Waiting for modular Mac Pro 2019

[Zarniwoop]

Time to start another thread. This time it is based on something:

Edited, original article: https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/05/apples-2019-imac-pro-will-be-shaped-by-workflows/

“We want to be transparent and communicate openly with our pro community, so we want them to know that the Mac Pro is a 2019 product. It’s not something for this year.” In addition to transparency for pro customers on an individual basis, there’s also a larger fiscal reasoning behind it.

“We know that there’s a lot of customers today that are making purchase decisions on the iMac Pro and whether or not they should wait for the Mac Pro,” says Boger."

 

[beaker7]

Dec 31, 2019 Shipping!

 

[Aldaris]

Dec 31, 2019 Shipping!

If we’re lucky

 

[Zarniwoop]

So who's going to wait? Mago is ready to abandon ship as it seems.

 

[Earl Urley]

I kinda like the original article better:

https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/05/apples-2019-imac-pro-will-be-shaped-by-workflows/

Ignore the URL, it talks a lot about the 'new' Mac Pro and its development.

 

[rpmurray]

Shouldn't this be the "2019 Mac Pro will surely be a disappointment" thread.

 

[goMac]

Assessing if I go eGPU, iMac Pro, or just sit on my butt. But this wasn't a surprise if you were following the ARM rumor stories. (Not saying the Mac Pro will be ARM.)

Extremely reassuring Apple formed a Pro Workflows Group. Very badly needed. You know there will be people with voices like ours in the room.

It's also great they have people pounding the GPU drivers. But I'd bet they're only shaping the AMD drivers.

 

[Aldaris]

I kinda like the original article better:

https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/05/apples-2019-imac-pro-will-be-shaped-by-workflows/

Ignore the URL, it talks a lot about the 'new' Mac Pro and its development.

Read through it and really have a deeper impression that something is rotten at Apple-not sure who not sure where, but Apple is introuble. Even the author felt that Apple only realized an “erosion” with the pro community closer to the April Apology meeting.

 

[Macintosh IIcx]

2019?

 

[dumastudetto]

2019?

If you can't wait, buy an iMac Pro and sell it once the new Mac Pro is available. It's not complicated.

 

[MarkJames68]

I would be more content if they enabled eGPU in the nMP now. While a crutch it’ll help.

 

[CWallace]

I would be more content if they enabled eGPU in the nMP now. While a crutch it’ll help.

Thunderbolt 2 does not have the bandwidth to make effective use of an eGPU.

 

[frou]

Really does not seem like it should be this difficult to put a bunch of high-end components, mostly manufactured by others, into a box.

The Mac Pro stewards at Apple have been afflicted with "overthinking to the n-th degree" for 5+ years now.

 

[Zarniwoop]

I kinda like the original article better:

https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/05/apples-2019-imac-pro-will-be-shaped-by-workflows/

Ignore the URL, it talks a lot about the 'new' Mac Pro and its development.

Edited first post, thanks.

 

[fuchsdh]

Read through it and really have a deeper impression that something is rotten at Apple-not sure who not sure where, but Apple is introuble. Even the author felt that Apple only realized an “erosion” with the pro community closer to the April Apology meeting.

I don't think that's anything nefarious, just the realization that the way Apple was doing things wasn't working.

Apple transitioned into a massive consumer electronics company with two big software platforms and was still trying to act like the c. 2000 underdogs instead of giving each project the dedicated teams it needs.

If Apple were actually in trouble they would have responded much sooner. But by and large they aren't, despite the doom and gloom, which probably plastered over their problems.

My Mac Pro keeps on trucking so I'm content to wait. Buying an iMac Pro and turning around to sell it in 9–20ish months doesn't really make economic sense.

 

[H. Flower]

The new article is mind boggling!!!

Release a tower with modern parts in 3 months and call it a day.

THESE PEOPLE ARE MORONS

 

[goMac]

Again, my guess as it has been, is they're working on something that involves not using currently off the shelf components. My guess is still PCIe card/GPU support with Thunderbolt.

