Mac Pro Refesh in March

145791019

Comments

  • Reply 121 of 374
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by geneking7320 View Post


    I wonder is it economically possible for Apple to license OS X to one vendor which would produce Mac Pro level machines in the "better" and "best" category?



    They do. Themselves.



    Quote:

    The "good" Mac Pro could be replaced by the X-Mac.



    This will never happen. Let that false hope die.
  • Reply 122 of 374
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    1. Abject nonsense.

    2. They would if ATI and nVidia would write drivers for them.

    3. Even more nonsensical than licensing OS X.



    You don't seem to understand Apple.



    If Apple if fully committed to 'Cloud' and 'Mobile Computing', the only question is how do they get rid of the Mac Pro. Maybe do what IBM did with it's non-server products. If the release of the upcoming Mountain Lion doesn't let you know their intentions then likely you don't know the New Apple.
  • Reply 123 of 374
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by theAPPLEcloud.com View Post


    If Apple if fully committed to 'Cloud' and 'Mobile Computing', the only question is how do they get rid of the Mac Pro.



    Your implication is wrong.



    Quote:

    If the release of the upcoming Mountain Lion doesn't let you know their intentions then likely you don't know the New Apple.



    Enlighten me on their "intentions". If you say, 'dumbing down the Mac to be more like iOS', I won't even bother responding to tell you you're wrong.
  • Reply 124 of 374
    Quote:

    It’s NOT, I repeat NOT, just gamers living in their mom’s basement that need this.



    Apple (yes, that Apple) came up with OpenCL. The latest graphics card (like the recently announced AMD card) are several orders of magnitude faster than the fastest graphics care Apple currently supports (the antique 5870 that came out about two years ago). Apple’s support of cards that can take advantage of OpenCL is two full generations behind.



    Want to do work that can best be done under the great OpenCL framework started and promoted by Apple? Better get a Windows machine!



    Apple needs to wake up and support their own.



    Quote:

    By not doing anything, Apple is already impacting my experience. Especially since people keep their Macs a lot longer, and considering they can’t upgrade their video cards in all but the Mac Pros…there’s tons of 2 – 3 year old Macs out there that have more than enough CPU and RAM to play current games, but lack the GPU speed/features.



    When I can bootcamp and run a game on my iMac perfectly smoothly, but can’t do the same running the native OS X version of the same title, it tells me there’s something to be done.



    Yeah, the software itself can be optimized, but some better drivers wouldn’t hurt either. Where’s support for OpenGL 3? From a company touting their graphics capabilities and cutting edge hardware, it sorta sucks that they don’t keep up to date when it comes to things like this.



    http://macdailynews.com/2012/01/27/i...r-performance/



    Links and some comments from the 'comments' section.



    The point about the GPUs being offered by Apple as 'antique' made me smile. Especially on a purported 'workstation' costing over £2k to join the club.



    All this time waiting for a Mac Pro update. Why not update the ram? The gpu? The HD? Cut the price? It's a tower. You'd think they'd upgrade the components half way through cycle.



    Lemon Bon Bon.
  • Reply 125 of 374
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by theAPPLEcloud.com View Post


    If Apple if fully committed to 'Cloud' and 'Mobile Computing', the only question is how do they get rid of the Mac Pro. Maybe do what IBM did with it's non-server products. If the release of the upcoming Mountain Lion doesn't let you know their intentions then likely you don't know the New Apple.



    iOS is clearly Apple's priority now. It's where the money is...where the tide is going. But Tim says their still committed to the Mac.



    Mountain Lion. They're adding the bits of iOS that work and add to the desktop experience.



    As yet, we don't have to gorilla arm the screen...but we still benefit from some good iOS ideas. It's basically the same underlying operating system. They keep the Mac/iOS roughly in lockstep as eco-system devices. Anybody who converts to the Mac from using an iOS device sees familiar aspects at play eg iMessages.



    I think that's a good thing.



    Sales on the iOS devices and the emphasis on laptops tells us pretty much Apple's intentions.



    I'd guess any hopes of a desktop renaissance 'Wintel' style? I doubt it. It's a dying or morphing market in terms of how we traditional think of it. Sizeable...but the sales figures say we're going mobile. Laptops, iPads, Smartphones. I think the laptop is pretty much the new desktop. It's no longer 'tower' shaped...not the traditional 'desktop' box. I know people who have laptops on their dining tables...and lounge with the iPad on the sofa. So instead of 'Big honking' tower on desk with big screen' we have a a laptop instead. But they still have ample consumer/prosumer power. Even more so than when the tower was at it's peak. A much more streamlined 'desktop' you can pick up and carry if you need to.



