“Apple hasn’t significantly updated the new Mac Pro since introducing it at WWDC 2013 and that’s led some to believe the company is giving up on their high-end desktop, the way they gave up on Xserve, their high-end server, in the past,” Rene Ritchie writes for iMore.
“I didn’t buy the rev A modern Mac Pro, but I fully intended to buy the rev B. It just never came. Not a year later, not two years later, and now not three years later. It might come next spring but no one outside Apple really knows for sure. And that creates an incredible amount of stress and anxiety in the community,” Ritchie writes. “Stress and anxiety they don’t deserve.”
“It may be impossible for a company like Apple to devote attention to every product all the time,” Ritchie writes. “The problem is the lack of updates for some of them — Mac Pro and Mac mini specifically — in between.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote just yesterday: “If Apple loses the Mac professionals, they’ll have lost the plot.”
SEE ALSO:
Imagine a world without Apple’s Mac Pro – November 7, 2016
Hopefully the astounding success of the MBP update convinces Apple that pro Macs are still worth investing in. They just need to listen to their users a little.
If they haven’t already decided to update the Mac Pro, the reception of the MacBook Pro won’t make any difference.
Cook is interested only in gay issues and the iPhone. The only way for Cook to pay any attention to the Mac Pro is if the machine was gay, ignored and discriminated against, or if they include a phone inside the Mac Pro.
If none of the above, then the Mac Pro is dead.
Get off the “gay” issue. It diminishes to almost nothing any other rational argument you may have.
Tim Cook’s Apple has made many wrong moves in the last 18 months, NONE of which are related to Tim Cook’s sexuality.
You do know that Apple was very, very openly in favor of open sexuality and diverse sexual attitudes as far back as the 1980s, don’t you? You do know that back in the 70s Apple didn’t open a major support center in one town because the local government said they’d have to drop their same sex partner support for things like health care.
Apple’s support of open sexuality is not a new thing. Not even close. So get over it.
There is a fine line between taking a position on gay marriage as company policy and using a company to advocate. I saw no problem with Apple taking a stand not caving to a local town’s demands about same sex partners. Apple’s human relations department made a strategic decision to defend it workforce from discrimination. Good call. However, becoming an advocate for gay rights is a different issue. When Tim Cook takes political positions and uses the wieght of Apple’s brand — in other words uses my investiment in Apple — change voters minds, I do have issues. Tim Cook represents me as an investor and is working in my interest via Apple’s interests. When he backs a candidate with the implied backing of my investment, he, in my mind, damages the Apple brand. In today’s election about 45% will vote for Hillary and 45% for Trump. Taking a position damages the brand with the oppossing 45%. I know I vote with my purchases based on a companies stated backing. I’m sure I’m not alone. Cook has an obligation to remain neutral in issues which do not directly impact the company.
I agree that *corporations* should have less involvement in politics. Campaign funding reform is needed to reduce the amount of corporate money in politics. There is no way that a corporation’s political actions can reasonably represent a diverse ownership (stockholders).
However, Tim Cook the person is free to do as he sees fit. he has no obligation, legal or otherwise, to “remain neutral.” If the BoD believes that Cook is an unfit representative or is damaging the brand, then they can oust him. And the shareholders vote for the BoD, so the ultimate power is (theoretically) in the hands of the owners. In practice, however, only the largest shareholders really matter.
WTF does any of this have to do with a decision to update Mac Pros?
Exactly! Doofus types like to interject ridiculous notions that Tim’s preferences are somehow getting in the way of products coming our way, No more so than straight CEO’s distractedly chasing skirt in their executive offices which is FAR more prevalent – no doubt.
Bringing up gay or straight distraction issues in a CEO as effecting their job shows just what a childish brain dead goofball bonehead you are. And you think if you say it often enough someone might agree with you. (Only other likewise homophobe brain dead idjits from Trollville.)
Apple is probably working on a home made version of “hackintosh” kit. This excellent initiative, to possibly build the best adapted workstation by oneself, might drill back lots of creatives to the Mac!
Wow! Great idea! THANK YOU APPLE!
This is really easy. 1) Don’t release products that are non-upgradable (or barely so). 2) Have some sort of predictable release schedule. 3) Signal some sort of intent of what’s coming to your customers so they can make plans with their money.
How about just picking one of the above Apple? Lol
After about 18 Apple products, I’ve begun looking at the exit door. Problem is there is nothing on the other side but a cliff. I won’t do Windows again. A significant revision of iOS that lets my iPad “Pro” be “pro” and simply “pro enough” would keep me in the flock. But yes, MDN, when professionals like myself start looking for the exits, Apple is in trouble.
I am sorry to hear that you are “…looking at the exit door.” I really am. I greatly value the pros who do such wonderful things using Macs. And the pros had a lot to do with keeping Apple going during the dark years of 1992-1997. But don’t fool yourself. Apple is a much larger, stronger, and more diverse company than it was in the 1990s. Even if you and other pros leave, Apple will be fine.
I don’t want you or other pros to leave, but that is up to you and your professional/business decisions. I do not try to push people onto Macs and I do not try to keep them from leaving. As you note, however, your options may be rather limited.
Diverse company? They are a giant jenga tower balanced on top of one product. The iPhone.
Right on thanx. I’ve been looking too. I don’t know if it’s Cook or who, but I’m sick of all the minimalism Ive does. Jobs was into that too, but enough is enough.
