Apple was going through a lot of changes (and the loss of Steve) at that time, and their new campus was a massive disruption in their productivity.
Thankfully, a new and vibrant Apple emerged from that cocoon period.
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Five Years Ago Today, Apple's Uncharacteristic Apology Set the Stage for the Mac's Renaissance
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Apple was going through a lot of changes (and the loss of Steve) at that time, and their new campus was a massive disruption in their productivity.
Thankfully, a new and vibrant Apple emerged from that cocoon period.
I think the Mac Studio replaces it. The upcoming Apple silicon Mac Pro will finally replace the 2010 Mac Pro and hopefully have a good starting price that matches its power (base 2019 Mac Pro is a joke with the price and performance).
I was highly disappointed when I saw how much thicker the new MBPs are compared to the older models. But after owning one for about six months, I LOVE it. It's a powerhouse that you can actually place in your lap and work without fans and heat going bananas.
A lot of Ivy's designs are great, but in the end he was selling the art of the impossible.
A lot of Ivy's designs are great, but in the end he was selling the art of the impossible.
Jony Ive’s final bursts of creativity led the Mac to where it was in 2017. It was time for Apple to let go of a designer who wanted to build products for photographs and art museum exhibits.
I remember back in 2016, Apple's Mac line-up was absolute crap. a quad core iMac, and three year old Mac Pro, where the 8-core machine still cost $6,000 USD, and the 6-core machine still cost $4,000 USD. I was desperately itching to upgrade my old 2009 quad core Mac Pro, and seeing Intel and AMD (just announcing their inexpensive Ryzen chip line-up), I wrote a letter to Tim Cook stating, after 30+ years as an Apple user, their lack of workstation support has forced me to move to Windows, and build my own 8-core workstation - to which I could do for less than $2,000.
I literally explained to Tim in my email (paraphrasing), "give us small independent pro users a dual or triple height Mac mini with an non-Xeon 8-core CPU, more ports, and priced at $2,000. There are a TON of us waiting for this machine...
In 2017, I finally built my Windows 10 Pro workstation for $1,850 with the Intel 7820x, and that hardware on that system was just sweetness and silky smooth while being 100% rock solid stable. I hated the Windows OS, but from that point on, I was no longer going to be a blind brand loyalist.
Shortly after I build my Windows workstation, Apple came out with this apology, and stating they were committed to Mac Platform.
I can't believe I was the only Apple user who bombarded Tim Cook's emails with scathing complaints about the lack of bonafide Mac updates. To which I'm sure triggered Tim to hold a meeting with his senior executive team to figure out how to stop the bleeding.
To me, 2017 was the year Apple finally decided to redesign the Mac Pro (not years before), and in the interim, they decided to stuff a Xeon Processor in to the iMac Chassis, figure out the thermals with new fans (figuring it couldn't be worse than the trash can), and call it the iMac Pro as an interim "pro release" to calm the storm for a couple of years, as they began to develop the new Mac Pro.
Then they released the 8-core 5K iMac two years later, for nearly half the price of the iMac Pro 8-core iMac. FINALLY Apple got their shhhh together, and gave a TON of pro users a non-xeon workstation that didn't cost an arm and a leg.
Then the new Mac Pro came out with a beastly 28-core option - though also with a beefy beastly price tag (ouch).
I sold my Windows Machine, and bought the 8-core iMac, almost spec-for-spec matching my Windows workstation (aside form the 7820x 8-core CPU). I love this machine. So happy to be back working on Mac OSX. Windows is just dreadful...
Since then, Apple has been on a tear with their M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max....and the Mac Studio?... bout dang time — and far more than I could have hoped for with the M1 Ultra chip.
The Laptops... just absolutely killer.
There's no doubt Tim lit a fire under the Mac platform team, and they've freaking delivered in spades. I don't expect every Mac to get a new update every year, but they need to keep this momentum going. Welcome back, Apple. ...and bloody well done.
I literally explained to Tim in my email (paraphrasing), "give us small independent pro users a dual or triple height Mac mini with an non-Xeon 8-core CPU, more ports, and priced at $2,000. There are a TON of us waiting for this machine...
In 2017, I finally built my Windows 10 Pro workstation for $1,850 with the Intel 7820x, and that hardware on that system was just sweetness and silky smooth while being 100% rock solid stable. I hated the Windows OS, but from that point on, I was no longer going to be a blind brand loyalist.
Shortly after I build my Windows workstation, Apple came out with this apology, and stating they were committed to Mac Platform.
