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> I'd love to see Apple make a system that supported upgradeable memory, SSDs, High capacity hard drives, graphics, and separate larger monitors, but that doesn

by _fzslm 8y ago

> I'd love to see Apple make a system that supported upgradeable memory, SSDs, High capacity hard drives, graphics, and separate larger monitors, but that doesn't look like that will ever happen. You may want to keep your eyes out for the new Mac Pro that's meant to release this year.

naravara 8y ago
Even if the Mac Pro is the computer of all our dreams, I doubt it will meet the poster’s needs. Seems like they want a fairly bare-bones, minimalist and simple computer. I doubt a Mac Pro is going to come in at under $3.5k at the entry level.
- aczerepinski 8y ago
  $3.5k entry would be very disappointing since the Mac Mini doesn’t have a graphics card so it struggles with even 3-5 year old video games or hobbyist video editing. I really hope they make a high end mini or low end pro in the $1.5-2k range that can meet the needs of a lot of monitor owning folks who used to be Apple Computer’s core demographic.
  - greglindahl 8y ago
    If your budget is $1.5k+ you could put an external GPU on a Mac Mini and call it a day.
    - bigj0n 8y ago
      That would suck because you're paying the consequences (money and thermal) of that mac form factor but you're still gonna have a big ugly mess on your desk.
      - aczerepinski 8y ago
        That's my concern too. I'm surprised Apple hasn't made hard drives and/or eGPU enclosures that are meant to stack with the mini.
- simonh 8y ago
  His current machine is a Mac Pro from 2013 and those started at $3k.
- todd8 8y ago
  It's not that I think the Mac's are too expensive, I paid more that $3.5k for my current gen Mac Book Pro laptop. I wish it had a good keyboard and I wish it was as easy to handle as one of my ThinkPads. My current development machine is a Mac Pro, the little cylinder from 2013, and I had a couple of the aluminum box ones and my first was in a plastic case. I just couldn't see upgrading to a current Mac Pro ($5k to $13k). It's thin and looks cool, but I thought that I would want to use a different (wider) monitor and didn't think the cooling offered by the case was a good idea. Maybe the new Mac Pro that is supposed to be offered later this year will be just right.
  - artursapek 8y ago
    > I paid more that $3.5k for my current gen Mac Book Pro laptop. I wish it had a good keyboard As time goes on I find Mac loyalists more and more absurd
    - xvector 8y ago
      > As times goes on I find Mac loyalists more and more absurd What purposes does your comment serve? It's not that hard to understand that he found the rest of the laptop valuable enough to spend 3.5k on it (despite the keyboard, which isn't that bad anyways). His viewpoint isn't that uncommon either, plenty of businesses buy fully loaded MacBook Pros in bulk because it increases productivity. If you're using the laptop for work, you'll be connected to an external monitor and keyboard 90% of the time.
      - geezerjay 8y ago
        The only case I ever saw of a company buying Apple hardware in bulk, the decision had zero to do with specs or productivity, and all to do with wanting to project an image of success.
        artursapek 8y ago
        Yeah, it's a status symbol for consumers and tech companies alike.
- jbigelow76 8y ago
  The iMac Pro starts at $4,999 and was (probably) intended to be Apple's only "pro" desktop but the desire for an upgradable system was too much so Apple caved and a new Mac Pro is on the horizon. Apple is going to charge a premium for that upgradability that the iMac Pro doesn't have, I'll bet the base price for the Mac Pro is going to be at least $5,999.
  - Zarel 8y ago
    > was (probably) intended to be Apple's only "pro" desktop Apple specifically said in 2017 (before the release of the iMac Pro) that they messed up the 2013 Mac Pro, that they would make a new modular Mac Pro but it would take a long time to finish, and that the iMac Pro would be a stopgap. It was a private press event, so the best source on this is probably Daring Fireball: https://daringfireball.net/2017/04/the_mac_pro_lives https://daringfireball.net/2017/04/the_mac_pro_lives
  - plausibilities 8y ago
    I bought a 48-core rig (Dual socket ASUS Z10PE-D8 WS w/ 2x Xeon E7-8890V4's) w/ a 10TB RAID5 array of 10800 RPM disks, 128GB DDR4 ECC, and a 1TB SSD for $5k... Granted it was from some dude's homelab after he got laid off at Cray but still. When you get up to that dollar amount I feel like there's just much sweeter shit out there. One gripe is the thing is fucking massive and kinda unwieldy stuffed into a Coolermaster Cosmos II case...

