Mac Pro Rising

[mp11]

And that's the biggest reason I didn't buy one.

If Apple actually has the humility and intelligence to listen to its customers and make the Mac Pro's GPUs upgradable again, I will be very pleased (...and a little surprised, sadly).

 

[JimGoshorn]

We might as well hope this is legit because there isn't anything else to hold onto. Maybe, just maybe, Tim, Jony and Phil got their heads out of places where the sun don't shine and came to see the light. Maybe losing MacPro sales to Windows computers was the kick in the pants that they needed. They better be pretty damn sure of what they're doing this time or they'll continue to lose sales and if that happens, who knows if they will be able to recover this portion of the market again.

 

[pat500000]

We might as well hope this is legit because there isn't anything else to hold onto. Maybe, just maybe, Tim, Jony and Phil got their heads out of places where the sun don't shine and came to see the light. Maybe losing MacPro sales to Windows computers was the kick in the pants that they needed. They better be pretty damn sure of what they're doing this time or they'll continue to lose sales and if that happens, who knows if they will be able to recover this portion of the market again.

Or maybe pleasing teens with iMessage and emojis will bring them retirement early.
Like this emoji:

 

[filmak]

Estimated release date?

 

[JimGoshorn]

If they do have a chance to set things right and they blow it again, they probably do deserve retirement.

 

[filmak]

Anyway...

This is the first time that I see no one starting a thread... Maybe it's Siri... unleashed?

 

[G4DPII]

Too risky.

macpro7,1 will be much like the tick of the tick tock cycle. Very few technical changes, radical form factor change. Don't expect the latest AMD silicon. Remember this is Apple, you will buy what they offer and you will like it.
​

funny as there is no longer a Tick Tock upgrade cycle. Do pay attention to what intel state before talking bollocks. At least then it'll be realistic balls.

 

[pat500000]

Anyway...

This is the first time that I see no one starting a thread... Maybe it's Siri... unleashed?

I guess there's nobody adding topic because there isn't anything to talk about other than news flash or reaction keynotes or need help topic.

 

[sigmadog]

Cool story bro.

…needs more dragons.

 

[adam9c1]

If they don't make a cheese grader type desktop make it stackable / dockable.

I mean one component stacks on top of the next and each has a dock port on it's bottom and top to snap the next piece in. Like the rumors we had. Don't daisy chain connections between via TB2, have it built in.

Sort of dream rumors of the Mac Mini Pro sort of thing...

 

[sigmadog]

I hope Apple sticks to their game and just forces their vision onto customers like they always do.

"The customer is always right - except for our customers." - Tim Cook

 

[filmak]

If they don't make a cheese grader type desktop make it stackable / dockable.

I mean one component stacks on top of the next and each has a dock port on it's bottom and top to snap the next piece in. Like the rumors we had. Don't daisy chain connections between via TB2, have it built in.

Sort of dream rumors of the Mac Mini Pro sort of thing...

I hope that in this concept the stackable pieces won't sound like 5 minis under load...
[doublepost=1466546471][/doublepost]

"The customer is always right - except for our customers." - Tim Cook

He 's testing, long term testing - probably he likes it, the new iDeaf gadget, so he is not able to hear them...

 

[Eric5h5]

I have seen. Not conventional tower but maybe just as good. Or maybe not. Far superior to Tube Trash Can. Don’t expect anything like cMP tower.

I don't actually believe you, but yeah some kind of usable tower with PCIe slots etc. would be nice. If the price is semi-reasonable (say ~2009 MP prices) I'm in. As far as I'm concerned they could ditch Xeon as well, which served its purpose at the time, but it seems to me that these days something like an i7 is perfectly fine for most pro usage, and doesn't cost so damn much.

--Eric

 

[shaunp]

I hope this is true. Got a 6,1 Mac Pro, but I would swap it in a heartbeat for one in a larger case with internal storage if that's what the 7,1 is.
[doublepost=1466548006][/doublepost]

I don't know, but I hope Apple sticks to their game and just forces their vision onto customers like they always do. We wouldn't have had the same great hardware we have today if they just followed the rest.

That's the problem, the hardware is no longer great, others have caught up. Apple hardware is increasingly becoming long in the tooth.

