New Mac Pros and Mac Minis Launching in August

[Atlantico]

So what if they do concentrate most of their efforts on their iOS devices? How is making bucket loads of money a disaster from their point of view as a business? I'm not saying this is right or wrong but isn't it up to Apple what direction they go in?

Correct me if i'm wrong.

No, no, you're right - there's nothing wrong with it as such. It just sucks for us who use and depend upon Macs and don't care a diddly about iOS devices - it is also a waste since the Mac is quite popular and it's market share and unit sales grow leaps and bounds these days.

The decision to spend less and less effort on Macs isn't because they're doing badly or aren't making a boat-load of money for Apple, it's just a strategic decision. Apple doen't need to wind down Mac development to ensure plenty of iOS development (it isn't a zero sum game), it's just a strategic (and IMO a stupid, myopic and quite silly) decision.

But technically, there's nothing *wrong* with it. Nor is it particularly *right* either.

 

[strausd]

By the way, still no news about the white macbook. I hope they update it when Lion comes out together with the air, otherwise I guess it's being discontinued...

I doubt it will be discontinued. It is on Apple's top 5 seller list, the MBA isn't.

Actually there are tons.

That's because USB 3.0 has been out longer and has been given time for people to make stuff for it.

Every new thing like this needs time to grow, but I think TB will grow a little faster than USB 3.0 with Intels backing.

 

[iBug2]

Not really, Apple needs to spend money on designs and development to be competitive. That can mean new case designs, but it also means frequent upgrades. 6-8 month upgrades of the Pro machines would be far more appropriate than 17+ months. .. if Apple was serious about pro-users.

The same more or less happened to the XServe. It got less and less frequently upgraded, it lost the little popularity it had because of that and Apple axed it - without even offering any warning to those who relied upon it.

iMacs are no replacement for Mac Pros. Or a very un-serious one. Thus it doesn't deserve a serious answer.

6-8 month upgrades are impossible Intel does not produce new Xeon chips every 6-8 months. Apple's Mac Pro releases for the past 5 years have been depending on Intel's release cycles. Nothing else.

And enough with the 17+ nonsense. Just because it was 17 months between the 2009 Mac Pro and 2010 Mac Pro doesn't mean Intel's average cycle for Xeons is 17 months. It's around 13 months the last 3 years and 12 months the last 5 years.

XServes were axed because nobody was buying them. Mac Pro still has a market. Not a big one, but much bigger than XServe.

An iMac is a replacement for a Mac Pro, even a Mac Mini is a replacement for a Mac Pro, if your job doesn't require 12 processor cores.

 

[ratzzo]

End of July or August for an accurate prediction? Wow, that's going out on a limb.

Actually it'd would be a pretty good prediction estimate, since he is basically just giving it 2 weeks margin (first week of august.. so about 26 july to 7th aug)

 

[res1233]

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This is impossible. Not happening.

Apple's only supposed to care about "iToys" and nothing else. They don't care about Macs anymore.

That's the current track record, Macs on maintenance upgrades (i.e. uninspired and minimal), but I for one always live in the hope that Apple wakes up from this iOS disaster (from the POV of a Mac user) and start treating the Macintosh like a tier one platform, worthy of all their attention.

Actually I'm just expecting minis and Mac Pros with T-bolts, and that's it. Nothing interesting, just maintenance.

You call thunderbolt maintenance? What are you smoking? I want some.

 

[Atlantico]

We'll still have Macs and they will still serve a purpose. But they will be increasingly marginalized *away* from everyday computing. The MacBook Air already resembles more of an iOS device than a traditional "computer", or even a traditional notebook.

Yep marginalized, but by Apple, not the users. It's a cognitive decision, a strategic move - trying to make your fantasy (and Gruber's and Steve Jobs') real.

It isn't. There is no Post-PC era. Quite the contrary, but there is the chance for Apple to become the permanent leader and the dominant player in portable devices (i.e. the iOS devices)

The MBA will probably (in the end) be the only laptop-like device sold by Apple and it will run iOS. Macs will continue to be marginalized by Apple until people finally *get* it and stop buying them, allowing Apple to discontinue the development of Macs.

 

[iBug2]

I think their main audience with their professional software is people who use top of the line iMacs and MBPs. If you go to their FCP page, it's being shown on a MBP, so is Aperture.

It's not. If you followed the news on Final Cut X, the "audience" they demoed the software was cream of the crop editors working in Hollywood and broadcast. They demoed it using Mac Pro, not iMac, also none of those people will use iMacs or MBP's.

It's irrelevant what their FCP page shows.

 

[daneoni]

Not according to this article.

"Need more horsepower? Just get another Mini and connect with Light Peak. Grand Central will automatically distribute the load across multiple devices. A 2U rack will hold eight Mac Minis that, tightly coupled, will run rings around an Xserve."

http://www.cringely.com/2011/02/attack-of-the-minis/

More the modularity than CPU. What will happen when you want to run a Quadro GPU or drive multiple displays?

 

[Big-TDI-Guy]

So, Minis have Lightpeek now?

