Marcus Moore
Forum Replies Created
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[Chris Murphy] “I agree that the PCIe expansion chassis is not elegant. “
Absolutely. But let’s be clear about the use-case for PCIe in the new MacPro- the VAST MAJORITY of people will be using it to connect to legacy hardware that they’re not ready to give up yet. But in the last 2 years most of the major manufactures have started offering TB connects for their products, so it’s not like a PCIe expansion chassis is going to be perpetually necessary in this scenario going forward. Some will continue to need it for a while, but those use-cases will become less and less.
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Alex Gollner had some quick thoughts on this-
https://blog.alex4d.com/2013/09/04/hmdi-2-a-piece-of-the-2013-mac-pro-puzzle/
And it was just announced that the Sony Z100 will receive a firmware update to HDMI 2.0. So it seems like a good bet that the MacPro may see something similar.
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[Oliver Peters] “Not completely true. BestBuy sells Apple computers. Apple is very interested in having the $299 person come in based on it being a BestBuy and then have them decide to spend more money and buy a MacBook or iMac instead.”
Best buy sells at a range of price points, but someone looking for a cheap $299 laptop isn’t going to be up-sold to a $999 MacBookAir.
But depending on their use case, that same person might buy an iPad!
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[Oliver Peters] ” They are currently getting their butt kicked in the fickle smart phone market (Android currently at 80%) – though that waxes and wanes with each release of new iPhone models. “
Apple’s driver has never been marketshare, but in profit-share. There are good Android phones and there are people who definitely buy them because they love them, but Android holds 80% of the market because just about everything comes with Android on it. It’s the commodity choice.
Even IF this new iPhone5C does come out at a lower price point next week, there’s still a massive market that exists underneath that, which Apple is never going to go after. Just like Apple isn’t interested in the person who goes into a BestBuy looking for a $299 laptop.
App sales and web usage statistics seem to support Apple’s claim that their share of people who actually USE their phones and are willing to BUY apps is pretty high. Who wants the cheap bastards…?
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What I’m saying is that Apple has pulled the brain out the MP and made it a standalone device. Everything but CPU, GPU, RAM, and Boot Disk has been punted.
Some people loved the existing form factor, some wanted the fabled Xmac (half-tower). By separating out the essentials, someone can customize a setup based on their precise needs. Have existing TB I/O and storage- just hook them up. Need 2 PCIe slots and a 10TB RAID?- someone is probably gonna make that breakout box!
And I think the MacPro still has a few surprises left for us when it gets more formally announced.
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[Christian Schumacher] ” I just don’t agree on the gap they have created by doing so. They could have updated the Mac Pro last year with at least some new components. What happened then was truly a shame.”
What were you thinking they could update? The Xeons that are coming in this 2013 MacPro are the first to support TB and USB3. If Apple had done ANY kind of real update to the MP last year but omitted TB and USB3 ports, how do you think that would have gone over?
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[Christian Schumacher] “There’s that, yes big, big issue. But I also struggle to believe that this particular choice for the size is going to be the best at the end. Why does it have to be so tinny? They could have come up with something a little bigger than that. You know? Adding at least some SSD slots for god’s sake.
“To what end? “Some” storage is either going to be wasted space or not enough, so why not just outbound it all? Any box has confines, and most MacPros I see push beyond theirs, so you have the giant tower PLUS external peripherals anyway…
The MacPro is the “Brain” of the system in this new paradigm. How you configure it beyond that is up to you. Ultimately it is a much more flexible solution IMHO (‘natch).
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I don’t know- I think you may be underestimating how thick the “middle” of the pro market is compared to the very very high end people who potentially may find this machine doesn’t meet their needs.
There are a few shortcomings to the lack of super-fast PCIe ports, but I see those as relatively near-term issues. If TB gets to it’s 100Gb/s threshold- there are no limits to external expandability. This obviously doesn’t solve the problem for those that have a use-case TODAY…
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For some people the old design was perfect. For some people the new one will be.
Personally, I’m excited. The form factor has nothing to do with it.
Round or square, I do not care!
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You’re kidding, right…?