Apple to Discontinue Mac Pro Line?

[TIGR]

Has anyone else seen this? Hope I didn't miss any other thread about it on TPU.

Despite the coming availability of a new generation of Sandy Bridge desktop CPUs suitable for advancing Apple's Mac Pro line, the company has reportedly been evaluating whether to continue to invest in furthering its full-sized workstation line beyond this year in the face of limited sales.

Full article here: http://www.appleinsider.com/article...reportedly_questioning_future_of_mac_pro.html

 

[DriedFrogPills]

IMHO they would be crazy to drop the Pro. As they would then lose all the software business aswell for the big video production houses.

 

[TIGR]

I'm curious about how that'd play out exactly ... they are one of my biggest competitors when building studio control rooms/DAW rigs and the software is a major selling point for them (needless to say, competing with the Mac Pro line in terms of hardware performance per dollar is no problem).

 

[v12dock]

IMHO they would be crazy to drop the Pro. As they would then lose all the software business aswell for the big video production houses.

Video editing no longer faster on Mac?

 

[qubit]

This sounds like Apple needs to become more competitive and drop their prices. I get the impression that without Jobs's influence, they can't maintain the illusion of exclusivity and premiumness to keep selling these computers at such an inflated price.

Welcome to the real world, lads.

 

[xBruce88x]

Wish they'd come down (a lot) on their Cinema Displays. I'd love an LED/LCD monitor that can do 2560x1440

 

[yogurt_21]

Video editing no longer faster on Mac?

doubtful, my guess would be that the global economy has slowed sales so those with older rigs are keeping them and others are swapping over to linux.

despite the high hardware cost for mac when it comes to professional software for windows the licensing will easily dwarf any hardware cost benefits.

not to mention the bloatedness of said windows based software. you take a core i7 920 with 8GB of ram on a pc and have it do video compression for 200GB of video via an adobe suite and then take an e6700 based mac pro with 2Gb of ram and have it do the same task and the mac will finish the same videos 20 minutes sooner.

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

I don't know of many design studios and production houses using Linux on the desktop. Not that none exist.

The iMacs are becoming quite a worthy candidate for production as well is the thing. Last refresh our regular studio operators got 27" iMacs and the only Mac Pro towers went to the photo retouchers and video/3D guys who can really benefit from the additional cores and memory.

 

[Frick]

This sounds like Apple needs to become more competitive and drop their prices. I get the impression that without Jobs's influence, they can't maintain the illusion of exclusivity and premiumness to keep selling these computers at such an inflated price.

Welcome to the real world, lads.

Naaaaaaah, it's more in line with them going full in on consumerist products.

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

Moreover, now that Macs are essentially just OEM PCs in a fancy case these days they are much more competitive price-wise though there is still somewhat of a premium. You also need to remember many Mac Pros are dual Xeon and technically a workstation-class desktop not in the same category as the average HP or Dell tower with a Core i7 and a decent GPU. The iMacs are up against those.

 

[Frick]

Moreover, now that Macs are essentially just OEM PCs in a fancy case these days they are much more competitive price-wise though there is still somewhat of a premium. You also need to remember that the Mac Pro is dual CPU and technically a workstation-class desktop not in the same price point as the average HP or Dell tower with a Core i7 and a decent GPU. The iMacs are up against those.

Not really imo, it's a different form factor.

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

Well go look at some actual specs and prices.

I'm writing this on a 27" 2560x1440 iMac with an i7 870 and 8GB 1333 Ram and a 1GB 5750.

 

[cheesy999]

Well go look at some actual specs and prices.

I'm writing this on a 27" 2560x1440 iMac with an i7 870 and 8GB 1333 Ram and a 1GB 5750.

£899 for a 27" 2560x1440 form Apple
£658 for a 27" 2560x1440 from Dell

 

[Frick]

Well go look at some actual specs and prices.

I'm writing this on a 27" 2560x1440 iMac with an i7 870 and 8GB 1333 Ram and a 1GB 5750.

That's my point. The iMac is an all in one, while a normal tower is a .. normal tower. Different form factor.

 

[Wrigleyvillain]

Right but I am talking about the hardware specs and subsequent pricing not the form factor. Mac Pro's aren't in competition with the average Dell on the floor at Best Buy.

 

[Amdguy]

I don't see the MAC Pro's being fazed out, the ripple effects would be far too wide. Perhaps they'll redesign it with a lower price point.

 

[Widjaja]

Maybe they are going to drop that line and create a new line with similar performance under a different name like Mac Elitist or something.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Or the newest model, the MAC Who's ya Daddy for pimps

 

[NC37]

Moreover, now that Macs are essentially just OEM PCs in a fancy case these days they are much more competitive price-wise though there is still somewhat of a premium. You also need to remember many Mac Pros are dual Xeon and technically a workstation-class desktop not in the same category as the average HP or Dell tower with a Core i7 and a decent GPU. The iMacs are up against those.

Very true, and it also doesn't help that they haven't innovated in case design all these years. Prices have increased, options have decreased. Performance pretty much flatlined now too. Where is the mini tower? Where is the cheap netbox Mac? The netbook Mac? All gone, or prices raised along with performance. Bout time people realize that these are just PCs that run OSX. There is nothing special about them.

 

[yogurt_21]

It would be odd to drop the line entirely perhaps scaling it back and having it be more special order would be a better solution. While imacs are upping the ante it just seems like there are some professions that really need the workstation grade setup.

Of course this isn't just a mac issue, standard windows desktops are now becoming more beefy and lessening the need for workstations as well. (memory being the main thing holding a major transition back). But with all the power that the new hardware gives you, there's always the next greatest software thing to suck your pc resources dry and beg for more. Perhaps this is just limbo mode due to the econ?