    Having played with an iPad 2 on a sofa at the weekend...it feels pretty weird 'surfing' the net on my iMac sat at a desk.



    Lemon Bon Bon.
  • Reply 126 of 374
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post


    I can see the day when iPad has a sgnificant impact on Laptop sales for even Apple. The fact that Apple has taken such a lead with a machine with the hardware limitations of iPad is pretty impressive. If they solve some of the speed and memory limitations I can only see those numbers increasing. I expect iPad 3 to solve many of those issues with a faster processor, more RAM and Flash storage.



    However I think the difference here is that you see such devices as a replacement for desktops. I actually see them as a replacement for laptops. IPads could drive a resurgence in desktop hardware. Note I said desktop, not tower.



    http://macdailynews.com/2012/02/27/w...nal-computing/



    A good article. As for 'desktop.' (Not in any traditional Wintel big honking tower or small honking tower sense. Not the 'desktop' in the traditional sense of Windows 95 and a Beige Tower with a mass of wires.)



    I think the Macbook Air (a laptop...) hooked up to a big monitor (who knows, maybe an iPhone/iPad could be it instead of a laptop in the future.) Maybe Apple will sell iOS A4 and A3 tablet sized computers in the future which you can dock on an iMac style stand.



    Lemon Bon Bon.
  • Reply 127 of 374
    mactacmactac Posts: 316member
    I have never been interested in laptops. To use at home like a desktop I would have to add a full size keyboard and monitor. I might as well get a desktop. But what I could see me doing in the future is buying an iPad. If I have a good desktop computer first. Of course my idea of a good desktop is something that is easy to get into, has a little bit of expansion and let's me choose the monitor of my choice. But Apple only offers those capabilities at the starting price of $2499. Apple seriously needs a mid range desktop.

    I see laptop sales dropping as tablet sales increase. But people will still need a computer to do some things that tablets can't. A desktop fits that bill nicely. Why buy a portable laptop to supplement a portable tablet and still have to buy a larger keyboard and monitor to make the laptop easier to work with at home?



    Yes, some people are fine with laptop keyboards and smaller screens but that doesn't fit everyone.
  • Reply 128 of 374
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lemon Bon Bon. View Post




    The point about the GPUs being offered by Apple as 'antique' made me smile. Especially on a purported 'workstation' costing over £2k to join the club.



    All this time waiting for a Mac Pro update. Why not update the ram? The gpu? The HD? Cut the price? It's a tower. You'd think they'd upgrade the components half way through cycle.



    Lemon Bon Bon.



    Apple makes expensive devices in general compared to the competition on many things. It just varies a bit by device, and the low end mac pro happens to be an outlier there. Regarding the gpu, you should keep in mind that in between there has been one generation, and it wasn't much of a bump at all.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lemon Bon Bon. View Post




    Having played with an iPad 2 on a sofa at the weekend...it feels pretty weird 'surfing' the net on my iMac sat at a desk.



    Lemon Bon Bon.



    Imacs still strike me as a weird design. They have too many issues like hard drive replacement, and having to replace a hard drive is not exactly uncommon. I also find it awkward how it's coupled to a large display. Laptops are too, but it's a compromise for portability, which is a weird concept in a desktop computer. Imac growth isn't exactly great compared to their laptops.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lemon Bon Bon. View Post


    http://macdailynews.com/2012/02/27/w...nal-computing/



    A good article. As for 'desktop.' (Not in any traditional Wintel big honking tower or small honking tower sense. Not the 'desktop' in the traditional sense of Windows 95 and a Beige Tower with a mass of wires.)



    I think the Macbook Air (a laptop...) hooked up to a big monitor (who knows, maybe an iPhone/iPad could be it instead of a laptop in the future.) Maybe Apple will sell iOS A4 and A3 tablet sized computers in the future which you can dock on an iMac style stand.



    Lemon Bon Bon.



    That article is fanboyism. The reality of something phone like as your sole computing device isn't something you'll see in the next few years, and Apple's current position means very little relative to such a time. They are in good shape right now, and I don't expect them to just fade off. People attribute too much of it to Steve Jobs.
  • Reply 129 of 374
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lemon Bon Bon. View Post


    iOS is clearly Apple's priority now. It's where the money is...where the tide is going. But Tim says their still committed to the Mac.



