Professional Mac User’s Getting Loud About Lack Of Mac Pro Updates
Back in early March 2012 we brought attention to a vital issue within the Mac Community. The fact that 
the Mac Pro hasn’t been updated in almost 2 years, this is an eternity in computer time. Since that time, new Intel XEON chips and chipset have come out and gone into use in some non-mac workstations, has this changed anything for Apple Mac Pro systems??? Not at all, blistering silence from Apple has continued.
No news on a new Mac Pro or Mac Pro equivalent systems. Nothing released or any pre-release news. Sadly, the very users ranging from scientists, graphic professionals, music professional and more are growing discontent and unhappy. Remember, these are the people who were the core customers of Apple during the lean years when Macintosh systems were not embraced elsewhere. Essentially keeping the lights on when people buying Apple systems were few.
The Facebook Petition, WE WANT A NEW MACPRO, has taken off within 10 days like gangbusters. Today (5/29/2012)over 12,674 people have signed it. People are getting mad, really with cause in our minds, to speak up about Apple leaving its powerhungry customers out to dry. The petition isn’t an angry one, it is actually quite polite. Cheer to its creator, Lou Borella. Thanks for helping to rally the community.
Apple hasn’t said a thing. Nothing publically, no back discussions with computer reporters saying “don’t worry something is coming.” Nada. In a world when companies and people need to budget their money for spending on expensive systems, Apple is playing a dangerous game that is risky. Lots of Apple professionals don’t want to try to make inefficient and buggy “Hackintosh” systems to use and are faced with the question, “do we go windows?”
We are proud to call attention to We Want a New MacPro and join the rally cry for Apple to do better for it’s professional and high end customers. Many of them even have jobs dependent on getting new better models.
Some of the features on the want list for Mac Pro Professionals:
- Thunderbolt (Intel’s new i/o ultrafast connection port)?
- Blu-Ray drives with ability to write and read BD discs of all kinds, including movies for full compatibility to many of the files created on a Mac Pro.
- Latest Intel CPU Chipset’s?
- Latest Graphics Cards?
We would ask that Apple manufacture many of these new Mac Pro computers in the United States, as has been the history of this product line until recently many of them have been assembled in China instead.
Please sign the petition and help spread the word.
https://www.facebook.com/MacProsPlease
Here are two articles from March on our website pointing attention to the matter.
http://www.peaceloveapplepie.com/new-mac-pro-update-updated-intel-xeon-chips-arrive-next-week/
Of course. “Apple does not comment on unreleased products” – the standard line. Little solace to a Designer who just bought essentially a 2 year-old tech Mac Pro System to have something to run Adobe Creative Suite 5 on… or is wondering whether his next system will need to be an iMac or Windows machine… But it’s weird to think that I may very well have one of the LAST mac towers ever made.But I would put the fire to the feet of Intel as much as Apple. The Xeon Sandy Bridge E5 Series chips for workstations JUST shipped within the last month, over a YEAR delayed, and these were the expected chips for a Mac Pro update, and needed to integrate Thunderbolt into the Mac Pro. TB is a motherboard level tech, and unlike USB 3, can’t be added to existing MPs as a PCI card. I am sure that Apple is loath to release a version of the Mac Pro without Thunderbolt as they’ve updated the entire rest of the line with it, and have staked their product arc on Thunderbolt. Note that Intel is already shipping Ivy Bridge laptop and low end desktop chips, having decided that market is where the money and volume is.Blu Ray support? Don’t hold your breath. Apple has put optical disk technology in the taillights and had staked it’s claim on the cloud and pure digital video and software distribution. The Mac Pro may be the last mac that even HAS optical drives of any kind by the end of the year. With the app Store, Apple is out of the business of optical media or putting software in boxes. History. Just like Floppies, SCSI and ADB. And I suspect Firewire may be on the chopping block as well, positioning Thunderbolt at the “everything” hi-end interface. But with the new Ivy Bridge chips, Apple may be able to offer USB 3 for “free” as USB 3 support will come baked into the processors – if they bother to write the drivers for it….But still, Apple’s kicking of professional users to the virtual curb is galling after we’ve stuck by them in the worst of times, (anyone remember “beleaguered” Apple?) but now that they don’t seem to need us…
@SamuraiArtGuy Thanks for the comment. We hope Apple takes a more professional tact on the new models, whatever they call them. To do a professional machine without optical drives is stupid. Plenty of people need to output on BD or DVD for archival or for their work. Of course there are external drives we could use, but its cheaper and easier to have it built in. Whatever the line item need… Professional Mac Users are getting mistreated by Apple.
@peacelovepie Apple mistreats all their customers. Dont u remember jobs said that everyone would get Icloud. Later on Apple said only Windows xp and lion users would get it. I still run 10.6 on all my computers (2.8 Mac PRO and 2.16 MBP) and i have 1st Gen Iphone (want Iphone 5). I feel betrayed knowing that Windows XP, which was never made by Apple is allow to get Icloud. Apple promise a update for 10.6.8 users, so we can get Icloud access it never came. I remember the day steve jobs tried to put a stop to us Blue and White G3 owners from having upgrade cards. I can go on and on how apple dick their customers.
@SamuraiArtGuy we Apple back in the day figure out how to put firewire on the Power MAc G4 Logic board. Apple can make a pci,pciX or etc if they want to. Apple like playing this game upgrade game with their customers. Do you remember apple made ADC connection Monitors? Then couple months to a year some came out with a way to connect them to G3 and PC in a form of a adapter. Apple dont have to come out with a Thunderbolt Mac Pro. Apple killed the the xserver’s without any updates:(
Does some exec have it in for the professional user? In the past few years, the Mac Pro has stagnated, Soundtrack Pro remains the worst UX in Pro Apps history, and then the company flushed FCP7 down the toilet. Please, doesn’t anybody at this formerly superb marketing company understand that the twofold power of moviemaking glamour and killer technology trickle-down from the Pro line makes all Apple products more attractive?
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