iMac Pro is $1,000 Off at Micro Center Stores, Now $3,999 While Supplies Last

[sputnikBA]

10 per store.

I think they have 25 stores. at 10 per store thats $250,000 cost to them.

Thats probably easily written off as a marketing expense for them tbh. Worth it for the online traffic, brand recognition and building a good reputation for higher value customers who might have never considered them before - but are now very aware of them.

edit: whoops, JR is right and I missed a zero.

For a national campaign I'd still say its worth it as a one-off. Especially if they are only stocking 8-cores. From this forum and a few other places I've been exploring I think the 10 core with a few of the BTO options (Vega 64 / 64GB RAM) is what most buyers are buying. Might as well leverage the stock in a way that will help them (marketing) instead of them sitting in back and they eat a loss on them.

 

[Joe Rossignol]

I think they have 25 stores. at 10 per store thats $25,000 cost to them.

Thats probably easily written off as a marketing expense for them tbh. Worth it for the online traffic, brand recognition and building a good reputation for higher value customers who might have never considered them before - but are now very aware of them.

$250,000

 

[Plutonius]

Sales must be through the roof! Haha

I can't say I've ever seen such a discount on a brand new product.

I'm holding out for the modular Mac Pro .

 

[RogerWilco]

I don't think anyone would notice. This is one store. If it were discounted across the board and by Apple, maybe.



You're leaving out "prosumers" who want the reliability of Xeons/ECC, the best internals, IO, high performance encryption, display that Apple (and almost anyone) is offering and don't mind spending 4k on a machine (but did mind at 5k ).

And my guess is Apple will do nothing- this is a special, small Microcenter sale, not a national Apple discount.

Prosumers? In other areas they are called dilettantes. I think the impact of the Spectre/Meltdown disclosure is underestimated with pro and industry buyers. No rational customer will pay top dollar anymore for machines with a flawed CPU, especially an Apple product with no reasonable way to swap out the hardware.

 

[Shivetya]

250,000 in profit at most, not net. You can be assured they aren't doing this without Apple's blessing because Apple knows the news would go wide spread quickly. Microcenter is one of the few merchants that provides an entire section dedicated to Apple computers so they most likely have a good relationship and would not want to jeopardize it.

that out of way... damn damn damn damn damn damn... this is more than I need to spend but its so tempting when comparing it to what I was speculating on buying later in the year. In the end I cannot justify wasting the machine for what I use my current iMac for and won't even try to convince myself "but I would love to get into video editing and if I buy it I will"

 

[ascender]

In what world is this a sign that the iMac Pro is a flop? Unless you're expecting iPhone levels of sales and have no comprehension of what exactly the iMac Pro is and who its intended users are.

 

[ignatius345]

No I don't think that's the case with Microcenter. There are 7 in my store Greater Atlanta/Duluth. There are 9 in the other store in my area Greater Atlanta/Marietta. @DrJohnnyN and @BeatCrazy confirm there are 7 in the Dallas store and I randomly checked about 6 other stores that carried inventory ranging from 5 to 9 in stock. Microcenter is a pretty darn good place to shop and they aren't known for the bait and switch. They keep fairly accurate inventory online.

Interesting! There's one here in Brooklyn too, I just learned. (They're really getting their money's worth out of this discount, because based on the good reviews of people here I'll definitely check them out in the future)

 

[tubular]

These meet the needs wonderfully of far more professionals than just video production. It's not single use here.

Then can someone tell Apple? When I go to their iMac Pro page, its examples are 90% about video, video post, special effects generation, particle systems, Final Cut Pro X, with a little nod toward Logic Pro X, and another little nod toward developing ... video games.

 

[Jacquesass]

Bought one yesterday afternoon in Atlanta after seeing this on MR.

This machine is overkill for our house, even with my wife working from home. But...we keep our Macs for a long time (like a lot of people) and today’s overkill is the future’s low-end config. For $300 over a maxed out iMac, this was a no-brainer for us.

N.B., AppleCare “plus” now includes damage coverage - and is the same price ($179) as for the regular iMac.

 

[smirking]

MicroCenter does this all the time. This is no indication of how well a new Apple product is selling. They did this with the revised MBP in late 2016 — killer deal on the base model.

