Apple's Revamped Mac Pro to Launch in 2019

[Firelock]

The more they talk like that about Pro and artists in the same breath the more it seems they use Pro to mean video editor.

You are correct but I don’t think it is because they don’t care about other creative pro users, but mostly because video editors and animators are increasingly the only people who need the kind of horsepower that a pro tower would offer. I run a in-house corporate design studio and I can only justify iMac Pros for my video editors and animators. For graphic designers, MacBook Pros are fine. For Photoshop artists (myself included) 5K iMacs are more than sufficient. It was a different story just seven or eight years ago when I probably would have bought just about everyone a Mac Pro tower.

 

[JimmyHook]

If this new Mac Pro doesn't accept off-the-shelf components for upgrading the RAM, HDD, GPU, and CPU, then they might as well not bother. Thats what made the old cheese grater Mac Pro a great Pro machine.

And please, please let there be room for at least one 3.5" HDD. I know Apple wants to SSD everything, but mechanical drives are still massively superior for mass file storage.

1) That’s not what made the cheese grater Mac Pro great. The OS combined with high end components made a superior workflow. I don’t know anyone who was grateful they could stick garbage RAM from a no-name company in an expensive machine.

2) Mechanical HDDs will be around for a little while, but I personally hope they die soon. Too many downsides. The few upsides are now mitigated.

 

[Plutonius]

If this new Mac Pro doesn't accept off-the-shelf components for upgrading the RAM, HDD, GPU, and CPU, then they might as well not bother. Thats what made the old cheese grater Mac Pro a great Pro machine.

And please, please let there be room for at least one 3.5" HDD. I know Apple wants to SSD everything, but mechanical drives are still massively superior for mass file storage.

I hope all the bays are 3.5" .

 

[kingtj]

I said this all along too! But supposedly there's a big "analysis" of this line of thinking out there, where some engineering people break down why this isn't going to possibly be how a new modular Mac Pro will work.

The thing is, they seem to base their reasoning on the idea that all the inter-connectivity required to allow a Mac Mini type configuration to scale up to a loaded Mac Pro would be unworkable/cost prohibitive. I'm still not so sure? I would think you could still sell a "base platform" for a new Mac Pro that is only configured with some Intel on-board video chipset and has only one CPU socket occupied with the least expensive, compatible Xeon chip -- and price it so it could work as the "new Mini".

I would imagine it'd immediately disable the on-board video as soon as you bought a "graphics module" that was essentially whatever 3D graphics card option you chose for your Pro -- and the Xeon CPU on the main board could be something you could have an Apple store or authorized dealer upgrade for you to better options, if you didn't spring for a better setup initially?

Still another optional "module" might be the drive storage part that would snap in place to give you a RAID array of SSDs or spinning discs in hot-swap trays? Again, the people who just want a "Mac Mini" would skip this thing entirely and just use a single drive configuration that was part of that base portion.

But really, it's all still a huge guess. I love the above idea that Apple might design the thing almost like LEGO bricks that just stack on top of each other. But that might be way too radical, from the standpoint of requiring a lot of R&D to make regular PC components interconnect in a proprietary way like that? A "modular Mac Pro" could really just imply they're going back to the "cheese grater" type of design. New tower case of some sort that lets you add lots of RAM, swap CPUs on sockets, swap drives in and out of trays inside, etc.

I'm guessing this will include the Mac Mini too. It makes sense to create a Mac that if bare boned can be used as a Mini and built up to a Pro.

[doublepost=1522983681][/doublepost]No more bizarre than imagining the incremental progress with upgrading the Mac Pro tower design from 2006 through 2012, only to discard the entire thing in favor of a small cylinder that has too many thermal limitations inside to handle the next generation of video cards from EITHER nVidia or ATI, and assumes if you want more than 1 drive with a 1TB max. capacity, you'll plug it all in externally!

Bizarre to imagine the development gap in-between 2013 to 2019 for the pro users... Unacceptable.

 

[Wonder Warthog]

Cue the complaints from people that won't be putting down the money to buy a Mac Pro regardless.