I thought they were about to get Thunderbolt - which is not Lightpeek in its original iteration.

Did I miss something?

 

[iBug2]

More the modularity than CPU. What will happen when you want to run a Quadro GPU or drive multiple displays?

If you need a Quadro GPU and multiple drive displays, you wouldn't be buying a Mac Mini.

That quote was about using Mac Mini's as a server, servers don't need Quadro GPU's, or any displays, let along multiple ones.

 

[Atlantico]

So if it's not the average, and only one number in a cycle of many releases, and the highest one, how do we deduce that it's the "rule" now?

Because it is a trend

292 days, then 240, then 279, then 420 days and finally 511 days. The trend is far more interesting than the average (which would include numbers from a different time, a time when Apple cared about Macs in general and Mac Pros in particular as much as they care for the iOS devices today)

 

[42streetsdown]

Is it just me, or Apple doesn't seem to care about the MacBooks anymore. Those Machines are stock with a Core Dual Processor. I like the MacBooks a lot, due to the way it looks, but like I said, seems like Apple doesn't care about them anymore!

They aren't the biggest sellers so it makes sense that Apple doesn't pay as much attention to them. maybe if they were to drop the price 100-200 dollars they'd be more desirable. at the same price as the 11 inch MBA who would want one.

 

[ratzzo]

The Mac Pro I can see being redesigned. It's been 8 years. But the Mac Mini? That was just redesigned last year.

True. I like the current design very much, but I won't mind a new one. New designs are usually better than the previous... I hope this will be true for the Mini as well if they are indeed redesigned. Perhaps they want to attract more attention to their most affordable Mac?

 

[edoates]

I think video pro's are out in the cold

well, as least semi-pros, not the hollywood guys.
Unless the new FCS and MacPro have some sort of Bluray support besides buying Adobe stuff with Encore (which is not very good ...) or using Toast to author essentually menu-less BluRay, I'm going to have to switch.

Many say physical optical media is dead, but my customers want a deliverable, not a web address. Brides and corporations don't take kindly to "here's your video: log in here." The quality is not as good as BR anyway (and won't be until we all have 50MB or better internet for 1080p (24 /30 / 60 someday) deliveries. 720P doesn't cut it, and H.264 for web speeds is visibly lower in quality.

My customers want to hand something physical out.

So, unless a miracle happens, I'm looking back into Windows land: sony Vegas pro, etc.

Been a Mac user since Lisa the way ...

 

[daneoni]

If you need a Quadro GPU and multiple drive displays, you wouldn't be buying a Mac Mini.

That quote was about using Mac Mini's as a server, servers don't need Quadro GPU's, or any displays, let along multiple ones.

potishead (and some others) are arguing the necessity of a Mac Pro and if it is still needed. In a world of minis.

 

[iBug2]

Yep marginalized, but by Apple, not the users. It's a cognitive decision, a strategic move - trying to make your fantasy (and Gruber's and Steve Jobs') real.

It's not Apple's fantasy. Have you been blind to what was happening around you the last couple of years? Have you heard about Android? Windows Mobile?

There is no Post-PC era.

Oh I think many people in software industry will disagree with that

potishead (and some others) are arguing the necessity of a Mac Pro and if it is still needed. In a world of minis.

Anyone who claims it's not needed at all is blind as anyone who claims it's as much needed as before.

I have been a Mac Pro / PowerMac user for 15 years, but right now I'm actually considering to make my next upgrade an iMac. I'm not going to, but I have considered it for the first time in years. And the only reason I won't buy an iMac is not because of the speed difference. The speed is enough for me, but I need PCI-E, and also I want to keep using my 30" screen and not to downgrade to 27".

But if iMac had some PCI-E and did come with a 30" screen, I'd buy one.

well, as least semi-pros, not the hollywood guys.
Unless the new FCS and MacPro have some sort of Bluray support besides buying Adobe stuff with Encore (which is not very good ...) or using Toast to author essentually menu-less BluRay, I'm going to have to switch.

Many say physical optical media is dead, but my customers want a deliverable, not a web address. Brides and corporations don't take kindly to "here's your video: log in here." The quality is not as good as BR anyway (and won't be until we all have 50MB or better internet for 1080p (24 /30 / 60 someday) deliveries. 720P doesn't cut it, and H.264 for web speeds is visibly lower in quality.

My customers want to hand something physical out.

So, unless a miracle happens, I'm looking back into Windows land: sony Vegas pro, etc.

Been a Mac user since Lisa the way ...

You don't need Blu Ray Authoring to cut your full feature movie on your mac. There's something called transfer. And Bootcamp.

 

[Atlantico]

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You call thunderbolt maintenance? What are you smoking? I want some.

Sure have some.

Yeah, adding a port to a machine isn't (I'm pretty sure) what constitutes "all-new next-gen Mac Pros" as the excited Mr. Tong claims.

Adding a port to the Mac Pro, I think, would be fair to say was maintenance. Probably much needed maintenance, but maintenance non-the-less.

 

[squaros]

I wonder if any of iCarly's sources could back this up? This guy is a tool.