by _fzslm 8y ago

naravara 8y ago

Even if the Mac Pro is the computer of all our dreams, I doubt it will meet the poster’s needs. Seems like they want a fairly bare-bones, minimalist and simple computer. I doubt a Mac Pro is going to come in at under $3.5k at the entry level.

aczerepinski 8y ago
$3.5k entry would be very disappointing since the Mac Mini doesn’t have a graphics card so it struggles with even 3-5 year old video games or hobbyist video editing. I really hope they make a high end mini or low end pro in the $1.5-2k range that can meet the needs of a lot of monitor owning folks who used to be Apple Computer’s core demographic.
- greglindahl 8y ago
  If your budget is $1.5k+ you could put an external GPU on a Mac Mini and call it a day.
  - bigj0n 8y ago
    That would suck because you're paying the consequences (money and thermal) of that mac form factor but you're still gonna have a big ugly mess on your desk.
    - aczerepinski 8y ago
      That's my concern too. I'm surprised Apple hasn't made hard drives and/or eGPU enclosures that are meant to stack with the mini.
simonh 8y ago
His current machine is a Mac Pro from 2013 and those started at $3k.
todd8 8y ago
It's not that I think the Mac's are too expensive, I paid more that $3.5k for my current gen Mac Book Pro laptop. I wish it had a good keyboard and I wish it was as easy to handle as one of my ThinkPads. My current development machine is a Mac Pro, the little cylinder from 2013, and I had a couple of the aluminum box ones and my first was in a plastic case. I just couldn't see upgrading to a current Mac Pro ($5k to $13k). It's thin and looks cool, but I thought that I would want to use a different (wider) monitor and didn't think the cooling offered by the case was a good idea. Maybe the new Mac Pro that is supposed to be offered later this year will be just right.
- artursapek 8y ago
  > I paid more that $3.5k for my current gen Mac Book Pro laptop. I wish it had a good keyboard As time goes on I find Mac loyalists more and more absurd
  - xvector 8y ago
    > As times goes on I find Mac loyalists more and more absurd What purposes does your comment serve? It's not that hard to understand that he found the rest of the laptop valuable enough to spend 3.5k on it (despite the keyboard, which isn't that bad anyways). His viewpoint isn't that uncommon either, plenty of businesses buy fully loaded MacBook Pros in bulk because it increases productivity. If you're using the laptop for work, you'll be connected to an external monitor and keyboard 90% of the time.
    - geezerjay 8y ago
      The only case I ever saw of a company buying Apple hardware in bulk, the decision had zero to do with specs or productivity, and all to do with wanting to project an image of success.
      - artursapek 8y ago
        Yeah, it's a status symbol for consumers and tech companies alike.
jbigelow76 8y ago
The iMac Pro starts at $4,999 and was (probably) intended to be Apple's only "pro" desktop but the desire for an upgradable system was too much so Apple caved and a new Mac Pro is on the horizon. Apple is going to charge a premium for that upgradability that the iMac Pro doesn't have, I'll bet the base price for the Mac Pro is going to be at least $5,999.
- Zarel 8y ago
  > was (probably) intended to be Apple's only "pro" desktop Apple specifically said in 2017 (before the release of the iMac Pro) that they messed up the 2013 Mac Pro, that they would make a new modular Mac Pro but it would take a long time to finish, and that the iMac Pro would be a stopgap. It was a private press event, so the best source on this is probably Daring Fireball: https://daringfireball.net/2017/04/the_mac_pro_lives https://daringfireball.net/2017/04/the_mac_pro_lives
- plausibilities 8y ago
  I bought a 48-core rig (Dual socket ASUS Z10PE-D8 WS w/ 2x Xeon E7-8890V4's) w/ a 10TB RAID5 array of 10800 RPM disks, 128GB DDR4 ECC, and a 1TB SSD for $5k... Granted it was from some dude's homelab after he got laid off at Cray but still. When you get up to that dollar amount I feel like there's just much sweeter shit out there. One gripe is the thing is fucking massive and kinda unwieldy stuffed into a Coolermaster Cosmos II case...