As has been said before, headless macs need to have a midway. The mac mini is great but too week. The Mac Pro Overkill. I've been wanting to build a media server for the front room. Something to run front row, surf the net and email, and play games like unreal and various mods.
The only changes I would make to some of the suggestions, is fit the drive with a blu-ray drive. It is the future, and the product needs to be built for it. At least have it as an option.
The second is have a option IO board with HDMI output that can carry fully audio signals up to 7.1
The device can than then be built for all the needs.
Some people may say, why don't I buy a apple TV - It's good, but it' doesn't do it all.
The mac mini is so close, just the graphics need the push.
From what I have read on previous topics, some people believe that Mr Jobs doesn't believe in media like CD's and things. Storage should all on line and on Flash cards. Although I see the future eventualy ending up like this, not for 10-15 years. In the meantime, lets continue with them.
There has to be a market for a well placed mid-tower. I rarely see towers with fully loaded PCI slots and fully stocked ram slots. Obviously there are many power users with fully tricked out machines, but most people need something more than a mini but not a tower.
There has to be a market for a well placed mid-tower. I rarely see towers with fully loaded PCI slots and fully stocked ram slots. Obviously there are many power users with fully tricked out machines, but most people need something more than a mini but not a tower.
What they want is piece of mind. We Tower users generally have a better safe than sorry attitude.
The reason Apple should make a new Mac Cube (minitower) is obvious: PEOPLE WANT ONE! Call it the MacPro Cube and charge $1299 for it using the same components as the MacCube. Apple is really hurting its customers by using laptop parts and taking shortcuts with their consumer desktops (the iMac and mini.)
peve, regarding your mockup, it is too tall. It needs to fit onto the shelf below an HDTV or on a desk and not be obnoxious. If you took the innards of a Mac Pro and removed the empty space you could easily fit it all into an 8" cube.
I would buy this if it was available with performance and capacity equal to or better than the MacPro:
How are you supposed to get performance and capacity equal to or better than a Mac Pro with that? And what the hell are you taking about, do you have any idea what your saying?
If you had performance and capacity equal to or better than a Mac Pro you would have a Mac Pro. What are you talking about?
#1 you would never fit 4 drive Bays, 4 PCI-E slots, and Dual CPU sockets, and 4 RAM slots in there with the same Power Unit/supply. It's not possible.
How are you supposed to get performance and capacity equal to or better than a Mac Pro with that? And what the hell are you taking about, do you have any idea what your saying?
If you had performance and capacity equal to or better than a Mac Pro you would have a Mac Pro. What are you talking about?
#1 you would never fit 4 drive Bays, 4 PCI-E slots, and Dual CPU sockets, and 4 RAM slots in there with the same Power Unit/supply. It's not possible.
I'm sorry you find my suggestion so frustrating. It's simple, really. When you buy a mac pro off the shelf it's a big empty box. If you get rid of all the empty space, you're left with a machine of identical performance but much reduced physical size. That's what I want, and that's what hundreds of thousands of other people want as well.
That's what I want, and that's what hundreds of thousands of other people want as well.
The first part of that statement is true, but I'm not sure about the second. Do you have a list of names or any survey results? I am fairly sure that Apple conducts market surveys and that they have a business plan, and at least for the moment fairly obviously, they don't think thousands and thousands of people want minitowers.
when will you realize that just because apple could make an upgradable computer that you could NOT use your own graphics card unless you bought it through apple with EFI.
I would buy this if it was available with performance and capacity equal to or better than the MacPro:
Ports will need to look like this though:
Of course it wouldn't be better than a Mac Pro otherwise Apple wouldn't make a Mac Pro. I guess it could have a similar spec but I think one quad on the high end would be enough and it would maybe be the same as the lowest end Mac Pro. With a more restrictive case, it would be harder to get the same airflow and I doubt you'd fit an X1900XT in there if they are overheating Mac Pros.
I actually do like that size in the picture and I'd buy one with that design. I like easy access to drives and Ram though so a side panel like the towers would be perfect. Enough room for two drives and a capable graphics card - irrespective of upgrades, it's good to have the assurance that if it dies, you don't have to fork out a huge amount of cash for a repair. You just get another card and whether or not the options are limited, they are not non-existant.
