Apple Apologizes About Mac Pro's Lack of Upgradability, Ensures It's Still Committed to Pros

[steve333]

Well, they say the Mini lives, that's all I wanted to hear because it's the only Mac I have any interest in.
There's no excuse for updates to take this long however. All of that money and all that talent and all they can concentrate on are iPads, Notebooks and iPhones? Ludicrous

 

[d4rkc4sm]

so we know it takes apple four years to admit they screwed up. seriously, idiots are running apple. god damn i miss steve jobs

 

[koruki]

Sorry, but we can't help anyone who doesn't consider 4 of the highest bandwidth connectors on an enduser machine to be "ports".

Trust me, that IS the problem. I was happy they took the dvd drive out as USB was more common, faster, cheaper, more reliable. Yes, its early days but there will never be a day that I can plug an SD card from my camera into one of these highest bandwidth ports. The magsafe was one of the features on the Macbook line, that requires NO BANDWIDTH so no need to slap bandwidth sticker on that one.

When DVD was removed, you can ask for files on the cloud or thrown on a usb drive. I've yet to see a usb-c flash drive.

Thunderbolt has been out for half a decade and its hardly picked up at all.

One last thing, who the heck is "we", do you work at Apple?

 

[swingerofbirch]

I saw Gruber saying this was unprecedented, but it happened at least once before with the iMac.

I can't remember which change it was, and maybe someone else will.

It may have been the iMac G4 that became unavailable as they were transitioning to the iMac G5, and they announced that they had made a mistake in either not having enough iMac G4 stock or not getting the iMac G5 ready soon enough.

Or maybe it was iMac G5 to one of the Intel iMacs?

I don't remember exactly, but at some point there was a gap where for a few months there was no iMac for sale, but they pre-announced that a new model was coming out.

 

[koruki]

And those of us who just want MacBook Pros with mag safe and a couple of USBs?

I agree, dropping Magsafe was a big mistake. I don't even need a "couple" USB's just one would be nice but to have none is stupid

 

[smacrumon]

There is a difference being able to do something (in the physical sense) and wanting to do it.

Apple can easily donate billions to charity at the drop of a hat. They don't because there is no need to.

Same here. Yes, with the resources at their disposal, Apple could probably well afford to update their Macs regularly, even if it is just the obligatory spec bump every year. That they don't tells you just where the Mac sits in the greater scheme of things.

Whether it's the right move or not, we will let time be the final arbiter of that. But for the moment, Apple has decided that the pro market is something they cannot afford to alienate.

For now.

Apple has alienated the pro market. That's why uncharacteristically Apple released information about possible upcoming products today. Pro market is offside and moving to windows. Apple is trying to plug the holes in the ship. Holes that Apple actually created itself.

 

[DeepIn2U]

It was innovative, just pointlessly innovative.

They've made this beautiful mistake before ... Mac Pro Cube
Beautiful Design, Beautiful take on using No FANS yet in an envelop wrapped future potential into a thermal restriction nightmare.

I'm still on the lookup for a G4 Mac Cube as a collectors item and now the Mac Pro Cannister.

The magic is gone at this company.

Rather than surprise and delight, they've disappointed so many times that they feel guilty enough to come out and tell people what's in the product pipeline.

Imagine the product introductions years ago... not a single thing mentioned before the curtain was lifted. Now we have a circus sideshow.

Ahem that magic you're referring to was it the G4 Mac Pro Cube? That magic is what we're seeing right now with the innovative Mac Pro 2013 mistake.

 

[kwikdeth]

as ive always said, the nMP should have just been the "Mac", and the Mac Pro kept going as the real Mac Pro. The new mac pro is an amazing looking machine, its not a bad machine... its just not what was needed in that segment.

The G4 Cube was a marvel. The only flaws were the high price and Product overlap. You could buy something more powerful for less.

and heat. most of the Cubes are dead now from heat killing the PSUs.

 

[weup togo]

They've made this beautiful mistake before ... Mac Pro Cube
Beautiful Design, Beautiful take on using No FANS yet in an envelop wrapped future potential into a thermal restriction nightmare.

I'm still on the lookup for a G4 Mac Cube as a collectors item and now the Mac Pro Cannister.



Ahem that magic you're referring to was it the G4 Mac Pro Cube? That magic is what we're seeing right now with the innovative Mac Pro 2013 mistake.

The G4 Cube was originally envisioned as a PowerMac replacement. The accompanying PCI breakout chassis never shipped. It sounds like 17 years later, they're gunning at the same angle again.

 

[Abazigal]

Apple has alienated the pro market. That's why uncharacteristically Apple released information about possible upcoming products today. Pro market is offside and moving to windows. Apple is trying to plug the holes in the ship. Holes that Apple actually created itself.

I don't deny that. Actions speak louder than words and all the lyrical you wax about caring about the Pro market rings hollow when you don't ship actual physical hardware.

Did Apple suddenly realise the backlash was much stronger than what they had initially anticipated and are now back-pedalling and doing major damage control?

The bigger question is - is this neglect of the pro market intentional by design, or simply a consequence of Apple's overwhelming emphasis on the iPhone and its accompanying ecosystem?

 

[LordVic]

as ive always said, the nMP should have just been the "Mac", and the Mac Pro kept going as the real Mac Pro. The new mac pro is an amazing looking machine, its not a bad machine... its just not what was needed in that segment.

Yes! Make the "Trash Can", replace the CPU with a modern i5/i7. 512Gb storage default and dual 480's, or even dual 1060's and i'd be willing to consider it for a casual gaming computer.


