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Mac Pro Build-to-Order Ship Dates Slip as Future Remains Uncertain

keeping my fingers crossed!

I am currently in the market for a new work horse. A new Mac Pro would be the best option I could hope for. I desperately need pcie support and to get an i7 iMac with an external solution seems to be way more expensive. I really hope they make up their f@*king minds quick because my current machine is circling the toilet as we speak. If they have made up their minds just clue us in. It's easy. Just say"yes their will be a new mac pro". You don't even have to tell us "when". Just let us know "if".
I understand the secrecy as a sales tool however as a pro consumer with out the big budget of a large organization it is frustrating to not be able to plan upgrades with any sort of certainty. It really is an exercise in futility.
 
yadmonkey said:
While articles like this bring up my angst about the future of the Mac Pro, I like to think that Apple is smart enough to recognize the value of the Mac Pro beyond its immediate ROI in dollars and will continue the line for a long time.
Click to expand...

Can you explain the Mac Pro's value that is "beyond its immediate ROI in dollars"? I fail to see what value the Mac Pro has to Apple that isn't dependent on ROI. Most profitable companies will not continue selling a product with marginal ROI to a tiny, niche market that represents a small fraction of total sales. What am I missing?
 
Mac Pro 1,1 has been one of the best pieces of hardware I have ever purchased (hands down best computer). Trouble free since 2006...2012 may be the year it gets replaced! Upgrade round the corner for sure...
 
There will certainly come a day that a Mac Pro tower is no longer necessary to Apple, but we're not quite there yet.

I'm putting my bets on an all new chassis.
 
Missing the Apple disclosure

The persons reading this are missing the clear and literal Apple disclosure.

It states in clear terms available February 1 at the Apple Store San Francisco.

That is a promise or warranty. They must now do that.

Therefore MacPro's will in fact still be available.

Finally we have confirmation and let me be the first to claim I read the proof before anyone else in or initiating this thread.

Move the red circle down a bit and you have the jackpot fact you have all been looking for.

I suspect we will not see Mac Pro EOL till we have seen the 2nd generation MacBook Air with A(x) processors.

Since they have not been announced yet and need at minimum an A6 and more likely an A7 processor or two, I am not holding my breath.

Rocketman
 
ninjadex said:
There will certainly come a day that a Mac Pro tower is no longer necessary to Apple, but we're not quite there yet.

I'm putting my bets on an all new chassis.
Click to expand...

I hope you are right. I have had my Mac Pro since 06. It's been fantastic, but it is time for it to go to the happy hunting grounds.
 
ForApple to discontinue the Mac Pro would be the stupidest move the company ever made. Now I'm not saying they are or aren't, just that it would shoot themselves in the foot by doing so.

Lets face it, Apple products have an image. They are considered "cool" "hip" because they are associated with "creativity" and the creative world. Hell I saw a commercial for some other phone (can't remember, so yea good commercial) where they made fun of the fact iphone people thought they where creative people.

Yes it was the professional creative users that kept Apple alive during those bleak years, but more than that it was those same customers that made Apple cool for the kids wanting to be them. When kids in college went to talk to and see the design web design shops (big and small), print shops, photographers, video boutiques, and audio houses they wanted to work for, what they saw was Macs! I can't tell you how many tours of college kids we had at one shop I worked at where at the end one or more of them always said "looks likeI got to get a Mac".
Those kids then went back to school and bought Macs to prepare for a career, and the other kids could see that. They saw that's what the DJ's had. What the bands had. What the cool design kids had, and that's what made Apple "cool". The ipod, and all the other ithinkgy's where in some ways just ways to associate yourself with the "creative" crowed, without having to actual be in the industry. And don't forget, one of the reasons Macs appeared in so many TV shows, Web series, music vids was not because of some Apple marketing scheme, it was mostly because that's what everyone on the crews where using so they get in the shot.

Now ask yourself what will happen, in 5 years if those same future creative kids where walking into the design shops and seeing, say, Alienware stuff running PC software. Apple could loose it shine pretty quick to the next "creative" company. Then suddenly ithingys kinda become just another product from a mass consumer product company.
 
