“There was a time when differentiating between Apple’s pro and consumer lines was easy,” Michael Simon writes for Macworld. “Even after Apple stopped painting its entry-level Macs with candy-flavored colors, there was always a clear separation between the machines meant for professionals and the ones for everyone else. They didn’t just look the part, they delivered the power, performance and features the majority of people didn’t need but pros demanded (and could afford).”
“As the first major revision in more than 4 years, Apple’s new notebooks seem to tick off the right boxes. They’re fast. They have improved retina displays. They’re fitted with the latest expansion ports. The 15-incher is powerful enough to drive a pair of 5K displays,” Simon writes. “And that’s before we get to the svelte and powerful Touch Bar.”
“But it’s hard not to see a shift in Apple’s thinking. While its price is certainly commensurate with its predecessors, the new MacBook Pro isn’t your standard professional notebook,” Simon writes. “Rather, the latest flagship portables from Cupertino are more in line with the iPad Pro than the MacBook Pros they replace, and it could signal major changes ahead for the rest of the lineup.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Which dies* first: MacBook Air, Mac mini, or Mac Pro?
*gets subsumed into an existing Mac line
Good grief.
Gee whiz, none of us use a Mac Pro at the coffee shop. I don’t see why anyone would need one. They have too many muscles. I don’t like it. Let’s just get rid of all that bulky mess. Things will be so much neater. And besides, what have scientists done for us lately? They’re losers.
Apple is right on track for end of computing as we know it.
“If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it’s worth — and get busy on the next great thing. The PC wars are over. Done. Microsoft won a long time ago.”
— STEVE JOBS Fortune, Feb. 19, 1996
Steve said that just before coming back to Apple, and this is exactly the direction they are moving in. They are following the “Jobs Doctrine.”
Obviously the “next great thing” turned out to be the iPhone and iPad. And you cannot argue with their success. The iPhone, not the Mac, made them the biggest company in the world. The iPhone is where all their major profits come from. They are “The iPhone Company.”
It is not exactly “gadgets” that they are focusing on, but information appliances and services.
Apple is not interested in making conventional computers any more. Ironically, Apple and Microsoft seem to be switching places. Microsoft is doubling down on computers and courting the creative and power user. Apple is reinventing the Information Technology industry.
Each time a Mac “power user” tells me that he/she cannot use an iPad for their daily work, I try to remind them that they are not the market Apple is interested in. Such people are a tiny fraction of computer users. Most people, by far, can get along with an iPad. Global Stats today published stats that show for the first time this year, mobile devices and tablets are the dominant form of device accessing the Internet. Apple is following this upward trend.
Look at the enterprise efforts of IBM and CISCO with Apple. While the Mac is mentioned, (and used in the case of IBM) the focus of those efforts is on iOS devices.
All of this sounds like what Steve was planning.
Except for the silly adventures Apple goes off on, the basically fail, i.e. the watch, building cars, buying Beats, and so on, where they stick with the Jobs Doctrine, they are succeeding.
I’m surprised that everyone has forgotten this. This is the “POST PC ERA,” as named by Steve, remember? Apple is giving up on “trucks,” handing that business over to whoever wants it and concentrating on cars.
Did truck got obsolete? No. Even in the future there will be a need for bigger and heavier transportation. Same thing with computers.
New efficient computer formats are emerging and replacing just the “truck” computers that were doing a lighter work. Because computers components where not small enough most people where using big “truck” computers. Now they are not needed everywhere. And even those with higher moderate computer needs may find today’s mobile Macs and PCs more than enough for their needs.
But the need for powerful, modular and sometimes exotic components inside “workstation” class computers is steadily growing today. This is for engineering fields, research, science, content creation and even PC gaming is growing in 2016 and will grow even more in the coming years according to recent studies. Nobody needs to feel ofended by terms like “pro”, “workstation”, “power user” or “truck”. It is not and indicative of how smart you are.
There will always be a need, but it’s a niche market. Think of Apple as Tesla. Tesla isn’t building Mac Trucks, Tesla builds cars. Apple has sold a billion+ iPhones.
It’s not about being offended, it’s about how weird it is that we’re surprised by this when this is exactly the plan Steve publicly laid out on more than one occasion before he died.
The plan was to move the massive market to a new more efficient platform not about killing the development and support for power users using OS X or Mac tools to produce iOS apps and content.
