“‘We have big plans for the iMac,’ Phil Schiller, Apple’s SVP of worldwide marketing, said during a recent reporter roundtable at the company’s Machine Shop hardware prototyping lab. ‘We’re going to begin making configurations of iMac specifically with the pro customer in mind,'” John Paczkowski reports for Buzzfeed.
“Company executives… confirm a feature the pro iMac will not have: touchscreen,” Paczkowski reports. “‘No,’ Schiller said when asked if Apple would consider building such a thing. ‘Touch doesn’t even register on the list of things pro users are interested in talking about. They’re interested in things like performance and storage and expandability.'”
“For Apple, adding pro level iMacs to its desktop lineup is more of an inevitability than anything else,” Paczkowski reports. “After notebooks, the iMac is the second-most popular Mac among pro users, according to the company.”
Read more in the full article here.
“Apple is currently hard at work on a ‘completely rethought’ Mac Pro, with a modular design that can accommodate high-end CPUs and big honking hot-running GPUs, and which should make it easier for Apple to update with new components on a regular basis,” John Gruber writes for Daring Fireball. “They’re also working on Apple-branded pro displays to go with them.”
“I also have not-so-great news: These next-gen Mac Pros and pro displays ‘will not ship this year,'” Gruber writes. “In the meantime, Apple is today releasing meager speed-bump updates to the existing Mac Pros. The $2999 model goes from 4 Xeon CPU cores to 6, and from dual AMD G300 GPUs to dual G500 GPUs. The $3999 model goes from 6 CPU cores to 8, and from dual D500 GPUs to dual D800 GPUs. Nothing else is changing, including the ports. No USB-C, no Thunderbolt 3 (and so no support for the LG UltraFine 5K display).”
Gruber writes, “But more good news, too: Apple has ‘great’ new iMacs in the pipeline, slated for release ‘this year,’ including configurations specifically targeted at large segments of the pro market.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Obviously, by calling a “reporter roundtable” to talk pro-level Macs, Apple brass are feeling the pressure.
Properly done, “iMac Pro” could work. Of course, we write that literally years after having been pushed by Apple to the “Just do something! Anything!” mindset and beyond.
Regarding the Mac Pro, no speed bumps are evident at Apple’s online store, yet. As for the next-gen Mac Pro and pro displays: Better they come way, way late, than never!!!
On a sobering note, here’s just one recent missive of many we’ve received lately:
Our company moved from old Mac Pros to Windows boxes a year and a half ago. Got tired of waiting and having no roadmap for the future.
Apple has their work cut out trying to woo back all of the pros they stupidly drove off over the last 2-3 years due to their own silence and inaction.
—
As with many things under Tim Cook, there’s too much that seems to be a bit too little and way too late. — MacDailyNews, December 23, 2016
Apple ceding the display business damages the Apple brand. Apple does not lead in an essential personal computing component and other companies logos are destined to be in Mac users’ faces all day long. Not smart. Cook & Co. should reconsider their decision and make and sell Apple-branded displays. Direct profits aren’t the issue, ancillary profits are; smart executives like Cook should be able to recognize the power of perception. — MacDailyNews, January 5, 2017
Not making Apple-branded, Apple-designed displays is an example of Compaq thinking, Tim. — MacDailyNews, February 17, 2017
SEE ALSO:
Mac Pro: Why did it take Apple so long to wake up? – April 4, 2017
Apple sorry for what happened with the Mac Pro over the last 3+ years – namely, nothing – April 4, 2017
Apple’s apparent antipathy towards the Mac prompts calls for macOS licensing – March 27, 2017
Why Apple’s new Mac Pro might never arrive – March 10, 2017
Dare we hold out hope for the Mac Pro? – March 1, 2017
Apple CEO Cook pledges support to pro users, says ‘we don’t like politics’ at Apple’s annual shareholders meeting – February 28, 2017
Yes, I just bought a ‘new’ Mac Pro (released on December 19, 2013 and never updated) – January 4, 2017
Attention, Tim Cook! Apple isn’t firing on all cylinders and you need to fix it – January 4, 2017
No, Apple, do not simplify, get better – December 23, 2016
Rare video shows Steve Jobs warning Apple to focus less on profits and more on great products – December 23, 2016
Marco Arment: Apple’s Mac Pro is ‘very likely dead’ – December 20, 2016
How Tim Cook’s Apple alienated Mac loyalists – December 20, 2016
Apple’s not very good, really quite poor 2016 – December 19, 2016
Apple’s software has been anything but ‘magical’ lately – December 19, 2016
Lazy Apple. It’s not hard to imagine Steve Jobs asking, ‘What have you been doing for the last four years?’ – December 9, 2016
Rush Limbaugh: Is Apple losing their edge? – December 9, 2016
AirPods: MIA for the holidays; delayed product damages Apple’s credibility, stokes customer frustration – December 9, 2016
Apple may have finally gotten too big for its unusual corporate structure – November 28, 2016
Apple has no idea what they’re doing in the TV space, and it’s embarrassing – November 3, 2016
Apple’s disgracefully outdated, utterly mismanaged Mac lineup is killing sales – October 13, 2016
Apple takes its eye off the ball: Why users are complaining about Apple’s software – February 9, 2016
Open letter to Tim Cook: Apple needs to do better – January 5, 2015
