2006: Apple introduced the Intel Mac Pro (Video)

[baryon]

Just saw this on YouTube:

And I was surprised by how differently Apple behaved back then compared to now. The Mac Pro was all about being upgradeable, with plenty of space inside, with an assortment of ports and PCI slots for full sized GPUs that can take up two slots.

But most amazingly, the price was reduced by a lot and they specifically made a point to say that it's a myth that Apple computers are more expensive, comparing the Mac Pro to a similarly configured Dell machine which was more expensive.

Could they ever do that today, with their current Macs?

I haven't noticed this until I watched this video and other ones from this era, that Apple has become so much more smug and self-confident that they no longer worry about pleasing people. They no longer feel the need to prove that no, they aren't that expensive, or that indeed, they are including the very best technology to make everyone happy. When the price of the Mac Pro was revealed, the audience went crazy. Would that happen today? Today everyone just claps because they're supposed to, but you don't feel that they're going crazy for the products that are being announced.

 

[Manzanito]

Just saw this on YouTube:

And I was surprised by how differently Apple behaved back then compared to now. The Mac Pro was all about being upgradeable, with plenty of space inside, with an assortment of ports and PCI slots for full sized GPUs that can take up two slots.

But most amazingly, the price was reduced by a lot and they specifically made a point to say that it's a myth that Apple computers are more expensive, comparing the Mac Pro to a similarly configured Dell machine which was more expensive.

Could they ever do that today, with their current Macs?

I haven't noticed this until I watched this video and other ones from this era, that Apple has become so much more smug and self-confident that they no longer worry about pleasing people. They no longer feel the need to prove that no, they aren't that expensive, or that indeed, they are including the very best technology to make everyone happy. When the price of the Mac Pro was revealed, the audience went crazy. Would that happen today? Today everyone just claps because they're supposed to, but you don't feel that they're going crazy for the products that are being announced.

Back then the macs were their bread and butter. They’re not anymore.

I used to think there was a lot of passion in that presentation. Now I think it was just (great) salesmanship. You can see the same dedication now in their iPhone keynotes, but with different results (Tim Cook is not Steve Jobs).

 

[Pressure]

Yeah, prices have gone up by a lot. Some of that fails squarely on Intel and lack of competition the last decade. The other part is Apple's quest to build as proprietary solutions as they possible can. "Not just another grey box", which is the path they have been on since the late 90's.

They are roughly at the same junction as back when they dumped PowerPC for Intel. IBM had trouble getting PowerPC architecture to scale, just like Intel has hit a brick wall now.

The old Mac Pro's were great value and held resale value for a long time. They were upgradeable (because of PCIe slots) and processors could easily be changed down the road.

 

[fatespawn]

They are roughly at the same junction as back when they dumped PowerPC for Intel. IBM had trouble getting PowerPC architecture to scale, just like Intel has hit a brick wall now.

What's Apple's excuse been for the last 1949 days? https://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#Mac_Pro

I would have gladly taken any of the 6th/7th/8th gen processors in a new Mac Pro for $2499. But we all know that's just not apple anymore. They'll put yesterday's processor in a fancy chassis, pair it with a proprietary chip, and charge twice as much for 1/2 the performance when it thermal throttles.