Tesla does not build trucks today but in the future they will. Tesla is starting to produce batteries for more than just cars.
You don’t understand, we are also your providers, we support the bigger user base and Apple itself. We are partners with Apple and with all users.
At the same time though, I believe they will find, much to their chagrin, that the Mac is far more important to their success than they think. The blood and DNA of the Mac runs through their product lines.
I buy iPhones and iPads without shopping because I am a Mac user. Allowing the Mac to flounder has they have has given me a wandering eye when it comes to computer.
The convention computer, the “truck” as it were, is the hub of my IT world. If I were to switch to Windows or more likely to Ubuntu/LINUX, I might start looking at other phones, tablets, and focusing on builging my own “ecosystem” that doesn’t tie me to one vendor.
I don’t think Apple believes that will happen. I think that the way they see it, by the time it’s an issue, we’ll all be on iOS.
I agree, Apple is disowning the creatives for the consumers. Certainly most people are the latter, but Apple’s soul used to come from the former.
I want to upgrade my MacBook Pro’s (I use two) and get a high end Mac Pro. But there literally isn’t one that is an upgrade for me – so where do I go?
And I love the new features, streamlining of ports, etc. So it is extra frustrating to consider that Macs will never again (seemingly) be the best machines to create on if you have upper end PC computing needs.
I am very sad.
In my opinion they are becoming more of a gadget company than a pro computer company.
I predict that power users who need a professional desktop will be running something other than an Apple computer 5 years from now.
Sadly, yes.
Rather than a gadget company or pro computer company, I think of Apple as more of a dongle company.
Totally agree. They are working hard to penetrate the enterprise but are destroying the very machines the power users in the enterprise require. I totally don’t get it. I am a Filemaker developer and use a 27″ iMac for all my work. There is no tricking way I can effectively use a laptop. I shiver when I say it, but my next desktop will very likely be a PC and once I am on that road, it will very likely be bye, bye Apple for everything else. Sorry, there are no longer people smarter than me running Apple as I used to think.
Laptops are fine, but for heavy duty apps they fall way short of the mark. Microsoft would be very happy if Apple let all the dev tools for iOS and OS X move to the PC.
>There is no tricking way I can effectively use a laptop.
The new Macbook Pros can drive two 5K displays simultaneously. Ever hear of a docking station?
This comment does not do you any favor.
You may believe a top CPU inside a MBP is as powerful as a CPU inside a top iMac? Do you believe the new MBP supports 32 GB of RAM. And the new AMD 460M can compete with the one inside the iMac but this is because the iMac is not update yet.
Wow you are uninformed.
There are no MacBook Pro’s with high end RAM or card options at all.
There are no Mac Pro options with high end GPU options anymore.
It isn’t about running large monitors – it is about the fact that many creative pursuits involve lots of data and processing speed.
What is good is waiting for two hours looking at a large monitor going to do? I want to upgrade, but Apple’s nice new machines (they are nice0 are not “Pro” in performance.
This is a completely different situation from the iPhone and iPad which do have top of the line performance for their categories.
But what about those of us that develop for iOS? That still requires an actual Mac. Can’t do it on an iPad or Windows machine. Unless Apple allows MacOS and iOS apps to be developed on another platform, they NEED to keep the Mac around, presumably in a form that people will be willing to buy.
That will change. iOS development tools will migrate to iOS soon enough.
Wish I could disagree with you, but it’s getting harder and harder.
Actually it was the Macbook that was a prelude of things to come.
Even when updated, Cook stubbornly kept that solitary, ridiculous port as a warning. The message is that Apple plans to only sell locked down, non-upgradeble netbooks for super-premium prices from now on.
The Tim Cook way:
Strategically remove Magsafe, then make them as thin and light as possible, so they are unable to withstand the slightest of drops without breaking and having to be replaced (same methodology used on iPads since the introduction of the iPad Air).
I’m just glad MDN uers are finally understanding the psychology of Apple’s most DISASTROUS leader.
As TM said above, it’s not just the Tim way. It was the Steve way as well.
I disagree. Certainly Steve found the new best thing, but that doesn’t require doing a poor job on Macs.
For starters, Macs ARE part of the iOS ecosystem. If you want to downgrade them from being the hub, at least recognize they are the most important satellite product and are in no danger of being eclipsed by iOS devices for many categories of work (unless Apple keeps intentionally dumbing them down).
