The Future of Mac Pro

[knucles]

ok, i need a Mac Pro but there is no way i'm burning 2499 euros ( 3200 dollars) in a nehalem quad which is the price of the entry Mac Pro in Europe.

So my question is what's up next, will we see a 2499dollars Hex in the next revision?

usb 3 and finally decent amounts of ram and
an ssd+tera configs

I remember when a Mac tower meant something having something fast, my macbook pro came with more ram than the entry Mac Pro

Q: who buys Mac Pros?
A: Pros

Q: What do Pros with 3gb of Ram?
A: Nothing, if you can live with 3gb of ram you should buy an Imac

get it together apple

 

[maflynn]

usb 3 and finally decent amounts of ram and
an ssd+tera configs

Doubtful, apple tends to take a very long time to add new technology to their MacPros

get it together apple

MacPros amount for a small portion of apple's bottom line and the profit margin is rather small, so apple seems to just make minor changes to the existing line. To that end, I'm not sure we'll see a huge update in a timely manner. Heck how long did it take for apple to release this update - almost 500 days?

 

[knucles]

... and the profit margin is rather small....

man, i doubt that.

Based unit sold maybe Mac Pros are just a small fraction of Macbooks for example, ok with that based on units sold

but for each Mac Pro the margin should be very very very High

3200 dollars for a Quad 3gb ram Computer.....

 

[maflynn]

Ok, let me rephrase it then. The effect of MacPros to apple's bottom line is minuscule because they move less units then other Macs in their line up. Mac Pros only reach a tiny population compared to other macs so apple is not about to dedicate a lot of R&D money on a mature product that will not sell as much as iMacs, MBPs etc

 

[DigitalVT]

Q: who buys Mac Pros?
A: Pros

Q: What do Pros with 3gb of Ram?
A: Nothing, if you can live with 3gb of ram you should buy an Imac

get it together apple

Most realise that they would purchase 3rd party RAM, opposed to buying Apples expensive RAM, hence the low RAM stock, which you do have an option to upgrade from Apple.

 

[knucles]

Most realise that they would purchase 3rd party RAM, opposed to buying Apples expensive RAM, hence the low RAM stock, which you do have an option to upgrade from Apple.

ok, i get that, but if i am paying 3200dollars for a computer it SHOULDN'T need an upgrade right out of the box, am i right?

And another thing, if nowadays ram is cheap for us, imagine how much it costs for apple.

12gb 6x2 should be standard for 2500euros machines

one more thing, Pros carried Apple trough the difficult times, and we are stuck in 500days updates

 

[johnnymg]

ok, i get that, but if i am paying 3200dollars for a computer it SHOULDN'T need an upgrade right out of the box, am i right?

And another thing, if nowadays ram is cheap for us, imagine how much it costs for apple.

12gb 6x2 should be standard for 2500euros machines

one more thing, Pros carried Apple trough the difficult times, and we are stuck in 500days updates

Apple doesn't owe anything to PRO's who carried them through tough times.

If you think the MP doesn't represent good value then you should purchase something else. The rich pricing on the MP isn't going to change in the future.

cheers to the longs
JohnG

 

[maflynn]

ok, i get that, but if i am paying 3200dollars for a computer it SHOULDN'T need an upgrade right out of the box, am i right?

Not to defend apple, but most manufacturers over charge on ram and skimp on stock ram, i.e., too little.

And another thing, if nowadays ram is cheap for us, imagine how much it costs for apple.

RAM, especially DDR3 ram is not cheap, its been a bit more expensive these past few years.

12gb 6x2 should be standard for 2500euros machines

That seems kind of excessively high for a 2500euro machine, while I do think apple needs to add more ram to its basic configuration, 12gb seems like over kill (for its stock configuration)

one more thing, Pros carried Apple trough the difficult times, and we are stuck in 500days updates

Apple has continually moved closer to providing the consumer with products and less the prosumer. Its just a fact, and if you feel that another computer will do a better job, move on. Apple will not update its MacPros any faster out of consideration to professionals who buy MacPros but rather cater their business to the consumers.