 

[drasl]

If there will be a new Mac Pro and that machine offers internal additions or expansion you can be sure that such expansion and updates are limited to Apple parts, or special apple approved (profit sharing) additions.

Dream on if you think the Tim Cook Apple is going to allow you to use common third party hardware.

 

[pat500000]

If there will be a new Mac Pro and that machine offers internal additions or expansion you can be sure that such expansion and updates are limited to Apple parts, or special apple approved (profit sharing) additions.

Dream on if you think the Tim Cook Apple is going to allow you to use common third party hardware.

Good point. He ain't anti third party, show me the money CEO.

 

[MerlinX10]

Growing increasingly frustrated with Apple. Over 900 days since a pro workstation has seen any improvement is unforgivable. I Don't blame anyone for going to Windows workstations. To my utter surprise I find myself nearly going that way as well. If only we didn't have to live with the Windows 10 (which is decent, tho terribly data snooping) way of doing things. I want MacOS on much more recent hardware, free from Apple's insane sluggishness to update and ever increasing lockdowns of control over everything, from upgradeability to software intrusion. "You have updates available"...and no you can't shut me up... and yes you must click on me to dismiss. Well, I run workstation applications and I don't want your broken update yet!
That, in all the Macs I oversee, and in iPhones and iPads. With no option to say "shut up and let me manage it." Right in the middle of presentations, message pops up for phone or iPad update. Unbelievable, they've become Windows xp completely in that way.
Apple's response? Yay we've got a new and faster WatchOS!

Not VR capable. Will sell you a new (3 years dated) Mac Pro for the same price as release day. Will intrude right the middle of your software with update pop-ups (those are specially awesome on Pages and Numbers.) Oh, by the way, your CPU is fine, but if you want a new GPU you'll have to wait 3 years.... ..... and.... buy a new computer... except we haven't finished working on it yet.... soo...

Anyone else feeling like our preferred platform has lost its way?

 

[pat500000]

Growing increasingly frustrated with Apple. Over 900 days since a pro workstation has seen any improvement is unforgivable. I Don't blame anyone for going to Windows workstations. To my utter surprise I find myself nearly going that way as well. If only we didn't have to live with the Windows 10 (which is decent, tho terribly data snooping) way of doing things. I want MacOS on much more recent hardware, free from Apple's insane sluggishness to update and ever increasing lockdowns of control over everything, from upgradeability to software intrusion. "You have updates available"...and no you can't shut me up... and yes you must click on me to dismiss. Well, I run workstation applications and I don't want your broken update yet!
That, in all the Macs I oversee, and in iPhones and iPads. With no option to say "shut up and let me manage it." Right in the middle of presentations, message pops up for phone or iPad update. Unbelievable, they've become Windows xp completely in that way.
Apple's response? Yay we've got a new and faster WatchOS!

Not VR capable. Will sell you a new (3 years dated) Mac Pro for the same price as release day. Will intrude right the middle of your software with update pop-ups (those are specially awesome on Pages and Numbers.) Oh, by the way, your CPU is fine, but if you want a new GPU you'll have to wait 3 years.... ..... and.... buy a new computer... except we haven't finished working on it yet.... soo...

Anyone else feeling like our preferred platform has lost its way?

I'm pretty sure about 80 to 90 percent of the people here under Mac Pro sub forum are pissed off due to lack of hardwares. It appears people are moving away to hackintosh or Windows until next Mac Pro arrives. So many speculations going on around here and yet no knows what the deal is. I hope next Mac Pro comes around but I don't know if they will announce it within another 3 years. I don't believe that's Tim's focus.

 

[G-News]

I definitely feel they are losing their way. Both in terms of hardware that's being dumbed down and not keeping up, as well as in software that is being overly consumer focussed and buggy and/or lacking current features others offer or have been offering for years. Compared to 10 years ago, Apple has become a lot less attractive on the Mac platform.

 

[CapnDavey]

interesting so Jony Ives is now chiming in?

 

[Hank Carter]

Very interesting post.