I can't believe I was the only Apple user who bombarded Tim Cook's emails with scathing complaints about the lack of bonafide Mac updates. To which I'm sure triggered Tim to hold a meeting with his senior executive team to figure out how to stop the bleeding.
To me, 2017 was the year Apple finally decided to redesign the Mac Pro (not years before), and in the interim, they decided to stuff a Xeon Processor in to the iMac Chassis, figure out the thermals with new fans (figuring it couldn't be worse than the trash can), and call it the iMac Pro as an interim "pro release" to calm the storm for a couple of years, as they began to develop the new Mac Pro.
Then they released the 8-core 5K iMac two years later, for nearly half the price of the iMac Pro 8-core iMac. FINALLY Apple got their shhhh together, and gave a TON of pro users a non-xeon workstation that didn't cost an arm and a leg.
Then the new Mac Pro came out with a beastly 28-core option - though also with a beefy beastly price tag (ouch).
I sold my Windows Machine, and bought the 8-core iMac, almost spec-for-spec matching my Windows workstation (aside form the 7820x 8-core CPU). I love this machine. So happy to be back working on Mac OSX. Windows is just dreadful...
Since then, Apple has been on a tear with their M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max....and the Mac Studio?... bout dang time — and far more than I could have hoped for with the M1 Ultra chip.
The Laptops... just absolutely killer.
There's no doubt Tim lit a fire under the Mac platform team, and they've freaking delivered in spades. I don't expect every Mac to get a new update every year, but they need to keep this momentum going. Welcome back, Apple. ...and bloody well done.
Yeah, no, I appreciate that you have an opinion about this but you couldn’t be more wrong at this particular moment in time.
The iMac is perfect for consumers, only needing a way to get to 32GB of DRAM for the heavy lifting consumers for which the Mac Studio is too much $. Aesthetics are subjective and I see plenty of comments about how much people love the different colors.
The Mac mini is superb for the market to which it caters. The MBA is perfect for almost everyone. The MBP is actually Pro and uncompromising in ways in hasn’t been since 2016.
Hopefully a larger iMac is coming for those that want a larger version, which I think is more dependent on Apple getting the right display size and tech before launching it.
Ive's design company still does the industrial design for Apple products.
The true test of how much Apple listened will be the Mac Pro and what Apple considers "modular" vs. what the entire rest of the world considers modular.
If the MacStudio (which Apple called "modular") is an indication, "pros" are going to be MIGHTILY DISAPPOINTED! I have a MacStudio, and while I absolutely love it, it is NOT modular by any reasonable definition with regard to computers... it just has a few extra ports.
If Apple somehow figures out how to have Apple Silicon along with user replaceable RAM, video cards, expansion slots, and additional storage drives, pros are going to be SOILING THEIR PANTS WITH EXCITEMENT!
If the MacStudio (which Apple called "modular") is an indication, "pros" are going to be MIGHTILY DISAPPOINTED! I have a MacStudio, and while I absolutely love it, it is NOT modular by any reasonable definition with regard to computers... it just has a few extra ports.
If Apple somehow figures out how to have Apple Silicon along with user replaceable RAM, video cards, expansion slots, and additional storage drives, pros are going to be SOILING THEIR PANTS WITH EXCITEMENT!
Gotta give it to Apple. A few years back I was worried but Apple Silicon really changed the game. I guess we can thank Intel for botching and forcing Apple to take matters into their hand.
Others have said it and I agree that I think this roundtable probably coincided with Apple's executives deciding to abandon Intel.
Ironically, I find it interesting that the design direction they've went with Apple Silicon has not always been thinner. They made a beefier Mac Mini type chassis to hold the Ultra and the current MBPs are thicker than at any point since the removal of the optical drive. I think Apple having a differentiator other than physical form due to having their own silicon has freed Apple's industrial design/engineers to do what is best for performance rather than aesthetic appeal alone. Of course, it isn't all "bigger is better" either. They took the existing MBA chassis and made it fanless thanks to the M1's performance/watt gains. The iMac 24in is an unbelievably thin all-in-one.
They've essentially made the right call for each product in this transition. I think the Studio Display has been getting razzed so much - despite being exactly the product everyone should've expected at about the price you could expect for a low volume Apple product in 2022 - is because it is the first time Apple hasn't made an obviously great product in several years.
Ironically, I find it interesting that the design direction they've went with Apple Silicon has not always been thinner. They made a beefier Mac Mini type chassis to hold the Ultra and the current MBPs are thicker than at any point since the removal of the optical drive. I think Apple having a differentiator other than physical form due to having their own silicon has freed Apple's industrial design/engineers to do what is best for performance rather than aesthetic appeal alone. Of course, it isn't all "bigger is better" either. They took the existing MBA chassis and made it fanless thanks to the M1's performance/watt gains. The iMac 24in is an unbelievably thin all-in-one.
