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MacPro Gainestown Pricing

T

toddbe

macrumors member
Original poster
I have seen many posts with people assuming the pricing from Apple will increase to around $2999 with Gainestown. The speculation is because of processor price increases from Intel. I do not believe the pricing for the MacPro will increase for the following two reasons:

1- Every component/ system inside the MacPro, except the processor, will cost Apple less than when Harpertown debuted. The case, power supply, audio, USB, firewire, DVD, hard drives, memory, assembly,and probably the graphic cards will cost Apple less.

2- The economy.

Your thoughts...
 
If it had been me, I would have just tied this to the Gainestown thread, but this works, too...

The case: Assuming no redesign. It would HAVE to be redesigned for the full Tylersburg spec to get in there. Believe me, the only way they can have a full compliment of Tylersburg in there is if they make the case deeper.

Not wide-deeper, but longer-deeper.

Power Supply: let's hope they use a better one, since the current one is slightly below the standard of efficiency.

Audio: ... The ports cost, like, less than a cent to put on. 😕

Apple owns the FireWire spec, so that (and USB/audio) makes absolutely no sense in the context of cost of the computer.

Memory: YEAH. Unbuffered/Registered 1333MHz DDR3 ECC RAM will cost LESS... good one.

The graphics cards: will cost the same as the current set did when they debuted.

Economy nothing. It doesn't matter to Apple.
 
toddbe said:
I have seen many posts with people assuming the pricing from Apple will increase to around $2999 with Gainestown. The speculation is because of processor price increases from Intel. I do not believe the pricing for the MacPro will increase for the following two reasons:

1- Every component/ system inside the MacPro, except the processor, will cost Apple less than when Harpertown debuted. The case, power supply, audio, USB, firewire, DVD, hard drives, memory, assembly,and probably the graphic cards will cost Apple less.

2- The economy.

Your thoughts...
Click to expand...

While I do believe Apple won't charge the higher price (or at least not AS high, instead cutting their margins somewhat), you're forgetting that components won't be the same old as last gen.

The case will be redesigned internally, the PSU will most likely be more power efficient, audio is thanks to the new motherboard, as is USB and firewire (keep in mind there's a brand new chipset on the mobo).
The superdrive is most likely already at rock bottom prices; the harddrive will get bumped up to 500GB instead of staying at 320; DDR3 costs money, and it's still a new graphics card.

In other words, component price will not be thing that might lower the cost.
 
Wish people would actually have a think about thing. The economy was going to hell on a hand cart when the last MacBookPro 17" came out, they still went up in price.

Apple gets components at rock bottom prices so all the means nothing. As Tallest and Umbongo and many other have said in the numerous threads on numerous occasions. The cost of the current MacPro is what the parts would RETAIL for. So Apple are NOT going to change the pricing policy because some moron can't manage a bank properly.

Companies and professionals buy MacPro's, $200 or $300 more isn't going to make a huge difference. If you actually need the power of a MacPro you will buy one. If not stick to an iMac. I'd be suprised if it stays below the $3000 mark. Although if it stays cheap in the USA, we know here in the UK we'll end up paying for it.

I would be happy to be wrong though, as I am looking into upgrading my main machine and keeping the 2008 thing for a server.
 
Tallest Skil said:
Apple owns the FireWire spec, so that (and USB/audio) makes absolutely no sense in the context of cost of the computer.

Economy nothing. It doesn't matter to Apple.
Click to expand...

Apple is part of the FireWire Friends, but they get to pay the licensing fee like everyone else. They do get some of it back, though.

The economy matters to Apple. Do you think the executives just sit around the board room and assume that people still want to buy their expensive hardware? Apparently this is the case, but you can bet that Apple has been paying a lot of attention to this possibility. I'd be incredibly stupid not to. Apple will charge what they think the market will bear.
 
What about the way the pricing doesn't change as the model grows older? It seems like the way Apple does it is to have less of a profit margin on release of a new product, and make it up through volume at first. Then, when the price of components drops, their price for the product doesn't, and they end up making more profit for less volume.

So while they may not stand to make as much up front per unit, the volume the latest and greatest sells at will eventually even out as prices for components drop proportionally to volume of sales.

I think that maybe the prices will not change, or just by a small margin, and not hundreds of dollars, based on the way Apple's done it in the past.

