“Although many columnists, myself included, have accused Apple of abandoning its pro users, that’s not really true. In fact, it’s fair to say that Apple has never abandoned its pro users,” David Gewirtz writes for ZDNet. “The company’s laptop and tablet offerings have been more than suitable for many professionals who use technology as part of their jobs.”
“We can define ‘pro’ as anyone who uses technology as a component of how they make a living,” Gewirtz writes. “What Apple has been shipping these past four years has been ideal for a lot of folks who make their living using tech.”
“So what is an extreme pro user? A[n] ‘extreme pro’ is someone who requires ultra-powerful computing power plus flexibility to do their job. This usually means a lot of memory, a lot of ports, big displays, tons of storage, super-fast local networking, and often a wide variety of custom implementations and workflows,” Gewirtz writes. “While clearly a much smaller segment of the total Apple market, extreme users are still very strategically important to a platform vendor like Apple. Having very extreme products meets the needs of extreme users, who are often taste-makers and key influencers… That’s why Apple’s decision making, when it comes to extreme Macs, has been such a concern for the past few years. It’s indisputable that Apple has, until this year, pretty much abandoned its extreme pro users.”
Gewirtz writes, “In the last 12 months, however, Apple has shipped products that do meet the needs of extreme pros.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: While we await the all-new “modular” Mac Pro, we’re left wondering how long it will take for Apple to regain the trust of “extreme pros” after letting product for them languish for far too many years.
After dropping the ball, then running over it and leaving it there to rot, Apple will now need to demonstrate a real commitment — backed by actions (i.e. regular updates), not just words — over a period of many years to regain the trust of the real professional users they so blatantly abandoned due to what can most charitably be described as mismanagement.
SEE ALSO:
Apple’s 2013 Mac Pro, five years later – May 31, 2018
3 things to expect from Apple’s 2019 Mac Pro – April 11, 2018
Why can’t Apple keep their products up-to-date? – April 10, 2018
Why is it taking Apple so long to update the Mac Pro? – April 10, 2018
Apple’s latest announcements about the modular Mac Pro really ramp up expectations – April 6, 2018
Apple needs to stop promising new products and start delivering them – April 6, 2018
Apple: No new Mac Pro until 2019 – April 5, 2018
Apple reiterates they’re working on an all-new modular, upgradeable Mac Pro and a high-end pro display – December 14, 2017
Why Apple’s promise of a new ‘modular’ Mac Pro matters so much – April 6, 2017
Apple’s cheese grater Mac Pro was flexible, expandable, and powerful – imagine that – April 6, 2017
More about Apple’s Mac Pro – April 6, 2017
Apple’s desperate Mac Pro damage control message hints at a confused, divided company – April 6, 2017
Who has taken over at Apple? – April 5, 2017
Apple’s embarrassing Mac Pro mea culpa – April 4, 2017
Who’s going to buy a Mac Pro now? – April 4, 2017
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
I don’t power users that abandoned Apple will ever trust Apple again and I don’t blame them
Don’t forget the MacMini which, until recently, was 4 years old and the unforgivable debacle intro of Final Cut Pro and abandoning of FC7. Yes, they rethought their FC7 policy and finally made FCX useful, but that took years.
Those actions said a lot about Apple’s distain for pro users.
Cue Mr Ishkababble von Crank’s usual rave in 3..2..1..
You don’t need Tink to tell you that the statement, “In the last 12 months, however, Apple has shipped products that do meet the needs of extreme pros.” is 100% bullshit. Extreme pros are the ones who run processes that take hours, NOT seconds or even minutes. They are NOT people who compile code or edit video or music. The so called iMac Pro does NOT fit that group, and the newest Mac mini is so far from their needs as to not even be on the horizon.
There was an extended period when Apple did ship hardware for extreme pros and companies shipped software to support them. The year 2018 was not it.
Mac Pros are coming.. Apple Displays are coming….
The new pro level iMacs and Mac Minis are awesome.
The new ipad pros are fantastic..
But
Apple Please🙏🙏🙏….just give us an iOS-pro.. with a core comprehensive user manageable file/folder sys with a consistent UI, accessible from all apps for all types of files .. and open up iPad Pros usb-c port to all external drives ….
The new Mac Pros may not ship in quantity until the end of 2019 (if ever) — a full 7 1/2 years since the last real Mac Pro shipped.
The iMac Pro is not a machine for the extreme pro — not by any stretch of the imagination. The new Mac minis are not even in the same reality let alone useful to extreme pros.
The iPad Pro for extreme pro users? Don’t make me laugh. (You are joking, right?)
