'Constant Negativity' From Pro Users Led Apple to Develop Modular Mac Pro, Which May Not Ship Until 2019

[MacRumors]

Apple executives this week made an unusual and surprising announcement, detailing the company's work on an entirely revamped high-end modular Mac Pro that's set to be released sometime after 2017.

No specific information on a potential release date was shared, but OSnews' Thom Holwerda has shared some tidbits heard from "people and sources who know their stuff," giving a little insight into just when we might see the revamped Mac Pro and why Apple decided to renew its focus on professional users.

Ahead of Apple's announcement, Holwerda says the Mac Pro was in limbo, and Apple wasn't sure what was going to happen to the machine.

Apparently, the negative response to the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, which many complained was not oriented towards pro users, was a major factor. Apple saw a surge of orders for older MacBook Pros instead of the new model, and that, combined with the reaction to the LG 5K display and the "constant negativity" from professional users, led Apple to "double down on professional users."

The decision to move ahead with a modular Mac Pro replacement was made "in recent months" with development starting "only a few weeks ago," suggesting it's going to be a long wait.

Given a rough estimate of the length of time it normally takes to develop a project, it could be late 2018 or even 2019 before we see the machine.

The decision to go ahead and develop a modular Mac Pro replacement seems to have been made only in recent months, with development starting only a few weeks ago, which makes it clear why Apple said it won't ship this year. I have no idea how long it takes to develop a new computer like a Mac Pro, but I think we can expect the new Mac Pro late 2018 at the earliest, but most likely it won't be until early 2019 before it ships.

Aside from the Mac Pro, Holwerda also believes Apple is working on additional MacBook Pro models sans Touch Bar, and developing other features aimed at professionals, such as pairing the iPad Pro with a Mac so that it can be used as a Cintiq-style drawing tablet.

Apple hasn't shared a lot of detail on the new Mac Pro, but the promised modular design will allow professional users to keep it up to date with new hardware on a regular basis. Apple executives have said the machine will also be able to handle virtual reality software and high-end cinema editing, pointing towards support for higher-end single GPUs, and Apple also plans to ship the machine with an Apple-branded professional display.

Article Link: 'Constant Negativity' From Pro Users Led Apple to Develop Modular Mac Pro, Which May Not Ship Until 2019

 

[maflynn]

Apparently, the negative response to the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, which many complained was not oriented towards pro users, was a major factor. Apple saw a surge of orders for older MacBook Pros instead of the new model,

Not surprising from what we see in the MBP forum.

Ahead of Apple's announcement, Holwerda says the Mac Pro was in limbo, and Apple wasn't sure what was going to happen to the machine.

Its been in limbo for 3 years, so its good that Apple laid out a roadmap of what will happen.

The decision to move ahead with a modular Mac Pro replacement was made "in recent months" with development starting "only a few weeks ago," suggesting it's going to be a long wait.

Not sure why it took this long but its definitely welcome news

 

[gugy]

Glad Apple is listening.
As Pro user they for sure dropped the ball on the Mac for many years. I am still using my MacPro 2011 12 core tower and the machine still rocks. It is just 1 sec slower that the current MPs. Upgrading the internals is the key for the success. Soldering everything is a huge mistake.

 

[jjjoseph]

Why not just make it an even 2020!

 

[Rocketman]

Listening, maybe. 2 years to resolve it, after admitting it? Fail. Just offer both right now. Use an old physical architecture with a new set of guts. THIS YEAR.

 

[Rossatron]

It is courageous to call feedback from users "negativity"

 

[DHagan4755]

I think Apple might update the MacBook Pro sooner than later.

 

[markfc]

Hoping for a headless iMac aka Mac.

 

[wkw]

this will be a very cool computer

 

[Keebler]

Great they are listening!

But am I the only one who finds it hard to believe that a company that big, with that much money and all their resources is going to take that long?

I'm not expecting anything next month, but end of year or early 2017 would be acceptable.

But late 2018 or even after that....seems silly.

Then again, these are rumours so who knows right

 

[redheeler]

Better very, very late than never...

-----

Apple saw a surge of orders for older MacBook Pros instead of the new model

We all could have foreseen this, certainly you can't tell professionals to immediately jump to using exclusively USB-C and expect them to be happy. With past models there had pretty much always been a transition period when dropping even a single standard for a newer/better one (External SCSI → Firewire 400, Firewire 400 → 800, Firewire 800 → Thunderbolt), and never were 5 dropped at once.

The compromise on battery life and soldered-in SSD only made things worse, while the higher price made the discounted older models a better value as well.

 

[jjjoseph]

Im gonna buy 3 or 4 right now, maybe Apple will setup a pre pre pre pre pre order.

 

[4jasontv]

So we should be negative about the lack of updates and new hardware?

 

[PoppaKap]

Why would it take 2 more years to develop a desktop?

 

[MH01]

Interesting read about the feedback on the new MacBook pros and people buying the previous model.

Whenever they ship the new Mac Pro , looking forward to it

 

[tubeexperience]

You mean Apple didn't thought that professionals would notice that it is abandoning them?

 

[Asarien]

2019. Christ.

This essentially proves Ive and Co. haven't even been designing successors to the Mac Pro in the background, over the past four years.

 

[gotluck]

modular nonpro desktop?

I know, I know pipedream

love my hackintosh in the meantime

 

[lyngo]

Here comes the whole "double down" terminology again.

 

[Apple-Guy]

Is this real life? So many mac pro rumours, it's got to be heaven, right?

Good stuff

 

[camnchar]

What did Apple expect after ignoring their Pro hardware for years and years? Constant positivity?

 

[lostczech]

Apple saw a surge of orders for older MacBook Pros instead of the new model

Not surprised at all. We (the customer) aren't as "courageous" with buying a multiple thousand dollar machine that has no practicality.

 

[macTW]

Within the last 24 hours, the direction of Apple has changed... and I like it.

 

[TMRJIJ]

I'm going to be so pissed if they remove the Touch Bar. Way to ruin other people's workflows, MR members.
EDIT: It was said in the Original Article that Apple was exploring additional MBPs without the Touch Bar. I misinterpreted the quote as being that future Macs would not include this hardware in response to few members that complained specifically about it. I apologize for the rash rebuttal.

 

[jjjoseph]

THERE IS AN ICEBERG AHEAD CAPTAIN!! WHAT SHOULD I DO??

I DUNNO, WE HAVE UNTIL 2019 to figure it out...