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garrettstech

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 16, 2012
47
23
United States
As you can see from the title I am thinking about upgrading from my late 2006 imac core 2 duo to a mac pro but i was wondering if anyone thinks apple will be updating the mac pro anytime soon.:apple::apple:
 
dozens of threads on this, plus the Buyer's Guide, plus all the recurring news that Apple (and other computer companies) are waiting on Intel to release the proper chips. It's a moving target, and there is no set or even predictable timeframe. Maybe tomorrow, maybe by September - no one knows or can accurately guess.
 
As you can see from the title I am thinking about upgrading from my late 2006 imac core 2 duo to a mac pro but i was wondering if anyone thinks apple will be updating the mac pro anytime soon.:apple::apple:

Probably never will. It's all supply and demand.

1. The machine is way overpriced even though it has a lot of bells and whistles.
2. There is very little demand of it compared to the MBP, MBA, and the iMacs.
3. Apple probably make little $$ of it because of reason # 2.
4. Apple might have issue meeting energy star requirements for that power hungry brick.

Why design, develop, and market a machine that is not very popular and bring in little revenue for the company? I am not surprised if they secretly discontinue selling the mac pro this year.
 
Probably never will. It's all supply and demand.

1. The machine is way overpriced even though it has a lot of bells and whistles.
2. There is very little demand of it compared to the MBP, MBA, and the iMacs.
3. Apple probably make little $$ of it because of reason # 2.
4. Apple might have issue meeting energy star requirements for that power hungry brick.

Why design, develop, and market a machine that is not very popular and bring in little revenue for the company? I am not surprised if they secretly discontinue selling the mac pro this year.

It would be hard to see Apple without a desktop tower wouldn't it? They have had one forever I doubt they are going to discontinue it they might give it a redesign or make it a little more cheaper to meet the demands of the consumer market.
 
Pretty sure they'll release another Mac Pro.

Too many professionals rely on them. And no, a Mac Mini or Imac with Thunderbolt is not an alternative, yet. Maybe in 5 years when the tech is/if? fully implemented.

They're pretty committed to Final Cut Pro, which anyone using seriously can't use on a Mini or Imac. I don't see why they would continue this if they were not going to continue a Pro line of desktop. They'd have dropped it instead of re writing the program from the ground up.

Whilst they don't sell the same numbers as Imacs and laptops, they do still sell them, and at a decent profit. Why stop?
 
Probably never will. It's all supply and demand.

1. The machine is way overpriced even though it has a lot of bells and whistles.
2. There is very little demand of it compared to the MBP, MBA, and the iMacs.
3. Apple probably make little $$ of it because of reason # 2.
4. Apple might have issue meeting energy star requirements for that power hungry brick.

Why design, develop, and market a machine that is not very popular and bring in little revenue for the company? I am not surprised if they secretly discontinue selling the mac pro this year.

1. It's still cheaper than a comparably equipped HP/Dell machine of identical specs.
2. Going by this logic they should immediately cease all Mac production, as iphone sales last year sold more than all macs, ever.
3. Nobody knows this outside of Apple.
4. They also might not.

Your logic is flawed in so many ways.

@OP: The search button is your friend. Until Intel releases (the delayed) Ivy Bridge Xeon's, there's nothing to upgrade to. Nobody else has really upgraded any of their high end Xeon based machines either.
 
Where is it overpriced?
The base model is a bit expensive, but the other available models are on par with similar workstations from HP and Dell and even cheaper sometimes.

I LOVE Apple stuff, huge supporter, but don't know why people are convinced theres bang for the buck in the Mac Pro.

A single quad core outdated chip, an outdated gfx card, 3GB of ram, a basic 7200 rpm drive, a single dvd burner drive, a wired mouse and keyboard, and no monitor, no thunderbolt, For $2500 plus tax. If that isn't overpriced what is? AGAIN I WOULD LOVE a Mac Pro, but this $2500 dollar "entry" fee just to get in the door is a LOT.

The LEAST apple could do (and I know its against apples pricing guidelines over the years) is to offer the current Mac Pro for something like $1499 which may be about what its worth, maybe. Then I would totally support going BACK to the 2499 price once they update the heck out of it. and for $1499, you could add a display for 999, so for 2499 you'd have a complete system.
 
I LOVE Apple stuff, huge supporter, but don't know why people are convinced theres bang for the buck in the Mac Pro.

A single quad core outdated chip, an outdated gfx card, 3GB of ram, a basic 7200 rpm drive, a single dvd burner drive, a wired mouse and keyboard, and no monitor, no thunderbolt, For $2500 plus tax. If that isn't overpriced what is? AGAIN I WOULD LOVE a Mac Pro, but this $2500 dollar "entry" fee just to get in the door is a LOT.