    They are still seeing strong growth though most of that is laptop growth.

    Quote:

    Mountain Lion. They're adding the bits of iOS that work and add to the desktop experience.



    As yet, we don't have to gorilla arm the screen...but we still benefit from some good iOS ideas. It's basically the same underlying operating system. They keep the Mac/iOS roughly in lockstep as eco-system devices. Anybody who converts to the Mac from using an iOS device sees familiar aspects at play eg iMessages.



    What I find to be very funny is that people get all bent out of shape if Mac OS adopts a few good features from iOS not realizing that iOS is built on the same foundation as Mac OS. In fact iOS used many libs directly from Mac OS. In many cases API remained identical.



    Some features where actually improved on iOS and merged back into Mac OS years ago. Considering the history a few iOS like feature in Mac OS is not surprising at all.

    Quote:

    I think that's a good thing.



    A very good thing.

    Quote:

    Sales on the iOS devices and the emphasis on laptops tells us pretty much Apple's intentions.



    Even Apple can make mistakes! The desktop line up, if you can really call it that, has aged to the point that few are attracted to the hardware. I see it as one of those self fulfilling prophecies. In effect Apples neglect here has worn people down to the point that they don't care anymore and solve their expand ability needs with other hardware and OS's.

    Quote:

    I'd guess any hopes of a desktop renaissance 'Wintel' style? I doubt it. It's a dying or morphing market in terms of how we traditional think of it.



    It is most frustrating to see you look at the desktop market in terms of Wintel machines. Nobody wants antique concepts in a desktop from Apple. Rather we want an XMac that has as much novel engineering as the AIRs and MBPs, hell if they put as much effort into XMac as the iPad I'd be shocked.

    Quote:

    Sizeable...but the sales figures say we're going mobile. Laptops, iPads, Smartphones. I think the laptop is pretty much the new desktop. It's no longer 'tower' shaped...not the traditional 'desktop' box. I know people who have laptops on their dining tables...and lounge with the iPad on the sofa. So instead of 'Big honking' tower on desk with big screen' we have a a laptop instead. But they still have ample consumer/prosumer power. Even more so than when the tower was at it's peak. A much more streamlined 'desktop' you can pick up and carry if you need to.



    I wouldn't be surprised to see laptop sales tank in a year or two. It really doesn't make sense for many users. For many an iPad and/or iPhone covers mobile needs. So why invest in a laptop and the compromises there if a desktop is a cheaper and better choice.

    Quote:

    Having played with an iPad 2 on a sofa at the weekend...it feels pretty weird 'surfing' the net on my iMac sat at a desk.



    Lemon Bon Bon.



    Which brings up the question of why you would even want a laptop on that desk. I really don't think Apple is far from significantly truncating laptop sales. The current iPad is just a little to limited to replace laptops for a large number of users. That might change dramatically with iPad 3 or 4.
  • Reply 130 of 374
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    In my case though I don't buy Apple hardware due to the price, it is almost always due to the OS. Admittedly some hardware I stay away from due to cost!

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hmm View Post


    Apple makes expensive devices in general compared to the competition on many things. It just varies a bit by device, and the low end mac pro happens to be an outlier there. Regarding the gpu, you should keep in mind that in between there has been one generation, and it wasn't much of a bump at all.



    Complaints about driver quality are valid when it comes to GPUs. Not in the sense of speed which I think Apple avoids in preference to reliability. Rather the issue is the terrible lag in supporting industry standards, be it OpenGL or their own OPenCL. Or some other feature. Frankly it is pretty pathetic that one can get more up to date drivers for Linux in many cases.

    Quote:

    Imacs still strike me as a weird design. They have too many issues like hard drive replacement, and having to replace a hard drive is not exactly uncommon. I also find it awkward how it's coupled to a large display. Laptops are too, but it's a compromise for portability, which is a weird concept in a desktop computer. Imac growth isn't exactly great compared to their laptops.



    I know some get bent out of shape when I call it a special purpose computer but that is pretty much what it is. It sad too because if the paid attention to serviceability like they did with the MBPs a few years ago it might actually turn into a machine I might want to buy. The design is basically assinine, as you point out the one item you will almost certainly have to service is buried in the machine. There is no excuse for that.

