4 ms·

But your build doesn't run macOS.... that's all that matters for so many folks. (I aggree - I feel like maybe I will never be able to afford or justify a Mac-b

by swah 7y ago

But your build doesn't run macOS.... that's all that matters for so many folks. (I aggree - I feel like maybe I will never be able to afford or justify a Mac-based system in my 3rd world country...)

goda90 7y ago
Strides have been made in virtualizing macOS, so that might not be holding people back much anymore.
- StillBored 7y ago
  Legally, when not run on apple hardware? Its not like people haven't been able to run it illegally in a vm for at least a decade. That was one of the preferred ways of running it if your machine didn't have the exact correct hardware requirements back when I paid attention to such things.
chaostheory 7y ago
MacOS is what keeps me on Apple for now, but this box is not the answer everyone is looking for. People just want an affordable desktop that you can easily expand over time. At $6000 just for the starting model, in my head I'm already planning to move back to Windows. The only major thing I might miss is iCloud. The cheese grater lineup is still the best incarnation of the Mac Pro overall. People don't want to be forced to buy an integrated screen, nor do they want a headless laptop, and not everyone can live with a laptop alone. In other words, I don't want a semi-powerful machine trapped in amber or a larger version of an iPhone / iPad. I just have to figure out a good replacement for iCloud and its related apps.
- rayiner 7y ago
  > People just want an affordable desktop that you can easily expand over time. Who wants that? You can tell what people want based on what’s selling in the market. Most people want a laptop. Most of the rest want a Word/Excel machine. A small minority want an expandable desktop.
  - chaostheory 7y ago
    The same people who are into hackintoshes and used, older Mac pros on eBay. Neither community would be as large if Apple would just build a lower end desktop. Why not just update the old Mac Pro and call Mac Pro classic? https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/05/hackintoshes-keep-giving-apples-frustrated-pros-a-place-to-go/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/05/hackintoshes-keep-gi...
    - majormunky 7y ago
      Or, an i7 version and just call it “Mac”
- ericd 7y ago
  I think the answer is to expand externally. The solution I settled on was a Mac Mini to serve as my interface and run desktop applications, and a big hefty expandable Threadripper box running Linux that I SSH into to do all heavy lifting (and that I can put away in a closet). A NAS holds most files. I've been really happy with the Mac Mini for this role, and the Threadripper box provides more power than I could reasonably get from any Mac.
  - chaostheory 7y ago
    I don't want an overpriced, glued shut Mac Mini. I don't have issues with physical space. I've tried the Thunderbolt / USB3 chaining solution when I had a iMac. I didn't like it. I want a reasonably price Mac desktop like the ones from years ago, but that's not going to happen. Anyways I found my solution: iCloud for Windows https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204301 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204301 This is going to make my transition back to Windows much easier. Maybe the people at Apple have failed to realized that Windows has gotten a lot better under Nadella? There's the Windows Subsystem for Linux as well: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/about https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/about Not to mention stuff like docker also made working on Windows less of an issue and I think Ubuntu will be shipping on Windows by default in the future. This release was the last straw.
    - ericd 7y ago
      For me the sticking points on Windows that prevent me from considering it for more than gaming are 1) advertising to me within the OS, 2) frequent, aggressive restarts for updates, even when actively using the computer and 3) the higher quality productivity app ecosystem on the Mac. The first two signal a big lack of respect for their users, imo. I know you can tweak it, but they make it unnecessarily hard, and I think I’ve seen updates reverting my choices. Apple has also done some of #2, but not nearly to the same extent. Also, the Mac Mini isn’t glued shut, first thing I did when I got it after verifying that it booted was to swap in 32 gigs of aftermarket RAM. But good luck!
      - chaostheory 7y ago

by swah 7y ago

But your build doesn't run macOS.... that's all that matters for so many folks. (I aggree - I feel like maybe I will never be able to afford or justify a Mac-based system in my 3rd world country...)

goda90 7y ago

Strides have been made in virtualizing macOS, so that might not be holding people back much anymore.

StillBored 7y ago
Legally, when not run on apple hardware? Its not like people haven't been able to run it illegally in a vm for at least a decade. That was one of the preferred ways of running it if your machine didn't have the exact correct hardware requirements back when I paid attention to such things.

chaostheory 7y ago

MacOS is what keeps me on Apple for now, but this box is not the answer everyone is looking for. People just want an affordable desktop that you can easily expand over time. At $6000 just for the starting model, in my head I'm already planning to move back to Windows. The only major thing I might miss is iCloud. The cheese grater lineup is still the best incarnation of the Mac Pro overall. People don't want to be forced to buy an integrated screen, nor do they want a headless laptop, and not everyone can live with a laptop alone. In other words, I don't want a semi-powerful machine trapped in amber or a larger version of an iPhone / iPad. I just have to figure out a good replacement for iCloud and its related apps.

rayiner 7y ago
> People just want an affordable desktop that you can easily expand over time. Who wants that? You can tell what people want based on what’s selling in the market. Most people want a laptop. Most of the rest want a Word/Excel machine. A small minority want an expandable desktop.
- chaostheory 7y ago
  The same people who are into hackintoshes and used, older Mac pros on eBay. Neither community would be as large if Apple would just build a lower end desktop. Why not just update the old Mac Pro and call Mac Pro classic? https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/05/hackintoshes-keep-giving-apples-frustrated-pros-a-place-to-go/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/05/hackintoshes-keep-gi...
  - majormunky 7y ago
    Or, an i7 version and just call it “Mac”
ericd 7y ago
I think the answer is to expand externally. The solution I settled on was a Mac Mini to serve as my interface and run desktop applications, and a big hefty expandable Threadripper box running Linux that I SSH into to do all heavy lifting (and that I can put away in a closet). A NAS holds most files. I've been really happy with the Mac Mini for this role, and the Threadripper box provides more power than I could reasonably get from any Mac.
- chaostheory 7y ago
  I don't want an overpriced, glued shut Mac Mini. I don't have issues with physical space. I've tried the Thunderbolt / USB3 chaining solution when I had a iMac. I didn't like it. I want a reasonably price Mac desktop like the ones from years ago, but that's not going to happen. Anyways I found my solution: iCloud for Windows https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204301 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204301 This is going to make my transition back to Windows much easier. Maybe the people at Apple have failed to realized that Windows has gotten a lot better under Nadella? There's the Windows Subsystem for Linux as well: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/about https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/about Not to mention stuff like docker also made working on Windows less of an issue and I think Ubuntu will be shipping on Windows by default in the future. This release was the last straw.
  - ericd 7y ago
    For me the sticking points on Windows that prevent me from considering it for more than gaming are 1) advertising to me within the OS, 2) frequent, aggressive restarts for updates, even when actively using the computer and 3) the higher quality productivity app ecosystem on the Mac. The first two signal a big lack of respect for their users, imo. I know you can tweak it, but they make it unnecessarily hard, and I think I’ve seen updates reverting my choices. Apple has also done some of #2, but not nearly to the same extent. Also, the Mac Mini isn’t glued shut, first thing I did when I got it after verifying that it booted was to swap in 32 gigs of aftermarket RAM. But good luck!
    - chaostheory 7y ago