Andrew Richards
Forum Replies Created
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[Lance Bachelder] “Yeah but don’t you miss those brilliant Steve Jobs presentations? We always waited ’til the end when he’d say “oh, and there’s one more thing to show you …” and we’d see some cool new workstation or laptop or whatever. Loved those annual multi-product presentations…”
Absolutely! Macworld, WWDC, NAB. Loved it. We may never see “one more thing” again now that Steve is gone.
Best,
Andy -
[Michael Gissing] “My point is that lots of pros are using a form of Linux anyway with OSX. If Apple remain fixed in their narrow hardware window, then open the game up. There is already a lot of open source software that runs under OSX so there should be little effort in porting the OSX versions to Linux. “
OS X and Linux have a common ancestor, but they are not the same species. Different kernels. Pardon the analogy, but it is like humans and chimpanzees. Ports of NLEs may or may not be easy, but given the uncertainty of where Microsoft is going with Windows 8 and where Apple is going with desktops, Linux is a very safe hedge for a software vendor since the things important to workstation users are the same things important to commercial Linux developers. Workstations have a lot more in common with servers than they do with consumer PCs nowadays. The PC might be dying, but the server market is growing.
Best,
Andy -
[Ronald Lindeboom] “It had been years since Apple built a new one. They had killed XServe. They had swept away things like XSan, Shake, FCP, Color and other pro initiatives.”
It had been years since Intel updated their dual CPU Xeon line. There wasn’t anything to build a new Mac Pro around since 2010. The new E5 Xeons only came out yesterday.
Also, Xsan is not gone. It is included in every copy of Lion. For free.
[Ronald Lindeboom] “It was not hard to envision an Apple in which they would not want to lose their highest end customers, while simultaneously finding themselves becoming ever increasingly unwilling to directly supply them.
Why? For the very same reasons that had killed all the products mentioned two paragraphs back.”
If Apple kills off the Mac Pro, there will simply not be a workstation-class Mac anymore. Period. Apple will never license OS X. It doesn’t make any sense for them to license it. What’s in it for Apple? They don’t make any significant money on OS X, it is just the thing that sells Macs. Also, why would they want to help a competitor? HP is also in the consumer PC space (for now).
I love OS X. I’ll be very sad if there is no more Mac Pro. But I’ve already gone through the much worse (for me) loss of the Xserve. I had this crazy hope before it came out that Apple might allow in the EULA for Lion Server installation on non-Apple hardware, even if only as a VM. Or maybe they’d have Oracle build OS X Servers… No. And looking back, of course they wouldn’t. Because there isn’t anything in it for Apple. OS X exists to sell Macs. That’s it.
[Ronald Lindeboom] “We believe that it would be a win-win to both camps. Apple users averse to running Windows directly would stay with their OS of choice, while Apple works with a single source whose commitment to building servers is unparalleled — and whose corporate ethos of quality is akin to Apple’s own.”
It would be a huge win for HP, that’s for sure. But it wouldn’t do anything for Apple besides dilute their brand and create a massive distraction for the OS X development teams. It ain’t gonna happen.
[Ronald Lindeboom] “A bonus is that for a change, Mac users would get rid of the goofy OpenGL they’ve endured for years. The double-and-more cost of high-end video cards would end for Mac users.”
I’m not sure what you mean. OpenGL is a technology used in OS X, it isn’t hardware. The video card gap is caused by the different firmware platforms used by Apple (EFI) and the rest of the PC industry (BIOS). Intel’s Sandy Bridge controllers ship standard with EFI, so the GPU OEMs may need to start shipping cards that are EFI-aware, and thus Mac Pro friendly.
[Ronald Lindeboom] “Unfortunately, for many users, running Windows is not something they want to do. But even the most dedicated Apple user needing real workstation power would have trouble saying no to a Z-Series HP Workstation running Mac OS.”
Unfortunately, this will never happen.
[Ronald Lindeboom] “Now if only the team in Cupertino, California would get on the phone with the people in Fort Collins, Colorado.”
Ain’t. Gonna. Happen.
[Ronald Lindeboom] “Apple is having to look at the proliferation of sites dedicated to the Hacintosh. So, a real joint venture looks to me to be well-timed and one that would be fortuitous to all involved.”
Fortuitous for everyone but Apple.
There is a big shift happening in the wake of the iPad. It is the future of general purpose computing. Microsoft is betting big on tablets, so big that Windows 8 is shoehorning a touch UI onto the desktop. Everyone assumes Apple is going to abandon OS X because they make such a large percentage of their money from iOS. But Apple just doubled down on OS X with Mountain Lion, saying they would be aiming for an annual release cycle for OS X, just like the one they have been keeping with iOS.
Whether or not there is another Mac Pro coming, right now, today, Apple looks like the commercial OS vendor that will be sticking with a desktop UI for conventional PCs while Microsoft thinks it can merge it all into one thing. I’ve tried Windows 8 Consumer Preview. Metro looks like it would be a great tablet UI, but it doesn’t make sense on the desktop.
What the workstation market needs to come to grips with is that the age of hardware overlap may be ending, and soon. For a few decades now, desktop PCs have been the mass market computers and the workstations. With relatively minor differences, the tower under an accountant’s desk has been largely the same tech as the tower in an edit suite. That might not be at all the case in a few years.
Best,
Andy -
[Darren Kelly] “With no update in nearly 2 years, it could have been announced -SHOULD HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED.”
Have you been paying attention? There was nothing to update! Intel took this long to produce a new dual-CPU Xeon. What should Apple have built in the meantime? A single proc tower? Then everyone would be bitching about how they abandoned pros who need dual proc towers.
When there are other E5 Xeon towers shipping and Apple hasn’t released a new Mac Pro, then we can call it dead. The E5 Xeons were only announced yesterday.
Best,
Andy -
[Michael Gissing] “If Adobe and AVID are quick they could just port to Linux and make OSX just for those that want to run Apple only software.”
THIS!
Another big liability is Windows 8. Tablet OS on the desktop? Blech! Microsoft is already doing what everyone is afraid Apple may one day do. Linux is the only safe haven. I love and prefer OS X, but if I am a third party software developer like Adobe or Avid I’d be porting my flagship apps to Linux now. Autodesk already has some of its stuff on Linux, and DaVinci grew up there.
Best,
Andy -
So at the iPad press event they didn’t launch new Macs? And this is surprising to who now?
Macs don’t get press events anymore. Not the MacBook Air, not the MacBook Pro, not the iMac, not the Mac mini, and not the Mac Pro. When the new Mac Pro launches, it will just show up on Apple’s site some morning. I’d be surprised if it even gets a press release.
The days of Macs being presented on stage have been over for years.
Best,
Andy -
Even though the screen is higher rez, video playback still maxes out at 1920×1080 @ 30p on the new iPad.
Best,
Andy -
There are none for Apple. It simply won’t happen. OS X is what sells Macs, which is where the money is. Apple sells the total experience. It just won’t happen.
Best,
Andy -
AnandTech has Cinebench numbers on the 2660.
https://www.anandtech.com/show/5553/the-xeon-e52600-dual-sandybridge-for-servers/10
Best,
Andy -
[Herb Sevush] “So assuming Apple has only been waiting for official release of these chips, if they don’t release new MacPros within a month can we say that the MacPro line is done?”
I’d say so.
Best,
Andy