I'm upset about the Ferrari that's far outside of my price range.

That "Ferrari" is the sizzle that sells the steak. People who buy the cheaper Mercedes entry models buy them because the brand stands for exclusive and exquisite cars, cars that last, quality that you can trust. However the A Class is just yet another very decent car, nothing stellar, yet people pay a premium to own it.

And real pros do need a pro machine. Not a fully sealed iMac pro that you can't upgrade. The problem is that many of the pros have long ago left the Mac, Apple not giving a toss about them isn't helping, and they're probably not coming back unless Apple comes up with truly an insanely great Mac Pro next year. Honestly I think this isn't going to happen.

Someone suggested, Apple should sell off their Pro line to a 3rd party company, like IBM did with the Think Pads. That might not be the worst idea (I know it's not that simple with the proprietary hardware and OS, but imagine what Pro machines a different vendor focused on such machines could come up with). For Apple, a few million Mac users might be peanuts, for other makers it's a huge market.

 

[Greymacuser]

This all sounds like the same pablum a bureaucrat would spout about assigning a blue ribbon team of investigators to look into the possibility of a proposed course of action to be taken in the event of a likelihood of a situation.

In other words, corporate blather.

As a long time professional mac user since the 90's who's used high end macs for my livelihood, I've lost any faith that theylll pull this off.

What we'll get will be:
•A minimalist scuptor's wet dream that will look ridiculous.
•No air flow for maximum overheating potential.
•Limited proprietary ports (if any at all).
•Proprietary components that can't be easily replaced or repaired.
•A grossly over-inflated price tag dripping with 'Apple-Tax' that will scare away half its customer base and send the other half throwing their hands up and saying "F this, I'll build a Hackintosh."

I hate to sound negative but, it's been over 7 years since a real desktop was made by Apple and it was the trash can.
Experience has just taught me to know better than to get my hopes up.

 

[JimmyHook]

This all sounds like the same pablum a bureaucrat would spout about assigning a blue ribbon team of investigators to look into the possibility of a proposed course of action to be taken in the event of a likelihood of a situation.

In other words, corporate blather.

As a long time professional mac user since the 90's who's used high end macs for my livelihood, I've lost any faith that theylll pull this off.

What we'll get will be:
•A minimalist scuptor's wet dream that will look ridiculous.
•No air flow for maximum overheating potential.
•Limited proprietary ports (if any at all).
•Proprietary components that can't be easily replaced or repaired.
•A grossly over-inflated price tag dripping with 'Apple-Tax' that will scare away half its customer base and send the other half throwing their hands up and saying "F this, I'll build a Hackintosh."

I hate to sound negative but, it's been over 7 years since a real desktop was made by Apple and it was the trash can.
Experience has just taught me to know better than to get my hopes up.

What Mac was ever released with a “proprietary port”? Even the newest TB3 uses USB C...

 

[Greymacuser]

What Mac was ever released with a “proprietary port”? Even the newest TB3 uses USB C...

Laptop power ports spring to mind. Having to replace one at night with a job deadline looming was such a fun exercise.
As for the other ports, I wouldn't be surprised if they made one as the new 'future of computing'.

 

[Naimfan]

So another bunch of self-serving ********. in other words, business as usual.

Unfortunately, most of the people and organizations that Apple wants to have buy the new MP will have moved on LONG before.

 

[iriejedi]

Maybe they need to wait until the Trade War is over.....

 

[Smearbrick]

I don't buy the switch from Intel to ARM, and the revelation that the Mac pro won't be released until 2019 kind of proves it. Apple is going to burn through serious R&D money on a Mac Pro with Intel processors only to put all of their resources into ARM a year later? No. I think someone earlier nailed it when they indicated that ARM may have a place in the Mac lineup, but for ARM to be the only option, and for it to be a viable option for true desktop use, I think some more time needs to be spent.

