rain22

AppleZulu said:

Apple's business model offers a lot more stability and predictability, allowing longer timelines for planning future hardware and software development.

Good - except for this statement which is total complete rubbish. Apple has the absolute worst stability and predictability in the entire industry. Give your head a shake. It’s why Xserve died. Why education left. Why they are hemorrhaging what’s left of the creative market. Apple has next to no business presence left period and it’s entirely due to their lack of stability and predictability. It’s why the Mac Pro is dead in the water as well. A history littered with short-lived proprietary connections and unsupported software does not scream stability. Apple flogs consumer goods now because it can’t compete on stability and predictability. It’s not in its DNA. (How stable can a company that pushes innovation be?) The only glue holding it all together is the App Store. Apple has even admitted this by pointing to its future as content creation, health, and services.

Niallivm said:

davgreg said:
I did try Spotify a while back and their sound quality is superior to the low bit rate streaming Apple uses.

Seriously? Did you actually compare the two or do you think the 320k Ogg Vorbis Spotify streams have superior sound quality to Apple's 240k AAC just because they have a higher bit rate?
Not all codecs are equal and AAC is a more modern, superior codec to the free Ogg Vorbis one. Spotify sounds compressed and clipped whereas Apple Music, especially when played though AAC-capable speakers or headphones, knocks it out of the park. It may not be as good as Tidal lossless or High Resolution, but then it's not $20 a month either.

Seriously? Have you ever compared 320 Ogg Vorbis Spotify to Apple's 240k AAC on a system capable of even minute reference? 
It's night and day. You don't have to spend a lot of money to get into very basic hifi capabilities.
Try it - and you will immediately understand and hear the difference. 

All I know from my 30 years with Apple - is that it will be an additional upgrade charge to have a keyboard that works...

StrangeDays said:

rain22 said:

Apple basically gave the middle finger to pro’s with the new Mac Pro. 
The Mac Pro IS NOT for pros at all - it’s for a niche market of video content creators.
A ‘pro’ computer would service all professionals, not just one small segment
The cheese grater was the last truly ‘pro’ computer. 

Nope. Since there is no such thing as one professional user, there can be no one computer for all said users. That’s why Apple makes several computers. There are even three with the name “Pro” in them, including also the MBP and the iMac Pro, which is way more machine even than I need as a pro software developer. I elected for a maxed out iMac 5K, which is all the power I need. My 5K does more work than the old cheese grater could for its time. 

But what you really mean to say is, “I want slots!” Not having slots doesn’t make the iMac Pro or even my 5K less of a solution for professionals. 

https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Diagnostic_Port.txt

No, what I really want is the option to install more HDD's and upgrade my video card. 
Ever look into what it takes to install bootcamp on a thunderbolt 3 enclosure? 

I bought the same thing you did. 
The GPU is mediocre right now... think of where it will be in 2 years. 

Apple basically gave the middle finger to pro’s with the new Mac Pro. 
The Mac Pro IS NOT for pros at all - it’s for a niche market of video content creators.
A ‘pro’ computer would service all professionals, not just one small segment
The cheese grater was the last truly ‘pro’ computer. 

Like many others, I bought the iMac after they announced this thing and it will probably be my last as I’m buying a Windows box to test out that playground for possible transition out of the Apple environment. 
This is after 28 years and an entire career with Apple. 

Another point to consider - is after Apple's track record of support, you have to be a gambler to invest 10k into a single desktop that could very well be unsupported a few short years later.