I thought Apple had strict pricing policies on all of their products. I'm curious how MicroCenter managed to pull off something like this and still stay in the good graces of Apple. Perhaps it's that Apple products store inside their stores that allow them to dare Apple to cut them off?
[doublepost=1515946134][/doublepost]

is it not selling as well as apple had hoped ?@!?!?

Wouldn't say that. If we start seeing this happen with lots of retailers, then I think you can say it, but as of now it seems to be a publicity stunt on the part of MicroCenter.

 

[Shivetya]

I thought Apple had strict pricing policies on all of their products. I'm curious how MicroCenter managed to pull off something like this and still stay in the good graces of Apple. Perhaps it's that Apple products store inside their stores that allow them to dare Apple to cut them off?
[doublepost=1515946134][/doublepost]

Wouldn't say that. If we start seeing this happen with lots of retailers, then I think you can say it, but as of now it seems to be a publicity stunt on the part of MicroCenter.

Two possibilities present themselves
1) Apple condoned the sale and likely provided a discount to Microcenter for doing so; they one of the few retailers who give apple products a significant amount of floor space
2) Microcenter is going to drop apple computer products

which is more likely?

 

[tubular]

I thought Apple had strict pricing policies on all of their products. I'm curious how MicroCenter managed to pull off something like this and still stay in the good graces of Apple. Perhaps it's that Apple products store inside their stores that allow them to dare Apple to cut them off?

I think Apple has a strict policy on subsidizing discounts -- they don't do it because they don't have to. The cost savings of this price cut probably aren't being borne by Apple but by MicroCenter.

I sure hope they do the same thing after the new new modular Mac Pro comes out. But for now I'm just not in the market for an all-in-one, and I splurged on a new MacBook Pro 15" about three months back, so -- sadly -- rationality will have to reign in my case.

 

[AmazingRobie]

+1 for Micro Center being awesome, but only time will tell that even at this price if the machine is a bargain or not.

 

[tribaltek]

Best Buy refused to price match online for me. I even talked to a supervisor. They said I have to go in-store. Are there any other online stores that do price match?

I got Best Buy to price match via online chat without issue.

 

[Jetfire]

+1 for Micro Center being awesome, but only time will tell that even at this price if the machine is a bargain or not.

Let see for a $100 less I could have gotten a "Apple Mac Pro Desktop Computer; Intel Xeon E5 Eight-Core Processor 3.0GHz; macOS Sierra; 16GB DDR3-1866 RAM; 256GB PCIe-based Flash Storage". Which is a $100 off.

 

[nvmls]

Brilliant move, overprice a machine no one asked for to the sky, then overprice it a bit lower later and people will be like wow what a discount, Tim playing the game like a pro. Coming up next $29 heat-sink repair program.

 

[pl1984]

In what world is this a sign that the iMac Pro is a flop? Unless you're expecting iPhone levels of sales and have no comprehension of what exactly the iMac Pro is and who its intended users are.

Typically products which have been on sale for less than 30 days do not receive a 20% discount. Does it prove that the iMac Pro is a flop? Certainly not. But, without some other reason, it certainly suggests it's priced too high.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Then can someone tell Apple? When I go to their iMac Pro page, its examples are 90% about video, video post, special effects generation, particle systems, Final Cut Pro X, with a little nod toward Logic Pro X, and another little nod toward developing ... video games.

Apple might just know their market and buyers better than you do. They're well aware of who buys their professional products.

 

[Marx55]

Nope. RIP all-in-one desktops. Bring headless Macs from mini to pro and mini tower.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Typically products which have been on sale for less than 30 days do not receive a 20% discount. Does it prove that the iMac Pro is a flop? Certainly not. But, without some other reason, it certainly suggests it's priced too high.

Remember that this is just the lowest end model. This isn't the one most creative professionals are buying.

This move could be to get consumers buying (which based on the talk in this thread it has done just that). It doesn't mean it's indicative of a problem. It may well have been planned from the beginning. Being it's a single retailer doing it, there could be other things at play here. They may have had trouble moving them or ordered too many and need to inspire sales. A lot of different possibilities here outside of a problem with Apple and the iMac Pro being a failure.

 

[tubular]

Apple might just know their market and buyers better than you do. They're well aware of who buys their professional products.

