Apple Preparing to Launch 27-Inch LED Cinema Display, Mac Pro Update by June?

[Cecco]

And again waiting and waiting and waiting ....

One more Tuesday passed without a MacPro update

Is there still some here listening to this endless story ???

Or all are busy working on their new hackintoshes?

I'm wandering, how long Apple can muck their professional customers about, until the market for Mac desktops has evaporated?

 

[SoCalRich]

They are here... New MBP's.....

One more Tuesday passed without a MacPro update

Is there still some here listening to this endless story ???

Or all are busy working on their new hackintoshes?

I'm wandering, how long Apple can muck their professional customers about, until the market for Mac desktops has evaporated?

...

 

[rajbonham]

Check the store..... They're here.... Finally.... YIPPEE YIP...

No, those are the new MacBook Pros, not Mac Pro. Apple is foolish and chose to not take advantage of NAB to show off their shiny, new Mac Pros. Oh well...

 

[SoCalRich]

No, those are the new MacBook Pros, not Mac Pro. Apple is foolish and chose to not take advantage of NAB to show off their shiny, new Mac Pros. Oh well...

DUH.... You're right...

 

[xgman]

One more Tuesday passed without a MacPro update

Is there still some here listening to this endless story ???

Or all are busy working on their new hackintoshes?

I'm wandering, how long Apple can muck their professional customers about, until the market for Mac desktops has evaporated?

I'll wait till June and then might actually look seriously at the hackintosh option if nothings out by then. I'm getting disgusted with toymaker Apple at the moment.

 

[ValSalva]

I'm getting disgusted with toymaker Apple at the moment.

I couldn't have said it any better. Maybe tomorrow at the Broadcast Association meeting? If not then, who knows? Discouraging.

 

[Cecco]

I'll wait till June and then might actually look seriously at the hackintosh option if nothings out by then. I'm getting disgusted with toymaker Apple at the moment.

Remember what Steve Jobs said? "Apple is now a mobile devices company".

Would a Mac Pro qualify as a mobile device, if we can make Apple to stick a 20 pound car battery into it?

Seems to be the only way to revive Apple's interest in the Mac Pros.

-> http://www.apple.com/feedback/macpro.html

Cecco

 

[Houston]

What are the chances that the 27" LED Cinema Display will have the dreaded YELLOW TINT?

So it's now APRIL 19th. Wonder if this information still holds? There is little mention of the Mac Pro anywhere.

 

[Thunderbird]

One more Tuesday passed without a MacPro update

Is there still some here listening to this endless story ???

Or all are busy working on their new hackintoshes?

I'm wandering, how long Apple can muck their professional customers about, until the market for Mac desktops has evaporated?

I'll wait till June and then might actually look seriously at the hackintosh option if nothings out by then. I'm getting disgusted with toymaker Apple at the moment.

I couldn't have said it any better. Maybe tomorrow at the Broadcast Association meeting? If not then, who knows? Discouraging.

So it's now APRIL 19th. Wonder if this information still holds? There is little mention of the Mac Pro anywhere.

"Not to worry" - Steve Jobs

 

[matticus008]

Its probably good for the ego of Steve Jobs, to be able to surprise people with new hardware on one of his special events, but Apple's closed lips policy is really unprofessional when you want to deal with someone, who has to plan the purchase of hardware for their business.

That's a little histrionic. Most companies do not disclose future plans. 99% of what a business buys has to be based on shipping products. No inside information is provided. Product announcements in the electronics industry are the exception, not the norm, and used to generate interest.

You get an announcement with a shipping date in most cases. Neither HP nor Dell provide the kind of detailed product launches Apple does, and certainly do not provide inside information to small business customers.

E.g. I need an eSATA card for a new RAID system now.

Then you have to buy one now. I'm with AidenShaw in this one. If you have an immediate business need, then you make a purchase, as with anything else, based on what is now available. If there is a solution that meets your current needs, there is no issue. It will not meet your current needs any less if something better comes along next month.

