I am in the market for a new PC. Without a doubt I want a MAC. Well to be truthful, I want Leopard with iLife, therein lies the problem.
Apple currently doesn't have a model that fits my needs. This is down to two main reasons. 1St, I'm a gamer (in a couple of months I will be a profession gamer) and 2nd I already have a monitor I'm happy with.
The monitor issue is not an uncommon complaint. There are many people who upgrade their computers and monitors separately and who therefor need a new computer but are happy with the monitor they have got. With Apple that leaves two choices the Mac mini and the Mac Pro. While they Mac mini is a great machine, if you want to play games or us any 3D apps it comes up lacking. The Mac Pro is an impressive animal capable of anything you throw at it, but an entry level Mac Pro costs $2799 (at time of writing). What is needed is something in between.
I think the time is right for apple to bridge this gap and they could do by entering a great niche. I envision Apple making a games machine.
Macs have never been the platform of choice for gamers, I put this mainly down to fate. For various reasons (that I'm not going into here) games got off to a better start on the Windows/Intel platform than on the MAC and the PC has never looked back. While there have been some excellent game releases for the MAC, the sheer quantity an quality of windows games out there, doesn't make it a gamers choice.
But with Apple recently switching to the Intel processor thats brought the opportunity back for Apple to get it's game on. Now on a Mac you can dual boot into windows (Apple even help you do it with bootcamp). While this is pretty pointless as far as I'm concerned for any other applications (because the MAC OS and Mac apps are generally much better), it does make sense for games.
Better still, as a gamer I always like to have my system clean for running my games optimally. If all my other applications run on the Mac OS side, that would leave me with a clean windows version strictly for games.
Thats were a new product for apple could fit in. Apple could easily bridge the gap between Mac mini and Mac Pro with a machine aimed at gamers. It could also come up with a funky design that would suit the customers. I'm so sick of the PC game machines which have a 'tattoo' or 'alien' look. Just because I play games, doesn't mean I have bad taste.
Who knows perhaps Apple could buy/license the technology from Parallels or Crossover, put it together with a streamlined version of Leopard (using a Front Row like interface for the installed windows games) as a boot option and the Mac games machine could suddenly be a console! (or is Apple afraid they'll just end up making another “pipin”)
Apple already tried to make a games console once with the pipin (pictured).
Is it too scared to make a games MAC?
This new game orientated Mac wouldn't have to be just for hard core gamers. It could also be for those other people who have a good monitor, but want something more than the Mac mini, and less than the Mac Pro. Just make it look cool and throw a great choice of graphics cards in there, and you've got a winner in my book (can I pre-order?).
Who knows, the mini is not all that far away from another refresh, perhaps this time, it will get decent graphics capabilities which may make my grumblings a mute point.
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