 

[knucles]

you say that because of your fair dollar pricing

try ours:

2499euro Quad = 3211 dollars
3200euro Hex = 4111 dollars
5000euro 12core = 6430 dollars

Noticed something? yeah 1430 dollar difference !!! SAME MACHINE

 

[maflynn]

What's you're point other then showing the disparity in pricing because of the currency conversion and apple not adjusting for that and probably the VAT?

the original post was about ram and future changes, and my posts were that apple isn't about to spend a lot of money on a mature product that will not have a great return on high R&D costs.

If the MacPro is too expensive, or not configured the way that you need it too, at least to make it economically feasible, find another solution.

 

[MCHR]

Mac Pros are focused at power users and those who can/are making incomes off their machines. So, since it's often a write-off and not a compulsive or domestic purchase, Apple can ask a premium for this segment.

If you are looking for a supercharged desktop that comes with bragging rights, yes, it's an expensive machine. And an iMac would do much of the same things with less flexibility.

But if you need sheer power and have to account for every minute or 1/2 hour from invoices and billable hours, the Mac Pro is still the way to go. It took me five years to 'save up' for my 2010.

Another option is to purchase last year's MP. Much of the same functionality, outstanding performance, and you'd likely save hundreds if not a grand or so.

 

[chych]

It's 3 gb since they use triple channel memory, and 1 gb sticks are cheap. I think Apple should have done minimum 3x2gb = 6 gb for such an expensive machine.

At least in the US, if you consider resale value, Mac Pros aren't really that much more expensive. I was looking at my 2006 Mac Pro ($3k when purchased) and similar Mac Pros sell currently for $1500 on ebay. A PC that was $1500 in 2006 now sells for under $200. Not much of a difference there - just the initial investment cost for having a Mac Pro.

 

[cjt3007]

If we are going to continue to talk about the FUTURE of the Mac Pro, we. Might as well talk about a re-design.

The case hasn't been touched since the G5 days!

Come on Apple! I'd love to see a stealth design in the Mac Pro section!

 

[philipma1957]

A stealth mac pro would be a really bad idea if you kill off the fullsize MacPro. The current pro has tremendous connectivity and has room inside.. This is big for business. Most companies don't care if the unit is pretty they want it to work and be easy to fix. A stealth mac pro would completely defeat the biggest user base business companies. Your idea is a great idea for a 1 or 2 man show that has space as a premium or a hobbiest that has some money to burn.



a stealth mac midi or a stealth mini mac pro would be fine. Just leave the current pro alone.

Get a cube a 7 by 7 by 7 inch mac mini/midi whatever shape that works. drop in a pair of 3.5 inch hdds 4 sticks of ram a 3.2 quad and 2 pcie slots . this unit would sell. A lot of people say it would hurt mac pro sales. no just limit the new pice a bit to 2 hdds 4 ram slots only a 3.2 or 3.33 quad. this does not fit a lot of mac pro users but fills the apple hole in their line up . mac mini then mac pro with no piece in between. MBP's and iMac's don't cut it for connectivity and force a screen on you that you may have 0 interest in.

I have a base 2.8 mac pro when I really need the above unit that I described. I am a 1 man show and this pro is overkill but the connectivity was very important to me.

 

[cjt3007]

I meant "stealth" as in design colors... like the MacBook Pros have a black & aluminum design. NOT a smaller Mac Pro!

 

[MCHR]

You could always remove the guts and anodize it. Or vinyl wrap it in matte colours. Or break out the Krylon.

 

[knucles]

ok, lets talk about the future

will they go to sandy bridge or wait for the server version?
What do you think? any news/ name for the sandy bridge server version?

 

[philipma1957]

I meant "stealth" as in design colors... like the MacBook Pros have a black & aluminum design. NOT a smaller Mac Pro!

silver and black or all black with a white apple!

 

[Yukon Joe]

I for one would prefer if they don't make any significant changes to the Mac Pro.

We're already having issues over how upgradable they are (see video cards being labelled as working only on 2010 Mac Pros). If they completely changed things around owners of the current cheese grater Mac Pro will likely be left behind.

 

[Schismz]

ok, i get that, but if i am paying 3200dollars for a computer it SHOULDN'T need an upgrade right out of the box, am i right?

And another thing, if nowadays ram is cheap for us, imagine how much it costs for apple.

12gb 6x2 should be standard for 2500euros machines

one more thing, Pros carried Apple trough the difficult times, and we are stuck in 500days updates

Apple's pricing on RAM and hard drives has actually gotten far more reality-based then in previous years. The reason the default amounts of RAM are so low, is specifically because there is no individual I am aware of who is dumb enough to load up their machine with Apple RAM. The defaults are "just enough" for the machine to work as configured with a single or dual CPUs.