Rocketman said:
The persons reading this are missing the clear and literal Apple disclosure.

It states in clear terms available February 1 at the Apple Store San Francisco.

That is a promise or warranty. They must now do that.

Therefore MacPro's will in fact still be available.

Finally we have confirmation and let me be the first to claim I read the proof before anyone else in or initiating this thread.

Move the red circle down a bit and you have the jackpot fact you have all been looking for.

I suspect we will not see Mac Pro EOL till we have seen the 2nd generation MacBook Air with A(x) processors.

Since they have not been announced yet and need at minimum an A6 and more likely an A7 processor or two, I am not holding my breath.

Rocketman
Click to expand...
Sense. Your post has none.
 
AZREOSpecialist said:
Can you explain the Mac Pro's value that is "beyond its immediate ROI in dollars"? I fail to see what value the Mac Pro has to Apple that isn't dependent on ROI. Most profitable companies will not continue selling a product with marginal ROI to a tiny, niche market that represents a small fraction of total sales. What am I missing?
Click to expand...


I should have relied to this post.. But my last post explains this.
 
Apple lost the "pro" market years ago. Let's look at some facts:
  • Two local Apple Stores - neither of them have a Mac Pro on display. There are plenty of iPhones, iPads, iPods, iMacs, Mac Minis, Macbooks and Macbook Pros… just no Mac Pros.
  • Apple has been "dumbing down" its pro apps.
  • Newest technologies are no longer introduced on the Mac Pro first, as they have been previously. Case in point - Thunderbolt.
It's my belief that the writing has been on the wall for some time. It makes no sense for Apple to continue serving an almost non-existent market, the majority of which has already gone to PC/Windows due to cost and customizability. If Apple is inclined to make a "pro" level machine, it will most likely be an "iMac Pro" with a more iMac form factor. That's where the sales are, and Apple has already optimized iMac production for maximum profitability. Why not just add one more high end model to satisfy the "pro" crowd and get rid of that huge boxy Mac Pro monstrosity? I can see Apple thinking this way.
 
yadmonkey said:
While articles like this bring up my angst about the future of the Mac Pro, I like to think that Apple is smart enough to recognize the value of the Mac Pro beyond its immediate ROI in dollars and will continue the line for a long time.
Click to expand...
Could not agree more! As a professional scientist, I am COMPLETELY at the mercy of Steve's successors. Please: we NEED a real Mac, with Fortran available through Intel. Please! Please!
 
I don't think Apple will discontinue the Mac Pro either. It could use some minor design refreshes, sure. But I think the biggest reason that sales of the Mac Pro have slowed down is that its so overdue for a refresh. If you're 'techie' enough to be interested in a Mac Pro, you also know it's way behind the curve compared to other products in Mac lineup. Why would you plop down ~$3k on a machine that's going to get a significant upgrade very soon?
 
AZREOSpecialist said:
Apple lost the "pro" market years ago. Let's look at some facts:
  • Two local Apple Stores - neither of them have a Mac Pro on display. There are plenty of iPhones, iPads, iPods, iMacs, Mac Minis, Macbooks and Macbook Pros… just no Mac Pros.
Click to expand...
....why would Apple need to have mac pros on display? What kind of pro is going to need to go into a store and tinker with a display model in order to determine that they want to buy it?

  • Apple has been "dumbing down" its pro apps.
Click to expand...
Hasnt this happened with exactly one app? It seems to me that you have drawn an outrageous conclusion.

  • Newest technologies are no longer introduced on the Mac Pro first, as they have been previously. Case in point - Thunderbolt.
Click to expand...
The mac pro has not received an update since thunderbolt was released. Apple updates Mac Pros when new processors are available. Apple cannot "decide" to have the processors released before they are available.