MacPro needs to be much more utilitarian, and much less a work of art.
I have got to believe that Apple could make a really nice MacPro desktop, with 2 drive bays, 2 PCI slots, 4 RAM slots, that looks awesome, has a tidy profit margin, and doesn’t cost $5000.
And no, it doesn’t have to be 1/4 inch thick and weigh less than 5 lb.
If Apple used state of the art sub-systems in this kind of machine, it wouldn’t matter so much when they wait 5 years to update it.
8 RAM slots for high-end Intel Core i7 processors is standard
A utilitarian Mac Pro WOULD be a work of art.
The beauty of a design is how well it fits its purpose. A MacBook is beautiful for being slim and mobile. Any machine for “Pro” users with demanding needs is beautiful if it does that well.
The new MacBook “Pro”s are extremely beautiful MacBooks, but lousy MacBook Pro’s. The Mac “Pro” is an aging but nice form factor for a “Mac” but terribly ugly as a Mac “Pro”.
““There was a time when differentiating between Apple’s pro and consumer lines was easy,””
Actually, it’s just a matter of going into an Apple Store, and you can see very clearly the distinction. Right now Apple is offering a plethora of computers, from the MacBook Airs, the last gen MacBook Pros, and now the new ones. Not to mention the desktop computers. There are now literally dozens of computer configurations to choose from if you want a Mac, from $500 on up to several thousand dollars. I really don’t see a problem here.
Its true… they dropped the price slightly on the SSD upgrade options on the mac pro… that counts right?
http://www.macrumors.com/2016/11/01/apple-drops-prices-on-ssd-upgrades-for-older-macs/
You’re funny…
I believe Apple now despises the Desktop and will abandon it completely. It’s already on with the slap to the face they just gave desktop users.
There is no place for the Air. Very little real distance between the MB and MBP at this point.
The trashcan is dead, may it RIP.
Bring back the old Mac Pro case with the latest Intel Xeon processors, DDR4 SDRAM and NVMe SSDs. Update to TB3 and 1/10G Ethernet.
Those specs are what every PC parts makers and box has had for over a year now… NAB 2016 was an all windows show, because there were no macs with TB3 yet.. so all the new hardware was demoing on Windows machines.
When I was using my G5 (back in the day) I never once, not ONCE (except for software installations and one rainstorm) had to restart that machine in four years.
” Apple proved that it isn’t ignoring the Mac, but it is preparing for a day when the model you buy isn’t what makes you a pro. Its what you’re able to create with it that does…….”
Ha?! who buys a pro machine and thinks he/she has become a pro ?
Pros need machines powerful and flexible enough to support their processing and creativity needs…. … Apple is not delivering in that front…. Apple IS ignoring that demographic !
Apple… ignore the the REAL Pros and the hard core Kid gamers… and you will be messing with your Brand’s credibility and future in a huge way!… Massive mistake!!
hope you are listening AND hearing Apple!
On one hand I think Apple has moved past the small “professional” desktop market, to focus on the consumer and prosumer instead. To keep their growth cycle going, they need to move hundreds of millions of devices, not just a few million. To do this, Apple needs to sell devices that are more individual. One for each person, not one for each household.
It seems pretty clear that Apple is in a multi-year transition to downsize their desktop/laptop platform. It will be gradual, with the Pro features finding their way into the iMac line first, perhaps with a high-end prosumer version to handle Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro. Then the iMac and MacBook Lines will get trimmed back.
Apple is a mobile company, and they have been moving their mindshare to resolving mobile computing lifestyle issues (iPhone, iPads, EarPods, iWatch, etc), through their iOS platform, supporting always connected cellular data plans. They want to make computers as mobile and connected as they can. The history books are already written, and it’s a post X86 world already.
The trash can is effectively dead. Macbook air is on life support. But please don’t kill the mac mini!!
So what of iTunes? With no Mac computers those who wish to have their iTunes files at home will be forced to migrate to Windows machines? Or is there some other plan for iTunes files? I have more than 1.5TB of music alone, not to mention podcasts, books, and video. Personally, I’m not going to store that much data in a pay for it by the month iCloud account.
With 1.5TB of music, I am sure that you already realize that iTunes really, really sucks. I have a lot (not that much) and I find iTunes painfully slow and unresponsive.