They've essentially made the right call for each product in this transition. I think the Studio Display has been getting razzed so much - despite being exactly the product everyone should've expected at about the price you could expect for a low volume Apple product in 2022 - is because it is the first time Apple hasn't made an obviously great product in several years.
Apple finally hit the sweet spot with the M1 MAX MacBook Pro. After a few stumbles with dodgy keyboards and noisy fans springing into life with an external monitor plugged in, the latest offerings are bordering on perfect.
It was absolutely criminal that Tim Cook neglected the Mac for so long in favor of pimping iPads as a desktop replacement. It's what caused so many pro users (true pros that is and not those iJustine "prosumers") to abandon the Mac platform in droves.
Now they just need to start caring about the software that powers them
Now they just need to start caring about the software that powers them
Who is this "we" that you presume to speak for? The 16" MBP is absolutely the machine that I've always wanted. And I get the impression that a lot of other people are quite happy with various other models of the new Mac lineup.
Go look at the videos Apple execs did with Rene Ritchie this year at the very least. Six years ago the Apple crew would have swallowed their tongues before doing those kinds of videos.
They're not talking quite as deep into the future as 5 years ago, but they don't need to. We know the general shape of the future: Mac Pro is still coming, and there will probably be a thin MacBook Air and a thicker MacBook with M2s in it, and Mac Studio's going no where but up. I would prefer an iMac Pro/iMac Studio too, but the combination of thermal limits and monitor life are probably the one-two punch here. I'd also like to have seen an M1 Pro Mac mini, and we may yet see it for the M2 variant, but Apple may decide they can't get enough of a cost differential on the desktop (like portable).
It's also the reason that 2017 iMac Pro was created, since they had to offer some alternative to the earlier thermally challenged 2013 Mac Pro. When the 2019 Mac Pro was released there was no longer a need of the iMac Pro so much. That 2017 model was discontinues March 2021.
The Mac Studio is the replacement for the 2013 Mac Pro at this point. Whatever Apple comes up with for the 2022-2023 Mac Pro is going to be closer to the 2019 Mac Pro chassis than we can imagine. Probably not quite as big, but not simply a 2x Mac Studio.
This is exactly what I'm wonder. Slapping two M1 Ultras might be a huge upgrade to the studio, but that would not make a professional machine--especially not one that needs to last many years with the ability to upgrade storage and performance. I wonder how they'd do it. Would users be able to add more M1's or other RAM and graphics cards? Or would they be stuck with what they have?
I don't think Apple spent the R&D energy on such a low volume product such as the Mac Pro to abandon the design altogether in essentially 2 years. They reused the PowerMac G5 case for the original Mac Pro for a similar reason.
The current Mac Pro case has thermal ceiling to last a decade without needing a redesign. I expect the Apple Silicon Mac Pro to follow suit with the last transition. The case may have some modest internal engineering changes to accommodate the SoC packaging and the top port selection may be adapted a bit too. That's about all I expect when they show this off at WWDC.
These forums have been full of endless whining since they were conceived. And everyone who is anyone on the internet whines about Apple. This is no benchmark to go by - though you are correct.
I’ll have to contest the ‘many’ people calling for Jobs’ resignation though. Probably the same old tired few with bigger mouths than lives. Aside that, I don’t think you’re portraying anything accurate here.
The Trash Can Mac Pro is an AWESOME computer NOW. You can get one CHEAP.
I have 2. I thought they were over priced when they came out. NO MORE.
Just Like A Corvette . Cant afford brand new buy a used C4. Same thing only cheaper.
And They are A Stylish alternative if you still need INTEL chips to run Windows and LINUX which the M1 Macs cant do
They also can't play Video Games as most games run on Intel.
I have 2. I thought they were over priced when they came out. NO MORE.
Just Like A Corvette . Cant afford brand new buy a used C4. Same thing only cheaper.
And They are A Stylish alternative if you still need INTEL chips to run Windows and LINUX which the M1 Macs cant do
They also can't play Video Games as most games run on Intel.
The 2019 Mac Pro is a unique machine. It is not a standard, off-the-shelf Intel Xeon workstation. It's clear to me that its design - which uses an internal Thunderbolt bus to extend PCIe bandwidth, for "MPX" modules - was a workaround for the PCIe lane limitations of Intel chips. It's designed as a package solution for high-end video editing, really; MPX modules can't be used in anything else.
