New Mac Pro, price reduction for iMac Pro?

[djholman]

Hello,

Considering the current iMac Pro starts at 5 grand and the upcoming Mac Pro starts at 6 grand what's the chance that AAPL drops the price of the iMac Pro at the next spin? Or do they kill the iMac Pro to prevent cannibalization of the new Mac Pro??

I'd spring for iMac Pro if it dropped a grand or so. Future proofing etc. The base model Mac Pro seems ridiculous at 6 grand for a 256GB SSD and an 8 core processor. I don't need that but seems silly for a 1 grand differential.

Current rig is 2012 iMac w/16GB memory and the fastest processor of the time with 1TB Fusion drive. It's a daily driver for work and I don't haven any complaints but I'd like to update to get another 7-8 years of beachball free service.

Thoughts?

Edit: I'd spring for the regular iMac but it bugs me that there are only 2 TB3 ports. I have some TB1 stuff that I don't want to abandon. My assumption is that if I have slower TB1 stuff on a TB3 bus that everything negotiates to the slower speed. If thats NOT (maybe at the end of the chain?) the case I can live with just 2 ports.

thanks!

.

 

[smirking]

Considering the current iMac Pro starts at 5 grand and the upcoming Mac Pro starts at 6 grand what's the chance that AAPL drops the price of the iMac Pro at the next spin? Or do they kill the iMac Pro to prevent cannibalization of the new Mac Pro??

Nobody here's going to really know, right? But for what it's worth, it's not a typical Apple practice to adjust the pricing of their products until there's a replacement product for it and the replacement product always comes in at or around the same price as the previous one. Presumably they do this to avoid having their products seen like a commodity that fluctuates in value. The current version of the product is almost always the same price.

It took an extreme gap in their product release timeline for them to adjust the price of the nMP downward despite people raising hell about how ridiculous it was that the nMP cost the same as launch day even though 3 years had passed without an update. That's how firm they are in their product pricing strategy.

The only way I see them readjusting the pricing on the iMac Pro is if they plan to phase it out in favor of a future "baby" Mac Pro that would be targeted at the prosumer market segment the iMac Pro is currently targeted at.

Current rig is 2012 iMac w/16GB memory and the fastest processor of the time with 1TB Fusion drive. It's a daily driver for work and I don't haven any complaints but I'd like to update to get another 7-8 years of beachball free service.

If you're doing well on that setup, I don't think you need an iMac Pro even if you want to ride it out for 8 years. If you want a nice boost without upgrading for another year or two, swap in an SSD for that Fusion drive. You can buy a lot of SSD for under $500 these days.

Edit: I'd spring for the regular iMac but it bugs me that there are only 2 TB3 ports. I have some TB1 stuff that I don't want to abandon. My assumption is that if I have slower TB1 stuff on a TB3 bus that everything negotiates to the slower speed.

The entire bus doesn't all slow down to match the speed of the slowest device connected. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to use an external monitor with any of the MBPs or Mac Minis. If I plugged an old mouse into my MBP and everything slowed down to match it, there's no way I'd be able to drive a LG 5K over a 12 Mbit/s line. Likewise, I've got scores of peripherals connected to my LG 5K's 4 TB3 ports (including another hub of just slow USB-A devices). The USB-C 3.0 external drive enclosure linked to it is running just fine.

 

[Boil]

...a future "baby" Mac Pro that would be targeted at the prosumer market segment the iMac Pro is currently targeted at.

Exactly what many have wanted for quite some time, the xMac...

Hey Apple, the Everyday Joes want a modular Mac as well...!

Give us a CPU socket, four DIMM slots, two NVMe M.2 slots (for secondary storage, we know we get the T2 / NAND modules combo for boot), and two or three PCIe slots...

We don't need handles on top, we don't need feet or wheels on the bottom, we will set it on our desk...

Right next to our NonPro Display HDR...

 

[Ifti]

Hello,

Considering the current iMac Pro starts at 5 grand and the upcoming Mac Pro starts at 6 grand what's the chance that AAPL drops the price of the iMac Pro at the next spin? Or do they kill the iMac Pro to prevent cannibalization of the new Mac Pro??

I'd spring for iMac Pro if it dropped a grand or so. Future proofing etc. The base model Mac Pro seems ridiculous at 6 grand for a 256GB SSD and an 8 core processor. I don't need that but seems silly for a 1 grand differential.

Current rig is 2012 iMac w/16GB memory and the fastest processor of the time with 1TB Fusion drive. It's a daily driver for work and I don't haven any complaints but I'd like to update to get another 7-8 years of beachball free service.

Thoughts?

Edit: I'd spring for the regular iMac but it bugs me that there are only 2 TB3 ports. I have some TB1 stuff that I don't want to abandon. My assumption is that if I have slower TB1 stuff on a TB3 bus that everything negotiates to the slower speed. If thats NOT (maybe at the end of the chain?) the case I can live with just 2 ports.

thanks!

.

Im in the same boat.
Would go for a regular iMac but only 2 TB2 ports as well as no 10GBe bother me as I would use both. Although spec-wise, the 2019 i9 iMac would probably do me!

I don't think a price drop will happen - although I'm holding out to see if we get a redesign later this year or early 2020. I feel a redesign would come to the iMac Pro before the regular iMac, just like the internal redesigned cooling etc....