    Quote:

    That article is fanboyism. The reality of something phone like as your sole computing device isn't something you'll see in the next few years, and Apple's current position means very little relative to such a time.



    Sole computing device - not anytime soon. However as a device that could meet The mobile needs of many, iPhone and iPad are not that far away. I'm actually surprised at how much I rely upon my devices now.

    Quote:

    They are in good shape right now, and I don't expect them to just fade off. People attribute too much of it to Steve Jobs.



    As I read more about Apple and Steve it is clear he didn't always win every argument at Apple. He was very much a visionary and it is reasonable to worry about whom will fill that void.



    In the context of this discussion though I really think they need a product visionary for the Mac desktop lineup. I've just have seen nothing over the last few years that indicates that anybody at Apple looks toward the future the way they do with the laptop hardware. Basically nothing has happened there at all, that could be called innovation. I really see this coming back to haunt them in a couple of years.
  • Reply 131 of 374
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    The problem is pretty simple, desktops are not anywhere near powerful enough today for most uses and certainly not for more advanced non trivial uses. so if your desktop of the near future can't handle the workload I don't see any handheld device doing so. Frankly I have to say it must be nice for the individual's that see the AIR as a powerful machine, but for the rest of that find AIRs chocking on our workloads I just shake my head. AIRs are like Miatas, sports cars for girls.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lemon Bon Bon. View Post


    http://macdailynews.com/2012/02/27/w...nal-computing/



    A good article. As for 'desktop.' (Not in any traditional Wintel big honking tower or small honking tower sense. Not the 'desktop' in the traditional sense of Windows 95 and a Beige Tower with a mass of wires.)



    I really wish people would erase the concept of a tower when talking about desktops. Towers are so far from what I envision as an XMac as to be kinda pathetic. However what I envision doesn't have to be what Apple builds, frankly the could build a desktop that looks like a shrunken Cray, padded seats and all, for all I care. The goal is to get the storage expansion ability needed and a slot or two for I/O expansion. We aren't asking for much here.



    The funny thing here is Apple doesn't need to look to the past here. Instead they should concentrate on a platform for the next 5 to 10 years.

    Quote:

    I think the Macbook Air (a laptop...) hooked up to a big monitor (who knows, maybe an iPhone/iPad could be it instead of a laptop in the future.) Maybe Apple will sell iOS A4 and A3 tablet sized computers in the future which you can dock on an iMac style stand.



    Lemon Bon Bon.



  • Reply 132 of 374
    Hmm.



    You'd have to show me a picture of the kind of thing you're envisioning.



    For example, can't the Mini have two internal HDs? (How many are you after?) If you want more storage...there's a Thunderbolt connector for much faster speedy HDs or a Raid. What's your budget for such a machine? What's the equivalent on the PC side?



    I suppose you could ask the question, 'Why didn't they make the Mac Mini taller? Bigger?' You'd have to ask Apple that. But take one look at the Air or the iMac and you'd have your answer.



    Or why the Mini has become more pricey. Why not lop £300 off the price of the entry iMac (like they used to sell...) and you'd have a decent machine with monitor and keyboard.



    There is something a little off about the desktop strategy. It seems to cost more than it should...which prices the Pro into obsolescence. It's full of upsell I guess. Which is good for Apple shareholders and profit. Hard to argue with the increased sales of the Mac.



    The fact that the only machine you can easily get into and upgrade is the Pro. But you have to pay £2045 to get access to that on the Mac side. No coincidence. Mind you. You have 3 good years out of a consumer/prosumer Mac and 'move on' to the next upgrade. You upgrade the machine not the components. (Mac Pro...so upgradeable...yet it's two GPU generations behind as the ATI 7000 series hits? No SLi? Why can't we just buy one off the shelf and plug it in?)



    Guess Apple aren't about 'tinkering' and DIY computing. They sell you sexy sealed unit which you can upgrade ok from Point of Sale. Maybe add some ram or an external hard drive. Beyond that you need a Pro. Apple just want you to buy a whole new machine every 3-ish years.



    Apple are with the 'most' people. It's Macbook Pro and Air laptops and iMacs (the latter of which are dwarfed by laptop sales...). The laptops Apple sell are 'good enough' for 'most' people. The things that an Apple laptop or an iMac can do are pretty fantastic these days. The sales reflect that. 70%+ are swarming over laptops compared to 25-30% desktop sales is still pretty decent. But most of those sales are iMacs. Apple have led in the transition to the laptop era. (And the tablet too.) Some may blame the lack of the mid-tower for this...but even on the PC side...laptops are common place now...with AIOs increasingly in evidence.



