4 ms·

Apple clearly detailed their strategy back in early 2017: https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/06/transcript-phil-schiller-craig-federighi-and-john-ternus-on-the-stat

Apple clearly detailed their strategy back in early 2017: https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/06/transcript-phil-schiller-craig-federighi-and-john-ternus-on-the-state-of-apples-pro-macs https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/06/transcript-phil-schiller-c... "As part of doing a new Mac Pro — it is, by definition, a modular system — we will be doing a pro display as well. Now you won’t see any of those products this year; we’re in the process of that. We think it’s really important to create something great for our pro customers who want a Mac Pro modular system, and that’ll take longer than this year to do." The Mac Pro and XDR display were machines that took a long time to build thus the iMac Pro (announced 6 months after that article) was created to fill the gap for two years. I don't think the iMac Pro was ever supposed to replace the Mac Pro, but only a biography of Schiller might clarify what really happened.

tonyedgecombe 6y ago
announced 6 months after that article It must have been in development for much longer than that.
- unicornfinder 6y ago
  To be fair I suspect Apple was aware of the problem long before they made the announcement to that effect. I remember at the time people were saying how un-Apple-like it was to admit that there was an issue at all. I think it was because at that point they figured the iMac Pro was still six months out and they felt they had to at least do *something* to show them that they still cared about pro users, though in truth I think in hindsight it's become evident that it isn't really a market segment that they're particularly interested in.
  - mikepurvis 6y ago
    > I think in hindsight it's become evident that it isn't really a market segment that they're particularly interested in. Really? The volume may not be there, but I think Apple has always cherished the prestige associated with being the platform of choice for studio mixing rooms, cinema production, etc. People argued that that's why those ridiculous $20k+ configurations of the Mac Pro even exist— as something for auteurs to demand as a status signal.
    - smoldesu 6y ago
      While I agree, Apple's interest in satisfying those "pro" audiences is waning, as is the interest in the pros to continue using their products. Apple has realized that it's much easier to market themselves where talent and personality intersect; aka, "the pro-sumer". For every Mac Pro they sell, they sell another thousand iPhones and a hundred Macbooks. Long-term, it makes much more sense for them to optimize around these audiences. With that being said, I've noticed a startling increase in Linux use among pro workflows. The other day I visited a mixing studio that was entirely driven by Arch and Reaper if you could believe it, a really neat setup to say the least.
      - mikepurvis 6y ago
        What is the frontend in a setup like that? Is it Pro Tools on Wine, or something else?
        smoldesu 6y ago
        To my understanding, they mapped all of the CC bindings from their digital mixer into Reaper and then routed the audio through JACK. They had a double monitor setup that seemed to be running a pretty standard Reaper setup (with Bitwig as an optional backup), as well as a smaller integrated monitor in the dashboard of the mixing console (which must have been running a custom UI). They were hooked up to a pretty sizable NAS, and they made a pretty large emphasis on separating project files from the OS. It seemed like the secret to their workflow was weekly backups of the OS partition with redundancy for the mission-critical components. Their round-trip latency was also pretty impressive, with less than 10ms for software sources and 30ms for hardware sources. All of it was running on an older Threadripper workstation.
        Blueskytech 6y ago
        Just FYI 30ms from hardware sources is terrible, I can achieve under 2.5ms round trip with Dante at 128 buffer settings and the older MADI protocol achieves similar levels.
  - headmelted 6y ago
    Oh they’re very interested. Serving the professional creative market is the core of their marketing. Are they selling a majority of MacBook Pro’s to film studios? Of course not, but they need that prestige to compel Greg the aspiring film student to buy one so he can feel like he has “arrived”.
    - lupire 6y ago
      MacBook Pro is dirt cheap compared to the desktop Pro; it's not what were discussing here.
  - tonyedgecombe 6y ago
    I often wonder what the sales have been like for the new Mac Pro. I have a suspicion that it will be the next for the chopping block.
baybal2 6y ago
I think it just boils down to future ARM Macs having tiny TDP, and being full SoC based. Makes no sense to have a 20*50*50 box if the only part inside it is a tiny 8*8 PCB.

tonyedgecombe 6y ago

announced 6 months after that article It must have been in development for much longer than that.

unicornfinder 6y ago
To be fair I suspect Apple was aware of the problem long before they made the announcement to that effect. I remember at the time people were saying how un-Apple-like it was to admit that there was an issue at all. I think it was because at that point they figured the iMac Pro was still six months out and they felt they had to at least do *something* to show them that they still cared about pro users, though in truth I think in hindsight it's become evident that it isn't really a market segment that they're particularly interested in.
- mikepurvis 6y ago
  > I think in hindsight it's become evident that it isn't really a market segment that they're particularly interested in. Really? The volume may not be there, but I think Apple has always cherished the prestige associated with being the platform of choice for studio mixing rooms, cinema production, etc. People argued that that's why those ridiculous $20k+ configurations of the Mac Pro even exist— as something for auteurs to demand as a status signal.
  - smoldesu 6y ago
    While I agree, Apple's interest in satisfying those "pro" audiences is waning, as is the interest in the pros to continue using their products. Apple has realized that it's much easier to market themselves where talent and personality intersect; aka, "the pro-sumer". For every Mac Pro they sell, they sell another thousand iPhones and a hundred Macbooks. Long-term, it makes much more sense for them to optimize around these audiences. With that being said, I've noticed a startling increase in Linux use among pro workflows. The other day I visited a mixing studio that was entirely driven by Arch and Reaper if you could believe it, a really neat setup to say the least.
    - mikepurvis 6y ago
      What is the frontend in a setup like that? Is it Pro Tools on Wine, or something else?
      - smoldesu 6y ago
        To my understanding, they mapped all of the CC bindings from their digital mixer into Reaper and then routed the audio through JACK. They had a double monitor setup that seemed to be running a pretty standard Reaper setup (with Bitwig as an optional backup), as well as a smaller integrated monitor in the dashboard of the mixing console (which must have been running a custom UI). They were hooked up to a pretty sizable NAS, and they made a pretty large emphasis on separating project files from the OS. It seemed like the secret to their workflow was weekly backups of the OS partition with redundancy for the mission-critical components. Their round-trip latency was also pretty impressive, with less than 10ms for software sources and 30ms for hardware sources. All of it was running on an older Threadripper workstation.
        Blueskytech 6y ago
        Just FYI 30ms from hardware sources is terrible, I can achieve under 2.5ms round trip with Dante at 128 buffer settings and the older MADI protocol achieves similar levels.
- headmelted 6y ago
  Oh they’re very interested. Serving the professional creative market is the core of their marketing. Are they selling a majority of MacBook Pro’s to film studios? Of course not, but they need that prestige to compel Greg the aspiring film student to buy one so he can feel like he has “arrived”.
  - lupire 6y ago
    MacBook Pro is dirt cheap compared to the desktop Pro; it's not what were discussing here.
- tonyedgecombe 6y ago
  I often wonder what the sales have been like for the new Mac Pro. I have a suspicion that it will be the next for the chopping block.

baybal2 6y ago

I think it just boils down to future ARM Macs having tiny TDP, and being full SoC based. Makes no sense to have a 20*50*50 box if the only part inside it is a tiny 8*8 PCB.