs the internals upgrading to reflect the advances in processors, graphics etc - even if they just reserve it as a purely build-to-order machine.

I think its all but a certainty that the optical drives days are very much numbered in the MacBook Pro and I also fear the imminent demise if the 17 inch model - although I sincerely hope this isn't the case.

I very much doubt that the Apple television set will make an appearance just yet - if ever. Although you never quite know with Apple and their '..just one more thing' habits from the past.

On the software front I'd love for Apple to come up with some sort of 'Adobe Creative Suit Killer'. We already have Final
Cut Pro, Logic Pro and Aperture and it would be great to have something that could take on the likes of Photoshop, Illustrqtor and InDesign. A sort of iWeb Pro would be good also...I'm aware that none of these things will ever happen but it's always nice to dream!

Ashleigh Allsopp,
Rumours suggest that the Mac Pro might finally be receiving the update it so desperately needs. I think the current models are a beautiful example of design - both the outside of the case and all the bits inside the box - and doesn't necessarily need to be changed. With new processors and graphics cards that are now available and these things are going to be amazing.

Of course it might never happen and the Mac Pro might find itself going the way of the G4 Cube but I really hope not as there's definitely still a place in the Apple ecosystem for the higher end workstations. Not everyone considers a laptop to be the be all and end all of computers. I for one would merrily kill for one of them...its just a case of finding the financial resources and convincing my partner that I REALL NEED one! Anyone fancy buying me one?

Anyone?

No?

Oh well, its always worth a try!

Lottery tickets here we come!

Ashleigh Allsopp,

3D movies on Apple TV

grumpygiraffe,

Apple seriously need to address the pricing on their Mac Pro range. Yes, they're beautifully made things but the range starts at £2041 for the low-end quad-core model, rising to £2,859 for the 8-core and £4,083 for the 12-core models!! These days, that's just too much I'm afraid.

We recently needed 3 new Macs at work last week to upgrade our software. Now, we'd have loved to get the Mac Pro but had to settle for the iMacs instead - there was just not the budget to buy 3 new Mac Pros - we were looking at about £9k for 3 mid-range Mac Pros with some extra RAM, compared to around £4.5k for 3 of the 27" iMacs - and you get a decent quality screen in with that! No contest I'm afraid. We went for the iMacs.

And I suspect we're not the only company who have made that choice - something we wouldn't even have considered a few years ago. Sadly, the Mac Pro market is shrinking in these tough economic times, partly because the iMacs are pretty good value for what you get, but also partly because the Mac Pro is overpriced and relatively behind the specs of the latest processors and graphics cards. It's not good value for money these days.

I think they either need to be more aggressive on the Mac Pro prices, or drop the range entirely.

I personally think there's room for a new model altogether - a downsized Mac Pro, think of what the G4 Cube would be like nowadays if it had survived! There's no reason why the Mac Pro actually needs to be the hulking beast that it is. Technology's moved on a great deal since the casing for the G5 PowerMac was designed - which is still what the Mac Pro is based on. True, the innards have changed beyond all recognisability in that time.

But, let's face it, if they can squeeze a lower-powered computer into the size the Mac mini is, they could easily shrink the Mac Pro into a box half the size it is currently without affecting performance. The governing factors would be the space needed for installing separate graphics/PCIe cards and optical drives etc. If the range started at around £1200 for just the box itself, they'd be on to a winner.

But, these rumours of a headless iMac have been hanging around for years now and Apple don't seem to show any interest in launching something at that price point. It's a shame, as we would have just bought 3 of them if they had.

MacOS10,
You no what, I actually agree with you. As beautiful as they are - and as much as I'd love one - there does need to be a serious price drop if people are to even consider buying them.

There's no real reason why they couldn't have the 'all out, balls to the wall' Mac Pro models for those who need the seriously high end grunt and then a much more affordable version for those who need more than an iMac/MacBook Pro but not the sort of power the average university science lab supercomputer set up would need.

I personally could never understand why they didn't manage to make more of the G4 Cube. Other than its - once again - severe over pricing there was no real need for it to have failed. As you say, if they can fit the likes of the Mac Mini into a case so ridiculously small - and the Mac Mini is no bargain basement box of rubbish - then they could surely do something with a new tower thats more powerful than the iMac but less powerful than the Mac Pro. Maybe they could reserve the top end Mac Pro as build to order only and everything else from the half sized tower down openly available to the general public?

I remember when I bought my first PowerMac - the blue and white G3 PowerMac and I miss so much even now - and it cost significantly less than the current day equivalent...even allowing for inflation etc...

Sadly I appear to have lost my line of thought here for some reason...maybe I'm just too damned exited about all the lovely new Macs that I still won't be able to afford come next week? As much as I'd love to buy a new one - and be able to join in with the whole Mountain Lion party - my poor little 2007 white MacBook is still chugging happily away with itself...its just so damned happy! Bless it...

Maybe I'll finally bite the bullet and install Lion on it so that it doesn't feel quite so left out!