Furthermore, if the new MacPros will have build-in eSATA, the purchase would be a waste of money.

If so, then out of logical necessity, you don't need to make the purchase now.

If Apple's suppliers would play the same silly "I don't say anything until the product is ready for shipping" game with Apple like Apple is playing with their business customers, Apple would be out of business for quite some time.

The relationship is not even close to comparable, nor is the statement true. Apple, like any company, does make most of its purchases based on announced products, and generally does not have access to information on internal prototypes that have not been shared with customers.

 

[rajbonham]

So it's now APRIL 19th. Wonder if this information still holds? There is little mention of the Mac Pro anywhere.

That's just because fewer people are interested in the Mac Pro.

Nobody interested in the Mac Pro is going to go to their local Best Buy and beg the teenager working there to check the stocks of MP in the computer system.

I agree though, I wish we could get ANY sort of information on the new Mac Pro at this point.

 

[Anuba]

No problem! If you're on the hunt for a 27", Dell's U2711 uses the same LG panel as the iMac, but with different backlighting and electronics, and it's supposed to hit the stores for around $1100. If you don't need IPS, both HP and Sceptre sell a TN-based one for under $400--note that it's 1920x1080 though, so it's a lower resolution and an inferior (EDIT: in comparison, that is; the Sceptre is actually a fine monitor for consumer use) panel.

The U2711 panel seems sweet, but the monitor as a whole is simply hideous. I'm not one to knock everything non-Apple, design wise, and I was a loyal Dell customer for many years, but their monitors just seem to get uglier and cheaper looking every year. Why put such a nice panel in something that looks like the black packaging material usually found inside Dell's shipping boxes? Yikes. It reminds me of the garbage can droid "Gonk" from Star Wars: A New Hope.

Dell also has a cheaper 27" (2709W) for about $800, but I was pretty unhappy with the one I saw in person. Stay away from their 30" (3007/8 model)--it's the same price as the ACD and not quite as good.

Really? IIRC, in a shootout performed shortly after the 3007 was released, it was found that both use LG panels but the 3007 had a later generation than the ACD, with higher contrast (1:800 vs. 1:1000 or whatever it was) and marginally snappier response. The ACD may have been quietly updated since then, but if not, the 3007WFP is supposed to be better. Its panel, that is. The 3007 itself, maybe not so much. I own one, it was assembled somewhere in Eastern Europe... Poland or something... and the quality is so-so. When at full brightness, it emits a high pitched whine. One notch below that, it's quiet. Anywhere below the second highest notch it emits a low midrange hum. Also the plastic creaks and crackles when the screen is warming up or cooling down.

 

[matticus008]

Really? IIRC, in a shootout performed shortly after the 3007 was released, it was found that both use LG panels but the 3007 had a later generation than the ACD [...] The ACD may have been quietly updated since then

That's exactly what happened. The 30" got a bump from 16ms to 14ms around 2006 as a consequence of the updated panel (around the same time as its price drop to $1999, which was in turn driven largely by the much cheaper, updated panel). The Dell launched in January, and the Apple price cut was in the summer, as I recall.

The 3007 never had the backlighting of the ACD, either, so even with a panel mismatch, it never came out ahead. Of course, if absolute performance was not your key criterion, it was about $400 cheaper for a few months until Apple updated its lineup (which then left the Dell as the more expensive monitor and forced Dell to slash its prices down to $1800ish).

At this point, though, the 3007 model is just as old as the ACD, has nothing in its favor over the ACD, and has a lower resale value to boot. It's not a sound purchase in 2010. You'd have to be nuts not to buy the 3007/8 WFP-HC version at 1399 if you absolutely had to buy a 30" Dell monitor right now and refused to trade 3" for a hands-down better U2711.

I completely agree about the design and build quality of the Dell, though. It's sad, but they've made a business out of delivering adequate monitors at a sharp discount over Apple's comparable hardware, and that increasingly means cutting corners for Dell.