All that aside, did anyone ever consider that the iMac Pro was going to be the successor to the trash can Mac Pro? Think of the design time put into that machine. To cram all of that power into an iMac chassis with that cooling setup? That wasn't something that Apple pulled out of their collective asses to appease the Mac Pro crowd on a whim, that was going to be Mac Pro until Apple got wind of some very unhappy pro customers. Again... just an idea. I'll probably get beat down for it. I can feel it coming.

 

[Naimfan]

All that aside, did anyone ever consider that the iMac Pro was going to be the successor to the trash can Mac Pro? Think of the design time put into that machine. To cram all of that power into an iMac chassis with that cooling setup? That wasn't something that Apple pulled out of their collective asses to appease the Mac Pro crowd on a whim, that was going to be Mac Pro until Apple got wind of some very unhappy pro customers. Again... just an idea. I'll probably get beat down for it. I can feel it coming.

A LOT of folks in the Mac Pro forum have suggested that, and pointed out various facts in support. And it's a convincing argument that may well be correct.

So no, you probably won't get beaten down for it . . .

 

[Martyimac]

All this is rumor obviously. But behind all the rumors there is also the history of . I am convinced they are trying to force us into a walled garden. Sad but it's what it looks like to me. No new Mac Pro in 5 years, no mini in 4 years, iMacs that are less and less upgradeable every new generation. iPhone is the current money maker and even they are getting way to expensive for us mere middle class folks ( look for boltjames posts if you don't get that), late to the education market with the new iPad after Chrome books (cheaper than ipads) have saturated the market. Poor iOS and OSX upgrades that break things that shouldn't be broken. It just doesn't work anymore.
For me, since I have had to keep current on Windows, wife wont go , I will end up getting some new desktop from the likes of Dell or HP when my nMP finally dies.
I suspect the new mMP will take our breath away, with it's cost, proprietary ports and non standard cards, and cost RIP 

 

[Hps1]

4x double width GPU slots or hard pass/I'm finally giving up. The future is here and it's not CPU driven.

 

[BlargKing]

1) That’s not what made the cheese grater Mac Pro great. The OS combined with high end components made a superior workflow. I don’t know anyone who was grateful they could stick garbage RAM from a no-name company in an expensive machine.

2) Mechanical HDDs will be around for a little while, but I personally hope they die soon. Too many downsides. The few upsides are now mitigated.

"No name garbage ram" Puh-lease. You can buy good quality RAM from many 3rd parties. I'm sure plenty of people with the old Mac Pros were happy they could upgrade the RAM in their machines without paying Apple's ridiculous prices for memory. Theres only a handful of manufacturers of RAM chips, so I'm sure whatever chips Apple puts in their machines can be found on plenty of other DIMMs.

Contrary to popular belief, mechanical HDDs with be around for quite a while longer. Server farms are still primarily mechanical storage because you can get them in higher capacities than SSDs for a fraction of the cost per GB compared to SSDs. Even for consumers and prosumers, mechanical drives are still the best choice for storing large amounts of data, and with a RAID array can match the performance of a SSD.

I still see a lot of people using the old Mac Pro, because you can upgrade most of the components and keep them modern. I'm willing to bet theres upgraded cheese grater MPs that can keep up with or even beat the trash can pros.

 

[powerslave65]

I said this all along too! But supposedly there's a big "analysis" of this line of thinking out there, where some engineering people break down why this isn't going to possibly be how a new modular Mac Pro will work.

The thing is, they seem to base their reasoning on the idea that all the inter-connectivity required to allow a Mac Mini type configuration to scale up to a loaded Mac Pro would be unworkable/cost prohibitive. I'm still not so sure? I would think you could still sell a "base platform" for a new Mac Pro that is only configured with some Intel on-board video chipset and has only one CPU socket occupied with the least expensive, compatible Xeon chip -- and price it so it could work as the "new Mini".

I would imagine it'd immediately disable the on-board video as soon as you bought a "graphics module" that was essentially whatever 3D graphics card option you chose for your Pro -- and the Xeon CPU on the main board could be something you could have an Apple store or authorized dealer upgrade for you to better options, if you didn't spring for a better setup initially?

