“Apple has issued a mea culpa over the Mac Pro, telling a number of publications that it’s ‘sorry’ there was a ‘pause in upgrades and updates’ for the device — introduced in 2013 and stagnant ever since,” James Vincent writes for The Verge.
“The company says a new Mac Pro with an all-new design is coming, but in the meantime, it’s switched up pricing and components of existing models to give customers a slightly better deal,” Vincent writes. “All Apple has done is drop the old high-end models into lower price brackets, and at the end of the day, this is still three-year-old hardware.”
Vincent writes, “Plus, it’s difficult to say who will be tempted to buy the Pro, especially with new models coming [after the end of 2017, presumably sometime in 2018].”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Who’s going to buy a Mac Pro now? Anyone for whom the current Mac Pro makes sense and/or those interested in design and/or collectible Macs (however dead end they may be).
Let us know what you think below and also in our poll*, “Did Apple just ‘Osborne’ the Mac Pro?”
*near the bottom of the page on mobile; right column on the full site
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 to unveil ‘iMac Pro’ later this year; rethought, modular Mac Pro and Apple pro displays in the pipeline – 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
Pent-up demand! I’ll buy one, or more of the new babies.
Current Mac Pros, not future Mac Pros, oh so aptly-named one!
“Who’s going to buy a Mac Pro now?”
Nobody in their right mind. So, Hillary voters, maybe.
Susan Rice just ordered two.
Three democrats in Chicago’s cemetery just ordered ten of them. Said they couldn’t find their social security card or license for proof of ID.
I was thinking Trump voters and Hillary voters.
Both are grifters, but only one is a total fucking moron- Drumpf.
And blind fanbois who think anything Apple releases is the shit.
well, maybe it wouldn’t be shit if they actually released anything.
“great artists ship.”
Yup. All self made billionaires with properties around the world are morons …
/s
In addition, only morons with ZERO political experience choose their first campaign to run for President of the most powerful nation in history and WIN.
Only morons ignore listening to the media, political establishment, pollsters, party critics and insulting naysayers, like yourself, then run with confidence and WIN …
/s
Sarah Palin ordered another one. She thinks that it is a heated toilet (handy in Alaska), and the first one she bought is full.
No way! Sarah is too smart to order outdated older equipment…
Now is the time to buy a MacPro, don’t open it, just put it away for 20 years. Then cash in.
Ill buy 2 for sure! can’t wait!!!
I’m not buying a trashcan Apple! Even with slightly newer, but already obsolete, components.
Go back to the prior Mac Pro design and update it with the latest components.
You can’t buy the higher tier model even if you did want to buy one. I just went to the site and the higher tier is “Currently unavailable”. It does not say the site will be updated soon. It’s not available for pre order. It’s not even available for order with shipping in 90 days! It’s just “Currently unavailable”.
So Apple announces something we cannot buy. Period.
The wheels have *really* fallen off.
They need to offer a special deal to buy a Mac Pro now for those in immediate need (but not willing to be left out next year) and exchange it for a new one next year. Simple.
With their huge stores of money and this self-admitted mistake they can afford to be generous until their mess is cleaned up.
Excellent suggestion!
Standing in line…
The sad thing about all of this news today about a new Mac Pro coming “next year” is, that it basically means they’re starting to work on it today. And that likely nothing until possibly a month ago was even being planned.
In this day and age, it doesn’t take very long to design a cutting edge computer, spec the parts and get the supply chain ramped up.
This is all good news, but it’s too late for some.
Tim’s decision to put the company focus behind the iPad at the detriment of everything else, is the same decision to send the MacPro down a thermal dead end, and the same as releasing that LG disaster.
Heads should roll for this, if they don’t, and they don’t get rid of the person or persons making these short sighted decisions, it won’t matter what Apple does.
I’m not saying that Tim is responsible, but right now Microsoft is being run by a more competent leader than Apple.
“Sad but true”
Gill Bates
Sure, Those damn windows phones are all over the places now!
And those big fat touchsccreen are the mecca graphics artist that can only design for design. Nice, I like my company with no identity.
The apology was just the public recognition of something being wrong. The MacPro crisis reflects a failure to look at sales, pricing and performance a couple of years back. I don’t blame the design–I like it but it was too expensive for pro-sumer me. Management’s lack of hard-nosed analysis is more worrying. I used to keep up to date on Mac software and hardware features, but it hasn’t been much fun with nothing much new. They cut one of the best photo products, Aperture, and replaced it with a feature-less blob in Photos. Sharing is pretty much crap in Photos (though it’s crap in most alternatives). I can’t say I have a duplicates problem with Contacts on my Mac, because it’s triplicates or worse. Many app developers for Mac seem to have just parked the bus about 2 years ago with no improvements to apps that started out with a lot of promise (CadentWineCellar, iBank to name just a couple). It’s like both the company and much of the ecosystem for Mac went to sleep.
