Do or die time, Apple

Ahem.

I have had around $2500 set aside specifically to use for buying my first Mac, a MacBook Pro (witness the iPhone “halo effect” in action) for 5 months now. Anyone who has been reading this blog has seen me predicting them for a while now. I was all set to buy one, had already gotten a quote on a BTO model with lots of accessories, and then boom! The rumors – some of them seemingly credible – started coming out about imminent hardware updates (see here and here for early examples).

Not being one to blow $2000+ on an outmoded architecture, I said I’d give Apple till the holiday season to announce new MBPs. If nothing was forthcoming, I’d look elsewhere. Then I said I’d give them through the launch of the i5/i7s. Then I said I’d wait until the MacWorld Expo. Then I said I’d wait until after the iPad launch.

5 months ago, I didn’t *need* a new laptop, but I *need* one now. Tradeshow season is starting, and I need a mobile workhorse. My aging Windows XP HP laptop is choking some of the editing software updates I’ve installed. I’m lucky to get 2 hours out of my battery, and I fly the 6-hour cross-country BOS to LAX route on a monthly basis. Meanwhile, In the past 5 months, I’ve grown to really enjoy Windows 7 on my desktop PC. Sony, Asus, and HP have all put out some very attractive, very competitive, very powerful i5 and i7 laptops.

If Apple doesn’t launch something this month, I’m out – Sony or Asus will have my business. There’s no excuse for Apple to go almost a year between hardware refreshes. They’re playing in the big leagues – they need to be updating every 6 months, at least. Release early, release often. Iterate. Evolve and improve.

It took Apple 15 years to convince me to switch to a Mac – and it only took 6 months for their policy of absolute secrecy on their product roadmap to give Microsoft and PC manufacturers the chance to win me back.