Still another optional "module" might be the drive storage part that would snap in place to give you a RAID array of SSDs or spinning discs in hot-swap trays? Again, the people who just want a "Mac Mini" would skip this thing entirely and just use a single drive configuration that was part of that base portion.

But really, it's all still a huge guess. I love the above idea that Apple might design the thing almost like LEGO bricks that just stack on top of each other. But that might be way too radical, from the standpoint of requiring a lot of R&D to make regular PC components interconnect in a proprietary way like that? A "modular Mac Pro" could really just imply they're going back to the "cheese grater" type of design. New tower case of some sort that lets you add lots of RAM, swap CPUs on sockets, swap drives in and out of trays inside, etc.



[doublepost=1522983681][/doublepost]No more bizarre than imagining the incremental progress with upgrading the Mac Pro tower design from 2006 through 2012, only to discard the entire thing in favor of a small cylinder that has too many thermal limitations inside to handle the next generation of video cards from EITHER nVidia or ATI, and assumes if you want more than 1 drive with a 1TB max. capacity, you'll plug it all in externally!

You my friend are probably only one of three people in Brunswick, MD that own a Mac. Well done!
I grew up in Lovettsville.

 

[laurim]

Apple's redesigned, modular Mac Pro aimed at professionals is set to launch in 2019, according to an update Apple recently provided to TechCrunch's Matthew Panzarino, who took a trip to the company's Cupertino campus.

The team responsible for revamping Apple's pro product efforts was there to provide updated details both on the Mac Pro and how Apple is shaping it to meet the needs of real professional users.

Apple's current Mac Pro​

Employees in the meeting included John Ternus, VP of Hardware Engineering, Tom Boger, Senior Director of Mac Hardware Marketing, Jud Coplan, Director of video Apps Product Marketing, and Xander Soren, Director of Music Apps Product Marketing.

Panzarino was told in no uncertain terms that the Mac Pro will not be arriving before 2019 as the product is still in development. From Tom Boger:Apple wants customers to know that the Mac Pro isn't coming in 2018 so those who are planning to make a purchase decision for a pro machine like the iMac Pro won't hold off in the hopes of a Mac Pro materializing later in the year.

In the time since Apple announced major changes for the next-generation Mac Pro last year, it has put together a "Pro Workflow Team" led by John Ternus, where employees who focus on pro-level products all work together.

Apple has also been hiring award-winning artists and technicians in an effort to understand the real workflows that creative professionals use to better tailor its products to them. The individuals shoot real projects and then use Apple's hardware and software to find "sticking points that could cause frustration and friction" for pro users.

Apple's Pro Workflow Team finds and addresses the issues that come up, even down to tiny details like tweaking a graphics driver, and it's not just Apple's products that benefit - the company's employees are also working with third-party apps. From Tom Bogar, senior Mac marketing director:The Pro Workflow team, in addition to improving current Apple products, is also an essential part of Mac Pro development. Their work is "definitely influencing" what Apple's planning for, with Apple achieving a "much much much deeper understanding" of pro customers, their workflows, and their needs. This understanding is "really informing" the work Apple is doing on the Mac Pro," according to Bogar.

No details were provided on the shape of the Mac Pro or the internal components that it might include, but Apple is still planning on a modular machine, as announced last year, so plans have not changed. Apple back then said that it was "completely rethinking" the Mac Pro, and that it is "by definition" a modular system. Apple at the time also said a pro display was in development alongside the new machine.

A modular Mac Pro concept from Curved.de​

Panzarino says we're not likely to hear any additional detail about the Mac Pro at WWDC in June, and that he expects Apple will keep quiet about the machine until next year.

Panzarino's full piece on Apple's efforts to tailor the Mac Pro and other pro-level products to meet professional needs, which goes into much greater detail, can be read over at TechCrunch.

Article Link: Apple's Revamped Mac Pro to Launch in 2019

I love the description of the design process, including input from the pros that will use it. Exactly what I want to hear! And I’m not supposed to make any big business purchases this year so the timing is perfect.

 

[yurc]

Frustomer : P...p..please update Mac Pro with user accessible components...