I think this makes sense...
 
Umbongo said:
Who is not going to buy a Mac Pro because it costs $2,999 rather than $2,799?
Click to expand...
Plus $2999 does not necessarily have to be the cheapest possible price.

The current Mac Pro can be lowered to $2299 by selecting the SP option. In the Gainestown Mac Pro, there could be CPU (lower GHz or SP), RAM (2 sticks instead of 3), HDD (320 GB instead of 500 GB) options that lower the price.

Ptyger said:
I think that maybe the prices will not change, or just by a small margin, and not hundreds of dollars, based on the way Apple's done it in the past.
Click to expand...
The Harpertown Mac Pro is $300 more expensive than the Woodcrest Mac Pro.
 
If we compare the performance of the Mac Pro Harpertown to the supposed performance of the Gainstown... It'll be worth every penny and every second waited... It sure sounds like a big leap in performance from what I've read.

If you go configure an Alienware with the core i7 setup, it comes out to a bit more than the higher end mac pro as is, and the mac pro has two processors, so really, the price isn't as bad as some people claim it to be...
 
Umbongo said:
Who is not going to buy a Mac Pro because it costs $2,999 rather than $2,799?
Click to expand...

New Zealanders and Australians.

Current base Mac Pro price: USD$2799, NZD$4699, AUS$3999
New base Mac Pro price: USD$2999 = NZD$5989 = AUS$4694

What's a small leap in the US is major down here because our exchange rate has is down the drain.

Ptyger said:
What about the way the pricing doesn't change as the model grows older? It seems like the way Apple does it is to have less of a profit margin on release of a new product, and make it up through volume at first. Then, when the price of components drops, their price for the product doesn't, and they end up making more profit for less volume.
Click to expand...

I'm fairly sure Apple is making a loss on Mac Pros sold in NZ and AUS because they have not updated the pricing to reflect a >50% drop in our currency value.
 
wetrix said:
New Zealanders and Australians.

Current base Mac Pro price: USD$2799, NZD$4699, AUS$3999
New base Mac Pro price: USD$2999 = NZD$5989 = AUS$4694

What's a small leap in the US is major down here because our exchange rate has is down the drain.

I'm fairly sure Apple is making a loss on Mac Pros sold in NZ and AUS because they have not updated the pricing to reflect a >50% drop in our currency value.
Click to expand...

Well that isn't Apple's fault. Even if the US price stays the same on a pure exchange rate it will be NZD$5,595 and AUS$4,403.
 
Umbongo said:
Well that isn't Apple's fault. Even if the US price stays the same on a pure exchange rate it will be NZD$5,595 and AUS$4,403.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Pretty much no matter what Apple does, the prices will sky rocket down here, which is why I just bought the current Mac Pro last week 🙂
 
The prices will be in line with current prices now, I think, unless they have a radical split in the line to include a more mid range single processor workstation. Based on a dual socket motherboard and either 1 or 2 Xeon X5500 processors it should still be around US$2300-$4000+.

The motherboards for these dual socket Nehalems should still be in the range of $500-$700 (Apple uses their own but they are usually in line with high end motherboards from Tyan and Supermicro). The processors should be are $600-$1500 each depending on speed. Graphics cards will run you about $100-$1500 or more depending on what they use. The case+PSU should cost around $500 based on replacement costs now. Add RAM, HDD, optical drive, cooling devices, you can see how they get to $2000+ real fast.

The only way we would see a nice mid range Mac Pro is if they split the line with a single processor motherboard, use Xeon X3500 processors (same price points of the Core i7 but with a few extras like ECC support and slightly faster memory speed support), maybe the same case to simplify the line. This could shave off up to $500 off the currently low prices single processor Mac Pro at $2300. So you're still looking at a $1800 Mac Pro. It's a long shot but one way they can go.
 
Outsider said:
The only way we would see a nice mid range Mac Pro is if they split the line with a single processor motherboard, use Xeon X3500 processors (same price points of the Core i7 but with a few extras like ECC support and slightly faster memory speed support), maybe the same case to simplify the line. This could shave off up to $500 off the currently low prices single processor Mac Pro at $2300. So you're still looking at a $1800 Mac Pro. It's a long shot but one way they can go.
Click to expand...
It would be easier, and even less expensive to do this the same way it's done now. Use the DP system, minus 1 CPU & cooler.

