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Apple didn't get to where it is by asking its customers what they want. This is worrying.
They've welcomed feedback for nearly two decades.

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In general a pro machine should be upgradable:
Lots of memory, upgradable.
Replaceable disks.
Replaceable video cards.
Current generation CPUs, video cards etc.
Thunderbolt 3.
DDR4 (parity is important).

Forget thinness. This isn't the same market that is looking at the new iPhone or iPad. It is a pro machine. Sure they'll buy those too, but this is for development or graphic design and the like where thinness is irrelevant.

Why? Why must a “Pro” machine (whatever that means) be upgradable? Why is that the most important factor?

Woah-oh, dangerous foot to start on. I only ask because most “Pros” I know just want a powerful machine, with great support, great build quality, that they can buy customised with the hardware they want, and they use it until they need a new one.

They wouldn’t spend hours or more dicking about upgrading RAM, drives, installing OSs, replacing CPUs, just so they can save some money on components. If anything the time they spent on that and the money they saved would be less than if they just did their job in the first place.

Now again, these are just some Pros. Graphics designers, music producers, etc. I’m sure there are plenty who need upgradeable components too.

Lumping every single professional in the same brush and saying “the machine must be upgradeable, regardless if it comes with 128GB RAM, an 18 core Xeon, OR IT’S NOT PRO” is utterly ridiculous. It’s a dumb argument. When Apple release a decent modular machine, as they’ve stated on many occasions they have already, then hopefully all users will be satisfied.
 
Sure sounds like Apple's just trying to figure out what to cut from the machine (for profit as that's what Apple does best). Why not ask what MISSING features people would like. You know, like a decent graphics card, upgradeability, etc.

It’s an iMac, Those were never modular by design.

That’s what the upcoming Mac Pro is for.
 
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Would it be possible to provide some references for some of your statements? For example:

"Apple learned from that mistake and is this time aiming for a machine that will better accommodate future upgrades and high-end hardware."

Would it be possible to obtain a reference to a statement from Apple which supports this?
 
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Can’t win huh. Ask the customers what they want or their favourite features of the iMac Pro and Apple are clueless with what direction to go.

Take a different direction and get criticised and Apple are accused of being arrogant and don’t listen to customers.

Look, Apple ****ed up badly on the Pro market. They admitted it. They’re looking to rectify it. Why does everybody have to be some damn negative about every bit of news. If Pros (pretty much everybody here, evidently), are so invested in Apple products and its ecosystem, can’t you be happy they’re genuinely looking to resolve your criticisms?
Not sure they ever said they failed and the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Of they’re genuinely looking to resolve this the pudding should be nice.
It could all be bluster.
 
They wouldn’t spend hours or more dicking about upgrading RAM, drives, installing OSs, replacing CPUs, just so they can save some money on components. If anything the time they spent on that and the money they saved would be less than if they just did their job in the first place.
Adding memory and additional hard drives takes mere minutes. At least for a system designed to easily do so.
 
so in 2017 they said the are working on it. End of 2018 they ask people what they want (and they only ask iMac Pro customers - not those that didn't buy because it lacks the features they want).
Give us back upgrade-able cheesgrater again and let us be. That was the best design anyway. Throw in proper ACD ideally with Matte option and we are all happy.
UPGRADEABILITY is the main thing most pro want! And jeez, proper GPU options for those doing 3D etc.
 
Anyone filling this in, please tell them we want Nvidia 1080 ti / 2080 GFX cards.

Screw Vega.

The AMD cards generally have had better compute performance per watt and 10 bit color output. For pro apps that’s what users need.

Nvidia won’t enable 10 bit color on their GeForce line (on Windows or Mac) so they can upsell users to Quadro.

Besides the state of Nvidia’s web drivers are not good enough and don’t come with support. The beta Maxwell/Pascal drivers they dish out to Mac Pro towers are full of bugs and no GPU decode/encode either. There’s a couple of people on these boards who will refute that but that’s because they are selling ****.

