Goodbye macpro towers…

[Bret Williams]

Yeah I had heard that, and happened to be in a store today and noticed that. I think it’s quite a sign. That design was their pride and joy. Still the best tower ever designed. The fact that it’s not on display speaks volumes. I mean, why not have them? 12 cores! Looks cool, sounds cool. And if you sell one you’re making a lot of money.

[Jamie Franklin]

If true. Bye Apple!

[Brad Spinoza]

The EOL of the MacPro towers has been anticipated on this forum for quite some time. Like many folks, I’ve given up on trying to read Apple’s tea leaves and waiting for press releases to announce press conferences months in the future.

Apple’s decade in the pro market was a nice ride while it lasted. I personally enjoy using Final Cut X, particularly to edit my DSLR “fun stuff.” I can see how it has the potential to become a staple for “backpack journalists,” event videographers, or photographers. In the hands of a skilled storyteller, a MacBook or iMac plus FCP X could be used to do great things.

But as somebody who owns a business, I just cannot afford to let my inner Apple fanboy rule. Several of the customers who pay me actual money for my editing require my work product to play nicely in their Avid workflows.

So when it comes to upgrading my workhorse hardware and entering the 64 bit world at least for the next three years, it pays to stay platform agnostic. I’ll miss my aging MacPro. But I won’t miss playing the guessing game with Apple.

[Kevin Patrick]

[Greg Burke] “I cannot believe there actually killing off the entire group that made them who they are today.”

Not that I want to disagree with your opinion, but I am wondering why you feel that the Mac Pro made Apple who they are today?

It appears that Apple, or more specifically Steve Jobs, preferred systems that were closed to the consumer. For me, that was apparent with the first Macintosh. I believe it used Torx screws (or something similar) to close it up. Even thought the inside of the case had the designer’s signatures, most people couldn’t open up their 128K Mac. As opposed to an IBM PC which you could open up, install boards and add memory. This was confirmed in Job’s biography. Wozniak wanted the Apple II to be user expandable, Job’s did not. After Jobs came back, he relaunched the Mac, in a similar way to the original Macintosh with the iMac.

Today, about the only thing users can upgrade (outside of a Mac Pro) is memory. You can replace drives, but in some cases you shouldn’t.

Or am I too focused on the box and you’re thinking what people did with it?

I’d like to think that they are no longer selling Mac Pro’s in their stores, simply because of their low volume. I did notice a few months ago, they stopped selling graphic cards in store.

Still, I wonder if this is a sign that they are planning on killing it. It seems to me, if they are going to kill it, they’d just do it. I don’t recall any other product they dropped where they had a phased out approach. Don’t they usually just drop something all together?

So now what? You’ve got your Mac Pro user-fish, sitting in the blender. Apple hits the blend button … Ahhhhh! Nothing happens. Just kidding. Look, it’s not plugged in. (yet?)

More wishful think on my part I guess.

I have been poking around the tonymacx86 forum since some of this Mac Pros discussions started up again. I’m probably foolish enough to give it a try. Sometimes it’s bad to have a “I bet I can make it work” attitude.

[Liam Hall]

Maybe they’re just creating space for the arrival of the new models. One can hope…

Liam Hall
Director/DoP/Editor
http://www.liamhall.net

[David Eaks]

I think they are getting ready to announce the new division of Apple, Apple Pro, which will be solely dedicated to the pro/broadcast market and will operate with unparalleled transparency. Apple Pro will apologize for X, rename it iMovie 12 and announce the Beta for Final Cut Studio 4. Including FCP 8 and the rebirth of every great App they ever EOLed. The Suite will cost no less than a few grand.

That or the announcement of Apples new line of HD TVs that can run FCPX which is controlled with a Nintendo Wii remote knockoff…

[Dennis Radeke]

[David Eaks] “I think they are getting ready to announce the new division of Apple, Apple Pro, which will be solely dedicated to the pro/broadcast market and will operate with unparalleled transparency.”

I know that’s kind of sarcastic, but it would be kind of cool if they actually did something like that. I don’t think it will happen though.

[Dennis Radeke]

[Bret Williams] “Still the best tower ever designed.”

While it was the best tower for 2004, I do have to say that HP’s Z800 case design is far superior for accessibility and expansion. If you take the Mac vs. PC out of the argument and discuss from a functional design point of view, the HP tower is way better for content creators.

The fact that there has been no update to the basic tower design in 7 years is what should speak more than Apple not including towers in their store layout anymore.

[Timothy Auld]

Kind of sarcastic? I think it could be used as the definition. Pretty good satire too.

bigpine

[David Eaks]

Yeah, I’m not holding my breath waiting for that to happen!

Really I think that Apple killing off all the pro stuff could be detrimental to their image. Doesn’t the general consumer just love owning a product made by the same company that makes high end professional products? Once Apple is down to only consumer level products, won’t they lose that prestige holding onto everyone from the old school die hard users to 12 year olds? Then people realize they don’t want to be locked-in to the closed system that is Apple and they’ll move on to more open and customizable products. I don’t know, maybe those consumers don’t even care, they just want their new iGadget every (Avg = 298 days) and Apple will just dominate the consumer market.

Guess I’m just pissed because I (re)built my company around Apple when we moved into HD. My first Apple product in ’08, the Mac Pro, loved it and didn’t look back. Excellent experience with Apple all around. I was comfortable and confident that the investment in Apple was in a company who would support my professional needs far into the future. Just yesterday we were talking about upgrading to the new Mac Pro with thunderbolt when it comes out…

Although, Mac Rumors Mac Buyers guide say’s “Mac Pro- Do not buy, update soon”. I know that doesn’t hold any real value but without an official EOL from Apple, there is still a glimmer of hope.