Eventually, Apple may ship a true pro machine that has a derivative (evolution from?) today’s A series chips, but that won’t happen anytime soon. Plus, iOS will have to RADICALLY change if iOS is used as the OS for such a platform.
For 2019 I’d just settle for a TRUE Mac Pro.
You are being way too negative and extreme in your views ..imo.
( and by the way i did not use the term extreme pro in my post, u did )
The new iMac pros are increadible machines capable of pulling off ‘most all’ pro work in any area!
The new Mac minis are more powerful and robust than the previous ones. So if the old were any good.. these are better.
The new iPad pro is an amazing device ( i use one for hours every day ) … and depending the task at hand its very much capable of delivering serious pro results.. . .. but ios files sys and port restrictions are holding it back from being fully productive and complicate things.
Is it and extreme pro desktop machine .. obviously not… is it capable of pro level work..yes…. Not everything but a lot of things.
( for example work that requires a lot of typing is not sutable for it, imo)
It is a new paradigm.. and takes getting used to feel comfortable doing pro level work with…..And and in time it will only get better .
Everything has its place… and not everything is supposed to have the same exact functionality… there are pros and cons and compromises to everything.
Example.. u cant move a cheese grater mac pro and your display around easly can you..
But by giving up a bit of the extreme pro capability.. you can gain mobility while maintaining a lot of the pro level capabilities.
The new ipad pro .. given a roubust user manageable file sys and open usb-c port Is very much capable of Pro work productively ! .
It already is if ones work is not too assett intensive and that’s a file sys problem.. not hardware.
Over all.. most all these disgruntled pro bashing issues are ‘mostly’ things of the past.
Apple has openly acknowledged to droping the ball and in ONE year has delivered a lot to make up for the screwup.. and in 2019, according to their commitments, we will see the extreme pro machine and displays…
Ignoring all that as they are nothing and sticking to old and aged complaints do absolutely nothing.
Now if you have suggestions on how to make existing products better or ideas about future concepts … then I’m all ears.
No, Shadowself is spot on.
Dude, obviously you are not a PRO user. While I appreciate your Apple cheerleading and opinion, sorry to say you are out of your league here.
I have been a PRO user since the 1980s. The IT head of my corporation workplace put it to me bluntly when I suggested a trashcan pro to run ArcView GIS and Maya to name a few. Why would I want to pay over twice as much for a computer over twice as slow was the response.
The specs, performance and price are all out there on the Internet and obvious for years PRO Apple is second class. 2019 will be the year if Apple PRO totally collapses. We shall see…✌️
“‘Dude”?lol 🤦♂️
Im Out of my league here???.. 😂..
ya right….now, does that makes u feel better ??🤦♂️
Well Dude man Goe, get off your high horse… dont make unfounded comments and assumptions .. its not a smart thing to do !
U have zero clue about what my compuer skills are..yet u find it ok to make such superficial statements??? .
(Even though i told u before.. but to deaf ears i guess.)
It is very telling of your mind set!
Again : Cgi has been part of my bread, butter, blood and soul since mid 80s.. at a very cutting edge level! Mainly 3d animation… and etc.
So save your assumptions.. its not smart!
2nd.. yup ! Shadow and You and Von are spot on .. with one giant caveat.. you guys dwell in the past.. are crying about the past ….ignoring everything that has transpired in the last year and will transpire in the next year… and future and Apples ‘acknowledgment’ !
Acting like crybabies…
You guys sound like broken records ….deaf and blind to anything that is now and is on its path..
You guys are spot on about the past along with many others …Nothing unique there.
.
But we are no longer in the past..
And trust me.. if u have followed my posts in the past years and years..u can clearly see that I am nothing even close to Apple cheerleader..( another uninformed statement by u)
Im not a basher either..
Its does not have to be either or..
Criticism when due.. give credit when due!
Thats more objective…
Now if Apple is too expensive for you.. that is a different subject!
Do yourself a favor.. and stop assumptions.. and get off the old/aged! And u know this thing that u are in another league .. without having a clue about others. Its just not smart!
Get off my high horse? Not until YOU get off yours. Listen carefully, doubtful you are a PRO USER because if you were we all would hear how far and long Apple has abandoned us for years. So they announced a couple products with a PRO label in 2018, big effing deal. Overpriced, lacking upgrades and ports and underpowered to say the least. If you have been running CGI since the 1980s, you know it was run on proprietary hardware and software for decades and the base price for a workstation was over $50,000. Stick to the DEFENSIVE Apple cheerleading. You are much better at that than understanding and speaking for PRO needs, so sorry dude… ✌️
There is no doubt that if were working in 3D Modeling all day, I’d get something other than Apple. I’d get an “appliance.” I like the Apple ecosystem, as imperfect as it is. I like the nuance of Apple’s hardware and software. I am immersed in computing activities for 80% of my waking hours, in out of dozens apps. Video editing, 3d modeling/rendering, Photo compositing and illustration, amongst a bunch of business apps (because I am a Pro). I am prepared to pay the Apple tax because almost always I like the experience with the Apple ecosystem. And I like living with Apple. Doesn’t mean I can be on board with all those that are angry with Apple’s mis-steps with the Mac Pro.
