Mac Pro: now Official Waiting for MacWorld Thread...

[FireSlash]

1) AMD owns ATI yet Apple doesn't use AMD processors (which idealy would be most optimal and yes crossfire would be nice)

Apple doesn't use AMD processors, but that doesn't mean they can't use AMD graphics cards. They were using ATI long before AMD purchased them, there's no reason to ruin that relationship just because of new management. Also, I've yet to see any benchmarks supporting AMD CPUs giving any performance boost with AMD GPUs over nVidia ones.

2) However since they're purely Intel machines now, why can't they stop using ATI and just simply rely on Nvidia for their graphic card needs (Yes the 8800 GT is the most ideal one both money and performance wise and yes if you can put 4 7300GTs [don't know why] then how's about some SLI performance for APPLE!!!

SLI is not an Intel technology, it's an nVidia one. Since Apple tends to use purely Intel bridges, this means they'd have to go a little further to add SLI. Since the Mac Pro isn't a gaming machine, it's wasted time and money.

Apple continues to use both AMD and ATI graphics cards because there is no reason not to. PCI-SIG's Express standard doesn't break between vendors, so they don't need to invest anything making their boards work with either brand card. At that point, since some professionals have preference, or even requirements on what brands they can use, it becomes obvious.

 

[akm3]

What do you think of this scenario:

Apple is having a record breaking year both for profits and shareholder value (stock price).

The consumer level stuff is driving the insane profits right now, and they want to see how that levels off before tapping the huge pent up demand in the pro market.

If they release it now, all the pro sales go into this fiscal quarter, they an absolutely insane quarter and... then what? They won't be able to top themselves, the street (stocks again) analysts set unrealistic expectations they can't keep up with and BAM the stock gets hit.

Apple's number one concern is always (and should always) be for the shareholders, so by NOT releasing a Mac Pro yet, they protect their stock price for a longer term, more stable growth.

-Allen

(Anyone who knows how stocks and business cycles and such really work will realize everything I wrote above is a crap premise, but it is as good as the other crap premises we are getting

 

[AviationFan]

What do you think of this scenario:
[...]
If they release it now, all the pro sales go into this fiscal quarter, they an absolutely insane quarter and... then what? They won't be able to top themselves, the street (stocks again) analysts set unrealistic expectations they can't keep up with and BAM the stock gets hit.

Guys,

just because most of us here are insane enough to check macrumors and apple.com a dozen times a day doesn't mean that the majority of MacPro customers will buy a new computer shortly after it is introduced. So I don't buy into this argument at all.

- Martin

 

[zioxide]

You know what's funny?

You guys have been waiting for this Mac Pro update since like March. That's 8 months without a computer.

lol.

 

[weblogik]

You know what's funny?

You guys have been waiting for this Mac Pro update since like March. That's 8 months without a computer.

lol.

Pretty sure everyone waiting for a Mac PRO has at least a computer, and it must be doing enough to get by to excuse the wait.
If you don't have a computer, and are waiting for a new Mac Pro, well your either stupid or you don't need a Mac Pro at all

 

[Wild-Bill]

He always said November 15th.

Well, he was wrong, yet again.

 

[ErikAndre]

If they announce today and do not release until late December, what is the difference of just announcing in January when they can ship immediately? There is no difference in my opinion. I want one, but ordering today and getting it in January or ordering it in January and getting it in January are the same thing...it is either early Jan. just prior to MW or at the event.

...or try this one: the reason they're waiting till january is to announce a few products, but announce the MP with all its glory, but with a March/June 2008 ship date.

 

[AviationFan]

the reason they're waiting till january is to announce a few products, but announce the MP with all its glory, but with a March/June 2008 ship date.

I don't like you!

(Just kidding... as were you, I am sure...)

- Martin

 

[sal]

The current Mac Pros are rip offs, don't be fooled.

just curious. Why are the current macpros ripoffs?

besides the speed increase, is there anything else that is going to be added to the newmacpros that is worth waiting for?

 

[akm3]

Guys,

just because most of us here are insane enough to check macrumors and apple.com a dozen times a day doesn't mean that the majority of MacPro customers will buy a new computer shortly after it is introduced. So I don't buy into this argument at all.

- Martin

(I don't buy this argument either, as I state later in my post =D

-Allen

 

[darthraige]

just curious. Why are the current macpros ripoffs?

besides the speed increase, is there anything else that is going to be added to the newmacpros that is worth waiting for?

