The $53,000 price tag for Apple’s fully-load Mac Pro seems like a lot of money for a computer, especially to those not used to buying professional equipment, but there will be buyers.
Mike Wuerthele and Andrew O’Hara for AppleInsider:
When considering the Mac Pro price, context is key. Context is what’s lacking in nearly all of these conversations. If the Mac Pro is compared to build-your-own hardware or an iMac, it is indeed more expensive.
But, compared to Windows workstation pricing, the jokes and arguments fall flat… For some reason, the jokes and Twitter hot-takes aren’t talking about Windows workstation pricing, which, as we’ve demonstrated [see full article], are in the same range.
The Mac Pro isn’t a consumer-level machine that is actively competing with Apple’s other Macs for the target market. The Mac Pro is a true professional workstation… Titles like “Apple’s priciest Mac Pro costs $52,599 — 56% higher than typical U.S. income” from CBS News is comparing the maxed-out configuration against the median family income, as if that was the target audience Apple was trying to sell the Mac Pro to. The headline isn’t factually incorrect, but it is a ridiculous compare point.
MacDailyNews Take: If anything, Apple’s Mac Pro is underpriced.
As we wrote earlier this week:
It’s a professional Mac, not a toy for Joe and Jane Sixpack. These machines are for pros who spend far, far in excess the cost of a new Mac Pro with multiple Pro Display XDRs on cameras, tripods, lighting, sound equipment, staff, etc. Way back when, we used to buy Avid Media Composer and Symphony systems that easily cost more than the cost of two, three, or even four fully-loaded Mac Pros, each with dual Pro Display XDRs and, yes, all with Apple Pro Stands. If you have to ask how much it costs, the Mac Pro is not for you – you’re supposed to be shopping for an iMac, Mac mini, or a MacBook Air.
We explained in June why the Mac Pro has to exist (and should’ve existed long before today):
Of the new Mac Pro, every Mac user should be proud.
The Mac Pro is sort of like why you fund a space program, if you’re smart. Yes, there are pressing needs elsewhere (and, btw, there always will be; it’s a bad excuse for not investing in exploration), but if you’re not pushing, you’re stagnating. Nothing unexpected can be discovered, no new solutions uncovered when no new challenges are ventured. It’s why smart car companies make esoteric supercars of which only a few will ever be sold and on which the investment will never be recouped. As with supercars, lessons learned from the Mac Pro, the Mac flagship, will percolate throughout and improve all of Apple’s product lines. Yes, Apple worst-selling Mac is their most important.
May the Mac Pro never be dead-ended, abandoned, and ignored again!
Think about what you thought of Apple’s Mac lineup when it had a half-decade-old, neglected, dead-end design as its flagship. The entire Mac lineup was diminished. Apple’s management who allowed this to happen were diminished, too. People could only see the flaws – in the machines and the people. Now, with the new Mac Pro proudly raising the flag high atop the mountain, all Macs, and everyone responsible for making Macs, are lifted up along with it. — MacDailyNews, June 6, 2019
The bare bone for $6K won’t satisfy even a weekend videographer. You should get a LOT more than that for $g. Yes, it IS overpriced
In yess it totally is..
Don’t let the fake dd fool you. Every fool suggesting the Mac Pro is overpriced is just another wannabe blogger/YouTuber who believes themselves to be a “professional.”
Dear fool, only an idiot thinks the base MacPro is not overpriced
Dear fake Dd, only a fool like you is a fool with every statement you make. You are the prime example of it being better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open it, as you have, and have that utter foolishness confirmed for all to see. You are also a great reason why the first amendment is necessary, so fools likes you can openly expose yourself to the rest of us. Well done! Please keep confirming your special status. Thank you
To be thought a fool by a fucking idiot like you is a great compliment. Thanks.
The memory from Apple is overpriced.
Sorry, MDN, but yes, yes, the base model really is. Ridiculously so.
Did you want to buy a Mac Pro, but now that you know the cost, you won’t? Do you actually need one?
I agree with you as even the used 2013 trashcan Mac Pro’s prices are still relatively high on eBay. I guess that’s just the way it is with Mac Pro’s.
Yes Macs are overpriced. You just did another article on this a few hours ago:
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/new-inspiron-17-3000-laptop/spd/inspiron-17-3793-laptop/nn3793dthgh
Here is an i7 laptop with 16gb ram, and 512 gb SSD. 17 inch screen.
$779
This is higher than the average Windows laptop, but Apple has nothing for this price, and has (finally) admitted that iPads are not a substitute for a laptop.
Here is a $1099 mac. i5, 8 gig ram, 128 gig SSD, 13 inch screen.
https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-air/space-gray-1.6ghz-dual-core-processor-with-turbo-boost-up-to-3.6ghz-128gb#
Wonder what type of CPU (8th generation) is in the MacBook Air? Always a secret from Apple – never ever published!
