Apple canvassing iMac Pro users on why they bought and what they like

AppleInsider

It's not the first time Apple has sent out surveys, but this one concentrates on power features that may point to plans for the forthcoming Mac Pro.

An unknown number of iMac Pro buyers have been sent a survey asking about their purchase. Apple is specifically asking why they bought the machine and what they think of it now that they've been using been it for some time.

Twitter user @afwaller tweeted a screengrab of the survey sent to his iPhone.

"Questions include whether you bought the iMac Pro because it has more ports, SD card, and what features you like or dislike," he said. "The survey includes a series of check boxes for you to nominate reasons you bought the iMac Pro. These range from the "Space Gray finish" to more specific technical reasons such as "External display support (two 5K external displays or four 4K external displays)."

Currently, Waller's tweet appears to be the only account of the survey, and it's not clear how many customers have received it nor how extensive the questions are.

It's also not known why Apple has chosen this time to send the survey. The first iMac Pros were shipped by Apple just over eight months ago on Dec. 21, 2017 and there have been no substantiated rumors about a refresh.

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However, Apple has confirmed that the Mac Pro will be released in 2019. As this is also aimed a pro users, it's reasonable to suspect that data from this survey may be used to aid that effort. The overriding request from potential Mac Pro users to date has been for an expandable machine but this survey may give Apple finer detail.

Alternatively, it may just give the company more of an idea how to differentiate the iMac Pro and Mac Pro in its marketing.

Apple's interest in customer surveys is well documented. For example, the company queried MacBook Air owners about their machines (and sparked rumors of a cellular-equipped model) in a 2011 survey, and did the same for other products in the intervening years.

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ireland

They should canvas MBP users. Your favourite feature: the gimmicky Touch Bar, the lack of a physical esc key, the lack of MagSafe, the worse power plug with no cable management, the lack of port diversity, or the crappy feeling, fragile keyboard?

This should ruffle a few features here ;-)

edited September 2018

sedicivalvole

Interesting...

Those would be on my list against the MBP 😉

sflocal

ireland said:

They should canvas MBP users. Your favourite feature: the gimmicky Touch Bar, the lack of a physical esc key, the lack of MagSafe, the worse power plug with no cable management, the lack of port diversity, or the crappy feeling, fragile keyboard?

This should ruffle a few features here ;-)

I have the 2017 MacBook Pro.  I can answer that no problem

Touch Bar: Works fine for me - and I'm a software developer.
Lack of physical Esc key - No issue.

Lack of Magsafe - No love lost.  I'll take the combined TB3-USBc-Power in a single port anyway.

Power Plug Management: WTF?

Port Diversity:  My TB3 port connects to a dock with all legacy ports I need.  Most of my external gadgets come with USBc connectors now.  Those that don't have a $7 dongle that rarely ever gets used.  Get over it.
Keyboard:  Sure, mine clicks loud compared to my old MBP.  I got used to it.  A year later, still works with zero problems.  

I suspect there are more happy people like me, then the vocal minority that you're in.

boltsfan17

sflocal said:

ireland said:

They should canvas MBP users. Your favourite feature: the gimmicky Touch Bar, the lack of a physical esc key, the lack of MagSafe, the worse power plug with no cable management, the lack of port diversity, or the crappy feeling, fragile keyboard?

This should ruffle a few features here ;-)

I have the 2017 MacBook Pro.  I can answer that no problem

Touch Bar: Works fine for me - and I'm a software developer.
Lack of physical Esc key - No issue.

Lack of Magsafe - No love lost.  I'll take the combined TB3-USBc-Power in a single port anyway.

Power Plug Management: WTF?

Port Diversity:  My TB3 port connects to a dock with all legacy ports I need.  Most of my external gadgets come with USBc connectors now.  Those that don't have a $7 dongle that rarely ever gets used.  Get over it.
Keyboard:  Sure, mine clicks loud compared to my old MBP.  I got used to it.  A year later, still works with zero problems.  

I suspect there are more happy people like me, then the vocal minority that you're in.

I just bought a 2018 MBP a few weeks ago. I actually like the Touch Bar a lot. I prefer using my finger on the screen brightness slider for example over physical buttons. I like using the Touch Bar to save items, delete, etc. I just started using the Touch Bar with photo editing software. It works great. Overall, I think the Touch Bar is a great feature on the MBP. 

dunks

It’s interesting that the survey selects for people who purchased an iMac Pro.

It’s probably even more valuable for them to survey the people who added an iMac Pro to their cart but didn’t end up purchasing.

metrix

ireland said:

They should canvas MBP users. Your favourite feature: the gimmicky Touch Bar, the lack of a physical esc key, the lack of MagSafe, the worse power plug with no cable management, the lack of port diversity, or the crappy feeling, fragile keyboard?

This should ruffle a few features here ;-)

A friend of mine who is a recent Computer Science graduate bought both Dell XPS15 and Apple Macbook Pro and claimed there was no way he could go back to the XPS after using the Macbook Pro. Totally startled to hear this but apparently many Computer Science majors are going with MBp over Dell XPS. I have used the XPS 15 and its really not too bad.

edited September 2018

spice-boy

I'm itching to get a new iMac, I use my present (late 2012 still works great after 6 years) for photoshop and other business apps. No way am I dropping the kind of cash for the iMac Pro but would like if the next iMac got even a small smattering of the Pro's technologies. 

lkrupp

sedicivalvole said:

Interesting...

