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Could the nMP have been discontinued?

xraydoc

xraydoc

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Oct 9, 2005
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Interesting (and potentially ominous) story posted at this link: http://appleinsider.com/articles/16...ages-archived-by-apple-will-longer-be-updated

Looks as if Apple has archived some knowledge base articles on the nMP and will no longer be updating them. Could this signal a discontinuation of the Mac Pro? Or just routine page maintenance (though similar pages for other current-model Macs do not appear to have been archived).
 
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It's unlikely anyone outside of Apple knows the future of the nMP. If my livelihood depended on the Macintosh I would have already started migration plans to move off of the platform. It is completely unacceptable for Apple to keep their customers guessing as to if there is a future with their products.

This is not limited to the Mac Pro either. It seems almost everyone who follows the Mac on a regular basis is guessing where Apple is going with it. Be it other forums on this site or other web sites. Everyone is wondering what Apple's future plans are for the Macintosh.
 
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For example if there will be redesign of the ports, for example to 10 USB-C ports, that can work both as USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 - the page about ports actually is already outdated in this view.
 
If it's not against forum rules, I'm willing to put up some paypal or bitcoin that it's NOT discontinued. Standard gentleman's bet of $1 or a 6 pack of your choice (nothing exotic or outrageously expensive).

Any takers?? :D
 
No-one knows. But per ITguy's comments, I've already begun my migration - to Linux.

The grief doesn't end with AWOL hardware updates. The software has been neglected too (except for iCandy features that I don't use). The Finder freezes over trivial things - I just now right-clicked on a file, resulting on a freeze, and in "force quit" it crashed instead of restarting, meaning that a reboot seems necessary. When I click on a file to open it in Preview, it frequently tells me I don't have permission (I do) - a multi-generational bug that Apple is too busy to fix. I could go on and on.

My Linux box (which I'm typing on) has a maxed-out Skylake and a GTX 1070 and cost about $1000 sans monitor. It's faster than any 4-core mac at everything and is rock solid. I'm on Mint 18 now (quite stable), and have Manjaro KDE Plasma on a different drive. The latter has a more modern and attractive user interface (though perhaps it needs another point update or two before full consistency is reached), and it has a very high degree of user control over its look and features. Linux is fun!

I still use both, and I haven't made a concerted effort to switch completely yet, preferring a more organic shift (and, you know, I still hold out some hope for a nnMP). But I find myself using the Linux machine more and more, with fewer and fewer application holes left to fill before it's a completely satisfactory replacement. With another few months of no updates from Apple, I may very well have left the Mac behind for good.
 
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fastlanephil said:
Interesting that this comes out the day before the Apple Event.
Click to expand...

The orientation doc was archived Dec. last year and hadn't been updated since Nov. 2014 iirc. The software update page was factually out-of-date as of May 2014 (That's when 10.9.2 stopped being the latest OS). These docs are long abandoned, and I so wonder if the timing is more about clicks than 'news'. Whatever the reason, this is clearly no indication of an imminent refresh, but could be one more tiny nail in the nMP coffin.
 
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ITguy2016 said:
It's unlikely anyone outside of Apple knows the future of the nMP. If my livelihood depended on the Macintosh I would have already started migration plans to move off of the platform. It is completely unacceptable for Apple to keep their customers guessing as to if there is a future with their products.

This is not limited to the Mac Pro either. It seems almost everyone who follows the Mac on a regular basis is guessing where Apple is going with it. Be it other forums on this site or other web sites. Everyone is wondering what Apple's future plans are for the Macintosh.
Click to expand...

Well it's always been the "Apple way" isn't it? In the past, we still always knew something was to be announced at some point, the question was "what kind of juicy upgrade is it gonna be?". It's sad that the question now has turned into "is there gonna be an upgrade at all?"

My livehood does depend on the Mac. I've invested too much in this platform to switch - that's really not even an option. Unless Apple completely stops making desktop computers, there's no way I'll switch to another platform (and in the music/audio world, it always comes down to Mac or PC) - I just find it a bit frustrating that they don't think announcing, or even teasing new models (or new iterations of the same model) is important to their customers. Investing several thousands of dollars in a new computer is different that getting on a new contract for an iPhone or buying a damn watch.
 
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koyoot said:
For example if there will be redesign of the ports, for example to 10 USB-C ports, that can work both as USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 - the page about ports actually is already outdated in this view.
Click to expand...
they don't have the pci-e to drive 10 TB3 ports.

Unless they cut the video cards to X8 X8 or X16 X16 switched to 1 X16 link.
[doublepost=1473256835][/doublepost]
Morpheo said:
Well it's always been the "Apple way" isn't it? In the past, we still always knew something was to be announced at some point, the question was "what kind of juicy upgrade is it gonna be?". It's sad that the question now has turned into "is there gonna be an upgrade at all?"

