The "I'm Waiting for a New Mac Pro Tower" Thread

[aaronhead14]

Hey Apple, one of your many professional customers here,

We're sick of being neglected like we have been these last 3 years. Please give us want we need. And guess what? If you do, we'll give you MONEY!

-We need a Mac Pro TOWER (not the tiny, non-upgradeable trashcan thing).
-We need the ability to add our own PCI-E cards.
-We need Thunderbolt 3.
-We need, at the very least, the OPTION to choose NVIDIA GPUs upon purchase (and the ability for users to upgrade to different GPUs later, and by themselves if they choose).
-We need hardware that's normally user-upgradeable to not be soldered onto the logic board.

That's all! Make it happen! And like I said, we'll give you MONEY.

Thanks!

 

[Draeconis]

There are quite a few threads on this already.

 

[pat500000]

The tower is not going to happen. They redesigned the mac pro into cylinder shape. It is what it is. I was hoping they would allow us to fully upgrade the product...but it's more likely limited..

 

[Derived]

Still not sure where this weird idea comes from that the nMP is "all soldered"...literally none of it is. The CPU, GPUs, SSD, RAM...all of it is user-replaceable/upgradable. How, 3 years on, do people still not get this. Saying this as the owner of a 2010 12c.

 

[Honumaui]

yeah not soldered on just sadly most parts are very proprietary and the latest tech to keep up to date at good prices is not available etc...

 

[H2SO4]

Still not sure where this weird idea comes from that the nMP is "all soldered"...literally none of it is. The CPU, GPUs, SSD, RAM...all of it is user-replaceable/upgradable. How, 3 years on, do people still not get this. Saying this as the owner of a 2010 12c.

I’m not sureI’d call it user serviceable/upgreadeable. Something that meets those requireements in the real world is when you can go to a lot of ordinary shops and buy spares.
Sure you can upgrade the GPU, as long as it’s an Apple one with a proprietary connector. How would you feel, (car analogy), if BMW said yes you can repair the car but ONLY with BMW spares.
RAM is a consumable, in some instances it lasts the life of the computer but it’s a consumable, like the HDD. Try picking those things up mainstream.

 

[tuxon86]

Funny thing, this morning there was on BBC a smartphone company from the Nederland that were presenting their user serviceable smartphone. Your camera doesn't work or you want a better one, just open the case, remove the camera module, all the components are snapped into place, bring it to the store and walk out with a new one. Same for all the other components inside.

 

[violst]

The tower is not going to happen. They redesigned the mac pro into cylinder shape. It is what it is. I was hoping they would allow us to fully upgrade the product...but it's more likely limited..

Agreed! The form factor is not going to change but updated internals and TB3 will make me very happy at this point!

 

[tuxon86]

Why wouldn't it happen... Are all macs sold after the cube still using that silly case?
What about the original iMacs, are the current one still available in fluo colors?

 

[Mark Holmes]

Why wouldn't it happen... Are all macs sold after the cube still using that silly case?
What about the original iMacs, are the current one still available in fluo colors?

And I'm willing to bet that the Trashcan Mac has had similarly dismal sale numbers.
There is HUGE pent up demand for a proper Apple workstation. And Apple has more than enough resources to make it happen. The only thing holding them back? Simple pride. It's not easy, especially for people like the management and design team at Apple, to admit you are wrong.

 

[BB8]

Why wouldn't it happen... Are all macs sold after the cube still using that silly case?
What about the original iMacs, are the current one still available in fluo colors?

The Cube was its own product line that ceased to exist.

Apple doesn't, and has never really cared about the things people clamor for in a Mac Pro tower. They care about creating a beautiful, low-profile machine and not whether you can upgrade the internals.

 

[pat500000]

Still not sure where this weird idea comes from that the nMP is "all soldered"...literally none of it is. The CPU, GPUs, SSD, RAM...all of it is user-replaceable/upgradable. How, 3 years on, do people still not get this. Saying this as the owner of a 2010 12c.

Where's the third party upgrade on gpu?

 

[AidenShaw]

There is HUGE pent up demand for a proper Apple workstation. And Apple has more than enough resources to make it happen. The only thing holding them back? Simple pride. It's not easy, especially for people like the management and design team at Apple, to admit you are wrong.

Nobody was wrong about developing the MP6,1. It's a great (albeit expensive) upper-mid-range desktop, with one video app specially optimized for it.

The mistake was to discontinue the dual-socket, all the PCIe lanes that you could want, actual workstation. An E5-x6xx workstation in addition to the MP6,1 would be face-saving.

 

[JesterJJZ]

Bring back the tower.

 

[MacVidCards]

Hear Ye

 

[ActionableMango]

That's all! Make it happen!

I suggest you contact them here, as I and a few others have already:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/mac-pro.html

I have no expectations from it, but it did make me feel better.

 

[tuxon86]

The Cube was its own product line that ceased to exist.

Apple doesn't, and has never really cared about the things people clamor for in a Mac Pro tower. They care about creating a beautiful, low-profile machine and not whether you can upgrade the internals.

Beside the last three years, when does this even come close to being true?
In the history of the mac you'll find that apple did produce utilitarian big box for a majority of their existance. Hell, even the Apple 2 had slots and internal expandability...

 

[MacVidCards]

The Cube was its own product line that ceased to exist.

Apple doesn't, and has never really cared about the things people clamor for in a Mac Pro tower. They care about creating a beautiful, low-profile machine and not whether you can upgrade the internals.

