Apple will soon let Mac Pro owners install their own chassis wheels

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited February 2020
When Apple launched Mac Pro in December, the company took flak for designing a machine with non-interchangeable feet, restricting owners from swapping out foot pegs for wheels without the help of Apple or an Authorized Service Provider. That will soon change.

Mac Pro Wheels


Buried in the Mac Pro Technology Overview published on Monday, under a section titled "Enclosure Considerations," is a note on chassis wheels. The passage suggests Apple will soon make the option available as an aftermarket purchase.

"The tower enclosure comes standard with feet; wheels are a configurable option. Both feet and wheels are available as a customer-installable kit and therefore can be converted from feet to wheels or vice versa."

Apple does not offer an estimated launch timeline for the wheel kit, saying only that "some options may have delayed availability." The company directs users to the Apple online storefront for more information, though no such product listing is present on the website at the time of this writing.

Relay FM's Stephen Hackett spotted the notice in Apple's white paper on Monday.

Mac Pro's $400 hubless wheel option was the butt of many a joke last year, with press outlets taking jabs at Apple for charging exorbitant fees for seemingly standard hardware. Compounding the perceived problem, customers who elected against a wheeled Mac Pro currently have to take the desktop in to an Apple retail store or ASP to install the part.

What, exactly, Apple's Mac Pro wheel kit will include and at what price remains unknown. The standard issue wheel set integrates directly into the stainless steel space frame, which normally extends "from foot to handle" as a single unit. It is possible that the wheel units will be designed to attach to Mac Pro's large feet, facilitating easy installation but adding inches to the machine's height.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 22
    apple being arrogant and ridiculous
    disneylandman
  • Reply 2 of 22
    I returned my first system without wheels as it was a hassle to pull the machine out every time i needed to change a cable or open the case to install an upgrade. I put a basic towel under the beautiful machine. Not cute. 

    I had to wait a few extra weeks, but when the new system with wheels arrived, I was immediately happy with the decision. The wheels are strong enough for a 195 lbs man to sit on and ride around. I do find myself pulling my machine out more often than i anticipated—and it moves so smoothly as if its floating on a cloud. A little splurge, but also a good investment if you want an elegant, beautiful and strong set of wheels and not scratch up your floor without putting a towel under your machine. 

    For those with the feet wanting to self upgrade later, I’m not sure how elegant that would be. Seems it would be too clunky...not something apple would even allow. But maybe theres a clever solution i cannot imagine of now.
    caladaniandysamoriaviclauyyccornchipdavgreg
  • Reply 3 of 22
    Apple should have included caster-type wheels in the box so the consumer can choose if they want fixed feet or wheels. Paying $6K for a computer should at least have that free option.  But I guess Apple wants to gouge people $100 per wheel.  
    fahlmandysamorialkrupp
  • Reply 4 of 22
    they're magic wheels!
    lkrupptommy212davgreg
  • Reply 5 of 22

    The standard issue wheel set integrates directly into the stainless steel space frame, which normally extends "from foot to handle" as a single unit. It is possible that the wheel units will be designed to attach to Mac Pro's large feet, facilitating easy installation but adding inches to the machine's height.
    The feet come off: 
    https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Mac+Pro+2019+Teardown/128922#s253349
    fahlmandysamoriatommy212
  • Reply 6 of 22
    It’s one thing to charge as much as they do for their devices, but to charge $400 for some dumbass wheels? You have got to be the most arrogant, shameless, and greedy fucking company to price such a mundane product so high.
    dysamorialkruppdavgreg
  • Reply 7 of 22
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    sjworld said:
    It’s one thing to charge as much as they do for their devices, but to charge $400 for some dumbass wheels? You have got to be the most arrogant, shameless, and greedy fucking company to price such a mundane product so high.
    And yet, here you are ...

    lkruppking editor the grateviclauyyccornchipjony0aegean
  • Reply 8 of 22
    Rayz2016 said:
    sjworld said:
    It’s one thing to charge as much as they do for their devices, but to charge $400 for some dumbass wheels? You have got to be the most arrogant, shameless, and greedy fucking company to price such a mundane product so high.
    And yet, here you are ...

    It’d be nice if you weren’t.
    edited February 2020 dysamorialkruppMplsPholmstockddavgreg
  • Reply 9 of 22
    tommy212 said:
    I returned my first system without wheels as it was a hassle to pull the machine out every time i needed to change a cable or open the case to install an upgrade. I put a basic towel under the beautiful machine. Not cute. 

