Why do you think a new Mac Pro ISN’T coming?

[Alan Okey]

I won’t reveal my sources, but like Shane said, I have heard from reputable people at reputable companies that deal directly with Apple.

The iMac is going to be the new high-end machine in Apple’s lineup. No new Mac Pro, no replacement “other” product.

[Gary Huff]

Apple is now a “Post-PC” company. The first move towards that will be emptying out the Mac Pro inventory and leaving that form of desktop behind. I bet iMacs will be next in a few years.

Eventually, iOS and OSX will merge. You can already see hints of that with Mountain Lion having Twitter and Facebook integration.

[Herb Sevush]

[Alan Okey] “The iMac is going to be the new high-end machine in Apple’s lineup. No new Mac Pro, no replacement “other” product.”

My last word on this whole subject is that if this statement is true there will be a large enough demand for Hackintoshes to make it a feasible option. Just like with any other drug, if the need is there, someone will be happy to make money filling that need.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
—————————
nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf

[Clint Wardlow]

And this is what makes Apple’s tight-lipped stance so damned maddening. We have a multitude of reputible sources all saying different things about the fate of the mac pro.

I mean, I know Apple likes to wow us with sudden pronouncements of new hardware and software. And this may work for the iphone and ipad crowd.

But damn, I just wish Apple would at least say something about the mac pro. They don’t even have to go into detail. Just a simple “Yes, we are upgrading it or a no we are not but we have something new to take its place or no we are opting out of high-end boxes.”

[Chris Harlan]

[Clint Wardlow] “I mean, I know Apple likes to wow us with sudden pronouncements of new hardware and software. And this may work for the iphone and ipad crowd.
“

I think Apple just likes to be able to change their collective mind on a dime without ever having to acknowledge or apologize for changing direction. Oh, and the Pr from all of our burbling–they like that, too.

[Chris Harlan]

They’ve just passed up so many opportunities to upgrade or reboot the line that their attitude toward it seems truly derelict. Every time I’ve seen this attitude from them before–Shake, for instance–it generally means bye-bye.

Now, The Loop does seem to get inside info from time to time, so if Jim Dalrymple seems as convinced as has been reported that the Mac Pro is ongoing, I’ll certainly reassess my POV for the time being. Still, everything else I’ve seen says Closing Time.

[Craig Seeman]

On Larry Jordan’s blog post on the future of the MacPro, in response to someone posting the Dalrymple comment, Larry’s saying his getting a similar “vibe.”

[Richard Herd]

Depends the construal of Mac Pro.

Will it be a noisy and mostly ugly tower? No.

Will it have massive computing power? Yes.

[Alan Okey]

While I dislike the facts, I understand the situation completely from a business perspective. Apple simply can’t keep investing in hardware that offers them so little return on investment. GPU drivers alone have proven to be too overwhelming for Apple, even when they still cared about towers. The numbers just aren’t there for Apple to justify continuing the development and support of hardware that accounts for such a negligible portion of their sales and profits. Xserve RAID and Xserve were perfect examples of this reality.

Things may have been different before the iPhone and iPad, when “high end” users still counted for something in terms of public mindshare (Hollywood credits, etc.) but clearly Apple no longer needs that kind of attention to be successful. Complex, expensive products purchased by a niche user base simply don’t figure prominently in Apple’s future.

[Herb Sevush]

[Richard Herd] “Will it be a noisy and mostly ugly tower? No.
Will it have massive computing power? Yes.”

Massive computing power is not enough. It needs massive (up to 64GB) memory and it needs lots of PCIe Lanes – enough for multiple 16 lane graphics cards and multiple 8 Lane storage and i/o devices. An Imac with a few Tbolt ports won’t cut it, no matter how fast the CPU.

Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions
—————————
nothin’ attached to nothin’
“Deciding the spine is the process of editing” F. Bieberkopf