It has its niche uses - maybe for cinematic sound design, 3D modelling, scientific computing etc, but if all you need is a Xeon workstation you could build your own for less. (Or go with AMD EPYC.)
Apple clearly learned from this. Besides Intel dropping the ball with process shrinks and power-per-watt, Apple started to see the advantage of the A-series system-on-a-chip approach instead of discrete components. (I think at this point some of the high-end iPads were already starting to outpace MacBooks.)
That's why the M1 series combines things like CPU, GPU, and specialized things like the Media Engine, to condense several discrete components into a single die.
About the only reason I would want an expandable tower is to add specialized DSP cards for audio work, and to expand internal PCIe NVMe storage. I'm sure others would want specialized video cards or capture cards, etc.
That said, companies like Universal Audio haven't really given anyone a reason to buy their DSP cards for a long time, as native plugin performance has outpaced them. As someone said, it's more like the card is an expensive dongle to enable X instances of a plugin than actually necessary to take load off the CPU. (It makes sense for things like their external Apollo interfaces as it allows for real-time monitoring with effects, but not for in-the-box mixing). There are several demos on YouTube showing studio people pushing a basic M1 Mini to run hundreds of tracks with effects without falling over.
If the next Mac Pro is still modular and still has PCIe slots, it's going to require a new chipset, because I don't think the current M1 family is really designed with tons of PCIe lanes in mind. If we want memory above 128GB, will it be in the SoC package or will they revert to traditional DIMM modules, or take a hybrid approach with 'fast' and 'slow' RAM, etc? Would they use PCIe 5.0, which doubles speed over 4.0? All of this would require a new M2 chip, maybe with an additional A-series chip running everything else.
I would definitely want to see 4x standard NVMe SSD slots - for music work, you want to have the OS / apps on one drive, sound libraries on another, files on another, and leaving one open for other uses / Time Machine etc.
It has its niche uses - maybe for cinematic sound design, 3D modelling, scientific computing etc, but if all you need is a Xeon workstation you could build your own for less. (Or go with AMD EPYC.)
Apple clearly learned from this. Besides Intel dropping the ball with process shrinks and power-per-watt, Apple started to see the advantage of the A-series system-on-a-chip approach instead of discrete components. (I think at this point some of the high-end iPads were already starting to outpace MacBooks.)
That's why the M1 series combines things like CPU, GPU, and specialized things like the Media Engine, to condense several discrete components into a single die.
About the only reason I would want an expandable tower is to add specialized DSP cards for audio work, and to expand internal PCIe NVMe storage. I'm sure others would want specialized video cards or capture cards, etc.
That said, companies like Universal Audio haven't really given anyone a reason to buy their DSP cards for a long time, as native plugin performance has outpaced them. As someone said, it's more like the card is an expensive dongle to enable X instances of a plugin than actually necessary to take load off the CPU. (It makes sense for things like their external Apollo interfaces as it allows for real-time monitoring with effects, but not for in-the-box mixing). There are several demos on YouTube showing studio people pushing a basic M1 Mini to run hundreds of tracks with effects without falling over.
If the next Mac Pro is still modular and still has PCIe slots, it's going to require a new chipset, because I don't think the current M1 family is really designed with tons of PCIe lanes in mind. If we want memory above 128GB, will it be in the SoC package or will they revert to traditional DIMM modules, or take a hybrid approach with 'fast' and 'slow' RAM, etc? Would they use PCIe 5.0, which doubles speed over 4.0? All of this would require a new M2 chip, maybe with an additional A-series chip running everything else.
I would definitely want to see 4x standard NVMe SSD slots - for music work, you want to have the OS / apps on one drive, sound libraries on another, files on another, and leaving one open for other uses / Time Machine etc.
I’m perfectly fine with the 2019 Mac Pro chassis being used for the 2022 AS Max Pro, although it is a heavy piece of kit. I am hoping that the cost cutters at Apple don’t figure out how to get rid of that big chassis, but we’ll see.
I was waiting for the 2022 iMac 27" M1 - never materialized. My 2011 iMac and 2012 mac pro may be my last Macs. I've had 9 since 1984. Sad day.
Tim Cook has been riding on old designs and tweeking them for the last 11 years. Time for a change and a better approach.
The new Studio Display and Mac Studio is for such a narrow audience. Tim Cook really need to be replaced.
Tim Cook has been riding on old designs and tweeking them for the last 11 years. Time for a change and a better approach.
The new Studio Display and Mac Studio is for such a narrow audience. Tim Cook really need to be replaced.