I'd see the ports being the same as the Mini but with two display connections and possibly eSATA but FW800 would suffice IMO. I'd prefer a tray-loading optical drive too.
when will you realize that just because apple could make an upgradable computer that you could NOT use your own graphics card unless you bought it through apple with EFI.
I'm not sure what you're trying to say, but IF Apple releases another "upgradable" computer, I'm pretty sure that you could use most of the Mac Pro GPUs (they are not currently the best around, but they exist), AND if Apple had a second Mac with upgradeable graphics, I'm pretty sure that ATI and nvidia would work with Apple to make more cards available. The mythical xMac being a mid-range product, it would surely sell more units than the Mac Pro and make it profitable to develop more options. I don't care if the card/computer uses EFI or whatever, I just need a few choices. The more Macs with PCIe slot, the more Apple and 3rd parties developers will want to make cards for the Mac, the more cards/choices we will have for the xMac and the Mac Pro too!
Some people around here know me as the guy who shits on minitower threads. If Apple made a minitower, it would certainly be an interesting computer, and while I don't think its sales numbers would be great, I don't think they'd be worse than the mini's.
The reason why I shit on minitower threads is because it's bad business practice. First off, it would be a low-margin product. Low margin, commodity products offer little value proposition to Apple as sources of profit, and more importantly they tarnish the brand. Apple can sell high-margin products because they build wow-factor into them. Even if the proposed minitower had wow factor, unless it were paired with an Apple display the system as a unit would have little to no wow-factor.
In other words, Apple will do whatever Adolf Loos says, and Loos hates minitowers.
The reason why I shit on minitower threads is because it's bad business practice. First off, it would be a low-margin product.
This assumption keeps coming up over and over again, and folks have been pointing out that Apple sets whatever profit margin it wants. There is no "margin rule" that Apple must follow. Sure, Windows minitowers will sell for less, but Mac users buy Macs.
Comments
Need check box that says "all of the above."
Absolutely!
The only changes I would make to some of the suggestions, is fit the drive with a blu-ray drive. It is the future, and the product needs to be built for it. At least have it as an option.
The second is have a option IO board with HDMI output that can carry fully audio signals up to 7.1
The device can than then be built for all the needs.
Some people may say, why don't I buy a apple TV - It's good, but it' doesn't do it all.
The mac mini is so close, just the graphics need the push.
From what I have read on previous topics, some people believe that Mr Jobs doesn't believe in media like CD's and things. Storage should all on line and on Flash cards. Although I see the future eventualy ending up like this, not for 10-15 years. In the meantime, lets continue with them.
There has to be a market for a well placed mid-tower. I rarely see towers with fully loaded PCI slots and fully stocked ram slots. Obviously there are many power users with fully tricked out machines, but most people need something more than a mini but not a tower.
What they want is piece of mind. We Tower users generally have a better safe than sorry attitude.
I don't want to buy an iMac (have already a few screens), Mac Pro is too expensive.
So I'd need something with a dedicated graphics processor, and two DVI ports, if possible.
Given the current product matrix, I'll buy an iMac and sell one of my LCDs.
I really like the mini, I think it is a very cool little machine. But Final Cut Studio won't run on it (it does not work with integrated graphics).
I don't want to buy an iMac (have already a few screens), Mac Pro is too expensive.
So I'd need something with a dedicated graphics processor, and two DVI ports, if possible.
Given the current product matrix, I'll buy an iMac and sell one of my LCDs.
Apple's only answer for your needs is the used market.
peve, regarding your mockup, it is too tall. It needs to fit onto the shelf below an HDTV or on a desk and not be obnoxious. If you took the innards of a Mac Pro and removed the empty space you could easily fit it all into an 8" cube.
Ports will need to look like this though:
I would buy this if it was available with performance and capacity equal to or better than the MacPro:
How are you supposed to get performance and capacity equal to or better than a Mac Pro with that? And what the hell are you taking about, do you have any idea what your saying?