2-4 years old graphic cards in it. The fact that Apple could ship the damn thing with at least 2gigs of Memory now. The iMacs currently have bigger HD than the MacPro. lol

 

[aimfire]

I've been waiting since August for this and following the threads and rumors everyday, ugh. Also have a friend in the same boat, needs a Mac Pro *soon* and is tempted to just go buy the current model.

Anyways, I also thought it would be this week... still a chance for Friday, but not looking good... I don't think it will be next week either because of Thanksgiving and they're probably more focused on all the consumer stuff for Black Friday.

Then we still have that last week of Nov... another possibility.
My guess is, if it's not out by Dec. 15, then will probably be MacWorld in Jan... I really do hope I'm wrong, but not looking good...

 

[ErikAndre]

I've been waiting since August for this and following the threads and rumors everyday, ugh. Also have a friend in the same boat, needs a Mac Pro *soon* and is tempted to just go buy the current model.

No kidding, I have video production on hold until this thing comes out... even if it is january. I'm just hoping they don't make a big show all around the new portable macbook in january, and then say on the side: "oh yeah, and we have a new mac pro coming that does xyz and offers teleportation features, but won't ship til june '08). Sheesh. Or what if they don't mention it at all in january? man, listen to me.

It just makes sense that there should be some sign of something... anything... by tuesday of any sort... or the week after that. I just can't wait past January.

(ok.. shutting up)

 

[jrlcopy]

Wow... another update, now for the imac, common apple! stop taunting us, there has to be something coming. lol, unless each team had to get an update out in order to start their turkey-day holiday.

 

[ErikAndre]

Wow... another update, now for the imac, common apple! stop taunting us, there has to be something coming. lol, unless each team had to get an update out in order to start their turkey-day holiday.

I'm sayin! It's like they're dangling a little mac pro on a stick in front of us...

"No Mac Pro for you!"

 

[mrbc19]

No kidding, I have video production on hold until this thing comes out... even if it is january. I'm just hoping they don't make a big show all around the new portable macbook in january, and then say on the side: "oh yeah, and we have a new mac pro coming that does xyz and offers teleportation features, but won't ship til june '08). Sheesh. Or what if they don't mention it at all in january? man, listen to me.

It just makes sense that there should be some sign of something... anything... by tuesday of any sort... or the week after that. I just can't wait past January.

(ok.. shutting up)

I've also put my personal video project on hold waiting for this update. Granted I was saving money for a few months expecting to be ready to buy this week. Now that there is no update, I am being forced to bring an external hard drive into my office to start editing my personal project on the G5 I use at work, during the weekends. It's a tide-me-over, but one I was hoping to avoid!

Is there any possibility that the Mac Pro wouldn't be updated by MWSF at the latest?

 

[Sean Dempsey]

No kidding, I have video production on hold until this thing comes out...

Serious question: what possible project could you afford to put on hold until a "new" computer comes out?

Don't you have clients who are wanting it done?
Aren't there any deadlines for this project?
Aren't you losing money by not finishing work?
Do you really think that an extra 5-10% speed boost is worth the wait?

What exactly is this project you have? Seems like you'd either just a) do the project on your current machine or b) get a Mac Pro c) not do it at all.

I cannot understand why you'd be "waiting" to do it on a "brand new Mac Pro 2.0" as opposed to not doing it at all???

Mind bottling, some of you....

 

[ErikAndre]

Is there any possibility that the Mac Pro wouldn't be updated by MWSF at the latest?

Honestly, it just doesn't sounds like apple to order nearly every chip intel has of this new processor, and indirectly claim that it will be amongst the first to release the new computer and show nothing for it while HP and others come out with the computers in Dec/Jan.

 

[ErikAndre]

Serious question: what possible project could you afford to put on hold until a "new" computer comes out?

Don't you have clients who are wanting it done?
Aren't there any deadlines for this project?
Aren't you losing money by not finishing work?
Do you really think that an extra 5-10% speed boost is worth the wait?

What exactly is this project you have? Seems like you'd either just a) do the project on your current machine or b) get a Mac Pro c) not do it at all.

I cannot understand why you'd be "waiting" to do it on a "brand new Mac Pro 2.0" as opposed to not doing it at all???

Mind bottling, some of you....

Whoa, hold on there cheif...

I have four videos of four HD weddings that I've done as favors. It's projects I do on the side. They are not expecting anything till at least march so i have time. I currently have a PowerBook G4 (1.6ghz, 2gb ram). I just reached a stopping point about a week ago as the HD is skipping now and i can preview a thing.