 

[Anuba]

That's exactly what happened. The 30" got a bump from 16ms to 14ms around 2006 as a consequence of the updated panel (around the same time as its price drop to $1999, which was in turn driven largely by the much cheaper, updated panel). The Dell launched in January, and the Apple price cut was in the summer, as I recall.

The 3007 never had the backlighting of the ACD, either, so even with a panel mismatch, it never came out ahead. Of course, if absolute performance was not your key criterion, it was about $400 cheaper for a few months until Apple updated its lineup (which then left the Dell as the more expensive monitor and forced Dell to slash its prices down to $1800ish).

At this point, though, the 3007 model is just as old as the ACD, has nothing in its favor over the ACD, and has a lower resale value to boot. It's not a sound purchase in 2010. You'd have to be nuts not to buy the 3007/8 WFP-HC version at 1399 if you absolutely had to buy a 30" Dell monitor right now and refused to trade 3" for a hands-down better U2711.

Actually it does have one thing in its favor... it's height adjustable. Most people probably don't care, but for me personally it's very useful. I have this Ikea desk called Jerker which has two levels, and I need this because I need to have a MIDI keyboard on the primary desktop where the monitor would normally sit, and then I have the monitor on the 'shelf' some 6-7 inches above the main desk. Since the 3007 can be pushed so far down that the bottom edge of the screen is almost touching the table, it's a perfect fit. The ACD, on the other hand, would be high up in the sky and I'd be peering up at it like I was in front row at a theater. I tried with my iMac 24" to see at which height an Apple screen would roughly end up, and it wasn't good. Just another example of Ive's minimalism hampering functionality, and kind of a dealbreaker for me unless I start screwing around with VESA mounts.

Otherwise the 3007 isn't a good purchase at this point in time, no. Except the minor advantage of looking better than its successor. Especially in a Mac environment. It's black/silver and sort of reminiscent of the edge-to-edge black on the new iMac. IIRC the 3008 is all black, fugly and has a much more plastic look than the 3007, and has a plastic 'foot' (it's metal on the 3007). Like I said, they keep getting uglier and cheaper looking every year and Dell's aesthetic sensibilities appear to have peaked somewhere around 2007.

 

[Apollo33]

Let's see how high they jack the prices up for the monitors.

Dell's 2010 24" (which is 16:10 rather than 16:9) is $599, while Apple's 24" has stuck with the $899 since it was released at the end of 2008. (Apple products very rarely see a reduction in price, while Dell's probably have. This is why Apple often seems to have uncompetitive pricing towards the end of a product's lifecycle or refresh.) I could actually see a small price drop happening when Apple releases the 27" (but it probably isn't very likely). Apple's display does have LED backlighting, which might be considered a plus for some people. In addition, it probably works "better" with Macs too, probably featuring keyboard-adjustable (and also auto-adjusting) backlighting like MacBooks.

Dell's 2008 30" display is $1599, which is only $200 less than Apple's old 30" display. (meanwhile Dell's 27" display is just $1099, so I'd expect Apple to try to compete with that price point... maybe releasing a 27" display at $1299, keeping the same $200 difference.)

 

[MorphingDragon]

Probably Apple has already become a gadget company and we simply didn't realize it?

And?

There are Operating systems that transcend both Windows and Mac OSX. If Apple stops producing personal computers, people will simply change.

I highly doubt that though, Macs are a respectable chunk of Apple's income.

 

[matticus008]

Dell's 2010 24" (which is 16:10 rather than 16:9) is $599, while Apple's 24" has stuck with the $899 since it was released at the end of 2008. (Apple products very rarely see a reduction in price, while Dell's probably have. This is why Apple often seems to have uncompetitive pricing towards the end of a product's lifecycle or refresh.)

Not really. Apple has only ever sold mid-priced monitors. It's a smaller market and prices just don't change that often. Dell's prices are lower because they typically wait longer in the panel cycle to place their orders and piggyback R&D on companies that have established products. Sometimes Dell follows Apple on their premium lines; often it's Samsung on their consumer lines.