If you had performance and capacity equal to or better than a Mac Pro you would have a Mac Pro. What are you talking about?
#1 you would never fit 4 drive Bays, 4 PCI-E slots, and Dual CPU sockets, and 4 RAM slots in there with the same Power Unit/supply. It's not possible.
#2 See #1
#3 The point of the Mac Semi-Pro Slim Tower is to reduce components and power to a minimum, still giving it some expansion and customizability.
Your post is so ridiculous it's pissing me off.
How are you supposed to get performance and capacity equal to or better than a Mac Pro with that? And what the hell are you taking about, do you have any idea what your saying?
If you had performance and capacity equal to or better than a Mac Pro you would have a Mac Pro. What are you talking about?
#1 you would never fit 4 drive Bays, 4 PCI-E slots, and Dual CPU sockets, and 4 RAM slots in there with the same Power Unit/supply. It's not possible.
#2 See #1
#3 The point of the Mac Semi-Pro Slim Tower is to reduce components and power to a minimum, still giving it some expansion and customizability.
Your post is so ridiculous it's pissing me off.
Don't worry. Apple is never going to make anything like that. They may never make a Mini-Tower, Mid-Tower, Mid-range headless Mac, or X-Mac tower.
That's what I want, and that's what hundreds of thousands of other people want as well.
The first part of that statement is true, but I'm not sure about the second. Do you have a list of names or any survey results? I am fairly sure that Apple conducts market surveys and that they have a business plan, and at least for the moment fairly obviously, they don't think thousands and thousands of people want minitowers.
I would buy this if it was available with performance and capacity equal to or better than the MacPro:
Ports will need to look like this though:
Of course it wouldn't be better than a Mac Pro otherwise Apple wouldn't make a Mac Pro. I guess it could have a similar spec but I think one quad on the high end would be enough and it would maybe be the same as the lowest end Mac Pro. With a more restrictive case, it would be harder to get the same airflow and I doubt you'd fit an X1900XT in there if they are overheating Mac Pros.
I actually do like that size in the picture and I'd buy one with that design. I like easy access to drives and Ram though so a side panel like the towers would be perfect. Enough room for two drives and a capable graphics card - irrespective of upgrades, it's good to have the assurance that if it dies, you don't have to fork out a huge amount of cash for a repair. You just get another card and whether or not the options are limited, they are not non-existant.
I'd see the ports being the same as the Mini but with two display connections and possibly eSATA but FW800 would suffice IMO. I'd prefer a tray-loading optical drive too.
when will you realize that just because apple could make an upgradable computer that you could NOT use your own graphics card unless you bought it through apple with EFI.
I'm not sure what you're trying to say, but IF Apple releases another "upgradable" computer, I'm pretty sure that you could use most of the Mac Pro GPUs (they are not currently the best around, but they exist), AND if Apple had a second Mac with upgradeable graphics, I'm pretty sure that ATI and nvidia would work with Apple to make more cards available. The mythical xMac being a mid-range product, it would surely sell more units than the Mac Pro and make it profitable to develop more options. I don't care if the card/computer uses EFI or whatever, I just need a few choices. The more Macs with PCIe slot, the more Apple and 3rd parties developers will want to make cards for the Mac, the more cards/choices we will have for the xMac and the Mac Pro too!
The reason why I shit on minitower threads is because it's bad business practice. First off, it would be a low-margin product. Low margin, commodity products offer little value proposition to Apple as sources of profit, and more importantly they tarnish the brand. Apple can sell high-margin products because they build wow-factor into them. Even if the proposed minitower had wow factor, unless it were paired with an Apple display the system as a unit would have little to no wow-factor.
In other words, Apple will do whatever Adolf Loos says, and Loos hates minitowers.
The reason why I shit on minitower threads is because it's bad business practice. First off, it would be a low-margin product.
This assumption keeps coming up over and over again, and folks have been pointing out that Apple sets whatever profit margin it wants. There is no "margin rule" that Apple must follow. Sure, Windows minitowers will sell for less, but Mac users buy Macs.