4 ms·

I vividly remember seeing this ad as a kid. What a great gimmick.

geerlingguy 3y ago
That era of Macs with the pull-down hinged side was peak 'Pro' Mac. Back when they were actually more pleasant to service than any other computer on the market (and everything was modular). Even most of today's nicer PC case designs are not as much of a joy to work inside—often the drive bays are stuck in random spots and require many screws to get at them. Wish Apple would've carried that on again with the modern Mac Pro, but there are fewer replaceable parts now.
- nordsieck 3y ago
  It really is a tragedy that Apple abandoned the Cheesegrater v1 for the Trashcan. The modern iteration of the Pro Macs (really, Mac Studio for most people) probably the best that can reasonably be expected of Apple. But the continued feud with NVidia is really unfortunate. Although I suppose the Mac Pro doesn't really support graphics cards in its PCI-X slots anyhow. Or at least that's what I recall.
  - goosedragons 3y ago
    No GPUs in new Mac Pro PCI-E slots. PCI-X is it's own weird thing...
  - jjtheblunt 3y ago
    I know what you mean, but I had a the cylindrical aluminum trashcan Mac Pro and that was a beast. I sort of which I hadn't traded it in a few years ago when upgrading. the machining of the case somehow was fascinatingly cool, i thought.
    - manderley 3y ago
      That thing never was "a beast"
      - jjtheblunt 3y ago
        the enclosure i mean. super sturdy, and i liked the convection cooling as even with fan on it was really quiet.
- soylentcola 3y ago
  Not to disagree about the cheesegrater (I've been a DIY PC guy since graduating from my C=128) but I always loved working on those things and spent a bit of time trying to find any standard *ATX case with that sort of build quality - even at a decent price premium!) But my last two PC cases over the last ~15 years were nothing terribly fancy and they have drive bays that just pull out on trays in the back. No need to open the case, just undo a chunky thumb screw and pull out the tray. Just wish the rest of the cases were as solid and attractive as the old Mac Pros.
- jmmv 3y ago
  I have a G5 and indeed the interior is awesome. But I also have a modern ThinkStation and it's actually nice. Not as flashy as the cheese grater, but the build quality seems to be there.
- linguae 3y ago
  I concur. I have a 350MHz Power Mac G4 that I purchased for only $40 in 2009 from a couple who couldn’t figure out why it stopped working. It turned out the hard disk and the CD-ROM drive didn’t work, and its internal battery ran out; replacing them was easy. It’s one of the easiest computers I’ve ever worked on. I have both Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X Tiger installed on separate hard disks. It even handled the Web decently until around 2013. I also have a “trash can” Mac Pro that was my daily driver from 2017 (when I purchased a refurbished model) to 2022 when I switched to a Ryzen 9 build. My Mac Pro was a beast, and while it lacked expansion slots, it was still user-serviceable. I miss the days of user-serviceable Macs, which is why I switched back to PCs after using Macs as daily drivers since I bought an Intel Core Duo MacBook in 2006. I now use a Ryzen 9 build at home and a Framework 13 laptop when I’m away from home. I am grateful for Jean-Louis Gassée, who helped turn the Macintosh from a closed appliance to an expandable, user-serviceable machine, beginning with the Macintosh II in 1987. The IIfx, the Quadra, the Power Macintosh line, and the pre-ARM Mac Pro line were all part of this legacy.
- manderley 3y ago
  More often, there are no drive bays, because no one has those anymore.
leptons 3y ago
I remember seeing it too, and my eyes rolled so hard I almost broke my eye sockets.

That era of Macs with the pull-down hinged side was peak 'Pro' Mac. Back when they were actually more pleasant to service than any other computer on the market (and everything was modular). Even most of today's nicer PC case designs are not as much of a joy to work inside—often the drive bays are stuck in random spots and require many screws to get at them. Wish Apple would've carried that on again with the modern Mac Pro, but there are fewer replaceable parts now.

nordsieck 3y ago
It really is a tragedy that Apple abandoned the Cheesegrater v1 for the Trashcan. The modern iteration of the Pro Macs (really, Mac Studio for most people) probably the best that can reasonably be expected of Apple. But the continued feud with NVidia is really unfortunate. Although I suppose the Mac Pro doesn't really support graphics cards in its PCI-X slots anyhow. Or at least that's what I recall.
- goosedragons 3y ago
  No GPUs in new Mac Pro PCI-E slots. PCI-X is it's own weird thing...
- jjtheblunt 3y ago
  I know what you mean, but I had a the cylindrical aluminum trashcan Mac Pro and that was a beast. I sort of which I hadn't traded it in a few years ago when upgrading. the machining of the case somehow was fascinatingly cool, i thought.
  - manderley 3y ago
    That thing never was "a beast"
    - jjtheblunt 3y ago
      the enclosure i mean. super sturdy, and i liked the convection cooling as even with fan on it was really quiet.
soylentcola 3y ago
Not to disagree about the cheesegrater (I've been a DIY PC guy since graduating from my C=128) but I always loved working on those things and spent a bit of time trying to find any standard *ATX case with that sort of build quality - even at a decent price premium!) But my last two PC cases over the last ~15 years were nothing terribly fancy and they have drive bays that just pull out on trays in the back. No need to open the case, just undo a chunky thumb screw and pull out the tray. Just wish the rest of the cases were as solid and attractive as the old Mac Pros.
jmmv 3y ago
I have a G5 and indeed the interior is awesome. But I also have a modern ThinkStation and it's actually nice. Not as flashy as the cheese grater, but the build quality seems to be there.
linguae 3y ago
I concur. I have a 350MHz Power Mac G4 that I purchased for only $40 in 2009 from a couple who couldn’t figure out why it stopped working. It turned out the hard disk and the CD-ROM drive didn’t work, and its internal battery ran out; replacing them was easy. It’s one of the easiest computers I’ve ever worked on. I have both Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X Tiger installed on separate hard disks. It even handled the Web decently until around 2013. I also have a “trash can” Mac Pro that was my daily driver from 2017 (when I purchased a refurbished model) to 2022 when I switched to a Ryzen 9 build. My Mac Pro was a beast, and while it lacked expansion slots, it was still user-serviceable. I miss the days of user-serviceable Macs, which is why I switched back to PCs after using Macs as daily drivers since I bought an Intel Core Duo MacBook in 2006. I now use a Ryzen 9 build at home and a Framework 13 laptop when I’m away from home. I am grateful for Jean-Louis Gassée, who helped turn the Macintosh from a closed appliance to an expandable, user-serviceable machine, beginning with the Macintosh II in 1987. The IIfx, the Quadra, the Power Macintosh line, and the pre-ARM Mac Pro line were all part of this legacy.
manderley 3y ago
More often, there are no drive bays, because no one has those anymore.

leptons 3y ago

I remember seeing it too, and my eyes rolled so hard I almost broke my eye sockets.