@pple : Oh no!! That's dangerous task and very complicated!! You should using our prebuild professional machine like iMac Pro. If you need portable one, we also have Macbook Pro with touch bar, that's very amazing system.

Frustomer : ......


@pple : Hello?

Frustomer : I'm just need Mac Pro it should be....at least equipped with expansion slot like PCI express. I'm need to attach my capture cards, latest graphics card and other useful billion things.

@pple : Our latest professional line up can fulfill your things, you can purchased separate external PCI-E box. Our latest iMac and Macbook support this features, including our powerful iMac Pro and Macbook Pro.

Frustomer : that's great...But in the end they still begging for PCI Express powerful expansion capabilities...it's also cost me several hundred bucks just to have an PCI Express slot...why doesn't make modern machine at first time with PCI Express again...at least in updated Mac Pro.

@pple : Dear Frustomer, I’m understand your worries, but our machine is already fast and powerful so you won't need that's stuff again. Regarding with your peripherals, it's recommended to purchase a new and more modern system. I'm curious, what kind of Mac you have?

Frustomer : I have old Mac Pro.

@pple : Then you have great news!! You can add external PCI Express peripherals on your Mac Pro with Thunderbolt 2 connection, at least you can equip them with latest graphics cards.

Frustomer : no...no...no...not that trash can...I mean cheese grater looking one...2010 model...

@pple : Oh sorry, that's near last decade machine so we already forget!! I'm truly sorry since they already no longer in our supported Mac database. Let me checking data in our extermination device list.


Frustomer : weird…my folks from eGPU forum reports latest OSX update have breaks Macs with Thunderbolt 2 connection.


@pple : Oh Dear Frustomer, sorry for my misinformation again !! You’re right, they not deserve to use that technology, only latest Mac with Thunderbolt 3 supported with external PCI Express box. I’m sorry to let you misguided.

Frustomer : okay…..

@pple : I’m found data in extermination device list, 2010-2012 Mac Pro are listed. They should be vintage in near year, so it’s truly sorry your machine won’t get support anymore. It’s time for upgrade and move on to newer and powerful Macs.


Frustomer : what you would recommend?

@pple : We consider you should using iMac Pro. It’s very powerful and built like a tank. Unlike Mac Pro, you no longer need padlock to secure your components inside, since we using sophisticated fused technique so no one can crack down!!

Frustomer : that’s wonderful.

@pple : So, have you decided? What iMac Pro configuration you need ?

Frustomer : I’m pressing CMD+Q in this window now. Thank you very much.

 

[laurim]

That's ****ing BS that they "still don't know how our users use our computers". What have they been doing for the last 9 years? Oh right, phones. It's a g**#amn shame they can't come to terms with Pro users' needs in a short amount of time and make that computer. How long have people on THIS MacRumors forum (specifically the Mac Pro section) be crying for a new cheesegrater/5,1 machine. A desktop computer isn't hard to design. The trashcan is trash and never should have been made. Pro's don't give a crap about desk space or how pretty it looks for the most part. Ports, easy expansion, long unit life, the ability to put new cards and multiple drives, preferably easy chip updates too. HOW CAN ANYONE AT APPLE NOT KNOW THIS?? BUILD A NEW 5,1 and we will buy it.

FYI. I doubt I’m the only pro who is thrilled with the MacPro’s compact design. I’m a motiongraphics designer/operator for live events. I have one annual gig in particular that requires me to take my MacPro to the venue to continue creating and changing my designs. I have taken my trash can MacPro from the US to Germany, Sweden and Spain and some cities in the USA. And the compact size is great for the AV company I work with. They have a traveling case designed to carry 2 MacPros, two monitors and all the attachments. Many pros need a desktop-level computer with a certain degree of portability. I hope the modular one is even easier to travel.
[doublepost=1522989547][/doublepost]

Frustomer : P...p..please update Mac Pro with user accessible components...


@pple : Oh no!! That's dangerous task and very complicated!! You should using our prebuild professional machine like iMac Pro. If you need portable one, we also have Macbook Pro with touch bar, that's very amazing system.