The insane pricing on RAM and HDs relates to very large companies, edu facilities and governments, who tend to buy many machines all at once, and do not have the option of buying the hardware from Apple, getting RAM from another company, picking up a hard drive at yet another place, and liking this monitor from yet another vendor. In order to have an invoice approved you are often constrained to dealing with companies that have been vendorized (a process that takes seemingly decades to drag through), and if you want 24GB RAM for instance, you don't have the option of getting it someplace else. On the flipside of that, if you're burning through somebody else's money, in order to comply with your institution's/co's unreasonable rules for purchasing, you don't care, it's not your money or your problem, you just want the equipment. And Apple makes a lot of money on those elevated prices and orders of multiple machines.

If you're an individual, spending your own money, I cannot think of anybody who has loaded up their machine with SSDs and RAM from Apple; you buy those from OWC, Crucial, whomever.

 

[w00tini]

I may be in the minority but I bought my MacPro because I love OS X and Apple hardware for everyday computing, but still love PC gaming.

The Apple software platform is second to none for my needs, and is very intuitive and seems to be more in tune with how I think when I sit down at a computer. Apple's hardware is in a class of its own with cast and molded aluminum designs, attention to the smallest details, the great attention to peripherals with which we interact with the computer (LED LCDs, MultiTouch pads, ect), and an excellent resale value when it comes time to upgrade.

Now, how all that ties into the topic at hand is that, for me, I saw in the MacPro an opportunity to ditch my PC tower, which was almost exclusively used for gaming, and marry my needs of OS X and Windows into one finely tuned piece of hardware. I sold my MacMini, ripped apart my i7 PC gaming rig and sold each component individually on eBay, and ordered up the MacPro.

So I'll still have native Win7 via bootcamp with very solid gaming capability thanks to the HD5780 and the Xeon Hex, but will finally be able to enjoy a powerful OS X environment via the MacPro in its default software configuration. I still have a 13" MBP because I do so much traveling for work, but when I'm home I will be able to enjoy the Pro more than I ever did the PC for productivity.

So while not everyone games or uses OS X, I do believe there are enough PC gaming power-users like me out there that would love to have the best of both worlds in one pretty brushed aluminum tower to support at least a small segment of sales for the MacPro. Obviously professionals dominate the sales of the Pro, but I'd think enthusiasts are still a nice piece of the pie at the end of the day.

 

[goodcow]

Apple's pricing on RAM and hard drives has actually gotten far more reality-based then in previous years.

For some reason the Edu discount on RAM got lowered on the 10 models compared to 09. I actually purchased the 6 to 12GB upgrade from Apple directly on my 09, it was $270. Now they want $405 for the same upgrade.

 

[G4er?]

Get a cube a 7 by 7 by 7 inch mac mini/midi whatever shape that works. drop in a pair of 3.5 inch hdds 4 sticks of ram a 3.2 quad and 2 pcie slots . this unit would sell. A lot of people say it would hurt mac pro sales. no just limit the new pice a bit to 2 hdds 4 ram slots only a 3.2 or 3.33 quad. this does not fit a lot of mac pro users but fills the apple hole in their line up . mac mini then mac pro with no piece in between. MBP's and iMac's don't cut it for connectivity and force a screen on you that you may have 0 interest in.
.

I would beat down the door of the nearest Apple store to buy this kind of a Mac. I'm not even walking through any Apple store doors for any of the current product. Somebody hit Steve over the head. Maybe he'll get amnesia and somebody can tell him this is his next great product.

 

[Yukon Joe]

I would beat down the door of the nearest Apple store to buy this kind of a Mac. I'm not even walking through any Apple store doors for any of the current product. Somebody hit Steve over the head. Maybe he'll get amnesia and somebody can tell him this is his next great product.

People have been asking for such a machine for years and years - it even has its own term - the xMac.

 

[alphaod]

Q: who buys Mac Pros?

A: People who want expandability.

Q: What do Pros with 3gb of Ram?

A: Since you got the answer to first question wrong, you missed the part where people want expandability. Some people need a lot drives for their music or videos, but don't need the multitask which means 3GB is enough.