The LEAST apple could do (and I know its against apples pricing guidelines over the years) is to offer the current Mac Pro for something like $1499 which may be about what its worth, maybe. Then I would totally support going BACK to the 2499 price once they update the heck out of it. and for $1499, you could add a display for 999, so for 2499 you'd have a complete system.

It's not really an outdated chip. Sandy Bridge Xeons are only starting to be released now. A lot of people seem to forget the difference between Xeons and ECC memory, and i7s and non-ECC. That is a big part of the price right there. It would be nice to have a lower end i7 version of the Mac Pro for iMac like performance, with the expandability and video of a Mac Pro.

You are getting what you pay for. Workstation-class applications, such as 3-D calculations, computation, etc.. all benefit from error correcting memory. If you don't need that, you don't want a Mac Pro, you want an i7 in a Mac Pro-like case. Unfortunately there isn't one short of a hackintosh.

I partially blame intel. The i7 Extreme is basically a Xeon with ECC and multiprocessor configurations disabled. Apple could have used that for an entry level Mac Pro. (Call it the Mac semiPro or something)
 
Well if its really an Extreme Edition under the name XEON, it makes some sense, but they REALLY should have done some updating...OR lower the price. Its like selling a 2 year old car at full price with no improvements.
 
Well if its really an Extreme Edition under the name XEON, it makes some sense, but they REALLY should have done some updating...OR lower the price. Its like selling a 2 year old car at full price with no improvements.

All this is why there exists a PC market. The Mac Pro is a Xeon workstation as it stands right now. Whether or not you think a Xeon is worth it to you is a personal opinion. Their is no Extreme Xeon variants. The W3680 when released was the same as a Core i7-980x but they never called it "extreme". Apple really never reduces the price on it's fleet. The 1999.00 version sells for that price on the 1st day and the last day while in production. It is up to the user to get the most bang for their buck by buying early. If you buy early you end up with very little "Apple Tax". You buy late you give Apple a bunch of extra cash. They are set systems. Also being that this is a Xeon workstation, there was only a few nominal upgrades they could have done. I thought they should have at least maxed out X58 last year though with X5690's on the top end instead of the 2.93GHz hex's. But then they would have less profit.
 
you make valid points.


However, If I went out and bought a Mac Pro right now, what would people say? I overpaid, not worth it, wait for update, etc. and if thats the case the price should be lower.
 
you make valid points.


However, If I went out and bought a Mac Pro right now, what would people say? I overpaid, not worth it, wait for update, etc. and if thats the case the price should be lower.

Well, you buy a computer when you need a computer.

If I had to add another workstation to my editing suite and I needed it now/yesterday, I buy the workstation. In such a situation, I'm losing more than I'm gaining by waiting a few extra months for Intel to release new chips for Apple to build new Mac Pros.

The base Mac Pro quad should be priced somewhere around $1500-1700, given the value of parts. Everyone knows that, but I would guess that the current pricing structure on the iMac line prevents that very thing from happening. At that point, a lot fewer "on-the-fence" people would be buying 27" quad-core iMacs if getting base Mac Pros with 3rd-party displays achieves price parity (or close to it).

The last of the great value Mac Pros were the base 8-core 3,1s at $2799. And they were an absolute steal for the $1799 EOL price I paid for one in early 2009. I doubt we'll see that again...
 
you make valid points.


However, If I went out and bought a Mac Pro right now, what would people say? I overpaid, not worth it, wait for update, etc. and if thats the case the price should be lower.

People say every apple product is overpriced that's nothing new...:rolleyes::D

If you have a need for Thunderbolt/USB3/Sata 6Gb then waiting may be a good idea. If not, go get one.

My MP will be a year old next week and I have no regrets. It does exactly what I bought it to do, and does it extremely well. Applecare is on it and I'll likely use it well past the expiration of it.
 
Good points! I agree, I am one who feel the prices for apple stuff IS worth it, own a bunch of apple product. I just always wanted to get a Mac Pro, and I figured it would be a good time to get in on one if they would drop the price for a minute..but doubt that will happen!
 
We purchased 2 6 core 2010 mac pros 2 months ago. We purchased them because we needed them at that point. They have already paid for themselves and will continue to do so for another 4 years.

Still waiting for the new ones for other system upgrades.
 
I LOVE Apple stuff, huge supporter, but don't know why people are convinced theres bang for the buck in the Mac Pro.