It's my belief that the writing has been on the wall for some time. It makes no sense for Apple to continue serving an almost non-existent market, the majority of which has already gone to PC/Windows due to cost and customizability. If Apple is inclined to make a "pro" level machine, it will most likely be an "iMac Pro" with a more iMac form factor. That's where the sales are, and Apple has already optimized iMac production for maximum profitability. Why not just add one more high end model to satisfy the "pro" crowd and get rid of that huge boxy Mac Pro monstrosity? I can see Apple thinking this way.
Click to expand...
The pro market is not nonexistent. Period.
 
derp, of course nobody is buying a two year old desktop for greater than market value price. Apple REALLY dropped the ball on this line.
 
Make it a slim mid tower design, with a single socket option as base (i5/i7 SB/IB), full AMD desktop card support (with exception to 6990 if the PWS isnt robust enough), and starting at 1499.99. Sold:D

A second professional class BTO could exist...and Apple could possibly lure some PC gamers in with the base builds.
 
Before reading, I thought we were talking about the Macbook Pro - so open mouth, insert foot, jam it in until asphyxiation is complete..... :(

--------------------------
As others mentioned, they could not just dump the Pro line, it is in a Mac niche that nothing else fills (at least for the moment). Of course they may be trying to replace the void with a high spec "Air" at 15" as has been mentioned right on this blog. I have a 13" Air, and a 15" Pro, both for travel, both business & personal, and a hybrid would be awesome, IMHO, because I have to really decide on which to bring on the road. There is a "sweet spot," right in between the highest spec Air, and the weight & specs of the current Pro, which is a heavy machine, before you add one accessory. I actually carry an external battery, with Magsafe connectors, with either machine, and external 12v, as well as 120v adapters, and a 4g LTE phone with Hotspot, that just replaced a Cradlepoint mobile hotspot w/USB 4g LTE dongle.

My point is this stuff starts to get heavy when I need the Pro, as I need a my regular briefcase too...

For the road warrior, having the power of a Pro, in a lighter, thinner chassis would be a instant "can't pass up." And that is before even thinking about the possibility of a Retina display. Even w/o a high def screen upgrade, just having Thunderbolt in a lighter 15" package, with the Pro specs (or better) again would be something I personally would not be able to resist. I cannot imagine that there has to be many out there, in my position, that would be all over this type of configuration.
 
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pros and cons

In favor of the Mac Pro demise rumor is Apple's previous termination of the industrial Xserve and low-volume pro-ish Cube. Also, as pointed out earlier, Apple's bottom line is dominated by the consumer market these days. The Mac Pro is an afterthought or no-show in Apple stores and not a volume seller.

On the other hand, the iMac has limited expandability and dumping the Mac Pro would go against Apple's tradition of empowering the user with customization going back to the Apple II, and of selling high-end boxes at exorbitant prices (Mac IIfx).

Apple is undoubtedly asking itself if the Mac Pro (or niche-equivalent successor) can make enough money and have a sufficient halo effect to justify its development and production costs. Can Apple bring design goodness into the desktop tower space that will make it attractive compared to commodity towers from H-P, Dell, and the rest? In the x86 space, possibly not.

The Mac Pro enclosure is coming up on its ninth birthday (including its Power Mac predecessors), which is a pretty long time in computer years. Can Apple create something sufficiently drool-worthy in a pro desktop? That's the most interesting question. We'll find out in a bit.
 
Mark77 said:
My point is this stuff starts to get heavy when I need the Pro, as I need a my regular briefcase too...
Click to expand...
Uhm, this thread is about the Mac Pro. The desktop system that runs Xeon class processors, and can come configured in dual-processor setups, supporting massive amounts of RAM (with ECC).
 
Graphics Cards

A reason I use a MacPro is to get a game-quailty graphics card. If there were some way to get acceptable graphics performance in a different mac, then I won't cart about the MacPro any more.
 
beeners said:
A reason I use a MacPro is to get a game-quailty graphics card. If there were some way to get acceptable graphics performance in a different mac, then I won't cart about the MacPro any more.
Click to expand...

It's not just the GPU. I have 3 PCI-e cards on my Mac Pro, which I can't install on any other mac. Apple needs another way of expanding the macs if they discontinue the Pro. In couple years, it'll be Thunderbolt, but we are not there yet.
 
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