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Ask HN: Workstation Alternative for Mac Pro

3 points by artellectual 10y ago

I feel like Apple no longer cares about the pro market. I've been using macs for the past decade and have been very happy with no complaints. Apple's lack of vision for the Pro market has me worried. Is anyone else in the same boat? I am waiting until the end of 2016 and I may have to switch to getting a Winbuntu workstatio. It breaks my heart to even think about switching. Anyone know anything about what's going on at Apple and their plans for he Pro computers? Also what are your plans if Apple ditches the pro market altogether?

czbond 10y ago
What specifically are your frustrations? I have a 15" Pro, and it doesn't bother me much if the computer is lighter, thinner, etc. The machine is pretty powerful. Here is what is coming next (rumored). http://www.macrumors.com/roundup/macbook-pro/ http://www.macrumors.com/roundup/macbook-pro/
dmschulman 10y ago
They're making a lot of bad anti-consumer choices with their products the last few cycles and I have no reason to believe it will get any better. I've been waiting for such a long time for the new line of Macbook Pros to come out, I've been in desperate need of an upgrade for quite some time now and am finally at the point where an MBP makes a lot of sense to me (I've been using Thinkpads exclusively the last 12 years) but here I am still waiting for a product announcement. I'm highly discouraged by Apple's move to replace every port on the Macbook with a single USB-C and I believe the new MPBs will feature a similar concession, possibly 2 or 3 USB-C ports only. And adding insult to injury, the new machines will probably not include a 3.5mm headphone jack (among other Apple "improvements"). The MBP is a flagship product and I believe will be around for a while, I don't believe Apple is giving up on that market segment, but if they bungle the new products enough it might be a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's crazy to me that I'm still anticipating this product launch yet am aware that the machine itself will probably be a letdown and I'll ultimately go with another Thinkpad. I need to see the announcement to know for sure, but gee, what a way to ruin an entire product line.
lsiunsuex 10y ago
Last week, I had my 2nd logic board failure on my 2nd 13" pro in 4 years. Logic board died on laptop 1, couldn't go the 5 days waiting for a repair, so bought a new one on the spot. Lasted 2 years until the new laptop died last week and again, couldn't go the 5 days without a laptop, so bought a 2nd one on the spot. The first one eventually got repaired and went to the wife; this 2nd will follow the same path or become a backup for me / secondary use machine. (This time, I bought Apple Care - something I've never done in 15 years of being a Apple user) So - a: quality has gone down in recent years IMO. 2 laptops failing in 4 years? Unheard of back in the day b: removal of the rom drive - not a huge issue, but as a pro user, it's needed sometimes. Yes, external USB rom drive, blah blah blah - laptops shouldn't need accessories. c: removal of the ethernet port - again, USB ethernet adaptor, but why? It's a machine for pros - it doesn't need to be super portable, it doesn't need to be thin; it needs to be reasonably portable and reasonably weighted with good battery life. d: the proprietary components are getting ridiculous. Now that I have this fancy, dead laptop, I ordered one of those OWC external MBP SSD enclosures so I can pull the drive from the dead laptop and use it with my new one for the time being until I feel like getting the old one fixed - but again - seriously can't use a standard SSD drive? Why? Don't tell me it's space for the battery or other bullshit - it's a pro machine; pro's expect more. I can't say I'll leave Apple if they ditch the pro market - I still hate Windows 8 / 10 with a passion - but I can't say I'm happy either. We (the wife and I) are die hard Apple users; from a time capsule, to airport expresses that control speakers; apple tv, apple watch, laptops - we are poster children for the company. But as die hard fans, we're getting pretty pissed lately. Don't strain this relationship, Apple. We've invested to much money in your ecosystem.
PebblesHD 10y ago
For my desktop workstations, I've always been a fan of building my own in a generic black box. I've been using the same i5 debian desktop since 2013 and its been fantastic so far. I've never been able to justify the expense for an Apple desktop over a traditional off the shelf parts build. Laptops are a different story, I had an XPS 15 with ubuntu in 2014 but it was the least reliable and flimsiest 'pro' device I've ever used, I promptly returned it and got a 15" pro and I've been happy since.
keirthomas 10y ago
Updates will almost certainly arrive in the Fall to coincide with the new macOS. It's doubtful they'll change the Mac Pro's form, so don't expect a return to tower cases, but the specs will certainly align with more contemporary options. I've heard that many pros in the pro video editing area are building Hackintoshes. They're annoying to update but they do work and you can keep using your original software. I'm guessing that if you post here then you know enough about how to build a Hackintosh. Or you could consider a HP workstation alongside a current Mac Pro: http://www.mackungfu.org/MacPronotpowerfulenoughHPmighthavewhatyouneed http://www.mackungfu.org/MacPronotpowerfulenoughHPmighthavew...