I have a theory that one reason why we are at +900 days is because the nMP turned out to be a sales and PR bomb like the OP suggested. After the initial rush to fill orders sales must have fallen off a cliff. And then they probably got hit with the full fury of the creative field in film, TV, music production etc. The customer feedback of the past year and a half must have been pretty unpleasant for Apple, because people are not just upset, they are furious.

So, instead of being able to release an update of the trashcan design with a new CPU / GPU as planned, Apple probably had to scramble to come up with something almost from scratch. But you don't exactly throw together a workstation in a weekend. So here we are at +900 days.

My Magic Eight Ball predicts a single CPU machine based partially on the current motherboard with the GPU moved to PCI connectors from the current proprietary type. They'll most likely throw in a new case that can be rack mounted, but on second thought I wouldn't count on full-size drive bays. Extra expansion probably via TB3 for additional GPU etc if needed.

That buys Apple some time to design a completely new machine with dual CPU and PCI slots for release in the next year or two.

 

[Demigod Mac]

If they don't make a cheese grader type desktop make it stackable / dockable.

I mean one component stacks on top of the next and each has a dock port on it's bottom and top to snap the next piece in. Like the rumors we had. Don't daisy chain connections between via TB2, have it built in.

Sort of dream rumors of the Mac Mini Pro sort of thing...

This concept? Would have loved a Mac Pro like this.

 

[AidenShaw]

It appears people are moving away to hackintosh or Windows until next Mac Pro arrives.

I think that it's unlikely that many folks will leave Windows to go back to Apple. Once you've bought into a different eco-system, a minor Apple OSX update isn't going to bring you back.

Unless Apple introduces a new, expandable Mac Pro with PCIe slots and NVMe drives and internal storage, and announces an organizational update that creates a "Mac Pro Czar" tasked with undoing the damage from the last six years of utter neglect.

It appears people are moving away to hackintosh or Windows until next Mac Pro arrives. I don't believe that's Tim's focus.

Tim's "laser focus" is on rose gold iToys. Plain and simple. (And introducing a laptop with only one port signals that the focus is on turning Macs into iToys.

 

[drasl]

Very interesting post.

I have a theory that one reason why we are at +900 days is because the nMP turned out to be a sales and PR bomb like the OP suggested. After the initial rush to fill orders sales must have fallen off a cliff. And then they probably got hit with the full fury of the creative field in film, TV, music production etc. The customer feedback of the past year and a half must have been pretty unpleasant for Apple, because people are not just upset, they are furious.

So, instead of being able to release an update of the trashcan design with a new CPU / GPU as planned, Apple probably had to scramble to come up with something almost from scratch. But you don't exactly throw together a workstation in a weekend. So here we are at +900 days.

My Magic Eighth Ball predicts a single CPU machine based partially on the current motherboard with the GPU moved to PCI connectors from the current proprietary type. They'll most likely throw in a new case that can be rack mounted and has drive bays. Extra expansion probably via TB3 for additional GPU etc if needed.

That buys Apple some time to design a completely new machine with dual CPU and PCI slots for release in the next year or two.

Its so funny after the fun Apple made of PC computers early on being so "cluttered" and "messy" with all the cords and such that they would actually design a machine that could not become anything else than the octopus of all cluttered machines since almost every thing had to be external. And not for a consumer marked, but for the pro market that uses much more additions than the regular consumer.

Apple should really try to see how their users actually use their computers when they weigh design options.
-iMac users have time machine drives externally and probably a couple of other drives, since there are no additional drive options.
-Mac Pro users use so many external devices that their nMP look more like giant spiders than a computer.

Ive get out of the design room and visit some real users.

 

[pat500000]

I think that it's unlikely that many folks will leave Windows to go back to Apple. Once you've bought into a different eco-system, a minor Apple OSX update isn't going to bring you back.

Unless Apple introduces a new, expandable Mac Pro with PCIe slots and NVMe drives and internal storage, and announces an organizational update that creates a "Mac Pro Czar" tasked with undoing the damage from the last six years of neglect.


Tim's "laser focus" is on rose gold iToys. Plain and simple.

Lol laser focus....I'm sure there's gotta be some people who are planning to return... But then I see people going both Mac and Windows. Just saying.
Sure expandibility is what they ask but some people are just asking for any Mac Pro as long as its current.