Does that $53,000 include the stand for the monitor?
Actually no, because that doesn’t include a monitor. That’s the Mac Pro itself maxed out on Apple’s site.
But most sales are likely going to be somewhere between 15 and $25,000, and a lot of small companies and individual pros will buy and install third-party RAM to save money, while production companies will just have apple configure what they need.
The problem isn’t the price. The price is dead-on for what it is. The problem with the Mac Pro (and the entire Mac line) is that there no is mid-range desktop option. All Apple would have had to do with the Mac Pro chassis was add i7/i9 and broader video controller options and it would have appealed to a MUCH broader audience. Instead, they have an expensive niche product with little utility outside of its narrow market.
Who said they won’t. Time will tell.
I used to buy the latest, greatest (base units) of the Macs and the money wasn’t a problem. Now I realize that I was buying it for ego. I never got close to using its full potential.
Practically the entire Mac line is a “mid-range desktop option” from the various configurations of the Mac Mini and iMac, to the iMac Pro at the high end. What’s niche is the small but vocal minority of hobbyists who wish the Homebrew Computer Club still existed. Maybe tinkering with computers is like working on cars for nerds which is fine, but the age of amateurs in their garages pushing technological development forward are over. With Apple producing the equivalent of Gulfstream jets that are actually affordable, these sound like complaints that they aren’t making Cessna’s that are upgradeable enough. Most people absolutely don’t care, they want a maching that will get them from point A to B reliably, they’ll pay more to get there faster.
Polite applause. “The Computer For The Rest Of Us”.
Of course, when it comes to me, in my mind I read it as “The Computer For The Best of Us.”
“The computer for the rich of us.”
The Mac Pro might be overpriced if it’s used as a home computer, but it’s definitely not overpriced when used as a production workstation. Anyway, what difference does it make if Apple is overcharging for the Mac Pro? If Apple wants to limit Mac Pro sales by charging too much, that’s Apple’s problem. Maybe they don’t want to sell a lot of Mac Pros and want to sell more iMac Pros or iMacs. I don’t think we will ever figure out Apple’s motives. I do know it’s a trillion-dollar company so they must know something about selling products.
I personally don’t need the power of a Mac Pro for my mundane day-to-day tasks, so I’m not concerned about what the Mac Pro costs. I would like their other computers to be a bit less expensive or more easily upgradeable, but as a long-term Apple shareholder, I can afford what Apple is charging for any of their pro-sumer products. Besides, I always look at long-term ownership of Apple products and as long as they are trouble-free and relatively fast, I will continue to buy Apple products. Most of my experiences with Apple products have been quite positive and that is important to me. I’m lucky that I never got stuck with any of their clunker products. All of the Apple products I have purchased have always lasted me for many years of trouble-free operation, so I have always felt I received my money’s worth.
For those who believe the Mac Pro is overpriced, they’re entitled to say so and it won’t change anything. Apple doesn’t care. I sincerely hope Apple built a bullet-proof pro computer and that users will be satisfied that the money they spent on it was worthwhile. If those professional users say the Mac Pro is a fine workstation then Apple will have achieved what it set out to do no matter what the price is. What non-professionals think about the cost of the Mac Pro isn’t important. What is important is if content production departments think the price is too high. Based on the price of other workstations, the Mac Pro’s price seems reasonable but I am not well-enough informed to know for certain.
This is really made for commercial entities and should not be on Apples consumer site.
Why, so it won’t make you feel bad? Apple has always been an aspirational brand, they probably make most of their money from people buying more powerful products than they really need. There’s nothing wrong with someone buying a supercar if they want one.
“It’s a professional Mac, not a toy for Joe and Jane Sixpack. ”
True. For them we have the overpriced iPad.
You can say a lot about apple’s pricing but $329 for an iPad is a pretty good deal. I’m not sure what competitor you’d go to for better/cheaper.
The Pro should be $500, not laptop price for “not a laptop”.
And when it comes to abject maroons, we have the underbrained applecynic
I bet you’re holding out for next years A-Series Mac Pro. But hey, same bargain price as this year’s…
Aren’t you the guy who praised the existence of choices? So why not make one of those other choices, rather than being such a whiny little bitch?
I love my macs. Period. That is the only difference that matters.
So I can buy a maxed out Mac Pro without monitor (and, ahem, $1000 monitor stand) for $53,000…
or I can buy 17 touchscreen surface studios.
…..yeeeeeeaaaah, it’s not overpriced….yeeeeaaaahh…
(Drinks kool aid)
Yes, oh my, yes, the base model is absurdly overpriced. Sorry, but it is.
Nope, it’s NOT overpriced.
It’s just way too expensive for mortals.