 

[boy-better-know]

The only way I see them readjusting the pricing on the iMac Pro is if they plan to phase it out in favor of a future "baby" Mac Pro that would be targeted at the prosumer market segment the iMac Pro is currently targeted at.

Very much what I was thinking, from a purely aesthetic POV the design language is stunning.

 

[th0masp]

Question is will the iMac Pro be a real product line or is it a one-off quick fix they did to plug the gap between Mac Pro releases. So far I've viewed it as the latter.

 

[Apple Mac Daz]

Question is will the iMac Pro be a real product line or is it a one-off quick fix they did to plug the gap between Mac Pro releases. So far I've viewed it as the latter.

Pretty sure it’s here to stay. Not everyone needs or has the funds for the new Mac Pro. The iMac Pro fills the spot between the iMac and Mac Pro

 

[robgendreau]

Yeah, I've wanted a DIY maker-builder type Mac chassis forever; maybe just that nice case, power supply and mobo. But not gonna happen.

The $6k isn't out of line. It's not the barebones SSD or even base processors; it's the whole package. There's really no point for anyone to buy the stripped down model. And I doubt many will.

And I don't think it's designed for future proofing as much as customizing for current tasks at hand, for scaling. Having bought computers for commercial stuff I'd say that there are a lot of other factors going into when to upgrade equipment, even down to external factors like depreciation, etc. It's not a prosumer machine.

But I don't see the iMP lowering in price. The base right now is just above the maxxed out regular iMac. I've seen refurbs for $4.2k in the Apple Store, which is very reasonable for the extra stuff above an i9 iMac with the same SSD (like T2, cooling, better ethernet).

 

[CPL593H]

Exactly what many have wanted for quite some time, the xMac...

Hey Apple, the Everyday Joes want a modular Mac as well...!

Give us a CPU socket, four DIMM slots, two NVMe M.2 slots (for secondary storage, we know we get the T2 / NAND modules combo for boot), and two or three PCIe slots...

We don't need handles on top, we don't need feet or wheels on the bottom, we will set it on our desk...

Right next to our NonPro Display HDR...

Yes please. Really want a headless Mac that I can piecemeal update over time. I’d be tempted to buy a refurb 2013 MP but it’s just too old for me to get the value from it.

 

[Ph.D.]

Now that the modular Mac Pro is announced, Apple's line-up is complete (in their eyes). It's time to put the dreams of a small or mid tower Mac behind us (and a price reduction? Ha!).

It won't happen. Even if it did, an Apple x-mac or whatever would be locked down. Sure, you could add RAM. But do you want to upgrade your SSD? Maybe, but only if Apple itself is willing to install one of their proprietary modules at a ridiculously steep price. Do you want a newer graphics card from Apple? Sorry, no can do, that model card was not originally available for your machine! Or, famously, need Nvidia? Go figure out how to boot windows.

What comes next is a locked-down 6k iMac. That's it for the near future. Sorry.

 

[killermike2178]

As others suggested, I first saw the iMac Pro as Apple's door-stopper for the Pro Mac user community as a way of saying that the door hadn't been shut on them, and as soon as the next Mac Pro came out, they would cease production of the iMac Pro.

Flash forward to this week, and the idea of just killing off the iMac Pro seems kind of silly for a few reasons:

1. The entry-level iMac Pro has a better GPU than the entry-level 2019 Mac Pro, larger amount of storage that's also faster than the Mac Pro, and a built-in 5K monitor for $1000 and change less than the Mac Pro. Sure, you cannot upgrade most of the Mac Pro's components after getting it, but most people in the Mac community are used to that now.

2. The iMac Pro has more built-in traditional USB Type-A ports (4) than the Mac Pro (2). I know to some that seems kind of trivial, but look at the complaints for the 2016-2019 MacBook Pro's and get back to me. It's not just because of the butterfly keyboards. Say what you will about the Trashcan Mac Pro, but at least it had a nearly 1:1 ratio of USB A-to-Thunderbolt 2 ports on it. The new Cheese-Grater specced-out with first party Apple peripherals will have close to 20 Thunderbolt 3 ports and still only 2 USB A ports, unless there's another Apple peripheral PCI expansion card that adds more ports. Buying dongles that are sold separately to give yourself more USB A ports is not Apple accommodating you; it's you accommodating Apple's unwillingness to listen to customers...

So, I think the iMac Pro might be here to stay. However, to answer the OP's original question, I don't think Apple will lower the price. I imagine a specced-out new Cheese-Grater Mac Pro with 4 XDR displays and stands will cost close to the equivalent of 5-6 specced-out iMac Pro's, and so those comparing the two will think that the $15,699 iMac Pro will seem cheap by comparison, and thus Apple will see no need for a price drop.

 

[th0masp]

So, I think the iMac Pro might be here to stay.

Seems kinda redundant though to keep product lines that close in capabilities in the same form factor when you could have them all in one lineup with an expanded price range from entry level end into MP territory.

I therefore expect them to merge these two product lines, adopt the redesigned cooling system and all that across the entire range and drop the Xeons and ECC and whatever workstation-class features the iMP has and leave people with the requirements for large amounts of RAM with the 'cheese-greater' as their only option.

 

[Fishrrman]

"Price reduction" ???

Apple ???

You be kiddin', right... ???