It is also time for this idea of what a PRO is to be done away with. Computers are mind augmenting devices. They enhance our productivity in countless ways. Our ability to absorb, store, manipulate, and export information is significantly amplified by computers. The greater the power of the computer, the greater we are at whatever our tasks may be, and those tasks far exceed just video editing and image editing.
Apple needs to realize this. In thinking that they are ONLY neglecting a niche market of creative computer users, and the rest of us are just fine with underpowered overly expensive gadgets, they are missing the fact that the macOS is the foundation upon which our relationship with their so called ecosystem rests.
Of all the half baked ideas that Apple has tossed out there in recent years, the neglect of the Macintosh is the most dangerous to the continued success of the company. The Macintosh is the platform of those who influence others and that influence across the board is more powerful than every dipstick commercial they put on the air. Every day Apple fails to acknowledge the platform in their future plans is a day that diminishes the interest of the influencers.
Steve talked about trucks and cars as his analogy of where computing is headed. I get that. The problem is that Apple hasn’t given us cars and trucks. They’ve basically handed us scooters in the form of the iPad and told us to just make multiple trips if we need to carry more.
Steve said he would “milk the Mac for all it’s worth and move on to the next great thing.” That’s fine, but many Apple core users will be moving on as well.
It’s time to rethink the Mac.
https://www.wired.com/2016/10/surface-studio-creative-apple/
I’m not necessarily espousing this product (although I find it intriguing), but giving some media context about where Apple is perceived to be heading.
Having just expressed deep concern over Apple’s new offerings, I can steadfastly tell you that anything running any Windows OS is a complete non-starter in my book. I won’t go back to that mess of an OS. I just had to help someone on their Surface Pro, which I had been contemplating to replace my iPad Pro, and all the old frustrations with an inside-out, half-baked, monkey-coded mess that is Windows came flooding back to me.
After more years than I wish to say, if it wasn’t for the operating system, I’d be gone. There is no “love” for the Mac. There is no Mac Voice in Apple any more. It’s phone this, thin that, and tunes. Doesn’t Apple know that it’s losing it’s identity? Apple, if you don’t want to be in the computer business, just say so. Do you ever ask your customers what they want? What they need? I can save you a great deal of your R & D cost. TALK TO US. At least cover the basics while your trying to come up with the next great thing. I look at the Mac Pro and just cry while hearing the words, “Who says Apple Can’t Innovate”. Right Phil
Again, guys, complaining on a forum won’t get anything done. go to apple.com/feedback and tell them. Also, send emails and tweets to Phil Schiller and Tim Cook. That’ll get stuff done much more than saying it here.
I don’t think Apple will be building a Mac Pro that most of you or I would like. There will probably never come the day where we can go to a store and simply choose the graphics cards that we want to use. Apple will likely never support any computer that would be able to accept Intel CPU upgrades either. Apple seems to be only going after non-standard designs to set their computers apart from everyone else. I’m not angry but I am just a little disappointed Apple has to go that route. Computers users can barely upgrade is good for Apple customer support as it makes it easier and faster to troubleshoot any particular problem a user is having.
I know the iPhone is very important to Apple but I see no real reason Apple can’t keep updating the Mac line-up. The company is making more than enough money to keep the Mac line-up level with current industry specs. I’m hoping this period is just a lull until Apple gets the new corporate headquarters up and running in a year or so. Maybe they’re just caught in a transition period. If not, either Apple doesn’t have an ounce of pride left or they’ve just turned into a bean-counting company.
What about iMac? Desperately need to upgrade my iMac!
I’ve been needing to upgrade to a new desktop Mac for quite some time. Been saving, trying to get the $$$ together to make it happen. Finally I got there.
When, leading up to the ‘event’ I started seeing pretty reliable rumors there’d be no desktop announcements, I bit the bullet and ordered a new 2015 27″ iMac w/4.0GHz i7 & 512GB SSD. From what I can tell, there aren’t any processor upgrades on the horizon that’ll make a huge speed difference, perhaps somewhat faster SSDs and memory speeds, but nothing that’d make what’s available now seem slow by comparison.
Conversely, waiting meant I’d most likely need dongles for my USB devices and my expensive Apogee Ensemble audio interface (TB2). I’d rather need dongles for whatever FUTURE peripherals I might buy that are USB-C (and they’ll possibly be included with whatever these may be). Additionally, with Apple’s push to the ‘no user upgradable parts’ way of building devices, how long will it be before even the 27″ iMac doesn’t allow the user to upgrade the RAM? Meaning I’d have to live with whatever memory configuration I order (and pay heavily for) from Apple.
This machine is blazingly fast. Regardless what comes down the pike this coming Spring (or whenever) I couldn’t be happier with my decision not to wait.
My image of “PRO” in relation to a “consumer” version of the product mainly focuses on how much freedom a user has to customize it. Also, a PRO version most likely assumes that the user is much more experienced in being able to deal with lower level details and problems of the product in order to maximize performance compared to the ‘appliance’ ideal for consumer level versions. Apple has lost sight of what “PRO” represents for the power user.
I have to admit that I’ve gotten tired of waiting for Apple to update the iMac. I’ve been purchasing the parts to build my own computer. Which will have much more power than the “current” flavor of MacPro, but cost much less.
PLEASE… sign this petition to REMOVE TIM COOK… he has to GO!!!
https://www.change.org/p/apple-board-of-directors-remove-tim-cook-as-ceo-of-apple
“It may be impossible for a company like Apple to devote attention to every product all the time,” Ritchie writes.
Rubbish. Get to it Apple! Multi-task.