My livehood does depend on the Mac. I've invested too much in this platform to switch - that's really not even an option. Unless Apple completely stops making desktop computers, there's no way I'll switch to another platform (and in the music/audio world, it always comes down to Mac or PC) - I just find it a bit frustrating that they don't think announcing, or even teasing new models (or new iterations of the same model) is important to their customers. Investing several thousands of dollars in a new computer is different that getting on a new contract for an iPhone or buying a damn watch.
Click to expand...
hackintosh
 
Morpheo said:
Well it's always been the "Apple way" isn't it? In the past, we still always knew something was to be announced at some point, the question was "what kind of juicy upgrade is it gonna be?". It's sad that the question now has turned into "is there gonna be an upgrade at all?"
Click to expand...
This is exactly what I have been thinking. Apple has always been secretive about upgrades but we knew they would be forthcoming. Today, well, as you said...will there be one?
Morpheo said:
My livehood does depend on the Mac. I've invested too much in this platform to switch - that's really not even an option. Unless Apple completely stops making desktop computers, there's no way I'll switch to another platform (and in the music/audio world, it always comes down to Mac or PC) - I just find it a bit frustrating that they don't think announcing, or even teasing new models (or new iterations of the same model) is important to their customers. Investing several thousands of dollars in a new computer is different that getting on a new contract for an iPhone or buying a damn watch.
Click to expand...
Everyone has to weigh the costs of switching as it can be costly to do. Let me ask you, and other forum members holding similar views, at what point will you conclude Apple has abandoned (if they do) the professional market? We're approaching three years without a single upgrade to the nMP and not a peep out of Apple as to their intentions. Will you wait another year? Two? Five? Until you are unable to use your current hardware?
 
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ITguy2016 said:
Let me ask you, and other forum members holding similar views, at what point will you conclude Apple has abandoned (if they do) the professional market?
Click to expand...

My threshold of pain is about 3.5 years. I'm very happy with the current nMP, but need a new one for my work. If it doesn't come by Mid 2017, I'm going to build a (sad face and a) Hac(k)intosh...
 
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ITguy2016 said:
Will you wait another year? Two? Five? Until you are unable to use your current hardware?
Click to expand...

Five sounds right...well not waiting five from now.

I'm allowed, as a self employed individual, to write off the full cost of a new computer purchase over a period of five years. I know that's how most corporations view it as well.

Should Apple have not updated the Mac Pro within that time frame, it strikes me that it's time to look elsewhere.
 
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BillyBobBongo said:
Five sounds right...well not waiting five from now.

I'm allowed, as a self employed individual, to right off the full cost of a new computer purchase over a period of five years. I know that's how most corporations view it as well.

Should Apple have not updated the Mac Pro within that time frame, it strikes me that it's time to look elsewhere.
Click to expand...
Does this mean you'll wait five years before planning to make a move to an alternative platform? Or does it mean you'll have moved to an alternative platform by that time?
 
ITguy2016 said:
Does this mean you'll wait five years before planning to make a move to an alternative platform? Or does it mean you'll have moved to an alternative platform by that time?
Click to expand...
I'd be happy to wait out that five years, so September 2018 would be my personal cut off date.

That said, I'm confident that we'll see a new Mac Pro before this year is out.
 
xraydoc said:
Interesting (and potentially ominous) story posted at this link: http://appleinsider.com/articles/16...ages-archived-by-apple-will-longer-be-updated

Looks as if Apple has archived some knowledge base articles on the nMP and will no longer be updating them. Could this signal a discontinuation of the Mac Pro? Or just routine page maintenance (though similar pages for other current-model Macs do not appear to have been archived).
Click to expand...

-when people think about the topic-
 
BillyBobBongo said:
I'd be happy to wait out that five years, so September 2018 would be my personal cut off date.

That said, I'm confident that we'll see a new Mac Pro before this year is out.
Click to expand...
I'm still unclear as to what the cut off date means. Is it the point at which you conclude Apple has abandoned the Mac Pro and therefore start investigating alternatives?
 
BillyBobBongo said:
Five sounds right...well not waiting five from now.

I'm allowed, as a self employed individual, to write off the full cost of a new computer purchase over a period of five years. I know that's how most corporations view it as well.

Should Apple have not updated the Mac Pro within that time frame, it strikes me that it's time to look elsewhere.
Click to expand...
Actually I think Computer equipment is on a 3-year depreciation basis, but in any event, you can section 179 expense it in a single year if you choose to.
 
ITguy2016 said:
I'm still unclear as to what the cut off date means. Is it the point at which you conclude Apple has abandoned the Mac Pro and therefore start investigating alternatives?
Click to expand...

You're pulling my leg, right? If there is no new Mac Pro by September 2018 the next computer I purchase will not be from Apple.

Larry-K said:
Actually I think Computer equipment is on a 3-year depreciation basis, but in any event, you can section 179 expense it in a single year if you choose to.
Click to expand...

I'm actually from the Netherlands, but thanks all the same for your advice.
 
BillyBobBongo said:
You're pulling my leg, right? If there is no new Mac Pro by September 2018 the next computer I purchase will not be from Apple.
Click to expand...
I am not pulling your leg....why would you think I might be doing so? Having said that thanks for clearing up what your cut off date is. My advice would be, prior to September 2018, to investigate alternatives so that you'll be prepared in the event there is no new Mac Pro by September 2018. That is unless you can make the switch relatively quickly.
 
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