Frustomer : ......


@pple : Hello?

Frustomer : I'm just need Mac Pro it should be....at least equipped with expansion slot like PCI express. I'm need to attach my capture cards, latest graphics card and other useful billion things.

@pple : Our latest professional line up can fulfill your things, you can purchased separate external PCI-E box. Our latest iMac and Macbook support this features, including our powerful iMac Pro and Macbook Pro.

Frustomer : that's great...But in the end they still begging for PCI Express powerful expansion capabilities...it's also cost me several hundred bucks just to have an PCI Express slot...why doesn't make modern machine at first time with PCI Express again...at least in updated Mac Pro.

@pple : Dear Frustomer, I’m understand your worries, but our machine is already fast and powerful so you won't need that's stuff again. Regarding with your peripherals, it's recommended to purchase a new and more modern system. I'm curious, what kind of Mac you have?

Frustomer : I have old Mac Pro.

@pple : Then you have great news!! You can add external PCI Express peripherals on your Mac Pro with Thunderbolt 2 connection, at least you can equip them with latest graphics cards.

Frustomer : no...no...no...not that trash can...I mean cheese grater looking one...2010 model...

@pple : Oh sorry, that's near last decade machine so we already forget!! I'm truly sorry since they already no longer in our supported Mac database. Let me checking data in our extermination device list.


Frustomer : weird…my folks from eGPU forum reports latest OSX update have breaks Macs with Thunderbolt 2 connection.


@pple : Oh Dear Frustomer, sorry for my misinformation again !! You’re right, they not deserve to use that technology, only latest Mac with Thunderbolt 3 supported with external PCI Express box. I’m sorry to let you misguided.

Frustomer : okay…..

@pple : I’m found data in extermination device list, 2010-2012 Mac Pro are listed. They should be vintage in near year, so it’s truly sorry your machine won’t get support anymore. It’s time for upgrade and move on to newer and powerful Macs.


Frustomer : what you would recommend?

@pple : We consider you should using iMac Pro. It’s very powerful and built like a tank. Unlike Mac Pro, you no longer need padlock to secure your components inside, since we using sophisticated fused technique so no one can crack down!!

Frustomer : that’s wonderful.

@pple : So, have you decided? What iMac Pro configuration you need ?

Frustomer : I’m pressing CMD+Q in this window now. Thank you very much.

Weird. I’ve never had an Apple rep with bad grammar like in your tall tale.

 

[RedBanana]

I guess this means iMac Pro sales aren't high enough to warrant a push for a Mac Pro this year then.

 

[Sean4000]

I did. The last of the Mac Pros that were retired to the farm are now liquidated.

It's all Windows 10 and Centos Linux on custom xeon and threadripper workstations from now on.

 

[bollman]

Respectfully, I don't think you are at all on-point.

There is absolutely no way that this will be an ARM machine. IMHO, the ARM machines will be in the Macbook/Air (not MacBook Pro), iMac (not iMac Pro) and perhaps Mac mini Class. Those machines will run the iOS/X Hybrid-OS, which will also allow Apple to ease-into having Touchscreens without falling prey to a "I thought you told us this was a bad idea!" drubbing, at least not as much... Those machines will also be able to achieve a modicum of Windows compatibility, by running Windows 10, ARM Edition, for which MS has just announced x64 Support coming this May. So, with Apple starting to make their own Displays and their own SoCs, they SHOULD be able to do a single-chip (or very low component count) iPad Pro, Mac mini, iMac (non-Pro) and MacBook/Air for WAAAAAY Cheap (and with only their OWN supply-chain to deal with, mostly!).

Conversely, the Mac Pro, MacBook Pro and iMac Pro will be Intel Machines (no doubt with some ARM "Helpers", though!), for the foreseeable future. They will likely run iOS/X in the OTHER Direction, with x86/x64 Support running Natively for macOS, Windows and Linux, and Ax ARM Emulation in software. Or, they may not offer iOS compatibility at all.