If Apple scaled up the iPad’s GPU to a full blown desktop card it would outperform AMD and Nvidia’s offerings (per watt, which is important)
 
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Huh, weird. Could of sworn I'd previously replaced a HDD on an iMac before. Great company, making a DESKTOP thinner. Exactly what logical reason would they have for such a much!?

Yeah I figured there’d be some comment like this. Replacing RAM or an HDD doesn’t make a machine modular. Furthermore the drives weren’t deemed user upgradeable, even if you could replace them.

It’s an iMac. These were never marketed to be modular machines — modular meaning you could replace all components like a classic desktop computer. The fact you could replace the odd component was incidental. Thing is, you probably know that already, but you’re just looking to be pedantic.
 
Apple didn't get to where it is by asking its customers what they want. This is worrying.
Wrong. Apple does a tremendous amount of market research wrt existing products, with both potential and current customers. They have for decades.

The Jobs quote you’re alluding to spoke to new products, not surveys regarding customer sat.
 
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Why? Why must a “Pro” machine (whatever that means) be upgradable? Why is that the most important factor?

Woah-oh, dangerous foot to start on. I only ask because most “Pros” I know just want a powerful machine, with great support, great build quality, that they can buy customised with the hardware they want, and they use it until they need a new one.

They wouldn’t spend hours or more dicking about upgrading RAM, drives, installing OSs, replacing CPUs, just so they can save some money on components. If anything the time they spent on that and the money they saved would be less than if they just did their job in the first place.

Now again, these are just some Pros. Graphics designers, music producers, etc. I’m sure there are plenty who need upgradeable components too.

Lumping every single professional in the same brush and saying “the machine must be upgradeable, regardless if it comes with 128GB RAM, an 18 core Xeon, OR IT’S NOT PRO” is utterly ridiculous. It’s a dumb argument. When Apple release a decent modular machine, as they’ve stated on many occasions they have already, then hopefully all users will be satisfied.

The purpose of an upgradeable computer isn’t to buy one and immediately upgrade it to save money on components. The purpose of an upgradeable computer is to save money 5 years from now when you start to feel the hardware limitations and can upgrade said hardware without needing to purchase a new $5,000 machine when all you need is a video card.
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Huh, weird. Could of sworn I'd previously replaced a HDD on an iMac before. Great company, making a DESKTOP thinner. Exactly what logical reason would they have for such a much!?

The old white iMacs you could take apart from the rear and change the HDD if I remember correctly. Any of the aluminum ones require removing the magnetized glass from the front of the computer. That’s hardly “user upgradable”
 
I’d love to see Apple release a modern version of the old lampshade iMac. Probably the most beautiful piece of hardware to ever come out of Cupertino.
 
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Can’t win huh. Ask the customers what they want or their favourite features of the iMac Pro and Apple are clueless with what direction to go.

Take a different direction and get criticised and Apple are accused of being arrogant and don’t listen to customers.

Look, Apple ****ed up badly on the Pro market. They admitted it. They’re looking to rectify it. Why does everybody have to be some damn negative about every bit of news. If Pros (pretty much everybody here, evidently), are so invested in Apple products and its ecosystem, can’t you be happy they’re genuinely looking to resolve your criticisms?
Because it takes them two years, from announcement of their newfound "admission" to when we MIGHT sniff a new machine. All the while, they couldnt' give a rats behind about the pro market when the trashcan pro was the laughing stock of the pro world. Tech that was outdated when released and continues to died on the vine while machines less than 1/3 the price, could kick the trashcan to the curb, in performance. All ushering the max exodus of Pro users, away from Apple.

And people STILL want to defend Apple's actions in this segment?!?!?!?!

Unbelievable!
 
Why? Why must a “Pro” machine (whatever that means) be upgradable? Why is that the most important factor?

I am guessing it is because these pros don't work for companies with three-year replacement cycles so they want to "buy once" and "upgrade often" to maximize the usable life of their machines. Plenty of these people are on late 2000 / early 2010 "cheesegraters" that they have continuously upgraded over the past decade and they want that flexibility with the 2019 model to carry them into the 2030s.
 
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