Those would be on my list against the MBP 😉

That's because those who post on Apple tech blogs like AI are not typical of Apple customers in general so their opinions are not very useful, tend to be grossly negative most of the time, and don't reflect the real world of Apple customers.

soundrobot

I hope for future pro products they are considering threadripper/epyc over intel’s offerings. 

sumergo

ireland said:

They should canvas MBP users. Your favourite feature: the gimmicky Touch Bar, the lack of a physical esc key, the lack of MagSafe, the worse power plug with no cable management, the lack of port diversity, or the crappy feeling, fragile keyboard?

This should ruffle a few features here ;-)

Cluck cluck, Ireland.  No ruffled feathers here, but I agree that Apple should canvas users about their whole range rather than just the iMac Pro (why this one anyway?). 

Regarding the MBP?  Port diversity and keyboard are certainly usability items for serious review.

sumergo

lkrupp said:

sedicivalvole said:

Interesting...

Those would be on my list against the MBP 😉

That's because those who post on Apple tech blogs like AI are not typical of Apple customers in general so their opinions are not very useful, tend to be grossly negative most of the time, and don't reflect the real world of Apple customers.

Hmm lkrupp.  Your 6,238 posts on AI demonstrate your current point well. "Caput tua in ano est".  

strangedays

ireland said:

They should canvas MBP users. Your favourite feature: the gimmicky Touch Bar, the lack of a physical esc key, the lack of MagSafe, the worse power plug with no cable management, the lack of port diversity, or the crappy feeling, fragile keyboard?

This should ruffle a few features here ;-)

Nah. We’re all used to whining from people who don’t even own the products they complain about. Over and over. What a bizarre way to live.

strangedays

sumergo said:

lkrupp said:

sedicivalvole said:

Interesting...

Those would be on my list against the MBP 😉

That's because those who post on Apple tech blogs like AI are not typical of Apple customers in general so their opinions are not very useful, tend to be grossly negative most of the time, and don't reflect the real world of Apple customers.

Hmm lkrupp.  Your 6,238 posts on AI demonstrate your current point well. "Caput tua in ano est".  

Nonsense. He just knows a whiny hater when he sees one. Stick around and you’ll quickly identify them too. 

mattinoz

I thought Apple did these kinds of surveys all the time for all products.

sumergo

StrangeDays said:

sumergo said:

lkrupp said:

sedicivalvole said:

Interesting...

Those would be on my list against the MBP 😉

That's because those who post on Apple tech blogs like AI are not typical of Apple customers in general so their opinions are not very useful, tend to be grossly negative most of the time, and don't reflect the real world of Apple customers.

Hmm lkrupp.  Your 6,238 posts on AI demonstrate your current point well. "Caput tua in ano est".  

Nonsense. He just knows a whiny hater when he sees one. Stick around and you’ll quickly identify them too. 

It's surely not being a "whiney hater" to offer an opinion that the MBP touchbar is a bit of an unnecessary extravagance, or that the MBP keyboard seems a little cheap (independently of it's dust problems).
What the forum are seeing from you, Strange Days, seems more like "uncritical fanboy". 

anome

ireland said:

They should canvas MBP users. Your favourite feature: the gimmicky Touch Bar, the lack of a physical esc key, the lack of MagSafe, the worse power plug with no cable management, the lack of port diversity, or the crappy feeling, fragile keyboard?

This should ruffle a few features here ;-)

Wouldn't most people who have one like it? Or else they'd have gotten rid of it for something else? At least by now.

And what does "lack of port diversity" mean, exactly? I can plug anything I own into the ports on mine.

eric_wvgg

sflocal said:

Power Plug Management: WTF?

He's referring to those swing-out arms on the older chargers that you could coil the cord around.

I admit they were handy, but if the trade-off is a wholly removable and replaceable cord, it's worth it.

9secondkox2

I love all usb c on my mbp. I also love that ALL the ports charge! The keyboard is my favorite of any keyboard I’ve used. Touch bar is a wash for me. Not hugely beneficial, but not a drawback either. I do feel that the loss of MagSafe is a backward step. Would have been great to see that as part of the usb c design.

edited September 2018

randominternetperson

I don't know why we're talking about MBPs in this thread, but all those complaints listed above are features in my book.  I just got a new Dell notebook at work, and I greatly prefer my MBP keyboard.  I occasionally use my kids' (hand-me-down) prior-gen MBP and I prefer the feel of mine.  After 2 years I did have one key stick for the first time a few weeks ago, but I was able to dislodge whatever got in the gap and now it's as good as new.

I hope consumers make their buying decisions based on actual hands-on use rather than overblown whining by bloggers.

anome

randominternetperson said:

I don't know why we're talking about MBPs in this thread,

Because the guys that post on every thread about the Mac Mini are running late?