MacBook Pro 17″ vs. Mac Pro

[Tony West]

[Kevin Patrick] “I’m having a hard time believing that one of the reasons the Mac Pro is still around is due to an over stock of inventory. Based on the fact that they don’t seem to have inventory issues with other products and this (the never ending death of the Mac Pro) has been going on for a long time. It appears to me that the Mac Pro is still around because Apple is working on some kind of a replacement for it, otherwise it would be gone.”

I totally agree Kevin.

That move the other day only makes sense if they have something new coming and it’s just not ready yet.

[Bret Williams]

I would think the official statement from Apple that Tim Cooks email was legit covers it. There will be MacPro update in 2013. They also said Pogues analysis was incorrect, and that there won’t be iMac update in 2013. Either that means the iMac is dead or they’re updating it earlier. Most are assuming the latter. Tim Cook’s email said it would be later in 2013. Does that mean “late” 2013 or “later, in 2013.” The second meaning could be construed as meaning as early as January 2013. But read it as 4th quarter 2013.

[Kevin Patrick]

[Bret Williams] “Either that means the iMac is dead”

I think the same logic applies here. If Apple wants to end the life of a product, they end it.

If it’s still around, then something is coming. Either a newer model, as has been the case for the iMac since it’s introduction. Or, a complete replacement, as was the case with the Macbook and the Macbook Air.

[Craig Seeman]

It’s hard to analyze this.

It could mean MacPro and iMac are going to be consolidated into a new product line.

Some see this with MacBookAir and the new MacBookPro but they’re continuing to make the old MacBookPro. That’s probably due to pricing though. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the old MBP go away next years (some rumors have predicted this).

What surprised me was the lack of speed bump to iMac and MacPro. iMac to Ivy Bridge and MacPro to Sandy Bridge. Neither would have been major design changes. Why avoid that interim implementation.

My guess is that Apple is accelerating the move away from old technology and they don’t want users hanging on to another generation of iMacs and MacPros they have to support (parts, OS tie ins).

I suspect FCPX will continue to tie more closely with the OS and hardware and they want to drop backward compatibility as quickly as possible. It’ll be interesting to see how quickly 10.6.8 support falls, which by this summer, will be two OSs back. You can already see some differences which range from the way App Store downloads are handled as will as FCPX SAN support.

In other words, the gap in hardware updates is deliberate. In this case Tim Cook, the channel master, wants to us to clear out our channels by ceasing interim updates on desktops.

[Walter Soyka]

[Craig Seeman] “In other words, the gap in hardware updates is deliberate. In this case Tim Cook, the channel master, wants to us to clear out our channels by ceasing interim updates on desktops.”

So Apple doesn’t believe in transition anymore? FCP7/FCPX is the new model?

The transition to Retina Displays will be more jarring than the PPC/Intel transition?

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
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[Ben Hendriks]

Or the Imac merging with the Mac Pro into……….The Imac Pro?

[Craig Seeman]

[Walter Soyka] “So Apple doesn’t believe in transition anymore? FCP7/FCPX is the new model?”

Sorta. Note they didn’t kill iMac or MacPro. There’s no interim updates apparently until the “big whatever” coming next year.

I do think Apple is going through major tech changes with their computers and the OS and I suspect their strategy is to get rid of the old tech out of the “user chain”. The one difference between 7/X is that they’re not pulling the old hardware entirely. MacPro is consolidated as well as MBP (no 17″) for example. It would seem rather than killing old models they’re allowing them to stay (unlike what they did with 7).

I’m not saying it’s good for us (at least in the near term) but I do think there’s a major reboot happening in their computer line.

[Walter Soyka] “The transition to Retina Displays will be more jarring than the PPC/Intel transition?”

That’s a part of the change. I have no idea how “jarring” things are. I’m just analyzing and trying the connect the dots. I’m trying not to apply value judgements.

It think radical change is afoot and they don’t want to encourage people to buy interim models.

[Craig Seeman]

[Ben Hendriks] “Or the Imac merging with the Mac Pro into……….The Imac Pro?”

When you look at the “locked down” nature of the MBP Retina (MBPr) they may be heading towards something like that. Greater connectivity (as they see it) but less internal upgradability.

I had posted about that a while back. One thing they may have learned from their consumer side is that they make more money when people are driven to buy new models rather than upgrade internals. I don’t doubt they want to avoid what I did with my 2008 MacPro, buy an ATI 5770 (not officially supported in that model) to run FCPX. My guess is they will have a beast but they’ll want that beast to have a shorter life cycle. 2013 with be the Xeon TB beast. 2015 will be move to TB Optical.

We’ll get our “Pro” machine but the days of a 3-6 year life cycle (imagine the folks running 2006 MP with new GPUs for FCPX in 2012) are fading IMHO.

[Bernard Newnham]

“There will be MacPro update in 2013. ”

Out in the big world of the pc, two more generations of graphics card will have passed by, the Z77 chipset, which is current, will be stone age, DDR4 will be either standard or being phased out, Thunderbolt will probably be passed by. Where will they decide to leap on the roundabout? 2013 is as easy as tomorrow or next week. By the time they get their act together the pro world of the Mac will be long forgotten.

One more thing I don’t understand is the desperate preoccupation with Xeon chips. Core i7s – even i5s if you’re are me – are good enough for everyone else except the server market, which is what they were designed for. And yet people here go on and on about the various varieties in their Mac Pros, all of which are long out of date along with their graphics cards.

I see that TonyMac and co now have drivers for the GTX6xx, for those who’ve given up and built their own.

Bernie

[Clint Wardlow]

Whatever form the new Mac Pro takes, my only prediction –if the new Mac Book Pro and FCPX are any indicators– is that it will both amaze and infuriate pros all at the same time.