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Apple Spokesperson Confirms New Mac Pro Designs Likely Coming in 2013 [Update: Not iMac]

Crazy Theory #623

Ok, here's my theory. Keep in mind that I have zero supporting evidence for this. :)

18 month(ish) ago, for whatever reasons, Apple decided they wouldn't make any new Mac Pros.
Now, they have decided to reverse this decision and make a Pro Mac again. This maybe due to management changes at the top of Apple. However, since they didn't do any engineering work on a Pro Mac for 18 months it's going to take a while get the wheels turning again - hence the delay in getting a new product out.
 
theSeb said:
I don't think it matters to the average consumer. I went to my local Apple store today in the hope of checking out the new MBP. They had the old MBPs and MBAs and not even a mention anywhere that they had just been refreshed. People were still buying them along with iMacs.
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I had the same experience. Not even a sign to say updated MBPs and MBAs. It was like WWDC never happened. It was the same when I went in the day after the new iPad was launched - there was nothing. No new signs in the store. In fact they still had the giant illuminated sign on the side with iPad 2 on it for weeks afterwards. The Apple Stores seem like they are on a time delay of about a month from the rest of Apple. Very odd.
 
Very silly question but, uh, what updates are absolutely necessary in a new Mac Pro? Yeah, USB 3 (definitely take or leave Thunderbolt, at this point, but fine, for the monitor), but Mac Pros are still, by far, the most powerful computer Apple produces, latest processors notwithstanding. They'll remain the most powerful computer Apple produces until Apple updates them again.

Not saying they shouldn't update the Mac Pro -- of course they should. I'm just saying, what's the rush? I mean that non-rhetorically... and chances are that a bunch of Apple marketing execs + engineers said the same thing.
 
Now then, as Apple has CONFIRMED NEW DESIGN MAC PRO'S NEXT YEAR, are the pro's happy?
I mean, when was the last time Apple confirmed anything a year in advance?

As for the iMac I think they are still going to wait for reaction to the new MacBook Pro Retina before releasing it's update as it too will have a stupid resolution screen considering they are up to 27", OR will Apple update the current range AND release a new design iMac with Retina too?
 
Like the design of the new MBP, a Retina iMac with the screen built into the unibody will be less reflective and thinner overall -- just expensive as :eek: since no one else besides Apple is ordering them.

You don't put off upgrading the Pro this much unless you have a major redesign in hand waiting for the technology to mature and become cost effective. They're up to something, and I'll happily wait for it with my aging (yet super fast!) 2009 Mac Pro.
 
Cybbe said:
It's not that hard to believe. Apple as any other company has limited engineering resources. I can't imagine they have a permanent Mac Pro hardware engineer team assembled. A redesign of the workstation would take engineering resources away from other teams. They decided to prioritize other projects.

How much it would take to sort out some of the most glaring problems, such as USB3? I have no clue. But I assume they decided it wasn't worth it until other projects finished, and that's why we're looking at 2013. They aren't waiting for technology to come ripe, they are waiting for other Apple projects to finish.

..and they are likely to loose boatloads of professional users while it happens.
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With a $100 Billion in the bank they have no excuse for limited engineering resources. Just go hire some more people if needs be.

This is a big problem with Apple in my view. They still act like a start up who can move engineering and software development resources from one project to another rather than hire more people. They took software developers off iWork to build an iOS version, the result being that we haven't had a new version of iWork for OSX for 4 years. That was tolerated in the old days when Apple was a small company but not anymore.
 
I was just looking at the updated story and I never realized that Mac sales only account for 13% of their revenue. By the time you pull out the notebooks and iMac I can see why the Mac Pro isn't a big concern. However, I noticed that desktops still had nice growth (I'd guess mostly iMacs) so I think it's way too soon to leave this market.

Considering that Mac sales are only 13% of their revenue it's easy to see why the iDevices have become their main priority.

The company is living on the iPhone and iPad. There isn't anything wrong with that, however it remains to be seen if customers of these mobile devices will stick with Apple for good or jump on something else in a few years.
 
DTphonehome said:
Well, there goes the sales for the rest of 2012. Someone at Apple should look up "The Osbourne Effect" on Wikipedia. Guess they had to announce something due to the backlash.
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LOL as if there was any movement on the Mac Pros today and with the «revision» people got so insulted that the general feeling was to ditch the platform altogether or make preparations to do so.

The Osbourne effect is history: now meet the Apple Mac Pro effect, where immense secrecy and lame/slow revisions lead to people just giving up on the platform and going elsewhere.

Nobody buys a Mac Pro on a whim anyway, people buy a Mac Pro when they *need* a Mac Pro. Knowing that a Mac Pro is to be released next year would usually have 0% effect on the professional buying decision, *especially* since a yearly revision is the absolute minimum anyway.

But also because a Mac Pro in the future doesn't make any money, but a Mac Pro today *does*.

Regardless, the Osbourne effect could only apply to a product that is actually selling anything. One can't sell less than 0 units a day, but one can lose customers really fast to other vendors: the Apple Mac Pro effect. :cool:
 
chrono1081 said:
Actually most companies don't upgrade workstations that fast. They buy a bunch in bulk one year, then keep em for awhile and upgrade internals.