A single quad core outdated chip, an outdated gfx card, 3GB of ram, a basic 7200 rpm drive, a single dvd burner drive, a wired mouse and keyboard, and no monitor, no thunderbolt, For $2500 plus tax. If that isn't overpriced what is? AGAIN I WOULD LOVE a Mac Pro, but this $2500 dollar "entry" fee just to get in the door is a LOT.

The LEAST apple could do (and I know its against apples pricing guidelines over the years) is to offer the current Mac Pro for something like $1499 which may be about what its worth, maybe. Then I would totally support going BACK to the 2499 price once they update the heck out of it. and for $1499, you could add a display for 999, so for 2499 you'd have a complete system.


I DISAGREE.

I used windows machines and they are unstable. There are millions of viruses, trojans, spyware and malware that effect its performance. If you interact with the net you are in danger with a Windows machine.

The fact that in the 7 macs i have purchased, 2 of which have been running since 2003 and 2007 respectively, I have never had a single infectious problem. I have never turned these off accept to blow the dust out.
This feature is worth about 1k by itself.

The top of the line 17" MBP is quite powerful but is no match for my quad 3.0 Intel (pre-Nahalem).
I macs are a joke for a high end, graphics & edit bay. Yes it can be done but you will have to have patience and you should never expect to adequately modify the hardware.

The tower is hands down the most powerful machine for a pro editor, 3d artist or a swiss army, one man band.

They are expensive but if you are buying the machine for major processing as i do, you need the tower.

As far as sells is concern, i just mentioned that i have 7 (not including 2 mbp 17"). If they come out with a new one i will have to get 2 at the minimum to keep me and my crew in sync and up to date.

Most broadcast and motion picture studios would have to purchase 10 or more. You cant sell 10 iphones, 10 ipads, to one person as a norm. Yet every editor i know has 2 or more towers.

It would be extra stupid for Apple to kick the people who made them popular to the side. The mac craze started when people noticed that the pro music studios, broadcast outfits, and other production houses were using them.

This may be the last mac pro made but it will sell like hotcakes.
 
Yay, another thread on "When will the Mac Pro be updated". Let me summarize:

  • "Hopefully when updated Xeon processors are shipping in quantity."
  • "No one really needs an overpriced Mac Pro - just get ___ instead."
  • "Waaah, Apple doesn't care about the professionals anymore, they just want to sell iStuff."
  • "If you really need one for work, buy it and stop complaining."
  • "Why wait when you can stick it to The Man and build a Hackintosh now!"

Will someone make this an FAQ, please?
 
This may be the last mac pro made but it will sell like hotcakes.

Is that another rumour.
Sigh!

I guess as soon as they are out a new discontinuation rumour will start. I mean there is even a rumour that the MBP 17 is being discontinued. This one is almost funny given the number of musicians, film makers, DJs... that I see with them.

Soon Apple will have two products only, the iPhone and the iPad!
 
yay, another thread on "when will the mac pro be updated". Let me summarize:

  • "hopefully when updated xeon processors are shipping in quantity."
  • "no one really needs an overpriced mac pro - just get ___ instead."
  • "waaah, apple doesn't care about the professionals anymore, they just want to sell istuff."
  • "if you really need one for work, buy it and stop complaining."
  • "why wait when you can stick it to the man and build a hackintosh now!"

will someone make this an faq, please?

Another ride in the Waaaahmbulance.....

+1
 
It's not really an outdated chip. Sandy Bridge Xeons are only starting to be released now. A lot of people seem to forget the difference between Xeons and ECC memory, and i7s and non-ECC. That is a big part of the price right there. It would be nice to have a lower end i7 version of the Mac Pro for iMac like performance, with the expandability and video of a Mac Pro.

You are getting what you pay for. Workstation-class applications, such as 3-D calculations, computation, etc.. all benefit from error correcting memory. If you don't need that, you don't want a Mac Pro, you want an i7 in a Mac Pro-like case. Unfortunately there isn't one short of a hackintosh.

I partially blame intel. The i7 Extreme is basically a Xeon with ECC and multiprocessor configurations disabled. Apple could have used that for an entry level Mac Pro. (Call it the Mac semiPro or something)

No, people do not "forget" the difference between Xeons/i7s and ECC/non ECC. It's that the price differences are not that big. We just bought 24 gigs of Mac Pro ram for under 200 dollars. The Mac Pro comes with ...3? The entry level CPU is about 300 dollars.

The base level Mac Pro is a complete rip off. It's a sub 1000 dollar machine priced at 2499. It's nothing less than shameful.
 
I DISAGREE.

I used windows machines and they are unstable. There are millions of viruses, trojans, spyware and malware that effect its performance. If you interact with the net you are in danger with a Windows machine.

What a load of codswallop. You obviously don't know how to keep your machine safe.
 
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