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Apple’s problem at that time was their dreadful supply chain and glut of models. How were people supposed to know whether to buy a Performa 5200 (my first compu

Apple’s problem at that time was their dreadful supply chain and glut of models. How were people supposed to know whether to buy a Performa 5200 (my first computer), or a Performa 6200, or a Power Mac 7200, or an 8500, or a 9500, or... one of the dozens of models in between all those? I loved my Performa 5200 and I miss that computer like crazy, but Apple made a huge mistake with all of those models and they paid the price for it by having to write off huge amounts of old inventory. It’s funny. Apple’s biggest weakness in the early 90’s has been transformed into their greatest strength today. Talk about learning a lesson!

wtallis 6y ago
Arguably, Apple didn't just learn a lesson, but actually overcorrected. A majority of the complaints I've seen about Apple's computers in the x86 era and especially in the past several years have an underlying dissatisfaction with Apple simply not offering machines for various major market segments. Apple's lack of a traditional consumer desktop PC means the Mac Pro is always getting complaints from consumers who don't understand the difference between the desktop and workstation market segments. The trashcan Mac Pro was a pretty niche product even among workstations. The MacBook Pro is less of a swiss army knife than it once was, and their other notebooks are even less willing to prioritize anything over being thin and light. Apple's never even attempted to entice gamers (much to their vocal dismay and derision), even though no other major PC vendor has cared as much about ensuring every machine has a decent GPU.
- chongli 6y ago
  I’ve heard people complain for years that Apple ignores the gaming market but I’ve never heard a compelling argument for how Apple would benefit by catering to it. Gamers are a notoriously fickle bunch, always chasing the best price/performance ratios. Apple customers are notoriously loyal and willing to shell out a lot of money on high margin products. I think the overlap between these two groups must be tiny, given their contrasting natures. The people who do love gaming and prefer Macs are probably better off buying a console. Those machines, of course, have no margin at all. I think this is the way Apple looks at it as well.
  - chipotle_coyote 6y ago
    While I think you're right, I think the OP is also right in that it might behoove Apple to have answers for at least a couple other market segments. The 16" MBP could be the laptop that has more ports besides USB-C, for instance, even if it adds a couple millimeters in thickness. And it'd be nice to see the Mac mini and the iMacs be made a little more user-modifiable: user-upgradable RAM and storage drives across all of them, for instance. (This is assuming it's possible to just plug in any internal SSD into a T2-enabled Mac, which I'm not 100% sure about, admittedly.) I don't think Apple needs to go all in on competing with PC makers, by any stretch. But it would have been nice to see a lower-end version of the Mac Pro that started at, say, $2999. And that's not too crazy, given that the first Intel-based Mac Pro started at $2499. (Actually, you could get a build-to-order one with a slower CPU that started at $2199!)
    - chongli 6y ago
      I’ll be interested to see what effect, if any, the move to ARM has on their Mac Pro line. It may be the case that the baseline model is so expensive due to the cost of Xeons. I don’t know for sure, though, so it’s a bit of a wait and see.
    - rbanffy 6y ago
      > Mac mini and the iMacs be made a little more user-modifiable: user-upgradable RAM and storage drives across all of them, for instance The new Mini and 27" iMacs can have their RAM upgraded. I believe in the case of the iMac it's possible (although terrifying) to upgrade storage as well. I'd too love to see a MacPro that's not a luxury item but, with the massive precision milled shell and exquisite structure, that is unlikely to happen. I'm guessing a substantial part of the BoM is in that chassis. OTOH, you can get a lot of workstation for a lot less with the Mini and iMac/iMac Pro. 18-core and 256 GB of RAM is a lot of workstation.
      - beervirus 6y ago
        Pre-2020 iMacs could have their internal storage upgraded, although it’s not for the faint of heart. From what I’ve read though, it’s no longer possible for the 2020 model with the T2 chip.

wtallis 6y ago

Arguably, Apple didn't just learn a lesson, but actually overcorrected. A majority of the complaints I've seen about Apple's computers in the x86 era and especially in the past several years have an underlying dissatisfaction with Apple simply not offering machines for various major market segments. Apple's lack of a traditional consumer desktop PC means the Mac Pro is always getting complaints from consumers who don't understand the difference between the desktop and workstation market segments. The trashcan Mac Pro was a pretty niche product even among workstations. The MacBook Pro is less of a swiss army knife than it once was, and their other notebooks are even less willing to prioritize anything over being thin and light. Apple's never even attempted to entice gamers (much to their vocal dismay and derision), even though no other major PC vendor has cared as much about ensuring every machine has a decent GPU.

chongli 6y ago
I’ve heard people complain for years that Apple ignores the gaming market but I’ve never heard a compelling argument for how Apple would benefit by catering to it. Gamers are a notoriously fickle bunch, always chasing the best price/performance ratios. Apple customers are notoriously loyal and willing to shell out a lot of money on high margin products. I think the overlap between these two groups must be tiny, given their contrasting natures. The people who do love gaming and prefer Macs are probably better off buying a console. Those machines, of course, have no margin at all. I think this is the way Apple looks at it as well.
- chipotle_coyote 6y ago
  While I think you're right, I think the OP is also right in that it might behoove Apple to have answers for at least a couple other market segments. The 16" MBP could be the laptop that has more ports besides USB-C, for instance, even if it adds a couple millimeters in thickness. And it'd be nice to see the Mac mini and the iMacs be made a little more user-modifiable: user-upgradable RAM and storage drives across all of them, for instance. (This is assuming it's possible to just plug in any internal SSD into a T2-enabled Mac, which I'm not 100% sure about, admittedly.) I don't think Apple needs to go all in on competing with PC makers, by any stretch. But it would have been nice to see a lower-end version of the Mac Pro that started at, say, $2999. And that's not too crazy, given that the first Intel-based Mac Pro started at $2499. (Actually, you could get a build-to-order one with a slower CPU that started at $2199!)
  - chongli 6y ago
    I’ll be interested to see what effect, if any, the move to ARM has on their Mac Pro line. It may be the case that the baseline model is so expensive due to the cost of Xeons. I don’t know for sure, though, so it’s a bit of a wait and see.
  - rbanffy 6y ago
    > Mac mini and the iMacs be made a little more user-modifiable: user-upgradable RAM and storage drives across all of them, for instance The new Mini and 27" iMacs can have their RAM upgraded. I believe in the case of the iMac it's possible (although terrifying) to upgrade storage as well. I'd too love to see a MacPro that's not a luxury item but, with the massive precision milled shell and exquisite structure, that is unlikely to happen. I'm guessing a substantial part of the BoM is in that chassis. OTOH, you can get a lot of workstation for a lot less with the Mini and iMac/iMac Pro. 18-core and 256 GB of RAM is a lot of workstation.
    - beervirus 6y ago
      Pre-2020 iMacs could have their internal storage upgraded, although it’s not for the faint of heart. From what I’ve read though, it’s no longer possible for the 2020 model with the T2 chip.