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Steve Jobs Once Considered Killing Apple's Pro Products

PrimeMatrix said:
I was about to buy a Mac mini for a home server for graduation, but when I saw the pro at WWDC; I'm glad that I waited. This Pro seems to be exactly what I want and I didn't even think it was possible. I didn't even know how much I wanted something like this.
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The new Mac Pro is not well suited at all to use as a home server. You are paying a lot of money for graphic cards that would no be used and CPU cores that are not needed. Also the thing will burn electric power that you don't need to burn.

THeir are MUCH better servers on the market. The Mac Pro is a work station.
 
Sometimes I worry that Apple doesn't understand it's about the ecosystem. The fact that one part of that ecosystem is smaller in terms of profit doesn't mean it's less important. If I'm not using a Mac for work (as a designer and an illustrator), the odds of me buying an iPhone or iPad or an AppleTV plummet sharply. I'm going to buy what plays well with what I use — period.
 
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ChrisA said:
I'd say the ONLY reason to buy a Mac at all is because there is soe software that only runs on Macs, like Logic, Final Cut and so on. If they kill of that what is the point of a Mac. Just and expensive way to run a web browser. I'd buy a Google Chrome book.
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I think that is ridiculous.

[EDIT] Do to the vast misunderstanding of my original text, it has been edited.
 
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It was the pro users over the decades that kept the Mac alive. While most of the public saw Macs as mere toys with a glossy finish, creatives were pushing them to their absolute limits to create music, movies and most of the products and packaging that you see today. People liked to make fun of Mac users because they paid too much for machines, but there really wasn't a viable alternative for years. Macs struggled with popularity in the 90s, attempted to make inways by licensing the OS, and almost went under. Meanwhile, creatives were designing away on them. PCs didn't have the same workflow available for creatives until recently, so it's easy to compare the two now, but for most of the time Macs were synonymous with creatives and professionals.

That Apple didn't ditch the line is all the matters. Pro machines are and always will be welcome to those who want and need them for their professional careers. Many people will scoff at the specs and price, but they seriously do not understand what can and is done with these machines. I see a bright future still for the Pro line.
 
It's ironic that this rumor comes out, just before they take out discrete GPU's in their Macbook Pro Retina, and opt for a slightly slower iGPU. Simplicity will make customers more happy...yay..
 
..saying that making software powerful and easy-to-use for more customers is more important than making software that is simply powerful
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So very, very true!

This is the way all IT-based tech is heading: move away from a few specialised experts, and move to the IT-savvy masses:
- You don't need to be a qualified Systems Administrator to be able to create a network with servers;
- You don't need to be the AV expert to edit a movie professionally;
- You don't need a laptop which is installed and configured by the IT department of the company which is featured by what you cannot / are not allowed to do....

...etc.

IT4All: Use it. Don't throttle others.
 
Long live the cheese grater!!!

hero_macpro.jpg


Having just stuck in an eVGA 4GB GTX 680 FTW Edition graphics card into mine, I just don't see myself getting an iTubeMini Pro or whatever that little black can is, the one with all the uselessly expensive ports on the back.
 
ChrisA said:
The new Mac Pro is not well suited at all to use as a home server. You are paying a lot of money for graphic cards that would no be used and CPU cores that are not needed. Also the thing will burn electric power that you don't need to burn.

THeir are MUCH better servers on the market. The Mac Pro is a work station.
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Perhaps you're right.
 
No Pro products would have meant to me to switch back to Windoze. At least on the PC world you can custom build your PC and hopefully there will be a good OS to run in it.
 
Moonjumper said:
A price slash for the Mac Pro would be very nice. A smaller device cannot be the only "shifting" going on.
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afin said:
I mean, I would respected his story less if he hadn't at least considered the "easy" money move.
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I guess that's what makes you two qualified to not only run a Fortune 500 company but grow it Fortune 5?

Pro hardware is expensive for a reason: high end parts that have to be tested in-house for performance, low volume sales, more demanding customers and support options, expensive R&D.

