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Comment by gabrielroth | Hacker News Reader

If they held a big event to introduce these new models -- or just about any other product -- the headline would be the absence of Steve Jobs, which is probably not what Apple's PR department is hoping for right now. If they bring out a tablet PC or something equally dramatic, they might want to risk that, with the spin 'Even without Jobs we can still generate excitement.' But for ordinary improvements to the existing hardware line, a big Jobsless presentation would be a negative, on balance.

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My feeling is that when Jobs comes back he is going to 'bring something dramatic with him.' The fanfare surrounding his return would be the perfect opportunity for Apple to release something significant that would ride the publicity wave.

I wouldn't be surprised if you're right, but this may carry the risk that it would reinforce the perception that Apple is all Steve Jobs and they can't innovate without him.

My feeling is that Jobs is never coming back, and shareholders are once again deluding themselves about his health, and that I should short their stock because of it again.

Excellent point. The downside, however, of not having Tim MC an smallish event such as these upgrades is that it puts more pressure on whatever attempts to be the standard Apple-fare fanfare.

The longer the wait the more Steve's absence at such an event will be felt. But... if they can get him back in July or so... and they have a major announcement... that'll make for a huge hype opportunity. And yes: it's just playing with fans' minds. That's okay by me: I'm just up for learning about marketing - and Apple's certainly one place to do it.

Also, when you're offering less for more, you don't want to shout about it too much. Prices have gone up (by large amounts for some, esp. the UK) , specs have gone sideways in a few cases (bottom two iMacs with integrated graphics, headline clock speed drops on the Pros, etc)

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