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I guess it’s So Long and Thanks for all the Fish!
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One of my thoughts was that Apple will not be doing much with it’s towers anymore. There is an increasing amount of time between new releases, and their software is designed for the lowest level Mac.
Apple have stopped developing software for towers. No FCP8, No Logic, No shake….. Why would they need to build a tower anymore. Who’s going to use it?
Like I said before. All good comments. A good read.
DBK
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[David Cherniack] “But not necessarily higher profit margins. The desktop market is that much more competitive, after all.”
I think Apple can cut costs although Apple doesn’t reveal margins for specific computers.
Think of a MacMini with one or two 16 lane PCIe slots for GPUs, SSD boot and one hard drive. three thunderbolt ports with a possible fourth being fiber thunderbolt. A basic i7 4 core system might be competitive with the higher end iMac prices. Top price might be a little lower than top MacPro. -
[Darren Kelly] “Why would they need to build a tower anymore. Who’s going to use it?”
They may not. I’ve posted my thoughts about this on a couple of other threads. Tower isn’t necessary for speed and expansion.
MacMini but larger. One or two 16 lane PCIe slots for GPUs. SSD boot with one internal drive. Maybe three copper thunderbolt ports and one fiber. Ranging from i7 4 core up to i7 12 core. In other words they will attempt to create a powerful system (a few models) with no internal expansion beyond the GPU and RAM as an attempt to commodify the box so they can sell to a bit wider market at a lower price than the current MacPros.
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[Craig Seeman] “Think of a MacMini with one or two 16 lane PCIe slots for GPUs, SSD boot and one hard drive….”
Think of a similarly equipped PC costing less…Apple has to depend on its fan base to maintain its slight premium. My point is there’s much more money to be made by them in tablets and phones…at least until those markets encounter greater competition. Apple will likely concentrate there. My old argument that prestige matters to them essentially became null and void on June 21.
David
AllinOneFilms.com -
[David Cherniack] “Think of a similarly equipped PC costing less”
Currently there is nothing matching the description. That may change but there are no Thunderbolt desktops on Windows. Only a Sony Vaio laptop at the moment. Apple will have a multiport Thunderbolt desktop. It’s success will depend on the viability of the Thunderbolt market. I think they may gamble in that direction because the “traditional” desktop (MacPro) likely isn’t very profitable.
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[Darren Kelly] “HP Pavilion Elite AMD Phenom II Six Core 1045T Computer (HPE-500F): $399.00
AMD 6 Core@ 2.7, 8GB of RAM, 1.5TB hard drive(7200rpm) Windows 7 64”Just so we are comparing apples-to-apples, so to speak, this is a consumer-level (or gamer) machine and really shouldn’t be compared on even footing with a Mac Pro. You should look into the Z series workstations on HP’s small-to-medium business site if you want a production-oriented, robust machine. Then make sure you don’t need things like FW800 connectivity. One of the big pluses on the SMB machines is that they usually include 3-year warranties.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
[Craig Seeman] “Currently there is nothing matching the description. That may change but there are no Thunderbolt desktops on Windows. Only a Sony Vaio laptop at the moment. Apple will have a multiport Thunderbolt desktop. It’s success will depend on the viability of the Thunderbolt market.”
And there’s nothing matching your further description of a thunderbolt desktop on the market yet, either.
This is good example of your rhetorical style – the subtle shift in frame of reference that colors your argument. Have you thought about changing careers to write political speeches? I recommend it 🙂
David
AllinOneFilms.com -
“Just so we are comparing apples-to-apples, so to speak, this is a consumer-level (or gamer) machine and really shouldn’t be compared on even footing with a Mac Pro”
Give me a break. Honestly. This machine is in the same class as any MacPro out there right now, with the exception of the 12 core, $6K machine. OOps, I didn’t buy something with FW 800. That’s a $10 card in an empty slot if I need it. Everything I have that connects also talks USB, and my external raid has E-Sata, which is also a $20 card in an empty slot.
One thing I never became was a Mac Snob. It isn’t better because Steve Jobs says it is. When will you stop drinking the Kool-Aid!
This system will do 8 or more layers in RT. You can do it on a Mac, provided you buy an Nvidia card off the list, and Premiere Pro. If I had a spare $4K sitting around, which I don’t, maybe I would have gone Mac, but my current feeling is that Apple has jumped from Computer and Software maker, to Consumer Electronics Company. That’s their choice.
This is how I responded to their decision.
DBK
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[David Cherniack] “Have you thought about changing careers to write political speeches? I recommend it :)”
There’s more truth to that then you realize but I won’t go there, here.
[David Cherniack] “And there’s nothing matching your further description of a thunderbolt desktop on the market yet, either. “
No, but if you look at Apple’s direction it’s clear to me that the MacPro in its current form doesn’t have much further to go. The question then becomes, what do you thing it’ll be replaced with, if anything. Given thunderbolt and that no other Mac computer has PCIe slots as we know it, I think that’s what’s going to go away.
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[Oliver Peters] “Just so we are comparing apples-to-apples, so to speak, this is a consumer-level (or gamer) machine and really shouldn’t be compared on even footing with a Mac Pro. You should look into the Z series workstations on HP’s small-to-medium business site if you want a production-oriented, robust machine.”
I don’t know how careful we need to be about comparing apples to apples anymore. Sometimes an orange will do just fine.
One of the points I tried to make in a recent thread [link] is that video editors used to need a workstation just to do basic editorial tasks like play broadcast-quality video in real-time.
Modern consumer-grade machines have advanced to the point where they can handle many editorial tasks — just look at all the editors cutting HD on iMacs. Mr. Kelly’s machine certainly doesn’t compare with the power, flexibility, or engineering of a Mac Pro or HP Z-series workstation, but I think it does compare with an iMac.
The way that his machine with Premiere Pro can use CUDA on NVIDIA cards also shows the increasing importance of GPU co-processing, and highlights a new way to get big performance increases without big cost increases. We’ve never had this many options before.
That said, I’d certainly agree with your general advice, which I think boils down to “you get what you pay for.”
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events
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