    While I'd like a bigger 'mini'...(I'd buy a Cube tomorrow...) I don't see Apple doing that. (I'm not sure what it can give me that an iMac can't.) Otherwise it wouldn't be a mini. The iMac isn't going anywhere...it firmly occupies the 'mid-tower' ground from £995 to £2k. So a mini-Pro? That would be overlap. Hey, they USED to sell the entry tower at £1495 (something like that...) but now they don't. Again. I don't think that's an accident.



    Are they really going to develop a new desktop when they just canned their cheaper laptop entry model, the 'Macbook?' (A good servant for the laptop sales...but they canned it all the same.) Looks like the iPad will take care of the 'netbook'/cheap laptop area.



    If they redesign the Pro...to a mini-Pro...where's it going to sit, price wise? Pay the same for a smaller machine? Reduce the entry price so it conflicts with the ever more capable mid to top end iMacs? Pour money (which they have plenty of...) into an obselete design? A more steamlined Pro makes sense to me. But I'm still a legacy loving dinosaur. (It's hard to forget your first PowerMac circa 1997.) The sales show that not many people think like I do. I wanted a 'Cube' or a cheaper or redesigned Pro for years. I'm still waiting. Ten years later, I guess I have to take the beeping hint. Apple are the first to move away from obvious archaic or legacy systems whether hardware of software. My ten year old Adobe Design suite doesn't work in Rosetta. Illustrator does. Photoshop does not. (I was shown no mercy by Adobe forum members...'Buy a new version.' I guess I had it coming as it was ten years old.) Apple showed no mercy canny '9', the disk drive, X-Raid, PowerPC, legacy models for Mountain Lion, Final Cut Pro, Shake, Flash (had it's head held in the toilet bowl before Jobs left us...). Even with iOS, iPhone, iPod and iPad 1 have/will feel the 'you've had your time...' squeeze of death as Apple marches on. If Apple are going to make this X-Mac...where is it? When's it coming?



    I agonised for years about the absence of an X-Mac. But refused to be ripped off by the entry level Mac Pro (which saw successive and massive price hikes as it went from the G4 to G5 to G-Whizz Intel...) as it had the entry dual model removed...and thus the motivation for wanting one subside. I settled for an iMac...and it surprised me. The inclusive monitor is either a great thing or a bad thing. But plenty of Apple desktops buyers are buying that. There wasn't a flood of Cube buyers to sustain a mid-tower paradigm. Would it now with a bigger sales base? Not if they're buying laptops.



    Apple have, effectively, had two desktop models over the last two years and two laptop models. (The Pro and Macbook were left to rot.) The old 2 by 2 equals 4 grid. I don't see how they're going to drive a train through their desktop model to include a new desktop. A Pro redesign may be our best hope.



    *drums fingers... (Geeze, what's taking Apple so long. Nearly March before the 1st Mac launches?)



    Lemon Bon Bon.
  • Reply 133 of 374
    Apple have erased the idea of the tower. Their answer is the 'Mini', 'iMac', 'Macbook Pro' and 'Macbook Air' and the 'iPad.'



    27% of mobile computing. That's a paradigm shift. (Worlds away when they sold towers from £1195+ and had 1-2% marketshare.)



    It just may not be 'some' people's idea of a 'desktop.'



    But they're a tiny part of the 5 million plus Mac sales.



    Lemon Bon Bon.
  • Reply 134 of 374
    For the record, I've never liked laptops at all. Though I think the Mac ones are very well designed. The Airs are breathtaking in person. Buy one? Me? Nahh.



    But 4 million Mac buyers this last quarter...do. (They must be powerful enough to do what they're doing on them.)



    I guess they're not doing week long 3D renders and Earth sim calc...or 60 layer 300dpi photoshop movie posters...



    Lemon Bon Bon.
  • Reply 135 of 374
    http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...40&subcat=1270



    Just having a look at what the PC towers are offering these days...



    Lemon Bon Bon.
  • Reply 136 of 374
    ...and I wonder what the actual specs of the Mac Pro will be.



    Lemon Bon Bon.
  • Reply 137 of 374
    mactacmactac Posts: 316member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lemon Bon Bon. View Post


    Hmm.

