I have 8 drives in my main machine. 1 blu-ray writer, 3 SSDs on a switch each with a different OS/config. 4 4TB spinning drives. 1TB only holds about 12 hours of raw 4k video. Why do you still want to see a gimped machine even now? Go buy a 2014 mini.
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'Constant Negativity' From Pro Users Led Apple to Develop Modular Mac Pro, Which May Not Ship Until 2019
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I have 8 drives in my main machine. 1 blu-ray writer, 3 SSDs on a switch each with a different OS/config. 4 4TB spinning drives. 1TB only holds about 12 hours of raw 4k video. Why do you still want to see a gimped machine even now? Go buy a 2014 mini.
For so many years Steve jobs told us what we wanted before we wanted it. This was a company that adapted the motto of Henry Ford: "If I gave people what they THOUGHT they wanted, they'd all have faster horses." For years this has served apple well and in many ways continues to. When it comes to pro users, a group that has evolved as they have benefited from the pro ecosystem, they have wizened up: they are informed when it comes to not only what they want, but what they need! This is a hard lesson for apple to learn as it changes a pillar of their not only marketing strategy, but their philosophy.
We shall see what they do from here.
We shall see what they do from here.
I welcome this wholeheartedly - a 'Return to Respectability at Apple'. 
Apple- please also remember the needs to the pro who can't spend many thousands of dollars on a computer by reconsidering the whole soldered ram on other machines -unless it's really necessary like perhaps the very thinnest laptop.
Giving a user the ability and choice to install more memory later (when OS upgrades make it increasing more important) and later install faster, cheaper storage (as prices come down) are key to a smaller guy being able to manage cash flow and stay competitive.
Apple- please also remember the needs to the pro who can't spend many thousands of dollars on a computer by reconsidering the whole soldered ram on other machines -unless it's really necessary like perhaps the very thinnest laptop.
Giving a user the ability and choice to install more memory later (when OS upgrades make it increasing more important) and later install faster, cheaper storage (as prices come down) are key to a smaller guy being able to manage cash flow and stay competitive.
I read that phrase at first and thought, "easy to double down on zero".
I stated that too but if Apple is going to drop the Mac there won't be going much innovation to OSX either. Apple did grow rapidly in the past but I think their soft- and hardware departement haven't grown with them. It's totally ridiculous they have to start designing a new Mac Pro. All those years... Nothing?! Sometimes you have to settle with less profits to keep the whole thing running and profitable.
I really hope they have been doing something spectacular behind the curtains the last couple of years. Because they really need something to make NEW people considering Apple products and please their existing ones. Apple has always been more expensive then others but made good with top notch tech and quality. Quality is still good but the ancient tech inside especially Macs doesn't justify their prices.
Even the state of the iPad is worrisome... Sure it's a nice tablet but with a crippled OS and too expensive compared to tablets from Samsung. Yes even with running Android on the tablet Samsung satisfies almost the same as Apple.
S8 from Samsung beats the iPhone 7 on all fronts and by the time iPhone 8 comes out, S9 is around the corner.
Apple should accept they'll have to lower their profits to stay in business or innovate and be the best.
You seem a bit shaky on the concept of a Mac Pro. Let's hope Timmy gets it better than you.
For the haters of the cylindrical Mac Pro, at least it was something different; wait until Apple releases exactly the same ATX hardware as Dell/HP after 2 years at twice the price (which will still get beaten in specific benchmarks by i5/i7 based systems that cost $1000).
The current Mac Pro was a great idea but terribly marketed and priced. And they targeted the wrong user group with it. They should have named it differently and should have kept the old Mac Pro as well. Personally, as a Pro who doesn't really care about internal storage options or rendering YouTube videos, I was willing to pay the high price for a case in a form factor that beats everything out there (including every mod) regarding portability and quietness but I was never comfortable with paying the premium for Xeon CPUs, Pro GPUs, ECC RAM. And as a proud non-American customer, I could care less if the thing is assembled in California or in Sudan. But others might have their own criteria.
The real problem is that Apple never really cared about the Pro hardware/software line, they never updated or upgraded the line soon enough and they never gave people enough options.
I would like Apple to give us something between iMac and the next (probably ultra expensive and overpriced) Mac Pro and I believe the cylinder could be changed/renovated and reintroduced to fill that hole.
(And bring a fanless MacMini too !)