But as a complete high end workstation? it's a miss

 

[Malarkey]

Sorry, Apple, the magic is gone. I've been looking at Falcon Northwest gaming PCs for that sense of wonder and excitement. Also BOXX and other machines that are graphics powerhouses. Don't want to have to deal with Windows but this is what it has come to.

 

[smacrumon]

I don't deny that. Actions speak louder than words and all the lyrical you wax about caring about the Pro market rings hollow when you don't ship actual physical hardware.

Did Apple suddenly realise the backlash was much stronger than what they had initially anticipated and are now back-pedalling and doing major damage control?

The bigger question is - is this neglect of the pro market intentional by design, or simply a consequence of Apple's overwhelming emphasis on the iPhone and its accompanying ecosystem?

It's the result of a regression to the greedy 1990s Apple, with excessive spending on R and D, unjust, unfair, ridiculous, out of touch pricing and a bunch of bozos running the company. Too many executives are out to lunch and not focusing on the right things, that being creativity not just coin.

 

[TLNZstudios]

The modern G4 Cube.

Still, they've accepted the design decisions they made didn't pan out and they're moving to a more expandable architecture going forward.

The Cube and Mini..beautiful machines. look across the PC spectrum. The AIO . again. I suspect too many Win winers love to bait here. go for it. stay on Win 10

 

[Tech198]

oh darn... no upgrades to Mac mini....

"If we've had a pause in upgrades and updates, we're sorry for that — what happened with the Mac Pro — and we're going to come out with something great to replace it."

What does he mean "IF" they had a pause...They did have a long pause.. Or perhaps work was rushed so no one even thought about it.

 

[TLNZstudios]

I saw Gruber saying this was unprecedented, but it happened at least once before with the iMac.

I can't remember which change it was, and maybe someone else will.

It may have been the iMac G4 that became unavailable as they were transitioning to the iMac G5, and they announced that they had made a mistake in either not having enough iMac G4 stock or not getting the iMac G5 ready soon enough.

Or maybe it was iMac G5 to one of the Intel iMacs?

I don't remember exactly, but at some point there was a gap where for a few months there was no iMac for sale, but they pre-announced that a new model was coming out.

I have the G4 imac, and G5 first intell.. which was actually a pentium. as well as many models. prior and after. Yellow screens, capacitors of death, yup. been there. but. Apple always fixed mah shiz. took care of me. yes I was a mad hatter. unlike Dell or HP which was a total nightmare.

 

[0388631]

Four years late, but I applaud Apple for admitting to their mistake, and so bluntly at that. No sweet talk in this release. Apple's never been known to give pre-release news this early in the game, but it sounds like they're attempting to make amends by going back to their roots. At least that's what I hope they're doing.

Hopefully the Mini gets a refresher, too. For a lot of people wanting to get into the Mac eco-sphere, it's a "cheap" way to get your feet wet and then get sucked into it all. I'm afraid if they kill it and make the intro iMac expensive enough, they won't get as many sales.
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and G5 first intell.. which was actually a pentium.

What? Apple never pushed out a Pentium based system. The G5 used a PowerPC G5 x64 bit processor developed by IBM and Apple. Apple's foray into Intel was the Intel Core Solo for the Mini a couple years after the initial release with the PowerPC G4 processor. You could also upgrade the Solo to a C2D if you wanted to.

 

[Wild-Bill]

Too little, too late IMHO.

They need to go back to the drawing board on the MacBook 'Pro's too. Touchbar with emojis? Really?

I'm sure the lackluster sales of the newly downgraded MBPs coupled with the disaster that is the trashcan Mac Pro probably finally woke someone up at Apple.

As others have said, the magic at Apple is gone. Long gone.

And in what world is over 1,200 days without an update a "pause" in updates? Typically Schiller market spin.

 

[bernuli]

Wow. I am pretty psyched about this news.

Apple could knock it out of the park if they just stopped ignoring the Mac Pro and what people want in a Pro Mac.

I'll probably buy a trash can though, just so I can be nostalgic later.

 

[1024724]

Sort in disbelief about this... Apple must have been getting a lot of pressure to say anything at all, apologize, and actually announce what's coming.

I have to wonder what exactly is meant by modular though. Designed with swappable internals or a bunch of separate, external components that need to be interconnected?

 

[RumorConsumer]

Some of you naysayers are in ****** denial and disconnected marriages longer than Apple ignored the pro line. But you, keep doing the same thing you're doing now and hope for a different result

 

[koruki]

I've never used the Mac Pro tower on a day to day basis, all I know is that its such a beautiful item I buy them used and just hoard them in the corner of the house ... one day I'll do something with that sexy thick aluminum...

 

[CWallace]

And those of us who just want MacBook Pros with mag safe and a couple of USBs?

Buy a Griffin BreakSafe Magnetic USB-C Power Cable if you have the 13" model or help fund Snapnator's Kickstarter if you have a 15" model.

 

[DougWillis]

It feels like Crocodile tears from Phil Schiller, for years Apple has arrogantly ignored its Mac pro User base. Apple should now fess up and be a lot more specific about what it will deliver, when (exactly), how much and most importantly why customers should stick with apple.

The pendulum of honesty and openess must swing much further the opposite way from where it has been for some time for Apple to redeem itself. Vague promises of "something great" are meaningless hollow crap from this company now, whereas at one time, many years ago, customers would have taken it seriously.

 

[mrr]

Why did it take Apple 3 years just for an update and to FINALLY figure out that the current MacPro wasn't cutting it?

Our lab uses 45 macs. They used to be all Mac Pros but 2 years ago we moved to iMacs because the cost of the MacPro with substandard Monitor was no longer worth it.

This week, we ordered our first PC *ever* so that we can do VR work on it.

Apple better get it together.