    While I'd like a bigger 'mini'...(I'd buy a Cube tomorrow...) I don't see Apple doing that. (I'm not sure what it can give me that an iMac can't.) Otherwise it wouldn't be a mini. The iMac isn't going anywhere...it firmly occupies the 'mid-tower' ground from £995 to £2k. So a mini-Pro? That would be overlap. Hey, they USED to sell the entry tower at £1495 (something like that...) but now they don't. Again. I don't think that's an accident.



    Choices? Especially if the case was designed to make it fast and simple to change or upgrade drives. And it wouldn't be overlap to those of us that will never purchase an all in one but want something that is more than the mini but isn't as big or expensive as the Pro.

    There is an entire category of user that Apple is ignoring. Now some of that category give in and buy a Mac that doesn't meet their hardware needs because they want OSX so badly. Others hold out or decide to do without OSX and switch.
  • Reply 138 of 374
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacTac View Post


    Choices? Especially if the case was designed to make it fast and simple to change or upgrade drives. And it wouldn't be overlap to those of us that will never purchase an all in one but want something that is more than the mini but isn't as big or expensive as the Pro.

    There is an entire category of user that Apple is ignoring. Now some of that category give in and buy a Mac that doesn't meet their hardware needs because they want OSX so badly. Others hold out or decide to do without OSX and switch.



    Liking OS/X is like a sickness. Seriously, a mental disease that forces you to compromise in many ways. Often you can't so you end up with foreign systems in your home or office to do the most basic of tasks because Apple hardware isn't up to the task. The fact that you had to compromise just feeds the illness.



    As to that other thread, I really feel that the Mac Pro is effectively dead. Now maybe that cube isn't real, but it does wrap in ideas that I've expressed for an XMac. In any event if they get the mix right they could easily quadruple Pro sales. I really doubt that they move anywhere near 50,000 a quarter anymore of the Mac Pros. Combine that with the very long revision cycle and I could see something coming soon. That is something new that effectively replaces the Pro.
  • Reply 139 of 374
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post


    Liking OS/X is like a sickness. Seriously, a mental disease that forces you to compromise in many ways. Often you can't so you end up with foreign systems in your home or office to do the most basic of tasks because Apple hardware isn't up to the task. The fact that you had to compromise just feeds the illness.



    As to that other thread, I really feel that the Mac Pro is effectively dead. Now maybe that cube isn't real, but it does wrap in ideas that I've expressed for an XMac. In any event if they get the mix right they could easily quadruple Pro sales. I really doubt that they move anywhere near 50,000 a quarter anymore of the Mac Pros. Combine that with the very long revision cycle and I could see something coming soon. That is something new that effectively replaces the Pro.



    I'm still not that hopeful on it. Apple is kind of an enigma in a lot of ways. The margins that were typically seen among higher end professional grade hardware are essentially what Apple sees as normal (for them). I think their strategy may employ some kind of hub type device for storage and things, but it seems more like they want to sell everyone an ipad and eventually nudge the comfort levels on budget upward as they really start to displace older product types.
  • Reply 140 of 374
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hmm View Post


    I'm still not that hopeful on it. Apple is kind of an enigma in a lot of ways. The margins that were typically seen among higher end professional grade hardware are essentially what Apple sees as normal (for them).



    Actually those margins are thin, even Apple is relatively thin compared to workstation manufactures or IBM. Sadly most of the workstation manufactures have been absorbed by others but even then margins on the hardware is thick. Apple is unfortunately often judged against the likes of Dell which for lack of business sense has thrown the idea of margin out the window. Unfortunately for Dell it has caught up with them as many businesses are starting to look elsewhere as Dell has cut quality so much that the low price isn't worth it.

    Quote:

    I think their strategy may employ some kind of hub type device for storage and things, but it seems more like they want to sell everyone an ipad and eventually nudge the comfort levels on budget upward as they really start to displace older product types.



    I actually believe Apple was as surprised with iPads success as everyone else. In business you have to run with your successes. However what is glossed over here is that Macs are also very successful, it is just that the Mac Pro hasn't shared in that success. We could discuss at length Apples desktop shortcomings but I will skip that and just say now is a fine time to transition the desktop line up to new concepts. With Sandy Bridge E and a choice of Fusion or Sand/Ivy Bridge Apple could turn the desktop line around and sell good hardware at reasonable prices.



    Internally this hardware will look rather unique and split with the past. It will do so to deliver maximum performance in the price classes they market in.
Sign In or Register to comment.