The current Mac Pro was a great idea but terribly marketed and priced. And they targeted the wrong user group with it. They should have named it differently and should have kept the old Mac Pro as well. Personally, as a Pro who doesn't really care about internal storage options or rendering YouTube videos, I was willing to pay the high price for a case in a form factor that beats everything out there (including every mod) regarding portability and quietness but I was never comfortable with paying the premium for Xeon CPUs, Pro GPUs, ECC RAM. And as a proud non-American customer, I could care less if the thing is assembled in California or in Sudan. But others might have their own criteria.
The real problem is that Apple never really cared about the Pro hardware/software line, they never updated or upgraded the line soon enough and they never gave people enough options.
I would like Apple to give us something between iMac and the next (probably ultra expensive and overpriced) Mac Pro and I believe the cylinder could be changed/renovated and reintroduced to fill that hole.
(And bring a fanless MacMini too !)
I too did something similar to the people buying the older machines. After the new touch bar machines came out, I went out and bought a 2012 15" MBP (to go with our 2011 17"). Then I upgraded the RAM to 16GB and put a 4TB SSD in it. Runs very fast, quietly, and is upgradable and repairable. Plus it was about 40% of the price of a new one.
Apple needs for desktop/portables as appropriate:
1. Upgradability, so that you can put 32GB, or 64GB or 128GB of RAM in these desktops (or portables) eventually.
2. Swap out the SSDs if needed.
3. Don't glue everything.
4. Good batter life, and a replaceable battery.
5. Ports
None of this is rocket science.
The 2012 15" MBP isn't as fast as the Mac Pro, but it is much better than the 2008 MacPro it replaced.
Apple needs for desktop/portables as appropriate:
1. Upgradability, so that you can put 32GB, or 64GB or 128GB of RAM in these desktops (or portables) eventually.
2. Swap out the SSDs if needed.
3. Don't glue everything.
4. Good batter life, and a replaceable battery.
5. Ports
None of this is rocket science.
The 2012 15" MBP isn't as fast as the Mac Pro, but it is much better than the 2008 MacPro it replaced.
How about a modular bay then? External enclosures are a pain in the .... Let everybody pop in whatever he/she needs.
I hope Apple takes this idea to excess
- 1,500+ watt PSU
- Internal storage for multiple 3.5-inch drives
- PCIe expansion capability with 40+ lanes
- Upgradable SSDs using PCIe-NVMe
- Upgradable RAM that is not only removable, but well over 10 DIMM slots & 256 GB RAM max
- Dual CPU options up to the E5-2699
- Option for one, two, or more GPUs
- Extra points for USB-C, USB-A, TB3, TB2, SAS, eSATA, FW800, ethernet
Whoa, I don't want to give Apple a free pass. They royally dropped the ball on the Mac and criticism is appropriate. I don't have a need for a new desktop right now, but for anybody who does I wouldn't blame them for switching to Windows or Linux. Apple has to earn that trust back and they have to accept they drove customers away.
What I don't want to see is Apple get gun shy with the Mac. I want them to keep pushing the envelope, I don't just want PCs with an Apple sticker on the back. I buy Macs because of the design and thought they put into the products. When they screw up (and they will and did back in the 2000s too) I want them to fix it quickly and keep going forward.
Waiting this long to address the Mac Pro is totally unacceptable. I'm confident (and hoping) the 2016 MacBook Pro can be turned around faster to serve a much wider range of pros without sacrificing the positive advances Apple has made.
Nothing is wrong with touchscreen macs. What's wrong is apple's idea that touchscreen => touch-ony interface. In fact, for a mac what makes most sense (touch-wise) is accepting stylus input, i.e. there is absolutely no need to re-make the OS X interface to be operable by fingers.
For me. It's not about design for looks or size but about being able to take the basics and keep them up to date. The current Mac Pro trash can is entirely constricted by its design from being up to date.
The solution is Apple hardware that can be updated with the latest specs with zero development. Even if they don't support different mother boards, being able to support all GPU card along with nvme slots and upgradable ram. This would also reduce costs of hardware and adding new standards over time. The main hardware part could be a screen that adds functionality like touch or pen input that could be updated far less frequently.
If Apple took the idea of a Mac and iPad and separated the screen elements from the computer components that might actually work and be cheap enough to compete.
I also think it's time to open macOS to any machine. Even Apple TVOS to any machine. It'd be really special to have a media pc be able to run and play Apple content. Hell we get iTunes on windows, why not Apple TV on other hardware.
Apple really should go the extra mile to rethink where they can be. They do mfi etc surely made for macOS could be just as good for them!