At least three times in recent memory, Dell has waited for Apple to integrate an LG panel shortly before preparing product launches of its own, utilizing the later cycle prices and the money invested by Apple in order to launch products at more competitive prices (the 2005FPW, 3007/3008WFP, and U2711).

Apple's 24" has remained at $899 because there's nothing that has changed that would merit a price change, just like NEC's similarly-aged 24" model is still $1100.

Dell's 2008 30" display is $1599, which is only $200 less than Apple's old 30" display.

They're the same panel and the same monitor. Dell actually made the 3008 models worse than the 3007 ones in order to shave a few more bucks off the price.

meanwhile Dell's 27" display is just $1099, so I'd expect Apple to try to compete with that price point... maybe releasing a 27" display at $1299, keeping the same $200 difference.)

Apple doesn't price to be competitive with Dell. The biggest issue for Apple is pricing relative to the iMac. $1299 is probably too high unless they make some significant improvements to the backlighting and electronics.

 

[eppel]

Can anyone explain to me why Apple doesn't update the Mac Pro. I mean: the processors are available, they fit right into the same motherboards. What are they waiting for?? Graphics card options? 64 bit Final Cut Studio? I just don't get it and i'm tired of waiting..

 

[SoCalRich]

I wish Dell or HP was making an easily converted hackintosh......

hmmmmm

 

[Houston]

Can anyone explain to me why Apple doesn't update the Mac Pro. I mean: the processors are available, they fit right into the same motherboards. What are they waiting for?? Graphics card options? 64 bit Final Cut Studio? I just don't get it and i'm tired of waiting..

I'm now starting to wonder if the BY JUNE rumor still stands. I wish the source of that rumor would chime in. I read in another thread that a French source is saying it may be as late as October before the Mac Pro is updated.
Let's hope that's not true. It would be nice if the author of this rumor, Eric Slivka, would nose around and let us know if it's still in play.

 

[eppel]

I'm now starting to wonder if the BY JUNE rumor still stands. I wish the source of that rumor would chime in. I read in another thread that a French source is saying it may be as late as October before the Mac Pro is updated.
Let's hope that's not true. It would be nice if the author of this rumor, Eric Slivka, would nose around and let us know if it's still in play.

Rumors on the Mac Pro are hard to find these days. I wonder what's going on. I thought the slow update cycle's were over and gone with the PowerPc days.
But maybe last years updates were exceptionally fast given Apple's exclusive deal with Intel at that time. It shouldn't mean though that now that's over they have to stand in line behind Dell and HP..
Let's hope we won't have to wait past WWDC..

 

[harveypooka]

I thought the slow update cycle's were over and gone with the PowerPc days.

Agreed.

Rep at my local Apple store tried to convince me to buy the current Mac Pro. He said that it'd "probably" be swapped for a new model if one was released within the next 60 or even 90 days. No chance!

 

[xbjllb]

Can anyone explain to me why Apple doesn't update the Mac Pro. I mean: the processors are available, they fit right into the same motherboards. What are they waiting for?? Graphics card options? 64 bit Final Cut Studio? I just don't get it and i'm tired of waiting..

They're waiting for all Mac Pro users to die.

No, really.

 

[harveypooka]

They're waiting for all Mac Pro users to die:

Haha, excellent!

 

[Umbongo]

Rumors on the Mac Pro are hard to find these days. I wonder what's going on. I thought the slow update cycle's were over and gone with the PowerPc days.
But maybe last years updates were exceptionally fast given Apple's exclusive deal with Intel at that time. It shouldn't mean though that now that's over they have to stand in line behind Dell and HP..
Let's hope we won't have to wait past WWDC..

I doubt they are, there are many reasons why may Apple have not updated their offering yet. Too much surplus inventory, current stock still selling at the same levels, chance at better deals from Intel for waiting, supply issues all round (Dell and HP may have them, but how many are they selling and shipping right now).

Although a lot of people seem to think Apple have abandoned it, and its never coming, nothing is different to the 2006 and 2008 launches of Mac Pros in regard to time line so far.