“There is no doubt that if were working in 3D Modeling all day, I’d get something other than Apple.”
Precisely and been there for years as Apple is far behind..,
Idiotic vote manipulation.. pathetic !
You have no evidence what Mac Pro or Apple Display may be coming. Based on Apple’s horrid Mac record these last 7 years, it is natural that Pros have abandoned hope.
General Motors makes Apple look slow and indecisive.
Let me help explain what would renew Professional faith in Apple:
17″ MacBook Pro with complete ability for user to replace RAM and hard drives
True Mac Pro tower with 4 full size internal drive bays, PCI slots, and state of the art graphics cards, and RAM upgradeability
a Mac tower with i9 chips, 2 full size internal drive bays, PCI slot, and RAM upgradeability
a rack mountable server with proper server OS and enterprise grade software
a Mac Mini with user replaceble drive slot
3 different sizes of current technology Apple displays with current connections (HDMI, Displayport, and USB-C NOT thunderbolt 1/2) and current display technology. Make display models that visually and technically match future iMacs for easy addition of a second monitor to an iMac
professional photo editing & archival software that is maintained properly
a companywide push to make Filemaker scale up and down for enterprise needs
ability to attach iOS devices to Macs as external inputs OR displays
thicker MacBook Pros with better keyboard and more user repairability, better cooling, and better prices
professional versions of iWork and iLife apps need to be professional quality and capability
desktops need to have convenient ports for wired accessories – like a full thick numerical keyboard with TouchID in grey color
dedicated DRM-free digital audio outputs on all devices
unrestricted support for BluRay accessory drives
abandon cheap white fraying skinny wire dongles. Match Anker in quality or don’t play there at all. drop adapter prices. They should come in the box!
abandon Lightning or eliminate the prohibitive licensing cost.
improve macOS with proper built-in help menus, informative control panels, and a much more powerful spotlight and
improve app store for developers, improve interface for better search filtering
sell Beats, get out of the consumer junk audio business
stay out of video content creation, concentrate on better iTunes media sales and rental. ALAC audio and all high definition video.
abandon the word Pro on all iOS devices and desktops that have laptop grade components.
abandon the word Air
abandon the alphabet soup SE XR 7S XS whatever naming conventions. Make the word Pro mean something again.
publish technical data for products instead of using a user blog to half-answer questions and problems that users have
advertise Macs. If Macs really are still the “better” personal computer, then specifically prove it. Use data to appeal to logic instead of dancing millenials.
work with power-intensive computer users to discover where current Macs fall short
realize that the vast majority of computers used for business don’t care if you can stick Xeons into a skinny iMac case
deliver Mac hardware and software updates every 2 years or less. EVERY PRODUCT, KEEP THEM CURRENT.
Sell RAM at realistic prices instead of gouging
… shall we go on?
Lets see what unfolds…
True enough … but 2018 clearly WAS NOT “the year of the extreme Mac Pro”
One issue Apple deals with is Intel’s performance in delivering higher performance processors. I wouldn’t be surprise if Apple is working hard to some have A1x processors bumped up for Pro Lines. How much do they really have to increase performance on the current iPad Pro to beat Intel.
And it is worth remembering that Apple maintained Intel based OS X for several years before introducing Intel based Macs. Look to potential for Apple replacing Intel chips and then consider Pro Extreme products from Apple
Intel the reason why we don’t have Mac Pros suitable for the extreme pro Mac user? NO!
Several times over the past couple of years I have shown this idea to just not be true. Apple very often waits six months or more after Intel introduces a new chip before Apple ships a computer with that chip inside. Sometimes it has been as much as 13-14 months after the Intel chips are available. However, WINTEL box makers ship computes within weeks, and sometimes days, after Intel announces a new chip is shipping in quantity.
Rarely has Intel been the delaying factor.
Yes, the Star Trek project dated back to the mid 90s. However, the A series chips will have to be radically modified before they support true pro machines.
Ummmm…. Nope…. Pro users still feel abandoned.
Extreme Pro… good term for a sliver of a sliver of the Mac buying market.
“a sliver of a sliver of the Mac buying market.”
So what are saying? Let me guess, for a year or more your posts have indirectly, like this one, or directly showed utter contempt and dislike of PRO users. Why, PRO envy because you don’t measure up?
