What the hell is Apple thinking re: stale desktops ?

[masraum]

Apple Mac Pro design was a bad bet, admits firm - BBC News

Timely, I guess based on the updates mentioned above.

Just an excerpt of the article.

Apple has acknowledged that the design of its standalone desktop computer, the Mac Pro, restricted its ability to update the model.

The firm has announced a limited refresh of the machine, the first time it has upgraded its innards since 2013.

But it said it would not be able to release a "new model" until an unspecified point after 2017.

The tech firm had faced criticism that it was not addressing the needs of its professional users.

It released a new line-up of MacBook-Pro-branded laptops in October, but was attacked for not including more powerful graphics cards in them and for removing several of the ports found in earlier models.

One expert said the latest announcement would reassure graphic designers, video editors, scientists and other power users that Apple was not abandoning them to focus on iPads and iPhones, which outsell the Macs.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by BlueSkyJaunte

The only reason we still have a desktop at home is to have something to rip DVDs with and to sync our iPhones to. So that's a 2009 iMac 24" that I stuck a 2TB drive into.

Everything else is either cheap or old. Or both.

Home 3d print server -> Raspberry Pi Zero running OctoPrint
Home media server -> RP3 running OpenMediaValue + a couple 4GB USB HDs
Home theater devices -> RP3s running Kodi
Home arcade device for kiddos -> RP3 running EmulationStation
Wife's web-surfy thing -> Cheap-ass ChromeBook
My 3d + general workhorse -> 2013-era Lenovo Yoga 13
My web-surfy thing -> iPad Air
Kids' homework -> MacBook from 2007 (I think!)
Kids' plaything -> iPad mini 2

Unless you're a hardcore gamer, you don't need even a 4-year old desktop. And frankly, you can get plenty hardcore with a PS4 or whatever the latest console is. Hell, my oldest kid spends hours playing mostly iOS games.

The consumer market for desktops is dead. The gamer market for desktops is heavily eaten into by consoles. Nobody in my company has a desktop of his own - if he needs more horsepower than the standard IT laptop he can log into one of our virtual environments.

Yes, but you're clearly a very unusual user. Your average person isn't, wouldn't and couldn't use a Raspberry Pi for anything.

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by BlueSkyJaunte

The only reason we still have a desktop at home is to have something to rip DVDs with and to sync our iPhones to. So that's a 2009 iMac 24" that I stuck a 2TB drive into.

Everything else is either cheap or old. Or both.

Home 3d print server -> Raspberry Pi Zero running OctoPrint
Home media server -> RP3 running OpenMediaValue + a couple 4GB USB HDs
Home theater devices -> RP3s running Kodi
Home arcade device for kiddos -> RP3 running EmulationStation
Wife's web-surfy thing -> Cheap-ass ChromeBook
My 3d + general workhorse -> 2013-era Lenovo Yoga 13
My web-surfy thing -> iPad Air
Kids' homework -> MacBook from 2007 (I think!)
Kids' plaything -> iPad mini 2

Unless you're a hardcore gamer, you don't need even a 4-year old desktop. And frankly, you can get plenty hardcore with a PS4 or whatever the latest console is. Hell, my oldest kid spends hours playing mostly iOS games.

The consumer market for desktops is dead. The gamer market for desktops is heavily eaten into by consoles. Nobody in my company has a desktop of his own - if he needs more horsepower than the standard IT laptop he can log into one of our virtual environments.

You can get hard core with a PS4, but it doesn't allow us to play the games we like and it doesn't let us connect in the LAN without a stupid account.

For example, the kids and I played a real time strategy game together, each on our own computer with our own screen and controls. Sometimes we all race together, again with all our own screens and steering wheels. Or we fly against each other, or battle against each other. Sometimes we have parties and have had a couple dozen people, all with their own machines and our own dedicated server to control everything. You can't do that with a console.

There are a lot of people that like consoles because they are easy for the kids. But, there isn't much you can do on a console that you can't do on a decent computer. But not the other way around. Plus, you are limited in the peripherals you can connect to a console.

[Deschodt]

I find it funny that a lot of responses to the fact that a computer manufacturer that has not released new models in 2-3 years are a Jedi mind trick "you don't need what you're asking for" (seriously how do you know that?) or "it's not apple's fault, intel sucks" (Ok so that's partly true but they both suck now, there are faster processors out there than circa 2014)... I suppose it's my fault for thinking about Apple as a computer maker still, they no longer are - they make small and big phones and magical earbuds now.

I've been an Apple fan since 1984 (had the first mac) and an Apple Apologist for many years in the last decade, but no more... I do need a desktop that is somewhere under a $6000 Mac Pro and I'd prefer it modular so that when something dies (like my wife's Imac, twice, motherboard) we're not stuck with an all-in-one boat anchor... I do have a macbook from work, the form factor is no bueno for me, by the time I plug in my 27" screen, a real keyboard not made for elves and a mouse, it takes a crap load of space and storage is limited (more cables to external drive).... That's why I liked the mini form factor (if not its performance, it's too slow to operate Sierra and photoshop now even with SSD and memory - and if you scroll up to my disassembly pics, you will admit it's not a friendly upgrade process).... We're not all doing the same things, I think there's stil a case for a good desktop ;-)

My timing was amusing considering a week later Apple relented and announced that new Mac pro (next year) and new iMacs (end of year) and apparently the mini is important to us but can go Fxxx itself ;-( Bummer....

[berettafan]

flipper if consoles would just add keyboards and mice you would see pc gaming take a serious dump. the attraction of consoles is if it's on the shelf and says it's for PS4 it will work. the nonsense of PC gaming and fiddling with graphics settings, etc. is painful.