Will They, Won’t They
The Mac Pro is a classic tower computer,
offering owners the opportunity to open up the case and tinker around; taking
parts out and replacing them with components of their choosing. Apple hates
this. The latest iMacs glass front panel and the LCD have been fused
together, where they used to be attached with magnets. Given this, is it
surprising that many believe the Mac Pro is doomed?
Even if Apple is still interested in the
professional Mac market, it may well be that Apple has simply lost the
workstation market, as it did the server market with the Xserve, either because
it wasn’t competitive enough or dedicated enough. Is Apple ready to abandon the
higher-end of the desktop market to Dell and HP? Does it really need a
workstation? Or to put it bluntly do we need a workstation from
Apple?
Is
Apple ready to abandon the higher-end of the desktop market to Dell and HP?
Maybe it doesn’t really matter enough. We
spoke to some Apple resellers about the removal of the Mac Pro in Europe, and
one told us: “The Mac Pro removal is not really going to be that huge of a
problem, it was a very small seller in the APR channel, so much so that it
was removed along with the Mac mini of the store’s display.”
The fact is most consumers and even
professionals switched over to the iMac a long time ago. As our reseller
explained: “While customers have been waiting for a serious upgrade on the Mac
Pro, the iMac is a better all-round machine and still has great upgradeable
options on it”
“While
customers have been waiting for a serious upgrade on the Mac Pro, the iMac is a
better all-round machine and still has great upgradeable options on it”
Although as another Apple reseller pointed
out: “It does highlight that Apple is heading into an entirely consumer world,
and business customers have to compromise if they want to stay Mac. It
highlights that as a business group, the Mac Pro team generate less profit per
head than other areas of their business.”
The proportion of Apple’s revenue that
comes from the Mac Pro line has been steadily declining as iOS devices and
MacBook sales have surged, while the iMac has become one of the most popular
desktop computers on the market. There is one way in which Apple could make the
Mac Pro unit more profitable – the company could start manufacturing them in
the USA.
Born in the USA
Apple CEO Tim Cook last year announced that
Apple would shift production of one Mac to the USA, and industry watchers
expect this to be either the Mac Pro or the Mac mini. The odds are good that it
will be the Mac Pro though, for a number of reasons. For one thing, shipping it
from China is expensive because it’s such a bulky item. The other reason is
that Apple sells fewer than one million systems a year – it makes sense to
manufacturer the high-demand products where labor is cheaper and voluminous. In
addition, any extra labor costs associated with manufacturing in the US can be
more easily absorbed by a $3,000+ Mac Pro than by a MacBook or an iMac
that sell for $1,498, as noted by Fortune.
the
Mac mini
Will the new Mac Pro live up to
expectations? It’s been a long time coming and the traditional user base has a
hell of a big wish list. Many fear that the update will not meet their needs.
Many of these pro users – particularly the ones who need the absolute best
performance and the most expandability (and, it should be said, who were once
Apple’s bread and butter) – already believe that Apple has abandoned them. It’s
likely they have already bought specialized workstations from other vendors.
There are also fears Apple runs the risk of
losing iMac sales if it builds a reasonably priced Mac minitower. We know the
company has plans to produce a Mac for its professional users, but Tim Cook
never actually said that it would be a new Mac Pro. His words were: “Our Pro
customers like you are really important to us. Although we didn’t have a chance
to talk about a new Mac Pro at today’s event, don’t worry as we’re working on
something really great for later next year.”
We’ll wait to see what this something
really great turns out to be.
