“Apple’s vision — led by Steve Jobs — would innovate the desktop computer and later the mobile market. Apple was one of the first to use a GUI (graphical user interface), the mouse and a CD-ROM drive,” Akiko Ashley writes for Architosh. “Seamless hardware and software integration made Macs reliable, consistent, tough workhorses. Graphics artists, musicians, scientists, architects, and many other visionaries loved their Macs.”
“When Steve Jobs passed away in 2011 the world lost a visionary leader. Apple’s roadmap for their hardware shifted development from desktop to mobile. Apple’s shift was first detected in the delay of the updated Mac Pro and eventual new Mac Pro design, in addition to dropped pro apps Shake, Aperture, and other Pro products,” Ashley writes. “Apple not only controls the hardware and OS’s (operating systems) but also has leading-edge content platforms in its ‘App Store’, ‘iTunes’, and now Apple Music. Despite all these wonderful technologies, they are primarily for consumers not Pros. The new Mac Pro met with mediocre applause. It sacrificed internal expandability for a smaller footprint. What was the intent of this design?”
“The new Mac Pro is being embraced by graphics professionals with low intensity demands. Architects, graphic artists, and musicians are adopting it in some measure, but not like they adopted the older G5-Intel era Mac Pro. 3D animation and VFX professionals, along with video game development need expandability with hardcore GPU power that the new Mac Pro simply doesn’t provide,” Ashley writes. “Apple should consider that the Mac Pro is one of the products that helped Apple capture the hearts and minds of many of its loyal customers in architecture, music, film and advertising graphic arts. Steve Jobs once told us to Think different. The Mac Pro is one of the products that allowed professionals to do just that.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: How does Ashley know professionals are not adopting the Mac Pro like they did the Power Mac G5 when Apple doesn’t break out Mac model sales figures? All we have are the following facts:
• The Power Mac G5 was discontinued on August 7, 2006. In Apple’s fiscal 2006 third quarter ended July 1, 2006, the company sold a total of 1.327 million Macs.
• The Intel-based Mac Pro (1st gen.) was discontinued on October 22, 2013. In Apple’s fiscal 2013 fourth quarter ended September 28, 2013, the company sold a total of 4.6 million Macs.
• The new Mac Pro (2nd gen.) debuted on on October 22, 2013 and continues on the market today. In Apple’s fiscal 2015 fourth quarter ended September 26, 2015, the company sold a total of 5.709 million Macs.
There’s really no way to know if the 2nd-gen. Mac Pro is outselling the 1st-gen. Mac Pro.
Regardless, the answer to the headline is: Yes.
Apple has grown rapidly over the past few years. They just need to get caught up. The spirit is still there, they just have to adjust to the rapid growth, stop rushing about, and focus a bit better on exactly what they’re releasing. Surely they hear the complaints of late. We know they hear the complaints. With expectations set at “Insanely Great, that’s a difficult bar to clear consistently, especially when the company is growing like wildfire. Don’t worry, Apple will get back to where we want them to be soon enough.
Get Campus 2 opened. Get everybody acclimated. Get the newbies up to speed. And then let’s go – the best is yet to come!
I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. — Steve Jobs, August 24, 2011
“Surely they hear the complaints of late. We know they hear the complaints.”
How sure can we be of this?
It seems like the new Mac Pro is thinking differently.
…where the Mac Pro has now gone 700+ days without a hardware update – the longest ever for any Mac Pro. Yup…different.
Steve Jobs made using power simple.
Ivy strips the power away so it is a dumbed down shell.
THAT’s the difference.
I’m sick of reading about SJ. A great man, but for god’s sake he’s dead. Fans need to move on, just as Apple has.
If you don’t have slots then it’s NOT Pro. Back in the day, an AMIGA Tower had a graphics slot, PLUS a CPU slot so you could upgrade the processor ! GREAT !
Apple has thought differently about the Mac Mini. I love mine from 2012. I could have bought the 2014, but there’s NO WAY I would get one without an i7 quad chip. It’s something I HAVE TO have, for editing using 3D PowerDirector. Now the ” new ” Mac Mini is NOT user expandable !!!!!!!!!!!! Yes I guess Apple IS doing things differently. If they refuse to sell an expandable one, with an i7, Then Ill have to check out a Mini-like Wintel next time I upgrade. I don’t want to get a Wintel, but I can’t just buy an Apple cause it’s got a logo on it.
Why would anyone buy a PC, really why would anyone buy a PC?
Oh, maybe cause they WON’T put up with a WEAK cell phone driven ” computing device “. A “Pro” could be a double screen Mac with an option for a i7, NOT a ” cell phone chip ” .
still have my copy of the AmigaDOS manual…loved that thing.