So yes.. I am going to buy a mac pro, but not just weeks before a new one comes out.

 

[G4DP]

Don't you just love Apple

Well I finally bothered to do the customer feed back regarding the MacPro.

The acknowledgement when sent is so condescending:

Dear Customer:
Thank you for your feedback regarding the Mac Pro. We cannot respond to you personally, but please know that your message has been received and will be reviewed by the Mac Pro Feedback Team. If we need to follow up with you on your ideas for improving the Mac Pro, we will contact you directly.

We appreciate your assistance in making the Mac Pro a great computer.

Mac Pro Feedback Team
Apple

Talk about lying through there teeth.

I might bother to send an e-mails to jobsy tomorrow, see if I get recommended the Mini.

 

[ksz]

What do you think of this scenario:

Apple is having a record breaking year both for profits and shareholder value (stock price).

The consumer level stuff is driving the insane profits right now, and they want to see how that levels off before tapping the huge pent up demand in the pro market.

If they release it now, all the pro sales go into this fiscal quarter, they an absolutely insane quarter and... then what? They won't be able to top themselves, the street (stocks again) analysts set unrealistic expectations they can't keep up with and BAM the stock gets hit.

Apple's number one concern is always (and should always) be for the shareholders, so by NOT releasing a Mac Pro yet, they protect their stock price for a longer term, more stable growth.

I think there is plenty of merit in this argument. In my speculative opinion Apple is going to defer announcement of the new Mac Pro to MacWorld 2008, but for several reasons:

1. Waiting for sufficient inventory, waiting for updated graphics cards/drivers, etc.

2. New Cinema Displays to complement the new Mac Pros. Probably one or both will be redesigned or at least tweaked in appearance. For instance, the current iMac is not so much a redesign as a tweak. Nevertheless, every redesigned or tweaked product in recent Apple history has had a press event of some sort. It's really late in the year for another press event.

Now the financial arguments:

1. In the most recent quarterly financial report, AAPL provided guidance of about $9 billion in revenue this quarter. They seemed quite optimistic. This means there is no financial pressure to release new Mac Pros or Cinema Displays right away.

2. Revenue from previous quarters can be deferred to subsequent quarters as a way of evening out quarter-to-quarter performance. While I'm not an expert in GAAP (generally accepted accounting practices), there's probably a fair bit of deferred revenue along with interest from investments and savings that will propel AAPL to a $9 billion quarter. So again no compelling financial need to release new high-end, but low-volume products at this time.

3. Jan-Mar quarter is often a low quarter in the cyclic computer industry so new models can certainly help generate new revenue during this time.

4. As Aiden Shaw has mentioned, Apple has announced Pro-level hardware at almost every other MacWorld for the past several years. MacWorld is NOT a purely consumer event.

 

[darthraige]

As Aiden Shaw has mentioned, Apple has announced Pro-level hardware at almost every other MacWorld for the past several years. MacWorld is NOT a purely consumer event.

Hopefully Apple doesn't go the route of... Fastest Desktop of the year, and fastest portable of the year at MWSF to balance it out. lol

 

[Topper]

I think there may be a bright side to all this waiting...

I've only said this once or twice but I am worried that Apple is still going to manage somehow to give us crummy video cards in the next Mac Pro.
In October, nVidia came out with their 8800 GT video card which is performing way beyond expectations.
This month ATI came out with their HD 3870 and HD 3850 cards. I don't want them but beggars can't be choosers.
In December, nVidia is coming out with an 8800 GTS 640MB revision.
Rumor now has it that it may be built on a G92 chip.
Its possible that it's performance could surpass that of the 8800 GTX.
Anyway, I find the waiting just a little easier when I think that maybe just maybe the longer I wait the better the chance that the next Mac Pro will have a more powerful video card as bto.

 

[IlluminatedSage]

Wow, i had hoped to get a new MAC PRO or midsized tower. With Blu-Ray

And a new nice sized monitor that takes HDMI inputs with integrated speakers.

oh well.... the wait continues

 

[-Noodles]

Re: I think there may be a bright side to all this waiting...

I find the waiting just a little easier when I think that maybe just maybe the longer I wait the better the chance that the next Mac Pro will have a more powerful video card as bto.

Not to mention faster ram, bigger hard drive and a nicely redesigned case. Hopefully along with this comes thinner cinema displays with built in camera/mic. The only thing that could possible beat all this is if apple finally masters the simple problem of designing a mouse that doesn't suck.