Pros have built Apple since DAY ONE, we ARE the core, and stuck with the company through thick and thin when the going was tough and Apple almost went out of business (1990s), before the second coming of Steve Jobs. You don’t know that?
Bottom line: Your repeated snide sniping is meaningless to the PRO community. We will soldier on with or WITHOUT Apple…
Apple is an iphone company now……they don’t care about the ‘pro’ market.
Nvidia Nvidia nvidia. We need CUDA on Mac. Why doesn’t any care about this?
allowing the latest Nvidia GPUs is one of the single most important features that a new “Pro” machine must have. For Visual effects, VR, animation, simulation, 3D rendering etc.. native Nvidia GPU support is a basic requirement.
I retired my Ma cPro last year and moved to real pro workstations with Threadrippers and dual 1080ti GPUs. 2019 will bring unprecedented power at a fraction of Intelks prices. I’m going to bag a 32 core Threadripper as soon as it’s available.
The modular Mac miniPro will look pathetic in terms of power and ridiculous in pricing. Pro in Apple marketing speech just means you have more money than sense.
I can’t wait to see fat Phil the shill mince about the stage proclaiming innovation when they announce the embarrassment that will be, the next Mac Pro.
“The modular Mac miniPro will look pathetic in terms of power and ridiculous in pricing.”
Yes, my biggest fear for next year.
“Pro in Apple marketing speech just means you have more money than sense.”
Yes, the Apple lemmings may bite. But I believe the knowledgeable Pro revolt know better and this has been brewing for over five years.
Whether arrogant Apple execs know it or not, 2019 is make or break…
So true about 2019 being a make or break year for pros with Apple and I’m not feeling optimistic about this new Mac Pro which will no doubt feature Apple’s doggedly dumb design preferences that no one wants. Oh no, they have to be clever instead of practical creating an “innovative” Mac that is unnecessarily sprawling and more expensive. That’s okay, my selection for a PC Workstation at Puget Systems awaits the day after Apple shows us in 2019 they haven’t learned a thing.
“I’m not feeling optimistic about this new Mac Pro which will no doubt feature Apple’s doggedly dumb design preferences that no one wants.”
Yes, if Jony Ive repeats the same 2013 trashcan dumb artsy design mistakes, piles on with lack of power, Nvidia cards, expandability, ports and sells it overpriced reminds me of a famous full front page in the Cleveland Plain Dealer years back. Full figure of LeBron James filled the page and photographed from the back as he was walking away. Elegance of only two words that told the full story of his status with the Cavaliers: “I’m gone”…
Nothing will happen in 2019 that alters the fact that a 15 year old can build a much higher spec Pro machine in their bedroom than Apple can in its grande donut.
Apple can only offer Intel and AMD hardware at greater than Premium prices, the Mac Pro may look good but that’s right down the bottom of my needs when I’m putting together a workstation.
Apple is looking forward to ditching Intel and AMD to focus on ARM where they hold quite an advantage over Intel and Android for thin portables and would reap huge efficiencies of scale if the whole product line is virtually the same device.
Another reason for pros to stay away from Macs is the uncertainty of architecture change in the short term. So you question (on top of all the other questions of being worthy) if you’ll have a machine you can use for 5-6 years that won’t be summarily abandoned. It’s doubtful ARM chips will be on par with top Intel multicore chips for a while. PC’s are looking much more remarkably stable for this same period so it will make sense to many to abandon Apple until Apple moves to the next plateau and not at their short-lived expense. But by that time there may not be many people willing to go back.
Nope. Apple makes ZERO pro machines. Any machine where you cannot upgrade the memory and storage is not Pro. It might be powerful, but it’s not pro. And the only machine apple still makes where the user can upgrade both memory and storage is the now ancient and failed trashcan mac pro.
Let that sink in. Apple makes ZERO pro machines (that are not ancient failed relics). And it’s why many pros/enthusiasts/power user/extreme pros have left and will continue to leave the platform.
Their only hope is that they don’t blow the 2019 mac pro and it’s not another trashcan mac catastrophe.
See how successful they are with real long term ‘extreme pro’ power users through the linked article here:
https://twitter.com/StayPuftZombie/status/1068268376076759040
“In fact, it’s fair to say that Apple has never abandoned its pro users.”
That’s not a fair statement – at all. Apple has ignored their pro base with years and years of established frustrating neglect, delivering products many pros did not want nor had Apple even bothered to include in the design.
And it doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to know that.
Internally, Apple’s iPhone developers and engineers get top billing, high prestige and respect. The rest are looked own upon. So it’s no wonder that the Pro and extreme pro segment is an afterthought.