Processors from 2013, now slightly cheaper.
Wow, way to go Apple.
At least they didn’t have the stupidity to tag it as NEW on the website.
My 2009 Mac Pro (Flashed to the 2010 firmware so it can run Sierra) is so long overdue for an update it’s ridiculous. I don’t know if I can really be bothered waiting to see what they release next year.
If Steve Jobs we’re alive right now:
1) This never would’ve happened (having a separate sit down with several reporters saying you messed up and let them in on your plans, thus affecting sales of your current product and pretty much killing that section of your market)
2) Waiting so long between Mac Pro refreshes (be it different chipsets or a hardware redesign)
3) Let the building of a new corporate headquarters distract from your product pipeline
4) Let Jony Ive dictate design over functionality when professionals need functionality and productivity rather than a good-looking machine.
5) PIpeline Timmy would be washing windows at the Anchorage Apple Store.
No, he would be in charge of the supply chain which is what he’s good at.
Tim has had missteps with the supply chain in the past (Christmas iMacs for one). So he does not get unconditional approval in that regard.
The bigger question is how about pro customer NEEDS supply chain? Hmmm? …
Completely agree with 2-4, but Steve did have a similar episode with MobileMe, including telling about what’s coming (to keep people from going to Dropbox, Box, and especially Google).
One More Thing has changed to One More Year. Nice.
IF you need to buy a Pro Mac, build your on Hackintosh. You will have a faster and chipper Mac. Much sooner than 2018.
Of course they just Osborned the current Mac Pro. But they HAD to. The only people buying the current Mac Pro where those that absolutely had no other choice. They needed the announcement to keep a horde of others from jumping ship that hadn’t already. By ignoring the Mac Pro so long, they had sent the message that it was dead. This announcement was to attempt to reverse that sentiment.
Yeah. It’s an Osborning that is better than the alternative.
The difference is that Osborne Computer needed ongoing sales to keep their company alive, while what Apple most needed was to reassure the large numbers of pros who were considering switching AWAY from Mac-based computing for their high-end needs.
If it were Microsoft saying effectively “coming soon, trust us” it would be considered vapourware.
Apple is cashing in on a massive dose of goodwill with this. And good that they did so, along with a heap of uncharacteristic humble pie. But Apple had better knock the new Mac Pro out of the park in 2018, because it’s squandered years of this goodwill and doesn’t have much left with high-end pro users.
“Can’t innovate my ass, anymore”
But they sure think we all have a slow digestive system or brain. By the way, most of us have Apple Watches by now, we know how to count time.
These people (Apple) have lost their minds. They couldn’t be more out of touch.
TIMe Cook Apple’s Macs very slow in hot water, until it soften and melt away.
Bad joke?
The Mac Pro trash can never made sense! I want a Mac Pro that stands on the floor and is easy to extend! Pasta! The current Mac Pro is the round Darth Vader version of the Cube.
Just a really sleek tower with multiple expansion ports, somehow managed in hot swappable bays.
They’ve got to be doing something amazing to justify their new Death Star HQ.
And the idiot that killed the Thunderbolt Display, can we piñata his ass out the door?
Who would buy? Those who visit Hong Kong buy it to save up to 25% sales tax. Mac Pro fits in your hand bag (fit in mine), iMac doesn’t.
My experience as well, but the men are clueless
Sexist stereotype unbecoming of you …
The question isn’t who is going to buy a Mac Pro now, it is whether they will sell more Mac Pro’s overall with this announcement.
This gives pause to anyone who was considering switching from Mac to PC for a pro level workstation. That’s the key.
Also it seems that right now the Mac Pro wasn’t selling that much anyway, so any lost sales due to this will be minimal. And those customers will buy the new Mac Pro when it is released.
And who knows? With the lower prices, they may actually sell a few more Mac Pro’s.
Hmm. Apple dumping Mac Pro’s on the market at break even prices might be the wisest thing they could do at this inauspicious moment.
Apple just killed the Mac Pro.
Whether it can be revived from it’s practical death? Perhaps if we apply the correct necronomic incantation and inspiriting brew to its essential salts, it may reanimate to status akin to living and walk the Earth again.
♉♒♎💀🖖⏳🌙👹🔮🕷🦇
They gotta stop Jony Ive from trying to put a computer in a Vase, Lamp, Flower Pot, Coffee Maker, Can Opener and whatever other crazy shit he be thinking!