There are a few things Apple could do, from least extreme to most extreme...
- Change the Apple logo on the side to black, perhaps even using a plastic insert that would enable them to place the wifi and BT antennas there for better wireless performance
Would be better and more consistent with approaches on other devices to just add a stainless steel strip/frame to part of the back where need to punch through anyway. (e.g. put a small stainless steel frame around the punch out for the PCI cards. )
Similarly, they could go to a move where the handles are stainless steel. Again, like other designs, make a structural element need anyway the antenna. That way they are completely outside of the box. That probably would give them better range than anything else rather than some of middle of the road performance with hiding them behind some Apple shaped plastic do-dad.
- Change the optical drives to slot-loading
That doesn't do much more. They also would be tempted to make the optical drive bays closer together. Right now can "repurpose" them for regular drive slots. If anything could add more support for that (use as drive slots). [ For example the XServe has an option where can plug in a small SSD but not use up any of the drive sled slots. Mac Pro should have something like that. Using the second optical drive slot that way in a supported way would be a good thing. ]
On the bottom makes sense to raise up off ground. Again if can get some combo functionality ( antenna ) out of the handles they can stay.
However, adding longer sheets of aluminum to the Mac Pro is ony going to make it heavier and more expensive with relatively minimal increase in internal space gained.
- Extend the size of the chassis in either dimension. Increasing height to accommodate more drive bays or increasing the width or depth to accommodate more RAM slots on the CPU tray
As pointed out they have 6 "drive" bays now if look at in a general sense.
Going wider for one extra RAM slot . If that is the only real motivator change, don't see it happening. Wider can get you a slightly larger diameter fans though. Also Sun/Oracle has a design for PCI-e DIMMs like drives ( again similar to what is in the XServe). If wider may be space to raise the drive sled bay enough to get access to a DIMM-like drive socket to plug into "below" the drives.
- Change the chassis to a cube form factor. Although expensive, this could really get people excited about a Mac Pro again and reduce the "truck" like stigma of it.
It
is a truck!! The cube is not more effective use of internal space. A rectangle is better given going to have a flat motherboard.
The "place on your desk an ooooh " at it form factor from apple is the mini. In terms of what the cube (both Apple one and to slightly lessors extent NeXT one ) only need to look at the mini. It is meant to be placed on the desktop.
If anything, being hounded by folks who want a non truck is the Mac Pro's
problem. They are usually the ones who put low value on the differentiating (across Mac lines) features the Mac Pro offers. The Mac Pro should not be a "status symbol" box.
Having said all this, I would never have predicted what they were able to do with the Mini... esp. integrating the PSU into the chassis while making it half the size!
that is in part because it is not have the size ( I guess throwing in the power brick volume but part of the ineffeciency was having to do two power conversions. )
The mini also removed ease of internal access to accomplish this "packing" move. The Mac Pro doesn't need packing. There is no way to increase packing and leave the "ease of access" to internal components the same. If going to have people's hands inside the case need to have room for those hands to get around.
Also, it's worth noting that a case redesign would most likely be accompanied by an increase in price.
Right. No need for a higher price.
The Mac Pro is to a large extent already a unibody design. Trying to mill a brick that large out of an ingot is waste of drilling cooling fluid, time, and drill bits.