Then, judging by their own marketing, the iMac Pro is designed for video/audio production. And it probably hits that spot really well. Same with the Coke can Mac Pro -- it was probably really good for video production and audio production.

And that's why you can hear Apple's confusion in last April's round table with the journalists: they thought they were hitting it out of the ballpark, and for *some* users they were, and Schiller was at pains to make clear that *some* users were very happy with the Coke can Mac Pro. For the people the Coke can Mac Pro was right for, it was right for them. And that was the video/audio lane. And for the people the iMac Pro is right for, it's right for them. But as Apple's own marketing stuff shows, the sweet spot is for video and audio production.

For people like me who don't do video or audio (except toying around on the consumer level as a hobby), the pre-made COTS/BTO iMac Pro holds its lane very well -- it's just not the only lane there is. That's why it was so crucial that Apple pre-announced the Mac Pro Forgive Us Edition would be *modular*, that is, that it wouldn't be designed to hold a lane at all.

 

[BeatCrazy]

Typically products which have been on sale for less than 30 days do not receive a 20% discount. Does it prove that the iMac Pro is a flop? Certainly not. But, without some other reason, it certainly suggests it's priced too high.

I think everyone needs to keep in mind this is just Microcenter offering the aggressive pricing, and we don't know (Microcenter's) motive behind it.

If we saw Best Buy/MacMall/B&H/Adorama offering for $1K off, then we could have a discussion on if the MSRP was too high

 

[Jetfire]

Yep, I did the exact same thing. Such an awesome deal, I couldn't pass it up. My 2013 6 core is about half as fast in benchmarks. I gotta get some TB3-2 adapters as well for some external 4k displays as well as my two RAID arrays.

The store I got mine from had 8.

Watch out on the on the TB3 to TB2 adaptors. I don't think you can hook up your displays directly to the iMac Pro with them. I have a Dell U2713H display and had to run it through my Promise Tech. Pegasus 2 R4 to get it to work like I had to on my old MacBook Pro. I did a quick search and Apple support say you need to get a third party USB-C to mini-displayport adaptor.

Looking to upgrade my second monitor to at least 4k. The most disappointing thing about these iMacs is the huge Bezel. Waiting to see what the new Mac Pro will cost and specs.

 

[smirking]

Brilliant move, overprice a machine no one asked for to the sky

People who've broken down the pricing on the iMac Pro have all concluded that it's a pretty good deal for what's in it. Go and configure a Dell all-in-one. Get it up to something like the iMac Pro's specs, and you're looking at around $4000, but with only a 4-core processor.

Most of the expert criticism isn't about the price. It's about the all in one form factor.

 

[anticipate]

Watch out on the on the TB3 to TB2 adaptors. I don't think you can hook up your displays directly to the iMac Pro with them. I have a Dell U2713H display and had to run it through my Promise Tech. Pegasus 2 R4 to get it to work like I had to on my old MacBook Pro. I did a quick search and Apple support say you need to get a third party USB-C to mini-displayport adaptor.

Looking to upgrade my second monitor to at least 4k. The most disappointing thing about these iMacs is the huge Bezel. Waiting to see what the new Mac Pro will cost and specs.

I attached my Dell 5K (2715) to the iMac Pro using two pluggable USB-C to DP cables. It works fine, and in 5K without seeming to slow the system down. The dell 5K kind of matches the iMac Pro too which is nice. I noticed the Dell is a bit dimmer, and doesn't display P3 color obviously, but otherwise they are very close.

This does take up two TB3 ports. But that's ok because most of my expansion is via USB-A, I have a TB3 hub and a TB drive attached to the back. It was much harder when attached to a laptop, because you only had 4 ports including power. The iMac Pro has far more expansion.

People complain about the AIO form factor, but the 2013 Mac Pro was similar (minus the monitor, and RAM). eGPUs etc are needed to speed it up. I am ok with this form factor, especially because of TB3 GPU expansion. The GPU is super fast now, but in the future who knows. And in a pinch I can easily take the whole thing and my external storage somewhere and have a whole edit suite set up very quickly due to everything being built in. The form factor is really a plus.

As for the new MP, I bet you anything it's basically the same computer, with slots, and upgradable GPU and RAM.