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Goodbye macpro towers…
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Craig Seeman When you consider that many people are get other Macs as adjuncts to MacPros, It’s just not likely for them to not have a replacement. MacPros have an impact on sales on the entire line.
Just how it wouldn’t be likely for Apple to not have a direct replacement for FCP 7 when they EOL it?
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[Gary Huff] “Just how it wouldn’t be likely for Apple to not have a direct replacement for FCP 7 when they EOL it?”
Because Apple is a hardware company.
Because FCP 7 was based on out of house code along with much of the rest of the suite.
Because they wanted to make an NLE that would sell more hardware across the product line.
Note how FCPX would not run on the stock GPUs of MacPros made from 2006-2008. Apple does not want to sell software that allows you to sit on the same computer for 3 to 5 years. Granted many people, myself included, just bough Radeon 5770 or 5870 cards even though they’re not officially supported on those models according to Apple.
Whether FCPX itself was desirable enough to get people to upgrade their computers for it is another story. That’s one reason why they’re motivated to improve FCPX . . . and push it so you’d need newer Macs to use it.
Given that the next major upgrade to FCPX will be early next year, it would be by then that a new replacement to MacPro is introduced. Imagine what you’d need to run 4 or more AVCHD/H.264 multicam streams. Imagine that you might have to use a Thunderbolt system to get broadcast monitor output. Again that’s not to say that FCPX will be desirable enough to do that but I will say that’s likely their goal.
It’s not so much that Apple has become a consumer company but a commodity product company. They’ve learned that it’s very profitable for them to get you to buy a new gadget every couple of years and they may want you to do that with your computers as well. Note how they no longer have replaceable batteries in their laptops.
The only potential “trap” I see in the replacement box is that they may “lock down” the GPU so that you’d have to upgrade the system rather than replace the GPU as many of us did with 2006-2008 boxes. I do hope that’s not the case though.
Think about what a commodity (not consumer) company might do with their higher end computers.
This is also why I think it will be a stackable/mountable box. The single box might have a lower cost of entry but a “Pro” user might buy multiple boxes to increase CPU power through clustering. Basically rather than an “open” workstation, it may be a scalable by adding units. This is how I think a commodity company would handle making the “Pro” market a profitable niche. Again this doesn’t mean all, many, any “Pro” will like it but I do think, just like they made a new NLE, I think they will undertake a new attempt at that market.
I thought it was interesting that others were thinking of a similar box the night Evan Schechtmen gave his most recent presentation. . . . That doesn’t make those of us thinking this way “right” but it is what some of us expect Apple to do if they’re interested in the “Pro” market (what they think is the Pro market).
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[David Lazaro Saz] “Which means?”
They’re going to replace it with something new, better, different (understanding that it is what they think will be better).
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Hmm, I did buy my MacPro from Tekserve. Normally I’d use MacMall. If I decide to go BTO that would be the Apple Online store.
I can’t see much reason for buying in the Apple store given It’s a beast to transport compared to shipping to my front door. Of course if you need one ASAP for a job it’s store vs overnight shipping.
Also think of the purpose of the Apple store playground. Would playing with a stock MacPro in a store show you a better experience than an iMac? Not likely. Having them out to play with beyond maybe one to show off the case, doesn’t make much retail store sense.
If the had a “Pro” area with an AJA IO XT and a Pegasus RAID packed with 4K video . . . oh right, you can’t use those on the present “Thunderboltless” MacPro.
Well, they could show their $1000 Thunderbolt Mac monitor hooked up to . . . ? Ok Maybe a MacBookPro for that. That’s because you want to spend $1000 on a Thunderbolt monitor for . . . ?
There’s no reason to show the current MacPro in an Apple retail store environment. There are very good reasons to replace it though.
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[Dennis Radeke] “I wish I could say. It’s been really easy to deal with HP. Dell is a terrific partner too, but I’ve not been able to test their boxes.”
Interesting. My experience as a customer is exactly the opposite. It has always been easier for me buying from Dell. I have only bought mobile workstations from Dell so far and I was thinking about maybe trying luck with a desktop this time. Both the Z800 and the T7500 seem to be similar although the Z800 has much higher production values and design than the T7500.
I suppose that as soon as the Sandy Bridge Xeons arrive in Q1 2012, both HP and Dell will release new models. Dell was rumored to change their workstation design this time. Let’s hope that Apple also releases something, anything, for the workstation market.
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Craig Seeman Think about what a commodity (not consumer) company might do with their higher end computers.
I don’t think there’s a lot of evidence that Apple has any desire to do anything but be a consumer company.
I think they will cancel the Mac Pro line and Thunderbolt, well, hey, if a third party does something with it, great. But you aren’t going to see any Mac Minis with Xeon processors or anything more than a typically-powered GPU.
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[Steve Connor] “Once had a motherboard blow on a MacPro at a very critical time on a project, being able to drive to the local Apple store and buy a replacement off the shelf saved the day!”
Yes, theres that scenario in which I’d go to a reseller, or edit on a laptop till the new one arrived.
But I’m talking about a new machine.
What those of you that have HPs or Dells? OK, that’s a trick question.
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[Craig Seeman] “There’s no reason to show the current MacPro in an Apple retail store environment. There are very good reasons to replace it though.”
Agreed.
I don’t know what’s ahead for the MacPro. It seems if they were going to kill it, they would have killed it.
I am sure there’s a bigger plan besides “just use an iMac”.
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But it is, Frank.
When I have to update my Legacy work, I have to go back to the desktop system and FCP-7.
I simply can’t even FATHOM starting any new projects on that system.
X simply “feels” much, MUCH quicker now that I have experience in using it.
For me, it’s like going back to chopping down the tree with an ax after you’ve had some experience with a chainsaw.
Actually, now that I’ve written the line above, I can tell it’s gonna make some people defensive or angry. YES, it’s a tortured analogy. Deal with it. We all know that some editors face predominantly smaller trees. Other editors face redwoods. Not all solutions fit all editors – but that’s no reason to argue that a person can’t experience a chainsaw after using an AX and see the value.
Period.
“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor
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Hummm….
Notice how FCP-X has a good part of it’s user interface “off screen.” (the project library, the event browser, various HUDs etc. that kinda “swipe in” when you click on the proper icons?
For all we know, they might come up with an effective iPad implementation that uses a simple “2 window” screen with the timeline displayed below the viewer – and then everything else you needs comes up with a swipe or tap to “float around” the display.
That would actually kinda rock on an iPad for “on the go” editing.
Maybe just as X borrowed some code and ideas from iMovie – maybe the next iMovie might borrow some of the interface ideas back from X and turn into a sweet little iPad editing program.
Apple always seems to have their eye on what their customers might enjoy having in the future.
No telling where this product family is going, really.
But I think it’s actually kinda exciting once you stop demanding it be a single thing (a top tier pro’s only editing system) and imagine what it might be for the widest possible swath of people who need to edit at the bottom, middle AND top ends of the editing spectrum.
FWIW.
“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor
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