[PugetSoundSoldier]

Combine this story with these facts:

- Apple makes the majority of its money from phones and MP3 players

- Apple is moving OSX towards a more iOS-like interface/style (full screen apps, app store, icons, etc)

- Apple is trumpeting the iPad as the “computer for most people”

- Apple is expanding the Air line (curious how they’ve been reviewed as “iPads with keyboards”)

- Check out Apple’s web site: Store, Mac, iPod, iPhone, iPad, iTunes, Support. You can buy a product, get support for a product, and 4 of the remaining 5 categories are iDevice ecosystem options.

I think Apple is getting out of the traditional PC/computer business, and trying to move to an iPhone/iPad ecosystem exclusively. Creating the iPad was the first step. Moving Lion towards a more-iOS like experience was the second step; axing the servers is a third.

I bet the 4th will be paring down the MBP line to be just 15”, maybe 15” and 17”. Eliminate the 13” altogether - you have the Air instead.

The 5th would be eliminate the Mini, leave just the iMac (vertical iPad with a keyboard), and - for now, since they axed X-Serve - the Mac Pro.

Time will tell!

[Dr. Sivana]

Time will tell!

No. For several reasons. First, Mac sales have been improving. It wasn't so long ago that the "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ad was the dominant Apple presence in advertising.

Apple has always enjoyed healthy margins on the Mac products, and support for OSX requires a large installed base. iOS is largely based on OSX, and Mac OS boxes are really the way to develop for the iOS devices. Apple makes money on Mac boxes from top to bottom. They make more on tehir boxes than Dell makes on theirs, and one Mac sale equals a LOT of iPod Nanos. Apple is not going to take that away anytime soon.

The Mac Pro is a great machine for graphics shops, ad agencies and A/V shops. The Adobe/Apple combo is still standard for too many in that field. You don't see them milling in Apple Stores, but they are quietly ordering online.

Apple has a huge presence on college campuses. Any sector of the notebook/laptop realm they abandon will be attacked by Toshiba/Sony/Dell etc. Apple was built on school access bak in the Apple II days. They WILL NOT give that up.

Sales of OSX, Mac Pro, Mac Mini do not really cut into iPad, iPod, or iPhone sales. In fact, they are complementary. Those handheld devices have to sync. Steve wants 'em to sync with a Mac. The iPad MIGHT cut into MacBook sales a touch. It cuts into Acers Netbook lineup more.

[Swordmaker]

Time will tell!

Interesting theories. But I doubt it. Mac Sales were $17.5 Billion last year and climbing. That was 27.25% of Apple's total sales. The MacBook Airs are only iPad like in that they are quick to start and light weight. They are still fully Macs.

[DesScorp]

Puget... this year’s corporate campaign at Apple is called “Back to the Mac”. Far from abandoning traditional computers, Apple seems to be in the early stages of incorporating iPad and iPhone advances INTO the Mac, and then making a stronger sales push for the desktop.

[ReignOfError]

I don’t see Apple doing away with the 13” laptop altogether, but the Macbook might not be long for this world. The 11” Air matches its price point, and feature-wise, it’s squeezed between the Air and the 13” Pro. It’s also the only plastic Mac left in the lineup, and looks increasingly out of place.

Macbooks sell really well, especially during back-to-school, so they’re probably not in a hurry to pull the plug until the Air proves it can meet that market.

The Mini isn’t going anywhere. It’s Apple’s small business server, and killing the XServe has solidified that niche. The Mac Pro definitely isn’t going anywhere — it’s the flagship workstation for serious graphics and video production work, and with Autocad returning to the Mac, there’s a whole new niche market where Apple will become a serious player.

For better than a decade now, Apple has promoted the Mac as the hub — initially with CD and DVD burning and printing as a big part, now with the ‘Net, Apple TV and iDevices as the destinations. I think they’d love a scenario where a family of five has an iMac, a Macbook Air, and a couple of iPads. The Mac and iTunes are still very much that hub.

Apple’s gazillion-dollar data center in North Carolina is a big question mark. More cloud-based services, especially full cloud-based backup, would go a long way toward making the iDevices stand alone, but Apple’s model is still to have them as a companion for the computer, preferably a Mac.