The irony is of course is that The Cube was born from this same desire. Form over function. (Some would say still-born)

Meanwhile, my Razer Core TB3 eGPU enclosure arrived today. When I pre-ordered months back I felt certain that there would be SOME Apple device that used TB3.

They were the cheerleaders for the TB bandwagon, now it seems they jumped off.

Guess I'll have to buy another PC to use this tech that Apple introduced.

They really have pulled over into the SLOW lane, enjoying a Sunday cruise while the world speeds by with latest stuff.

 

[loby]

Bring back the tower.

"The tower is dead, long live the small trash can..."

The days of user upgrades is almost over. The market is small now and Apple determines direction by bean-counters and not techies. Tim Cook lives by numbers to make decisions and this niche' segment of the market does not make the profits he is looking for.

I too desire an expandable Mac Pro and desire to purchase one soon...but tower days, saving money on third party replacements is dying or close to no more..
[doublepost=1464133696][/doublepost]

The irony is of course is that The Cube was born from this same desire. Form over function. (Some would say still-born)

Meanwhile, my Razer Core TB3 eGPU enclosure arrived today. When I pre-ordered months back I felt certain that there would be SOME Apple device that used TB3.

They were the cheerleaders for the TB bandwagon, now it seems they jumped off.

Guess I'll have to buy another PC to use this tech that Apple introduced.

They really have pulled over into the SLOW lane, enjoying a Sunday cruise while the world speeds by with latest stuff.

True..Apple can take a holiday. Was it not a little while ago that the goal in life was to make the most money and retire or stop working, take the rest of your life on 'vacation"?

Well...they made the most money...so why work now...? Is not Apple doing this? Working on toys, cars? When you retire, you buy toys that you did not have if you now have the money and buy "fix-up" cars or "tinker" or modify an old car to make it modern in your garage...This is what the older generation did and is what I see Apple doing.

Made their money, retired early..and now in their garage working on cars...

 

[flat five]

The days of user upgrades is almost over.

if 'the days of user upgrades' was actually a real thing then people would just continue upgrading their old computers.

there would be no threads like this if the previous version of mac pro was as upgradable as this forum would lead you to believe.

(just sayin)

 

[BB8]

Beside the last three years, when does this even come close to being true?
In the history of the mac you'll find that apple did produce utilitarian big box for a majority of their existance. Hell, even the Apple 2 had slots and internal expandability...

They sold towers like everyone else, but let's not pretend like the writing hasn't been on the wall for ages. Form before function is basically the mainstay of the Apple brand.

I don't really have any stake in this battle. I just think it's beyond naive to think Apple will ever go back to the tower form factor. You'd be hell of a lot better off just hoping they shove in a nvidia gpu.

 

[\-V-/]

Still not sure where this weird idea comes from that the nMP is "all soldered"...literally none of it is. The CPU, GPUs, SSD, RAM...all of it is user-replaceable/upgradable. How, 3 years on, do people still not get this. Saying this as the owner of a 2010 12c.

You forget the proprietary part. Kind of an important piece of info there. So you're very much limited with what you can do with it.

The days of user upgrades is almost over. The market is small now and Apple determines direction by bean-counters and not techies. Tim Cook lives by numbers to make decisions and this niche' segment of the market does not make the profits he is looking for.

Unfortunately, I fear that is the case for Apple. It's what leads people to build Hackintosh set ups ... or just switch to Windows completely. So although I very much enjoy OS X ... I'm forced to piece together my own system for upgradeability and ease of repair.

 

[flat five]

Form before function is basically the mainstay of the Apple brand.

why do you think the mac pro is shaped (form) the way it is?

you say form is the guiding light so where is this form coming from? one of the designers liked the way their dropped ice cream cone looked so they then had the bright idea to make a computer shell of the same shape?.. then were faced with the challenge of cramming this random shape with computing components?
or what?

 

[Melodist]

Look, sales are bad compared to what it was, that's why they've held off for so long. Otherwise, explain to me why they wouldn't upgrade their perfect new "Pro" machine the next year or at least 2 years after? Because it is powerful enough to sustain, bahaha, not really. I will not buy their trash can, that's for certain. I've made my peace with sticking what I got and forcibly upgrade, when Apple doesn't offer a different / powerful platform, to a regular Pc with Windows, as sad as it is.

It is downright ridiculous to even consider keeping this model in the store for the same price after such a long time without an upgrade. You don't have to be a marketing / market mastermind to see why they haven't upgraded their current model and keep the old hardware in for the same price. There is no desire to sell it anymore, because sale's been bad all around, so they just keep it locked in until they know what to do, which frankly they haven't.

 

[rockyromero]

It is downright ridiculous to even consider keeping this model in the store for the same price after such a long time without an upgrade. You don't have to be a marketing / market mastermind to see why they haven't upgraded their current model and keep the old hardware in for the same price. There is no desire to sell it anymore, because sale's been bad all around, so they just keep it locked in until they know what to do, which frankly they haven't.

What if they kept it as is for a 5 year stretch, which used to be the life of a computer?

Those few in the know would not buy it, the rest would continue to buy it.

I'm planning on buying more nMP because, for me, it's my best current, possible alternative.

It's more effective and less expensive to go with what I know, and then have time to focus on my real business.

I will still continue to listen to this community so that I can gauge my alternatives.