Still no love for new displays and a Mac Pro. The spec's for a late-2013 Mac Pro starting around $4K are embarrassing (4096x2160 at 24 Hz, 3840x2160 at 30 Hz via HDMI), with limited SST and MST display support. My "current gen" $6k+ 8-Core Mac Pro6,1 with 32GB's RAM and dual D700's can't even support "pro" level dual/tri display setups without adapters.
Numerous display prototypes have been in production with the possibility of returning to a full display lineup again (re: CCFL 20"/23"/30" Cinema Displays circa 2004), yet it's always been a "maybe". Ironically, many on the design teams are using some prototypes for daily work. Cooks decision (not Jobs') to drop the full CCFL display line in '08 for a single 24" then 27" LED LCD display using the then current gen iMac LG or Sharp LED panel was purely profit driven. We already had the panels and form factor, using USB 2.0 ports and cables too short to reach a desktop system added insult to injury.
The false notion that the "pro" market is niche irks me. The amount of money studio's, professional photographers (Annie Leibovitz would drop an easy 6 figures a year), etc. spent annually on hardware (30" displays, PowerMac's/Mac Pro's/etc) and editing suite licenses was substantial. Many erroneously assumed the pro market was small and thus lacked demand and profit.
Two things wrong with this misinformed belief:
1. Studio's and pro's invested substantially in annual systems and "pro"-grade editing suites (FCP7, Aperture, etc)
2. Cutting "Pro" line systems and editing suites first then claiming the market wasn't profitable after the fact is ludicrous.
Demand was always there. Studio's invested elsewhere after the fact and their annual marketshare sum was substantial. Apple dropped the ball. They have succeeded in the consumer markets yet lost a substantial amount in professional markets. They drove those to other platforms and suites, and the time and money invested in switching will not bring those back given Apple's current focus. They shot themselves in the foot and claimed the market was the reason, it wasn't. Market saturation and a severely outdated Mac line have investors worried about Apple's future, especially pushing into new markets in China and India in which sales are far below projected conservative estimates.
Cook needs to revisit Jobs' "Quadrant" as product fragmentation within our R&D divisions would make John Sculley proud. Focus and innovation are lacking and it's disconcerting for many of us.
Numerous display prototypes have been in production with the possibility of returning to a full display lineup again (re: CCFL 20"/23"/30" Cinema Displays circa 2004), yet it's always been a "maybe". Ironically, many on the design teams are using some prototypes for daily work. Cooks decision (not Jobs') to drop the full CCFL display line in '08 for a single 24" then 27" LED LCD display using the then current gen iMac LG or Sharp LED panel was purely profit driven. We already had the panels and form factor, using USB 2.0 ports and cables too short to reach a desktop system added insult to injury.
The false notion that the "pro" market is niche irks me. The amount of money studio's, professional photographers (Annie Leibovitz would drop an easy 6 figures a year), etc. spent annually on hardware (30" displays, PowerMac's/Mac Pro's/etc) and editing suite licenses was substantial. Many erroneously assumed the pro market was small and thus lacked demand and profit.
Two things wrong with this misinformed belief:
1. Studio's and pro's invested substantially in annual systems and "pro"-grade editing suites (FCP7, Aperture, etc)
2. Cutting "Pro" line systems and editing suites first then claiming the market wasn't profitable after the fact is ludicrous.
Demand was always there. Studio's invested elsewhere after the fact and their annual marketshare sum was substantial. Apple dropped the ball. They have succeeded in the consumer markets yet lost a substantial amount in professional markets. They drove those to other platforms and suites, and the time and money invested in switching will not bring those back given Apple's current focus. They shot themselves in the foot and claimed the market was the reason, it wasn't. Market saturation and a severely outdated Mac line have investors worried about Apple's future, especially pushing into new markets in China and India in which sales are far below projected conservative estimates.
Cook needs to revisit Jobs' "Quadrant" as product fragmentation within our R&D divisions would make John Sculley proud. Focus and innovation are lacking and it's disconcerting for many of us.
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