If you're looking at this as "Apple can't put together a box with parts from Frys in two years" you're looking at it wrong. Not saying you have to like that, but whatever they're working on probably involves 2 years of work. To me that means they're working on something new with other vendors.

We know Apple won't release anything without Thunderbolt 3, so a quick release would mean sacrifices like another biazzaro custom GPU slot.

 

[Aldaris]

I don't think that's anything nefarious, just the realization that the way Apple was doing things wasn't working.

Apple transitioned into a massive consumer electronics company with two big software platforms and was still trying to act like the c. 2000 underdogs instead of giving each project the dedicated teams it needs.

If Apple were actually in trouble they would have responded much sooner. But by and large they aren't, despite the doom and gloom, which probably plastered over their problems.

My Mac Pro keeps on trucking so I'm content to wait. Buying an iMac Pro and turning around to sell it in 9–20ish months doesn't really make economic sense.

Arrogance, not nefariousness. Whether it is "rotten" culture, leadership, lack of vision, the depth they are out of touch is astounding.

 

[Macintosh IIcx]

If you can't wait, buy an iMac Pro and sell it once the new Mac Pro is available. It's not complicated.

Thanks, but no thanks

 

[jclmavg]

Thunderbolt 2 does not have the bandwidth to make effective use of an eGPU.

This is utter nonsense. A 1080ti egpu will run circles around the built-in AMD FirePro in the 6,1 trashcan.
[doublepost=1522957834][/doublepost]

I would be more content if they enabled eGPU in the nMP now. While a crutch it’ll help.

There's a patch available which removes the tb2 block. It's sad apple would intentionally disable this functionality.

 

[dumastudetto]

Thanks, but no thanks

Your loss. iMac Pro truly is a performance powerhouse, and that gorgeous 5k display is incredible with unparalleled color accuracy.

 

[zephonic]

Release a tower with modern parts in 3 months and call it a day.

That’s what Dell is for.

 

[AidenShaw]

Dec 31, 2019 Shipping!

And they only need to ship one on that date.

 

[Zarniwoop]

I have always thought that Apple has a "Pro Workflow Team"... but they, as it seems, have just recently set it up. Indeed very weird, and it seems to be pointing to the period when Captain Cook took the control of the ship and he had no vision for Mac. It wasn't a chick wearable in his rainbow land. And especially Pro machines were far from his world. The margins were not near the iToys. So he was about to get rid of them. Now he has just realised, that their core users were about to jump ship. Those who create apps and make their company chic. The creative gang.

I believe that theApple is willing to release next Mac Pro with low margins just to get their missionaries back.

One thing is sure. No one, who has any influence in the company, reads these discussions, because the problem has been noted here many, many times during the four years we've had the "waiting for Mac Pro" threads here. All the problems they just noted, have been talked here during past years.

Anyhoo, what do you think is the reason 2019 is the year?

 

[goMac]

I have always thought that Apple has a "Pro Workflow Team"...

LOL no. That's been the source of a lot of the problem. Ive gets to make decisions about what pro users want.

Closest thing would have been pre-Forstal-fired-reorg where nearly every Mac product had it's own product team that was dedicated to understanding the customer.

Indeed very weird, and it seems to be pointing to the period when Captain Cook took the control of the ship and he had no vision for Mac.

The history is more complicated than that.

Apple with Scott Forstall present wanted to slowly cut off the Mac's air supply and dedicate everything to iOS. macOS software quality started to decline because Forstall wanted to take all the good engineers from macOS (and Apple still hasn't really recovered.)

Cook did a very good thing if you like the Mac and fired Forstall, and then banished dedicated teams so the iOS people and the Mac people had to work with each other in the same team instead of fighting back and forth all day like the Apple II/Mac teams of old.

The bad thing Cook did was over integrating some teams. Mac hardware got mixed all together instead of having teams representing each products interest.

So yeah, Cook has messed some stuff up. But if he let Forstall continue to push iOS above all else, we wouldn't be talking about the Mac Pro at all right now. I think Cook hasn't been as effective as Jobs (who could be?) and he isn't as good at keeping talent at Apple as he should be. But he's also not as bad as people around here make him out to be.