Hey I've never been to France.
No. After 6/8 months of the original release date Apple could have bumped the entire line up. It would have made everyone interested in buying the Pro happy.
I don't think the Mac Pro has ever been on a six month update cycle. Further the machine doesn't or didn't have the market presence to justify such update cycles. Apple is doing much better with hardware sales overall so maybe in the future Apple will be able to justify faster update cycles.
The thing is smart users of Apple hardware buy when a new rev comes out. That is when the price is generally such that you get good value. If the value equation doesn't look good six months latter who's fault is that. You can't blame Apple if the economics of the platform only justifies updates about once a year.
It would have felt more like a contemporary machine, better value. Like Apple was actually interested in it's customers. That alone would have caused a surge of new buyers....
Even today the Mac Pro is a good value. If you want a platform that refreshes quickly get an iMac.
As to sales, right now Apple doesn't seem to have problems. I don't know what is happening with the Mac Pro specifically I don't have numbers at the moment but I don't think there are any concerns at the moment. For the vast majority of Apples customers the exact configuration doesn't matter much.
Look at it this way, Apples laptops are in need of an update to a far greater extent that the Mac Pro line yet Apple is selling more than ever. That is in part because the Laptops are still very good values. It isn't all about the CPU for most users.
The Quad 2.66 becomes the Quad 2.93 etc. If that was the model we'd be looking at a Quad 3.33 any day now. If that was the case and there were no more price hikes to give the Americans a reduction I'd be delighted with Apple instead of wondering what the hell are they playing at.
I think I'm missing something here. It sounds like you are saying Apple raises the price on exported hardware to make things cheaper in the US. If so that is possibly the wildest thing I've heard in years.
Surely no one outside the States are buying these tired old expensive things?
They are likely being purchased wherever they are needed. Pretty much the same as in the US. For most people the Mac Pros are tools that are purchased as or when needed.
In the Sates they are much cheaper and so it's easier to buy one than here where the price makes it a serious purchase; where everything has to be in place and paying top dollar for ancient tech isn't it.
The Mac Pros are not exactly cheap here either. They go for about three times the cost of a Mini.
If you are really concerned about the cost of computer hardware in France take the issue to the politicians. Not that you will get much support from socialist leadership you have now. France and the EU have been playing dirty with American companies for a long while now. Just so your local firms can do a half ass job and get away with it. So really if you have concerns about high prices in France or the EU don't blame Apple, Cisco, Microsoft, IBM, Oracle or anybody else because it isn't their fault.
Dave