I do think you are basically correct about them looking at upgrading the 2013 Mac Pro around 2015, and coming to the conclusion that it wasn't viable. That's what ANY company would do, that had that much invested in Product R&D (no matter what you think of it, obviously that thing took some fairly spectacular multidisciplinary engineering!). But, that does NOT count as "wasted engineering time". Just part of a normal product's lifecycle.

I think that they are essentially creating a "Think Tank", which will help guide APPLE to meet the REAL-WORLD needs of their target groups. So, the devil is in WHO are the Consultants? Hopefully, Apple is savvy enough to NOT focus on JUST "Creative Professionals" (i.e. Final Cut and Logic Users), but also Coders, Medical Researchers, Physicists, etc. etc. IOW, "Advanced Computing" Users.

Since Apple is first and foremost a HARDWARE company, they would be well-served to make the Mac Pro as at home running Windows or Linux as macOS. And with a truly modular system, perhaps this is quite achievable. That way, Professionals that find themselves straddling between several OSes only have to have one system, and be able to share data and switch between OSes completely transparently. I understand that VMWare and Parallels do this now to some extent; but I am talking about a system that doesn't NEED Virtualization software to accomplish this. That way, even if you prefer Premier to Final Cut, you can use whatever suits YOUR workflow on an Application-by-Application basis, without having to manage a pile of boxes, and without the inherent limitations of Virtualization. In other words, the Mac Pro will become THE Computer System of Choice for Advanced-Computing Users, REGARDLESS of what Applications and OSes being used...

The thing about the new Mac Pro being ARM was somewhat of a joke, but it would not be jaw-dropping news to me if that actually turned out right.

Waiting 3 years doing nothing to an existing product IS wasting time. Most companies have their engineers start development on the follow up product right after they leave the designs over to the next team. But not Apple.
My guess:
When the team responsible for the 2013 Mac Pro were "done" in 2012, they were disbanded and put on other projects. In 2015, Apple created a NEW team to work on the upgrade and after working a year on it, they deemed it impossible to do any upgrades to the existing design and that a full redesign was required, way more expensive than just replacing some internal components of the 2013 design. So, Apple disbanded that team and put them on other projects and made it an executive issue to work on. So, when the executives finally had time to draw a new timeline and make budget space for the all new Mac Pro at least a year had passed again, and we are now into 2017. And the new team Apple puts together realizes that they are waaaaay behind from get go, and gets managerial support, due to the extreme situation, to actually tell the public that a new Mac Pro IS coming, to keep peoples hope up and look like they've been hard at work for 5 years. My guess is, that the surprise, very-un-Apple-like meeting with selected journalists last year when it was revealed they were working on the Mac Pro was one of the first 10 meetings that group had. Which makes the now known timetable plausible. They actually have not been working on it a year, yet, therefore, they hope to be done in 2019, but I would not hold my breath.

Apple will never, never, never make a computer to be as smooth as possible to use with other OSes. Apple of today is a mobile phone company. They need that part to keep growing and the service-part growing. To keep the app store current and filled with great apps, people need to have macs to make new apps in Xcode. The Apple services are almost all locked into the Apple ecosystem. To boast "this mac does windows and linux just as well, go ahead, try it!" would be idiotic.

 

[thekev]

I'm glad they're putting a lot of effort into this. I don't want them to rush it, and it seems like they may actually be choosing function over form this time around.

I wouldn't hope for too much here. After one unsuccessful redesign, I'm skeptical whether many people at Apple will want to work on this project. Much of the timeline probably depends on when they started and what technologies they intend to use. Even if it went to something sane like a 2 year update cycle, you wouldn't want a target release date to impact their choice of technologies.

 

[antonis]

Yup, it's gonna take a lot of time to understand what a pro user needs. I mean, it's not like they made a pro machine ever before, have they ?

 

[and 1989 others]

Good. The tin can idea while technologically great was a stupid stupid idea. Especially when you added all the peripheral to make it do what the gen before used to.

Also when are they updating the Mac mini. I had to give back a work one and wouldn't mind a personal mini, but I'm not buying 5 year old tech.