People have the wrong expectations if they don't recognize the change in the marketing approach that hit the Mac Pro with Nehalem and SL.
Mac Pro is a product segment which went from cash cow to cash out. Apple will squeeze as much bucks out of it for the least bit of development and it looks pretty good for them to be successful with that strategy.
They do not need to make any serious development effort to run Gulftowns in the existing logic boards. So it is a bit of microcode which they will obviously deny to 2009 users. The over pricing will continue to reduce the numbers of sales but keep the margins up.
When they are faced with a decision to kick off a new development for Sandy Bridge to launch in 2011 they will simply add up the cost for that development against the diminishing return. If it looks unfavourable they may pull the plug on Mac Pro in mid 2010. If it looks tolerable we may get one more tick/tock out of the Mac Pro. I would not bet the farm on it.
I'm not sure on the date of when it would happen, but it does seem like this is the direction it's going.
...you have to understand who really uses the Mac Pro. Professional people in many segments of audio and visual fields use these machines for their brute force and good value. Yes, good value on the high-end.
I understand your point, but what you might want to keep in mind, this group comprises a very small market compared to the other lines Apple makes. So the overall profits are tiny in comparison (the portable market for example).
So to keep the profits on par, the margins have to be increased, thereby increasing the MSRP of the systems. Otherwise, when it's figured into the overall margin of the company, it appears to decrease, even though the segment was profitable, and added to the total profit margin of all products. It looks bad on paper as I understand it (i.e. to stock holders).
Eventually, the "value" will disappear, even for the professional market. It's already there for students (seemingly the biggest portion of "hobbyists" you mention, but has a bearing on future sales & the education market Apple's claimed to value so often), and even for small production houses/independent professionals. If it's not there for the latter, it soon will be, and the large houses will eventually follow, as there's even fewer systems sold (increased R&D per unit + profit margin gets added to figure the MSRP). It still has to balance out to be profitable for any user, no matter how big.
There's still plenty of profit in the Mac Pro and there will be for some time. We're fine
For now. But it doesn't appear this will continue to be the case as the market continues to shrink, as the increased prices are running off current users. Fewer people to spread the costs over, as there will be fewer units sold.
It comes down to economy of scale going in reverse.
Yes, people who bought the 2006 Mac Pro got burned a little. The 2009 Mac Pro is expensive. It happens. The rest of us are doing fine, if disappointed with the pace of software upgrades. But software development always falls behind the pace of hardware development.[/QUOTE]
Keep in mind, if Apple's willing to do that to a 3y/o machine, what makes you think they won't do it again?
I wouldn't take it as an anomaly/outlier case. Their profits are based on system sales, so they have to push them on the current line. Even if it means forcing incompatibilities/lack of upgrades to do it.
As someone who bought a 2008 Mac Pro almost 1 year and 10 months ago, I'm actually very happy with the way it stacks up against Apple's newest, more expensive machines.
The '08's are the best band-for-the-money Apple has released, given the current direction (both pricing and upgradeability; no adapters needed for hardware RAID, and the firmware is 64 bit).
Yes, Apple's always been high for things like memory, drives,... But that's a little different than the MDP used in the current graphics cards. Now if a second monitor is needed (same card), you
have to get the adapter to do it. It's a little different, as buying the memory,... was a convenience in BTO systems. The adapter is a necessity for those wanting to run a second monitor on the Apple supplied cards.
Well, the current Apple computers are a bargain compared to what they used to cost. Not too long ago I remember we paid over $10,000 for an Apple computer with less upgrade opportunities and more hassle than we do now
The '06 - 08's certainly were. But the '09's and on, not so much. I can't help but look at the current trend, and seeing them get back to $10kUSD again in the near future. Yes, Intel's high end parts are getting more expensive, but the systems are loosing their value due to the increased margins.
It can't sustain that for long. Either the prices will have to come back down, or the line cut. Given the fact it's a shrinking market, the latter seems more probable.
We bought both the 2006 Mac Pro at work and the 2006 models are still going strong for our line of work.
Perhaps not for much longer though. They're already becoming difficult for future graphics cards, and soon will be once OS X gets to Kernel 64 only. Granted, for a corporation, that's easier to figure in. Not so much for small/independents.
The joys you long time Mac users enjoyed were before iPods, iPhones iTunes Music Store and a plethora of other ventures they've engaged in. This all takes man power and triaging of resources. One would be surprised at how much effort is needed to make the iPhone/ITMS work in harmony. Like with software, the bigger it gets, the harder it is to keep it lean and efficient. Apple has a lot to contend with these days so missteps in the form of sacrifices are are bound to happen.
Very true. But it also has to do with the lack of resources, such as not hiring the extra people needed to help with the growth.
Eventually, such compromises are made, and the overall product quality will suffer. It really is that simple.