    I had to wait a few extra weeks, but when the new system with wheels arrived, I was immediately happy with the decision. The wheels are strong enough for a 195 lbs man to sit on and ride around. I do find myself pulling my machine out more often than i anticipated—and it moves so smoothly as if its floating on a cloud. A little splurge, but also a good investment if you want an elegant, beautiful and strong set of wheels and not scratch up your floor without putting a towel under your machine. 

    For those with the feet wanting to self upgrade later, I’m not sure how elegant that would be. Seems it would be too clunky...not something apple would even allow. But maybe theres a clever solution i cannot imagine of now.
    Someone should start making cheese graters on wheels with an Apple logo on the side. 
  • Reply 10 of 22
    Maybe Apple has designed thin levitation pads that attach to the bottom of the feet and have the machine float several millimeters above the ground...? They will cost $4,000, but will be elegant as hell.
  • Reply 11 of 22

    sjworld said:
    It’s one thing to charge as much as they do for their devices, but to charge $400 for some dumbass wheels? You have got to be the most arrogant, shameless, and greedy fucking company to price such a mundane product so high.
    Those are not wheels. They are stainless steel balls. 
    dysamoria
  • Reply 12 of 22
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,275member
    sjworld said:
    It’s one thing to charge as much as they do for their devices, but to charge $400 for some dumbass wheels? You have got to be the most arrogant, shameless, and greedy fucking company to price such a mundane product so high.

    Which is why you have the choice NOT to buy them.
  • Reply 13 of 22
    I would consider buying Apple’s stand and wheels, but they add up to the same $$$ as a MacBook Pro.
    davgreg
  • Reply 14 of 22
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    mike1 said:
    sjworld said:
    It’s one thing to charge as much as they do for their devices, but to charge $400 for some dumbass wheels? You have got to be the most arrogant, shameless, and greedy fucking company to price such a mundane product so high.

    Which is why you have the choice NOT to buy them.
    Honestly, that’s a pretty pathetic excuse/argument. Something like Ford charging $5,000 for a heater and saying ‘well, you don’t have to buy it!’

    For a company that prides itself on design, there really is no excuse for not making the wheels user- installable. Likewise $100 per wheel is exorbitant. These are wheels! Even if you make the case that they are high-quality (I’m quite sure they are,) there are plenty of sturdy, high-quality wheels available for far less.  If they actually reinvented the wheel for this case then why should users have to pay for them to do something that was totally unnecessary?
    lorin schultz
  • Reply 15 of 22
    spice-boyspice-boy Posts: 1,450member
    Wow what control freaks. 
    davgreg
  • Reply 16 of 22
    mknelsonmknelson Posts: 1,120member

    The standard issue wheel set integrates directly into the stainless steel space frame, which normally extends "from foot to handle" as a single unit. It is possible that the wheel units will be designed to attach to Mac Pro's large feet, facilitating easy installation but adding inches to the machine's height.
    The feet come off: 
    https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Mac+Pro+2019+Teardown/128922#s253349
    I've seen the instructions for installing the wheels - the main "special" steps were using painter's tape to prevent scratching the space frame, using a flex driver to reach the mounting screws, and aligning two pins that keep the feet/wheels from loosening.

    This is typical of Apple - they don't want people damaging the system and blaming them instead of getting an professional to do it.
  • Reply 17 of 22
    cornchipcornchip Posts: 1,945member
    Could all the haters please upload pics of their nnMPs?
  • Reply 18 of 22
    davgregdavgreg Posts: 1,036member
    I think they must have a bunch of German engineers on staff at Apple HW engineering.

    German engineers are notorious for designing $1000 solutions to $50 problems.

    $100 wheels that cannot be user installed... ugh.
    MplsPdewme
  • Reply 19 of 22
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member
    Glad I waited for the wheels, they work so well and are so convenient. $400 is a lot, but it's not a lot relative to the system cost, which I already had resigned myself to paying, in exchange for a system I wouldn't have to worry about managing or its reliability. 3rd party memory helped, too. And my back is worth it!
    IIRC the Mac Pro arrived as a ~75 lb. package... that was killer for my back!
    edited February 2020
  • Reply 20 of 22
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,350member
    I want a set of



    or



    and low-profile rubber.
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