I have yet to see a single company (even media heavy companies) upgrade computers yearly.
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Most companies I know stagger their upgrades. They replace say 25-33% of their computers every year to prevent things from getting to outdated and to prevent massive 1 time charges from happening.
 
Small White Car said:
Man, Apple got scared. Having them admit even that much about a year-off product is a huge, huge change for them.

Looks like all the Internet bit**ing achieved at least a tiny result. That's new.
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Yes Apple got «scared» or at least apprehensive, but it wasn't internet bitching that delivered this result, it was influential people contacting Apple.

Anything you write here is still irrelevant to Apple :D;)
 
this makes me happy

Not sure why they had to wait almost 3 years to update the pro tower. Maybe they had plans they didn't was Steve to see. I would love to see something rack-mountable again. They are obviously moving away from standard parts again which is going to frustrate a lot of people. I think the only thing I don't like about the new MacBookPro is the lack of ability to swap out Memory. Considering the life span (from what I have been told) of flash based storage its not going to last as long as platter drives. MAkes me weary of the update. Don't get me wrong... I WANT the new MBP!
 
I don't care about the Mac Pro but I hope the iMac gets an update soon. The Retina MacBook Pro is tempting though.
 
Lets hope apple doesn't come with an Mac Pro Nano.

with laptop chips and GPU.

with all the disappointment going around, i don't have faith that they won't screw up the professional/expandable side of the needs.
 
noty said:
I don't care about the Mac Pro but I hope the iMac gets an update soon. The Retina MacBook Pro is tempting though.
Click to expand...

I was so reassured to see that Pogue's information was wrong about the iMac. I am planning on buying one soon and not ready to wait until next year!

let's hope they will be coming same time as Mountain Lion, or this fall at the latest!
 
If we're waiting until 2013 now, this upgrade better be significant. I've wanted to buy one for a while, but refused to pay a premium for stale hardware.
 
badNameErr said:
Ok, here's my theory. Keep in mind that I have zero supporting evidence for this. :)

18 month(ish) ago, for whatever reasons, Apple decided they wouldn't make any new Mac Pros.
Now, they have decided to reverse this decision and make a Pro Mac again. This maybe due to management changes at the top of Apple. However, since they didn't do any engineering work on a Pro Mac for 18 months it's going to take a while get the wheels turning again - hence the delay in getting a new product out.
Click to expand...

The mac pro were "updated" because They didn't have any of the older intel chips.
 
My Complaint

Why in the world does Apple act like they can't "afford" to update more then what is making the most money at the time? They say they believe in making the best products possible but what they really mean is making the best products possible with the highest profit margins. How in the world is updating the iMac or Mac Pro detrimental to them even if it is only for their "hard core" mac users? These "hard core" Mac users are the ones that kept them alive before the iPhone and iPod.
 
MacRumors said:
In light of the disappointing update with processors that are still several years old, we have tweaked our Buyer's Guide recommendations to suggest that users able to hold off until next year for a more significant update do so instead of purchasing the just-updated but still outdated Mac Pro models.
Click to expand...

The "the just-updated but still outdated Mac Pro" - thank you for the reasonable, non-fan, interpretation of the non-update.


Hakone said:
Yay... another year w/ my BSOD-prone Dell. :(
Click to expand...

If your Dell is running Windows 7 or Windows Vista or Windows XP and is blue-screening - you have one or more of
  • defective hardware (usually bad RAM, but could be a device controller)
  • out-of-date firmware/drivers
  • bad 3rd party hardware/drivers

Windows systems are not "BSOD-prone" unless one or more of these is true.
 
Shaun said:
I had the same experience. Not even a sign to say updated MBPs and MBAs. It was like WWDC never happened. It was the same when I went in the day after the new iPad was launched - there was nothing. No new signs in the store. In fact they still had the giant illuminated sign on the side with iPad 2 on it for weeks afterwards. The Apple Stores seem like they are on a time delay of about a month from the rest of Apple. Very odd.
Click to expand...

95 percent of the population didn't know WWDC was taking place and don't monitor product cycles. they walk in to the store and buy what is there. I saw people buying iPad 2s a couple days before the new iPad came out.
 
Mac Pro Line

I am so disappointed with the Apple WWDC. Especially the lack of attention they are paying to the Pro consumer. It has been more than 2 years since the Mac Pro has received any updates and its just so sad to see the company focused on the corporate (sales whores) selling iPhones and iPads and not paying attention to the consumer who made them so sought after.

NOTE TO TIM COOK.. YOU GAVE IN ON USB 3 INSTEAD OF LEADING THE WAY WITH THUNDERBOLT AS A STANDARD. STEVE WOULD HAVE NEVER STOOD FOR THAT. YOU CONTINUE TO IGNORE THE PRO CONSUMER AND OUR LINES ARE OLD AND OUTDATED. EVEN THE WEBSITE HAD ERRORS ON THE PRO LINE LISTING "NEW" OUTDATED ARCHAIC 12 CORE MACS WHEN THE PC MARKET IS ALREADY ON BOARD WITH THE SANDY BRIDGE PROCESSORS. WAKE UP AND GET WITH IT..!
 
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