How much money does Apple make from Mac Pros & 17" Mac Book Pros. Most "pro" level creative work done on Macs on the planet are done on 15" MacBook Pros and iMacs.
 
rjohnstone said:
It still looks like a trash can or an air purifier.
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True, but are you able to get around that and see that it's an incredibly brilliant and functional design? I'm not sure why nobody else has ever thought of it. If one of the primary problems with high-performance computers is the heat it produces, why not design the thing like a wind tunnel to maximize the amount of airflow moving heat out of the system? Seems obvious now that it's been revealed, but all these years, it's been boxes with fans inside which makes little to no sense.
 
I don't really care what Apple calls it, or who it's supposedly designed for. If it has intuitive software, specs that meet my needs, and it also happens to come packaged in a beautiful, meticulously-designed container... Well, shut up and take my money.
 
Makes sense. And also helps level the playing field for everyone to create much richer media.
 
Amazing Iceman said:
No Pro products would have meant to me to switch back to Windoze. At least on the PC world you can custom build your PC and hopefully there will be a good OS to run in it.
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Have you priced similar hardware specs from Dell or HP? They're so expensive and actually cheaper than the BYO options. Even our hackintosh project is so much slower than an off the shelf 27" iMac with the highest end boards available that run OS X EFI.
 
ActionableMango said:
Long live the cheese grater!!!

Image

Having just stuck in an eVGA 4GB GTX 680 FTW Edition graphics card into mine, I just don't see myself getting an iTubeMini Pro or whatever that little black can is, the one with all the uselessly expensive ports on the back.
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"uselessly expensive ports on the back" ?
The above is just a typical example of an uneducated user who doesn't understand the value of Thunderbold or USB-3.

Well, "to each its own".
 
Segall goes on to argue that Apple is pushing 'pros' in a new direction, saying that making software powerful and easy-to-use for more customers is more important than making software that is simply powerful. He says that "Apple is walking to a place that’s entirely new" with its new products, while "asking the pros to walk with them."
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No need to ask, I'll walk along :) Can't wait to get the new Mac Pro, it isn't revolutionary, but I believe in thunderbolth technology and the way how you can expand this machine with other devices.
 
when Apple unveiled the next generation of the mac pro, I swear for some of you it was like the second coming of Christ
 
ActionableMango said:
Long live the cheese grater!!!

Having just stuck in an eVGA 4GB GTX 680 FTW Edition graphics card into mine, I just don't see myself getting an iTubeMini Pro or whatever that little black can is, the one with all the uselessly expensive ports on the back.
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This one?
 

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Is this surprising? The guy was known for cutting products. I'd be surprised if there wasn't a product that he never considered cutting, even if only for a little while.
 
ogun7 said:
Have you priced similar hardware specs from Dell or HP? They're so expensive and actually cheaper than the BYO options. Even our hackintosh project is so much slower than an off the shelf 27" iMac with the highest end boards available that run OS X EFI.
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That's why I'm glad Apple didn't kill the Pro products. :D

Back in 2007 I decided to stop wasting my time with BYO computers and dealing with Windows non-sense bugs and flaws and incompatibilities.

As soon as a new 17" MBP comes out, I will upgrade my current 2007 MBP; only because it can't hold more than 4GB RAM; otherwise I would have continue using it for another 2 years at least.

In the PC world I would have to keep upgrading every 2 years.
 
Amazing Iceman said:
That's why I'm glad Apple didn't kill the Pro products. :D

Back in 2007 I decided to stop wasting my time with BYO computers and dealing with Windows non-sense bugs and flaws and incompatibilities.

As soon as a new 17" MBP comes out, I will upgrade my current 2007 MBP; only because it can't hold more than 4GB RAM; otherwise I would have continue using it for another 2 years at least.

In the PC world I would have to keep upgrading every 2 years.
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I doubt you will see a new 17" any time soon...
 
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