The Redesigned Mac Mini, The Setup Facing Apple Ahead of 4Q24 Earnings
Hello everyone. Today's update will kick off with new Apple product news, followed by the start of our Apple 4Q24 earnings preview. The earnings talk will flow into tomorrow’s update.
Let’s jump right in.
The Redesigned Mac Mini
Day 2 of Apple’s Mac week was all about the Mac mini (and M4 Pro chip).
Before we get to the device, Apple’s strategy of breaking up its Mac announcements into multiple days is striking me as a good one.
Each announcement is getting much more play on social media versus combining the announcements into one event or update. Such a strategy won’t work though for in-person Apple events when various products announcements are combined to take advantage of the press being on site. For non-event releases that involve multiple products, breaking up the news into individual announcements, complete with taped presentations, makes sense to me. We will see if this is something that Apple will look to replicate in the future.
As for the updated Mac mini, you can tell
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Apple Unveils Updated Macs, Mac Mini’s Growing Role, Apple Silicon Optionality (Daily Update)
Hello everyone. This morning, Apple announced three updated Macs via press release. Today’s update will be dedicated to the news including how the Mac mini is being given a bigger role in Apple’s Mac strategy and how Apple Silicon has added optionality to Apple’s Mac line.
Let’s jump right in.
Apple Unveils Updated Macs
Earlier today, Apple issued three press releases related to the Mac. There was an accompanying 18-minute video presentation from Apple Park as well (available here via YouTube).
M2 Pro and M2 Max unveiling. The two SoCs are based on the M2, the second generation of Apple Silicon for the Mac unveiled at WWDC 2022. The M2 is already found in the 13-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air.
Updated Mac mini (with M2 and M2 Pro). The last Mac mini update was in November 2020.
Updated 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro (with M2 Pro and M2 Pro Max). The last update for the 14-inch and 16-inch models was in October 2021. Apple updated the 13-inch MacBook Pro at WWDC 2022.
We knew new Macs were in the near-term product pipeline with a likely CY1Q23 introduction, although mid-January is earlier than expected. The absence of new or updated Macs in CY4Q22 (October to December) stood out to some people. In a statistic that will come as a surprise to many, 2022 was the first year to not have any new Macs released in CY4Q in 15 years.
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