5 ms·

Seeing the history of updates to the Mac Mini and Mac Pro why would anyone trust Apple with a high end desktop computer? The odds are high that they'll keep pum

by jarym 9y ago

Seeing the history of updates to the Mac Mini and Mac Pro why would anyone trust Apple with a high end desktop computer? The odds are high that they'll keep pumping this thing largely unchanged for the next 5 years while letting the state of technology race ahead. I'm saying this because no matter what Apple say, their focus is undoubtedly on what makes them the most money: iPhones.

coldtea 9y ago
>Seeing the history of updates to the Mac Mini and Mac Pro why would anyone trust Apple with a high end desktop computer? Because they don't buy for the next 20 years, but for their actual current needs. If anything happens and the line stops, I can always go find another solution then and there, as opposed to now. Besides, this is like a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. There were several cases for concern (e.g. when the MacPro wasn't updated properly for 3 years). The day of the release of a new Pro machine is the exact opposite of that.
- walshemj 9y ago
  Moving from a MAC pro workflow to a Wintel (i9 Xenon or AMD) is non trivial you might as well bight the bullet and go threadripper or EPYC now
  - coldtea 9y ago
    >Moving from a MAC pro workflow to a Wintel (i9 Xenon or AMD) is non trivial So what do I earn from "biting the bullet"? I go through a non trivial process for merely the possibility that the iMac Pro might not have continued new models (which will only matter to me in 2-3 years at earlier if I buy it). And that when there's already another Mac Pro model announced for 2018.
    - walshemj 9y ago
      Your laying off the risk of apple either abandoning the pro market or at best ignoring it as it has for the last few years.
      - coldtea 9y ago
        >Your laying off the risk of apple either abandoning the pro market or at best ignoring it as it has for the last few years. I'm not laying off the risk though -- I'm taking the same hit, only voluntarily. My question was meant as: what I get by making the transition before that's actually the case? I can always not take the risk until there's actually a reason.
skywhopper 9y ago
True enough, but what does this matter if you are looking to buy today?
taf2 9y ago
Yeah but today it’s awesome. In five years they will have something else even more awesome. I think the problem is they still sell something that was considered awesome from five years ago.
- justherefortart 9y ago
  Still waiting on a "more awesome" mac mini. Going on 1805 days (4.95 years) since they killed off the 4 core version.
Finnucane 9y ago
Yeah, this seems like kind of an odd compromise, for people who want the power of a high-end machine, but the convenience of an all-in-one and are willing to give up upgradability for it? Also, the 'real' new Mac Pro is supposed to be announced soonish--at this point it would seem to make more sense to wait and see what that offers before committing to this anyway. (Though I suppose if you are in a corporate environment where buying is driven by accountants who replace everything as soon as the thing outlives its depreciation schedule--or even have everything on leases, like we do here--maybe the fact that it will someday be relatively obsolete doesn't matter).
captainmuon 9y ago
> I'm saying this because no matter what Apple say, their focus is undoubtedly on what makes them the most money: iPhones. I've never understood that argument. If iMacs make profit - any profit at all - why can't they just put up a shack next to their main building UFO and have a subdivision crank out iMacs? It's a question of having or not having "a few additional millions". Also, a large part of their iOS business is tied to macs - you need a mac for development, and they don't want that platform to become so bad to hurt iOS development.
- Cthulhu_ 9y ago
  Because of optimization and such. The 17 inch Mac Pro was only 5% of their Mac Pro market, so they cancelled it. A shame if you ask me, still hoping they revive it at some point.
usrusr 9y ago
And yet in the not too unrecent past, businesses where willing to spend a considerable premium on hardware that came with the promise that similar configurations would still be available two years later. (Also, when was the last time you saw the state of the art "racing"? Reducing the update cycle to meaningful increments is the only way to keep the interest in new generations high without getting lost in pointless novelty features because you just got to fill that annual presentation somehow)

by jarym 9y ago

coldtea 9y ago

>Seeing the history of updates to the Mac Mini and Mac Pro why would anyone trust Apple with a high end desktop computer? Because they don't buy for the next 20 years, but for their actual current needs. If anything happens and the line stops, I can always go find another solution then and there, as opposed to now. Besides, this is like a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. There were several cases for concern (e.g. when the MacPro wasn't updated properly for 3 years). The day of the release of a new Pro machine is the exact opposite of that.

walshemj 9y ago
Moving from a MAC pro workflow to a Wintel (i9 Xenon or AMD) is non trivial you might as well bight the bullet and go threadripper or EPYC now
- coldtea 9y ago
  >Moving from a MAC pro workflow to a Wintel (i9 Xenon or AMD) is non trivial So what do I earn from "biting the bullet"? I go through a non trivial process for merely the possibility that the iMac Pro might not have continued new models (which will only matter to me in 2-3 years at earlier if I buy it). And that when there's already another Mac Pro model announced for 2018.
  - walshemj 9y ago
    Your laying off the risk of apple either abandoning the pro market or at best ignoring it as it has for the last few years.
    - coldtea 9y ago
      >Your laying off the risk of apple either abandoning the pro market or at best ignoring it as it has for the last few years. I'm not laying off the risk though -- I'm taking the same hit, only voluntarily. My question was meant as: what I get by making the transition before that's actually the case? I can always not take the risk until there's actually a reason.

skywhopper 9y ago

True enough, but what does this matter if you are looking to buy today?

taf2 9y ago

Yeah but today it’s awesome. In five years they will have something else even more awesome. I think the problem is they still sell something that was considered awesome from five years ago.

justherefortart 9y ago
Still waiting on a "more awesome" mac mini. Going on 1805 days (4.95 years) since they killed off the 4 core version.

Finnucane 9y ago

Yeah, this seems like kind of an odd compromise, for people who want the power of a high-end machine, but the convenience of an all-in-one and are willing to give up upgradability for it? Also, the 'real' new Mac Pro is supposed to be announced soonish--at this point it would seem to make more sense to wait and see what that offers before committing to this anyway. (Though I suppose if you are in a corporate environment where buying is driven by accountants who replace everything as soon as the thing outlives its depreciation schedule--or even have everything on leases, like we do here--maybe the fact that it will someday be relatively obsolete doesn't matter).

captainmuon 9y ago

> I'm saying this because no matter what Apple say, their focus is undoubtedly on what makes them the most money: iPhones. I've never understood that argument. If iMacs make profit - any profit at all - why can't they just put up a shack next to their main building UFO and have a subdivision crank out iMacs? It's a question of having or not having "a few additional millions". Also, a large part of their iOS business is tied to macs - you need a mac for development, and they don't want that platform to become so bad to hurt iOS development.

Cthulhu_ 9y ago
Because of optimization and such. The 17 inch Mac Pro was only 5% of their Mac Pro market, so they cancelled it. A shame if you ask me, still hoping they revive it at some point.

usrusr 9y ago

And yet in the not too unrecent past, businesses where willing to spend a considerable premium on hardware that came with the promise that similar configurations would still be available two years later. (Also, when was the last time you saw the state of the art "racing"? Reducing the update cycle to meaningful increments is the only way to keep the interest in new generations high without getting lost in pointless novelty features because you just got to fill that annual presentation somehow)