 

[Blue Velvet]

Today a graphic designer can get away with a cheap iMac, or even Mac Mini if he wishes so.

'Get away with' being the operative phrase, even for women designers.

Some of us like a little more headroom, expandability, flexibility and like their Macs to last for a while. iMacs don't offer much in the way of display choice, consistency and quality; Minis are saddled with pokey slow little drives and limits on RAM as the Creative Suite and other apps become ever-increasing resource hogs with each new iteration. A publication I'm working on right now, with templates from the publisher, are choking my MBP because the running heads and masthead are choked with hundreds of vector points, embedded into the InDesign file.

In my case, I've also got almost 2TB of current and archived work, almost half a lifetime worth of stuff that I'd rather not have stashed across a spider's web of external drives.

Possibly new Mac Pros on the way? Best news for ages. Don't ever let anyone tell anyone else here that no-one needs a Mac Pro.

 

[mrwheet]

You're probably right, thus at the same time it means there's no future in professional Macs, so we should all just be looking for an exit strategy.

Apple is indeed not interested in Macs. Rightly or wrongly.

Well, I understand why people feel this way, but the ground-up rewrite of Final Cut is definitely NOT evidence for Apple giving up on their pro market. That would have been a MASSIVE undertaking. Also, they'd be wise to offer up new hardware for FCP X to run on, so I don't actually see anything strange about the possibility of new Mac Pros.

-- Also, it's worth pointing out that the extremely low price-point for FCP X is a pretty strong indication that it's going to be used to promote hardware sales - i.e., Mac Pros.

 

[Atlantico]

It's not Apple's fantasy. Have you been blind to what was happening around you the last couple of years? Have you heard about Android? Windows Mobile?

Yeah, in passing. I've still not met anyone who's ditched his/her PC for any of those devices.

Thus, no Post-PC era, since PC are aplenty and quite dominant. The iOS devices and Android/WindowsMobile are quite capable complements to the PCs - no doubt. But one would have to be quite out there to claim in all seriousness that there is now a Post-PC era.

The same guy who claimed that, also claimed in 2005 that now was the year of HD. To this day, he hasn't made BD support available in Macs. I would take whatever comes out of Steve Jobs' mouth with a grain of salt.

 

[ratzzo]

Yep marginalized, but by Apple, not the users. It's a cognitive decision, a strategic move - trying to make your fantasy (and Gruber's and Steve Jobs') real.

It isn't. There is no Post-PC era. Quite the contrary, but there is the chance for Apple to become the permanent leader and the dominant player in portable devices (i.e. the iOS devices)

The MBA will probably (in the end) be the only laptop-like device sold by Apple and it will run iOS. Macs will continue to be marginalized by Apple until people finally *get* it and stop buying them, allowing Apple to discontinue the development of Macs.

Granted, Apple's revenue comes mostly from the iPhone and the Mac sales have been shadowed by such good reception their mobiles have had. But the 'iCloud effect' as I call it, essentially the fact that people believe it's incredibly useful and will replace the traditional computer (when it isn't even out and half the word doesnt have broadband) will not make Apple discontinue the development of Macs, especially so as long as it stays a profitable business.

 

[iBug2]

'Get away with' being the operative phrase, even for women designers.

Some of us like a little more headroom, expandability, flexibility and like their Macs to last for a while. iMacs don't offer much in the way of display choice, consistency and quality; Minis are saddled with pokey slow little drives and limits on RAM as the Creative Suite and other apps become ever-increasing resource hogs with each new iteration. A publication I'm working on right now, with templates from the publisher, are choking my MBP because the running heads and masthead are choked with hundreds of vector points, embedded into the InDesign file.

In my case, I've also got almost 2TB of current and archived work, almost half a lifetime worth of stuff that I'd rather not have stashed across a spider's web of external drives.

Possibly new Mac Pros on the way? Best news for ages. Don't ever let anyone tell anyone else here that no-one needs a Mac Pro.

You can always make use of a faster Mac. But it only makes sense if the extra cost is really worth.

A graphic designer doesn't have much use for 12 cores, not even 4 cores for the most of the time. Illustrator, Indesign, these tools don't require cores nor do they make use of them. Photoshop is the only software that makes use of extra cores, and it does make use of them only if you are applying a filter. I know many graphic designers who use Photoshop only for retouching and cleaning photos up. That does not require any extra cores.

So a 600$ Mac Mini + 150$ external HD will do the same job for the same speed for a big group of graphic designers. For real.

 

[G4DP]

Intel and Apple work very close together. Apple got Thunderbolt roughly a year before everybody else. Even now, there are no other computers out there with Thunderbolt (which Intel helped develop). So, why not give them exclusive access to the newer Sandy Bridge Xeons too? Maybe for a small fee, and it could also help Intel to "sample" them with a low volume OEM.

Intel didn't help to develop TB. They solely developed it! Google something called Light Peak.

 

[iBug2]

Yeah, in passing. I've still not met anyone who's ditched his/her PC for any of those devices.

Post PC era does not mean the PC is dead. It means that it's not the most important and central thing anymore.