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Is there *any* chance of a Mac Pro update @ WWDC?
- Thread starter Anuba
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Right, but any change in the Mac Pro could result in a substantial price drop for me, and here's why:
Normally the Mac prices in Swedish Kronor including VAT are (roughly) the prices in USD multiplied by 10. So for example the MP quad 2.66 and the MBP 17" 2.66 should cost...
24,990 SEK (MP quad 2.66)
27,990 SEK (MBP 17")
But they don't. The prices are...
26,995 SEK (MP quad 2.66)
25,495 SEK (MBP 17")
So for you guys the Mac Pro costs $300 less than the MBP 17". But if you were to come to Sweden and buy them, you would pay $150 more for the Mac Pro than the MBP 17". There's a $450 discrepancy there.
Why, because the exchange rate at the time a model is released dictates the price, and then they stick with that price regardless of currency fluctuations, until they release the next model. When the MBP price was set (November 08) the exchange rate was rather favorable from a Swedish POV. When the MP price was set (March 09) the exchange rate was abysmal; the USD was up to nearly 10 SEK. Now it's back down at 7.76 SEK. Hence the 26,995 SEK price we're stuck with since March is kind of an anomaly (same goes for prices on iMac and Mac Mini). The USD peaked in the same week that those models were introduced, then quickly dropped again.
So while any minor update to the Mac Pro line would be nothing to lose sleep over from a performance standpoint, it could have a major impact on the price.
Precisely. That makes my point even stronger--no sense in waiting for WWDC to see if Apple wants to bump the Mac Pro line... FWIW, I don't see a bump in the near future. That said, they could lower prices...
Yeah, as I mentioned above re: exchange rates, there's a possibility that something might happen with the prices. I've seen it happen before -- they shut down the Apple Store for whatever reason and when it comes back online, prices have changed on things that have nothing to do with the keynote address. Not something you'd see on the U.S. site since a dollar is always a dollar.
Having said that, I agree that a speed bump on the quads is unlikely because there's really nowhere to go. There's 2.66 and there's 2.93. I don't see them bumping to 2.93/3.20 this soon. Also I believe that the memory runs at 1333 on the 3.20 rather than 1066, not sure if that would slip into the MP quad without further changes...
A notable redesign that didn't happen at an event was the original MacBook. WWDC has seen Power Mac / Mac Pro updates, but those were large updates (G5, original Mac Pro).
Exactly! Small updates happen as soon as they're available! Could you imagine how ludicrous it would be for Apple to wait for WWDC to announce a .3 Ghz (10%) increase in speed on a few Mac Pro models?!?
I can see it now...
AMAZING!!! APPLE BUMPS JUST-RELEASED
MAC PRO LINE BY 0.3 GHZ!!!!
I think what you will see is a new iPhone or other *sexy*, media-worthy announcements.
Doh! Of course not, but sometimes they put minor updates in the pipeline and release them at the same time as they take the Apple Store offline for the big item(s). When the store opens again, the main thing is something along the lines of...
MEET THE NEW IPOD ATOM - INVISIBLE TO THE NAKED EYE!
And then, after people have been fawning over the iPod Atom for 15 minutes they discover that Apple has also bumped computer X by .3 GHz.
Right, but my point is that these "minor" changes happen whenever they are available--Apple doesn't wait for a media event to do them.