Yes, they do. Please STFU about Steve Jobs and what you think he did. Believe me. Tim Cook has a better idea than any of you.
So, I CAN replace the graphics, and the processor chip?
Really? I CAN do that? Not… I can add memory. REPLACE graphics, and upgrade the chip. I’d be happy if I’m wrong, so I can replace the graphics, and the chip, by just “swapping them out?” .
Did you mean to repeat yourself continually there, or are you just patronising your audience?
MDN doesn’t know any other answer because they exist in being a place where lemmings of the once great company gather and agree with each other that all is just fine with Apple. “Magical” even.
But, the real answer is profoundly “NO” – how do I know this? Answer: just about everything the company under the hapless and weak Tim Cook has systematically drifted into being an ordinary company. It was never ordinary before but it is now.
Flame on but it’s just silly to ignore the certainty that Apple no longer thinks different and never will again as long as Tim Cook is there.
Kinda funny listening to the “NO” about thinking different coming from someone who has still to demonstrate that they can think.
Speaking of thinking Jay, when are you doing to demonstrate some of that by leaving. Frankly your leaving MDN is what is really hapless and weak. Talk about a botched leaving. I’d say put your money where your mouth is but you are obviously broke, from so many points of view.
It’s been over a year Jay, Apple may botch a launch but your botching your departure, that’s a whole different ball of wax Jay. You are the best illustration as to why no one should pay attention to you, unless of course they, like me enjoy feeding the trolls.
For the record of course, from Sept 21 2014:
“You will be pleased to know that I’m about done with saying what I say on this board – it’s clearly been therapy for me and I’m very close to not needing it any more – I’ve reached the realm of apathy.”
Jay Morrison
On the contrary! That is the best MDN Take ® that I have read in a long time! On the other hand, your story has not changed, JM. You are the same useless, negative sack o’ excrement that you always have been. Consistency is your forte.
Well said, when he was alive he got plenty of stick about all manner of perceived shortcomings, in particular about the product specs and the Mac Pro was as criticised as any product regarding its perceived slow upgrades and poor graphics cards amongst other things, particularly in the year or two up to the launch of the Ali ones. People have short memories but long (if faulty) imaginations at times when it suits their message.
Bloody Hell it really is like being back in the nineties with you isn’t it. Some of us remember the same regurgitated twatfest by the usual suspects that far back, and even then it wasn’t new. Any chance of a new chapter or do you simply have writers block?
Apple, a 200 billion dollar company, could not afford to keep Aperture going. Pathetic.
Aperture, an industry defining piece of software that was infinitely better than Adobe’s best shot, was allowed to languish until it became a laughing stock. Fewer things were more painful to watch over the years.
Thank you Tim Cook. I am sure you know better than I do, and most professional photographers.
Not only Aperture but Pages, Numbers, Keynote have languished. It is odd. They have been pushing hardware in terms of what is possible in manufacturing to new levels. But software has not followed suit.
We have all been expecting them to push the envelope. They’ve done that, but only as far as Apple Watch and 3D Touch. But the regular programs have been thoroughly B team, I have to admit. And Mail – they should have perfected it years ago. Why the lack of focus?
I think the new Mac Pro formfactor is ok for some. Actually, it may be good as the new mac mini.
But really, it’s a failure as Pro model. Plain and simple failure. People are still clutching on to their classic mac pros. Right now you can get a larger and way faster SSD on a classic Mac Pro, better video cards that leave the new mac pro in the dust on machines that are 5 years old!
http://barefeats.com/hard210.html (super fast and large SSD)
http://barefeats.com/tube16.html (CPUs basically even with 12core 3.46ghz classic mac pro)
http://barefeats.com/tube18.html (faster video cards, and these aren’t even the latest video cards)
Apple should try and really tackle this market and modernize it.
Have slots! One of the reasons the classic Mac Pro (CMP) is still relevant is the slots have provided upgrades with SSD performance superior to the new MP. USB 3 and even 3.1 now. Get at least 3 or 4 slots there.
New theory of drive bays. Maybe only one or two 3.5″ bays. But slots, lots and lots of slots for SSD sticks. Loads of slots for RAM. Good pinned CPUs. What would this tower look like. It would be much smaller than the old CMP and good bit bigger than the new MP.
Look at how many people have rats nest of external drives and PCI cages sticking off the new MP. It looks like dung. it’s unwieldy. It’s super slow as at best thunderbolt 2 has 4lane PCI bandwidth, compared to 16+lanes on modern PCI busses. It’s a failure at it’s task. Make it the new mac pro into the new mac mini pro. And re-imagine a real Mac Pro replacement.