The solution is Apple hardware that can be updated with the latest specs with zero development. Even if they don't support different mother boards, being able to support all GPU card along with nvme slots and upgradable ram. This would also reduce costs of hardware and adding new standards over time. The main hardware part could be a screen that adds functionality like touch or pen input that could be updated far less frequently.
If Apple took the idea of a Mac and iPad and separated the screen elements from the computer components that might actually work and be cheap enough to compete.
I also think it's time to open macOS to any machine. Even Apple TVOS to any machine. It'd be really special to have a media pc be able to run and play Apple content. Hell we get iTunes on windows, why not Apple TV on other hardware.
Apple really should go the extra mile to rethink where they can be. They do mfi etc surely made for macOS could be just as good for them!
GPUs haven't improved in the last 3 years? Have you seen AMD and Nvidia's new cards? FFS
GPUs haven't improved in the last 3 years? Have you seen AMD and Nvidia's new cards? FFS
The new cards are great. I was talking about the lengthy stall at 28nm. AMD in particular went through a phase where they rebranded more then they released actual new product.
The point is that there wasn't a really good reason to refresh until Pascal imo, and Nvidia isn't making GPUs in the MP form factor. When on 28nm, AMD wasn't competitive with Nvidia on performance per watt, or straight up performance for that matter.
I wonder if that will be his new nickname, "Pipeline Tim".
Or, or...leave that 'outdated' technology in a model for those who need it and make a new 'midrange' model for those users, like yourself, who don't want to be saddled with annoying outdated concepts like better ventilation, multiple powerful modern GPUs and tons and tons of internal storage. Then when and if you and the rest of the 90% want to add those things you can buy Apple's nice and always inexpensive expansion modules. Perhaps that is where they are headed.
I miss Mr. Jobs in many areas, but he didn't build Apple alone, and let's be honest, he was wrong on many occasions. Lisa, Sculley, the Next workstations, one button mice, etc. etc. Maybe at a different time the cylinder would have been successful. Perhaps, as they have done with their creations sometimes, they were trying to go too far ahead within the constraints of the technology and infrastructure available at the time.
The people at Apple are flawed human beings like the rest of us. They gambled on a radical rethinking of desktop form. They were wrong this time. Let's see what they do as they scramble to fix it...if they truly try to fix it.
I'm still running a dual quad core Mac Pro from 2008 that keeps up in almost everything but graphics with the new MacPro I bought last year. (sure, I upgraded everything inside, but it's the same old Xeon from '08)
If the new Mac Pro is years away, I may just splurge on a new video card and be done with it.
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Amen.
Makes you wonder what all the engineers and developers are using. iPad Pros? iMacs? Did they swap their towers for the bitty trashcan? Apple displays for whatever also-ran displays? At Apple HQ? One Infinite Loop? Or all they still making do with their hoary 2012 Mac Pro towers and Cinema Displays?
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Just a wait a second, now. Recall Tim Berners-Lee developed the initial incarnation of the very World Wide Web into existence on a NeXT Cube.
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Yup. iPhones, iPods, even iPads were seen as 'halo' devices. Get people into the ecosystem with one of these devices and it draws them into buying the big Mac enchilada, not the other way around.
There are so many confusing things about Apple's mac line right now. My favorite is:
Why did Apple end the 11" Macbook Air and say customers should instead buy the 13" MBP?
These are not similarly priced, performance or size / weight comparable machines.
Why wasn't the 11" MBA ended at the same time an upgraded retina Macbook was announced? Shouldn't the retina macbook the natural 'upgrade' for the MBA?
It felt like Apple was trying to jam the touchbar down the throat of users.
Why did Apple end the 11" Macbook Air and say customers should instead buy the 13" MBP?
These are not similarly priced, performance or size / weight comparable machines.
Why wasn't the 11" MBA ended at the same time an upgraded retina Macbook was announced? Shouldn't the retina macbook the natural 'upgrade' for the MBA?
It felt like Apple was trying to jam the touchbar down the throat of users.
I don't think the touch bar was the issue. Had they kept ports, a bigger battery, and seriously improved the processing, graphics, memory, etc., it wouldn't have mattered. I thought the touch bar was a fantastic hardware innovation. To pro users, they dropped the ball in other ways and then charged way too much for it. That made the touch bar "the" innovation of the machine, which was a letdown. It should have had it all!
Maybe THEY aren't stupid; but their decision to purchase a clearly inferior model of a Product, over an improved version (and it IS vastly improved!), does make me question their intellect and/or sanity.