3 points by artellectual 10y ago

czbond 10y ago

What specifically are your frustrations? I have a 15" Pro, and it doesn't bother me much if the computer is lighter, thinner, etc. The machine is pretty powerful. Here is what is coming next (rumored). http://www.macrumors.com/roundup/macbook-pro/ http://www.macrumors.com/roundup/macbook-pro/

dmschulman 10y ago

They're making a lot of bad anti-consumer choices with their products the last few cycles and I have no reason to believe it will get any better. I've been waiting for such a long time for the new line of Macbook Pros to come out, I've been in desperate need of an upgrade for quite some time now and am finally at the point where an MBP makes a lot of sense to me (I've been using Thinkpads exclusively the last 12 years) but here I am still waiting for a product announcement. I'm highly discouraged by Apple's move to replace every port on the Macbook with a single USB-C and I believe the new MPBs will feature a similar concession, possibly 2 or 3 USB-C ports only. And adding insult to injury, the new machines will probably not include a 3.5mm headphone jack (among other Apple "improvements"). The MBP is a flagship product and I believe will be around for a while, I don't believe Apple is giving up on that market segment, but if they bungle the new products enough it might be a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's crazy to me that I'm still anticipating this product launch yet am aware that the machine itself will probably be a letdown and I'll ultimately go with another Thinkpad. I need to see the announcement to know for sure, but gee, what a way to ruin an entire product line.

lsiunsuex 10y ago

Last week, I had my 2nd logic board failure on my 2nd 13" pro in 4 years. Logic board died on laptop 1, couldn't go the 5 days waiting for a repair, so bought a new one on the spot. Lasted 2 years until the new laptop died last week and again, couldn't go the 5 days without a laptop, so bought a 2nd one on the spot. The first one eventually got repaired and went to the wife; this 2nd will follow the same path or become a backup for me / secondary use machine. (This time, I bought Apple Care - something I've never done in 15 years of being a Apple user) So - a: quality has gone down in recent years IMO. 2 laptops failing in 4 years? Unheard of back in the day b: removal of the rom drive - not a huge issue, but as a pro user, it's needed sometimes. Yes, external USB rom drive, blah blah blah - laptops shouldn't need accessories. c: removal of the ethernet port - again, USB ethernet adaptor, but why? It's a machine for pros - it doesn't need to be super portable, it doesn't need to be thin; it needs to be reasonably portable and reasonably weighted with good battery life. d: the proprietary components are getting ridiculous. Now that I have this fancy, dead laptop, I ordered one of those OWC external MBP SSD enclosures so I can pull the drive from the dead laptop and use it with my new one for the time being until I feel like getting the old one fixed - but again - seriously can't use a standard SSD drive? Why? Don't tell me it's space for the battery or other bullshit - it's a pro machine; pro's expect more. I can't say I'll leave Apple if they ditch the pro market - I still hate Windows 8 / 10 with a passion - but I can't say I'm happy either. We (the wife and I) are die hard Apple users; from a time capsule, to airport expresses that control speakers; apple tv, apple watch, laptops - we are poster children for the company. But as die hard fans, we're getting pretty pissed lately. Don't strain this relationship, Apple. We've invested to much money in your ecosystem.

PebblesHD 10y ago

For my desktop workstations, I've always been a fan of building my own in a generic black box. I've been using the same i5 debian desktop since 2013 and its been fantastic so far. I've never been able to justify the expense for an Apple desktop over a traditional off the shelf parts build. Laptops are a different story, I had an XPS 15 with ubuntu in 2014 but it was the least reliable and flimsiest 'pro' device I've ever used, I promptly returned it and got a 15" pro and I've been happy since.

keirthomas 10y ago

Updates will almost certainly arrive in the Fall to coincide with the new macOS. It's doubtful they'll change the Mac Pro's form, so don't expect a return to tower cases, but the specs will certainly align with more contemporary options. I've heard that many pros in the pro video editing area are building Hackintoshes. They're annoying to update but they do work and you can keep using your original software. I'm guessing that if you post here then you know enough about how to build a Hackintosh. Or you could consider a HP workstation alongside a current Mac Pro: http://www.mackungfu.org/MacPronotpowerfulenoughHPmighthavewhatyouneed http://www.mackungfu.org/MacPronotpowerfulenoughHPmighthavew...