Separating it as you describe, means specific parts for it, and an assembly line to produce it. Going the other way, they use the same parts, saving $$$ on the volume of the purchases. The same assembly lines are used, so no retooling, new facilities, etc.

Just a thought. 😉
 
nanofrog said:
It would be easier, and even less expensive to do this the same way it's done now. Use the DP system, minus 1 CPU & cooler.

Separating it as you describe, means specific parts for it, and an assembly line to produce it. Going the other way, they use the same parts, saving $$$ on the volume of the purchases. The same assembly lines are used, so no retooling, new facilities, etc.

Just a thought. 😉
Click to expand...

It's not as big an issue as most people think. If it mattered that much Apple would use the logic board from the 20" iMac in the 24" iMac. But they don't and offer a better value in the 24" model because of it (expansive GPU options). But they could just as easily do that. So I think the price of starting up a new manufacturing line for the motherboard and case would be made up with the use of less materials (and less expensive chipsets; i.e. X58) and possibly a simplified case design. I'm not saying one way or another but other manufactures did it and continue to do this and it works for them.
 
Outsider said:
It's not as big an issue as most people think. If it mattered that much Apple would use the logic board from the 20" iMac in the 24" iMac. But they don't and offer a better value in the 24" model because of it (expansive GPU options).
Click to expand...

Do... Xeons work in laptop logic boards? Do Xeons work in desktop logic board? Does Bloomfield work in a laptop logic board?

I was going to say no.
 
iMacmatician said:
$958 to $1600 for the DDR3-1333 ones, which are likely to be the ones to be used in the Mac Pro.
Click to expand...
You're right. I was thinking the new prices would more closely parallel the current X5400 series. These are retail prices and not OEM so Apple will get them for considerably less.
 
Tallest Skil said:
Do... Xeons work in laptop logic boards? Do Xeons work in desktop logic board? Does Bloomfield work in a laptop logic board?

I was going to say no.
Click to expand...

What does that have to do with anything? I was just saying that if using the same logic board across the same line was so cost effective, they could have just put the 20" iMac board in the 24" and call it a day. I mean the specs are the same except for some minor things like a MXM slot. But they decided to add some value to the 24" and make a completely different logic board for the 24".

And Xeon X3500 will work in current i7 motherboards.
 
nanofrog said:
It would be easier, and even less expensive to do this the same way it's done now. Use the DP system, minus 1 CPU & cooler.

Separating it as you describe, means specific parts for it, and an assembly line to produce it. Going the other way, they use the same parts, saving $$$ on the volume of the purchases. The same assembly lines are used, so no retooling, new facilities, etc.

Just a thought. 😉
Click to expand...

Another thing, I always though of what a rip off the single CPU Mac Pro was because a single Xeon X5400 processor has very little performance over an equal speed Xeon X3400 series (socket 775 like the Core 2 Quads) but exacts more than twice the price for the CPU, not to mention the motherboard than uses expensive 5400 chipsets.
 
Outsider said:
It's not as big an issue as most people think. If it mattered that much Apple would use the logic board from the 20" iMac in the 24" iMac. But they don't and offer a better value in the 24" model because of it (expansive GPU options). But they could just as easily do that. So I think the price of starting up a new manufacturing line for the motherboard and case would be made up with the use of less materials (and less expensive chipsets; i.e. X58) and possibly a simplified case design. I'm not saying one way or another but other manufactures did it and continue to do this and it works for them.
Click to expand...
Thinking in terms of the MP only, I was presuming the market size too small for a separate product (some shared parts).

Laptops and iMacs are another story though.
Outsider said:
Another thing, I always though of what a rip off the single CPU Mac Pro was because a single Xeon X5400 processor has very little performance over an equal speed Xeon X3400 series (socket 775 like the Core 2 Quads) but exacts more than twice the price for the CPU, not to mention the motherboard than uses expensive 5400 chipsets.
Click to expand...
It's in the details though. ECC for example. If you have to have it, there's no choice, as you're comparing desktop to server parts.
 
m1stake said:
I remember seeing a Killer Notebook that had a Xeon and 2 8800GTX desktop cards. As you might imagine, it was no MacBook Air 😛
Click to expand...

Could I trouble you for a link?

It would be interesting to see how they shoehorned it in, and managed the heat. 🙂
 
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