Possible Mac Pro Shipping Delays / Apple Horror Story

[Cavepainter]

Or, perhaps its because that despite all the, um, outcry's of unhappiness Mac Pro sales are still strong? Since Apple doesn't share those figures we are guessing.... but I'm sure one or two Apple execs may have completed a business course or two.

Are they selling well? I guess thats the big question. I see where you're going with this- and you're right, its all about supply and demand. The price stays up as long as the demand is there. And if they can keep selling em at high margin prices, that makes the bean counters happy, and fills the needs of the market. But the question is, how do we know if the lack of updates may actually be because they're NOT selling well anymore? I don't think those MBA Apple execs would be willing to invest truckloads more money on a product that may actually be underperforming in a market niche that they have a decreased amount of interest in. When was the last time Steve Jobs gushed or even spoke about the Mac Pro? I guess we look at where the money is being spent now... iphones, ipads, and more portable, consumer-oriented macs. Thats what SJ is "insanely" excited about.

Look, all I can speak from is my personal experience, and from studios I've been involved with. Honestly, I do not know of one person who has bought a new Mac Pro in the last year or so. This studio is chock full of @60 imacs, and the last place I was at had older Mac Pros. I know a handful of mac fans that need or needed one, and the popular solution has been to either keep your original setup on life support waiting for the new model, buy a Pro on the used market like the Refurb store, or spring for a nice i7 27". Again this is my personal experience.

 

[snberk103]

@ Cavepainter

The good news is that Apple have not announced the end of the Mac Pro line. I think they would need to announce a product EOL simply because it's something that could materially affect their stock price. (I'm just guessing here, admittedly - perhaps someone who understands stock market rules could chime in - but especially in the US there seem to very strict rules when it comes to announcing changes that investors need to know in order to make decisions.)

Apple will also have certain obligations to institutional buyers, I'm thinking, and that telling them that a product is EOLed should be one of them.

I suspect any new Mac Pros will be announced in the fall. Schools and (and some students) will be buying up the old stock as they get ready for the school year.

I had one other thought. We don't know what prices Apple is offering institutional buyers. They may not have dropped their retail store prices, but what kind of volume discounts are they offering schools and other mass buyers? If you know the IT person at a studio with old Mac Pros, get them to request a quote to replace them. The response from Apple will tell you a lot more than what you will get in this thread! And, do pass on the news - eh?

 

[Cavepainter]

@ snberk103

Not a bad idea. I'll see if our IT guy will look into it. I would doubt Apple would tip their hand at all, but you never know.... companies usually will work harder for their larger clients. But i'd venture a guess that would only happen if you were planning on buying workstations in the hundreds or more.........