Losing this market may be small in terms of $, but it’s huge in terms of installed base of very important creative professionals. This is the core of your base and this is their halo product. Their corvette/NSX. Not understanding this is a giant mistake that they may one day very much regret. This is the core that kept them alive long enough for Steve Jobs to save them. Don’t forget them
Totally agree! I am hanging on to my Mac Pro 2008 and 2010 machines until they simply won’t run any more because I have been totally underwhelmed by the “new” Mac Pro.
I don’t want, as Zombie says, “a rats nest” of external drives connected to my computer. Apple has always been good a creating an elegant solution for the creatives and professionals, but the new Mac Pro just doesn’t meet that objective.
Back to the drawing board, Apple, because like many others, I won’t be upgrading until you “re-imagined the Mac Pro”, as Zombie so elegantly put it.
No.
Do you see how awkward the iPad pro looks when it is charging the pencil?
Come on! That is very poor design and no one at apple stop it.
It’s too big. It’s heavy. you can’t really hold it up for long periods of time.
if it was one device that scream for charging by induction, it’s the pencil.
That would be true if it weren’t for the fact that charging the pencil is a minor and quick task not an overnight routine – being able to plug it in for a minute or two and get enough charge to work for several hours is good enough.
Yeh, these cretinous Pros using Thunderbolt 2 I/O for their 4k videos.
Or it could be that this author has no idea about technology. I wonder.
There is no Mac “Truck” anymore, nor the software for it.
Steve Jobs will never be forgotten! Steve dented the Universe and not many people can do that ,
Those that don’t see it or realise it are pure consumers and will always just see the next thing.
Step back look around and you have to realise why the world talks about Steve Jobs. If you don’t get it you will never will.
Apple are still in the Think different ethos it’s just not as radical as of late but Tim Cook is a global changer rather than a universe He is more focused on humanity and changing evenness lives in a human way not just with technology.
Tim Cook is pulling Humanity into a truly beneficial direction and that is awesome also.
Apple under Tim Cooks control is still cool because the team are all there with the same goals as before and they will continue to innovate and refine to the micro millimetre like only they can, to make great gear that enhances and extends our ability to be creative and productive in an enjoyable and ergonomically human way.
We can never get Steve Back but his legacy under Tim is awesome still and in so many new ways even better for the world thanks to Tim’s unique goals.
The Mac Pro is only hindered by intel and the speed of processors and memory very soon that will be leaping again and Apple is and always will be ready to blow our minds with a super computer on or desktop.!
Never give up Never surrender 😉
regards
Geek fan boy
Amazes me the number of folks who blame Cook for everything when the real failure is Jonathan Ive. The obsession with ‘thin’ and the washed out look of the UI are the real failures. In the past the Mac was a good working tool with the advantage of a decent design aesthetic: form was ultimately subordinate to function.
Now it’s all about ‘thin’ and pretty – function and usability are taking a back seat.
The one thing you can blame Cook for is his failure to sack Ive and bring in someone who is committed to functionality rather than winning design awards. Unfortunately Ive has assumed God like status to the point where he is pretty much unsackable and it’s that rather than anything Cook might do to save the world which will take Apple down.
If MS had the wit to come up with a decent version of Windows that wasn’t just an advertising platform, I think a surprising number of people would make the switch.
Macbooks have SSDs but for some reason standard iMacs don’t. That’s not down to Ive that’s down to the salesmen and value engineers that are screwing as much money as possible from every mac without delivering the premium performance. If you want an full on SSD iMac it would cost a fortune and totally unrelated to the real increase in cost for swapping out the mechanical HD.
“Don’t worry, Apple will get back to where we want them to be soon enough.”
What makes you so sure?
As Apple enters the ‘enterprise’ market more intensely, I would not be surprised if they reintroduce the MacPro ‘tower.’
After all, Apple makes multiple MacBook models, so why not multiple “Mac Pro” models.
‘Think Different’ is something Android phones do. Rather than true innovation and doing things right, they just use PR to make things sound good, even if they use the wrong word.
Rather than the boring ‘Think Different’ approach I would expect Apple to take the real challenge and “Think Differently”. That is the RIGHT way to do it. And the right way is what got Apple to where it is today.
The new Apple IS thinking differently than the old Apple under Steve Jobs. They’re cranking out shiny gizmos for the masses and making mountains of cash. Having the biggest company or making the most money was never Steve Jobs’ objective. He was totally focused on making the best possible products—period. Today’s Apple may give lip service to the same ideal, but what they’re actually doing says otherwise.