I am in no way fond of the nMP but I have several colleagues who use it daily with zero complaints.
It's good for some people, but disabling for the production processes of others.
Apple wants to be the computer manufacturer that helps creators because they know they profit off of the creation. How is that point never made?
If Apple truly wanted that, they'd put their own ego aside, and build the sort of machine that enables Pro customers, ALL Pro customers, to get their work done, the way they want to do it. The generic slot and bay chassis IS that solution. It's the bare, empty cargo, sliding door delivery van, in which one person installs shelves to be filled with plumbing fittings, in which another fits a desk and builds a mobile media studio - the thing that is "professional" about the van is its radical reconfigurability. It's not the things the van maker fits that makes it professional, it's the space they leave to let the customer fit out.
But, that's not what Apple wants to do, because Apple wants to pursue ITS art, and ITS art is "pushing the boundaries of what a computing device
can be" - they want to change things, all things, even those that do not need to be changed. Their deep need to "make their impact on the universe" reduces the ability of those using their products to make their own impact on the universe, by making the tools more expensive, or less capable, or requiring people to keep turning over their entire toolchain as backward-compatibility is ditched.
Apple's overwhelming psychological issue is that, if it can't make the computers it (for aesthetic reasons - the performance art of products) wants to make, it would rather not make a product at all. That's where "Apple makes the products it wants to make" leads.
They are sometimes shortsighted, sure, but not so shortsighted as to not remember that creatives make them money. They may make mistakes (huge ones at times i.e. Aperture & nMP) but I am quite happy with them owning up to those mistakes as compared to other tech giants in the past who never admit anything. Will they make it right? Who knows but I'm willing to wait to find out.
Creatives, who need products that aren't their consumer appliances, don't make them money, in relative terms, that's the problem. The Mac Pro is largely a pride (and defensive play) issue now. If Apple actually took the gloves off the Mac Pro team, gave a pirate-flagged division free reign to make any machines they wanted, without need to consider the larger business, but just be profitable on their own, the first thing it would do is cannibalise iMac sales, and those large 5k screens are super expensive unless you have volume - that's why Dell had to charge as much for a monitor, as Apple could charge for a whole iMac using the same panel.
I, BTW, have never gone to a Dell centric sight and posted about how much I hate their proposed products now, even though I was quite loyal to them in the early nineties.
Dell's products are largely interchangeable with those of other vendors. Your user experience, documents etc are going to be the same between Dell, or HP.
When Apple makes something we don't like, it's very different - we feel trapped, and so we lash out. We take it personally, that as customers, we're being told we're wrong. This of course would not be a problem if Apple were legislatively forced to structurally separate their software and hardware businesses, and to licence their operating systems to anyone, including DIY builders on a FRAND basis. Personally, I think that would be a much better outcome all round. The wider utility of Apple being the small player who does things differently has passed its particular moment in history. Now, it's just another bigcorp, like IBM and Microsoft were in their times, and it needs to be treated as such.
Look, if you legitimately have issues with the way Apple has treated the "Pro" market, why haven't you dropped them a line and explained your grievances or at least moved the f*ck on. I have sent hem my grievences and they responded with a pretty decent response that was mirrored in their public response.
Have done many times, never heard anything in response. Perhaps because I tell them what solution I need (which doesn't align with their strategy), not just what's wrong with what I have.
I never even got a single response from Dell or HP when I complained to them in the past. Not a single one! That should mean something. I still use some of their product too but will never expect good customer service from them. I do expect service from Apple and usually get it.
Dell and HP have a bazillion options if the one you want doesn't suit. Apple usually has one. As for good service? Is there an onsite support package for individual purchasers of the iMac Pro?
