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Mac Pro gets half-assed “update”

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Re: Mac Pro gets half-assed “update”

#181

Post by bane »

alaskamiller wrote: post #130
robomartin wrote: post #98

This illustrates the issue I highlighted in another thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4097141 The fact that Apple keeps hardware and, increasingly, software, so tightly controlled leads to a situation like that of this "new" Mac Pro. If the Apple hardware ecosystem were open like that of Windows you'd have major companies all over the world evolving the platform in wonderful ways. Performance would go up an…

The irony of this post is so hilarious to me, this is Apple coming full circle from its clone wars days. Man, those were some shitty experiences. Apple is an hardware company. They make money off the nuts and bolts pieced together with premium markup, software is but icing on top. They practically give away the results of their development costs on OSX. You're encountering the cognitive dissonance as experienced in t…

Funny, I remember the Mac clones being quite nice machines.

Re: Mac Pro gets half-assed “update”

#182

Post by astrodust »

forrestthewoods wrote: post #29

Our sound guy is PISSED at the lack of update. Seriously, incredibly pissed. I've honestly never seen him this angry before. He'd been counting down the days till WWDC and a long overdue update. There are three major pieces of software he uses on his Mac that he swears by. It sounds like they have all just released or are about to release Windows versions. I'm beginning to wonder if this is a trend? Apple is clearly…

What the hell does your sound guy want, exactly? A 64-core system that uses 6000W of power simply to boot?

Re: Mac Pro gets half-assed “update”

#183

Post by eswangren »

Terretta wrote: post #40
millzlane wrote: post #10

This isn't surprising. Look at the product wikis and see the comparison of all the hardware. From the mac pro all the way down to the phone. They have been selling overpriced hardware for a very long time. To be fair.. before the intel switch the hardware was theirs. Now, after the intel switch they're still selling over priced hardware except now it's cheaper for them because they're not using powerpc's anymore, and…

Not overpriced. Nobody could come close to the price of the Macbook Air with fully equivalent hardware, for example, and today's MBP release is the same. When competitors try to meet the specs across the board, without any major compromises, they cost 20% more. The overpriced thing is a decade old, and used to be justified as a brand positioning (pay more for quality build). Now, Apple's supply chain lets them offer…

You're right in terms of the Air; it's a great deal for how well it's built. Almost every single other computer they offer is demonstrably overpriced based on specs.

Re: Mac Pro gets half-assed “update”

#184

Post by ktizo »

tedunangst wrote: post #178
ktizo wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't mean 12 core, I mean 32 core. AMD is selling 16 core CPUs. And the Mac Pro is not a dual CPU, 32 core, twin graphics card machine, which is what I described. here is one company selling them - http://www.titanuscomputers.com I priced up a 32 core AMD machine with two 2GB Nvidia GTX 680 cards and it comes to just under $5000.

thanks.

No hassles. Sorry if I came across a bit grouchy.

Re: Mac Pro gets half-assed “update”

#185

Post by xiaoma »

vacri wrote: post #117
Terretta wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not overpriced. Nobody could come close to the price of the Macbook Air with fully equivalent hardware, for example, and today's MBP release is the same. When competitors try to meet the specs across the board, without any major compromises, they cost 20% more. The overpriced thing is a decade old, and used to be justified as a brand positioning (pay more for quality build). Now, Apple's supply chain lets them offer…

Nonsense. Comparing a Lenovo X220 with equivalent specs, it comes out slightly cheaper on the Lenovo side. There are minor differences on both sides (eg thunderbolt versus replaceable battery) but going for SSD, same RAM, same CPU, similar screen size, the Lenovo comes out at $1216 and the Mac Air at $1349 (in Australia).

I don't think they're really equivalent specs, though. Notably, the 11" Levovo X220 weighs 2.9 lbs vs 2.38 lbs for the MacBook Air.

That's more than a 20% difference on the defining characteristic of the MBAir line.

Edit: Is this data wrong? Is it an inappropriate comment? I've been on HN for nearly 5 years and it seems like there's more downvoting by the month.

Re: Mac Pro gets half-assed “update”

#187

Post by bane »

corwinstephen wrote: post #163
kbuck wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. Apple is both a hardware and software company, and I would argue that most of the decision to buy a Mac lies in software, not hardware. People don't say "I need this computer because it has an aluminum case"; they say "I need a Mac because it's easier to use." Not charging for minor updates doesn't mean they're giving them away. It means they've already rolled the cost into the original sale price.

Let's be honest with ourselves here. True, it's not the aluminum case they're after. But it also isn't the ease of use; The ease of use paradigm is yet another clever Apple marketing tactic to give people something to talk about when trying to explain to their friends why they made the decision to buy. The real reasons people buy Macintosh (and I'm talking about the general public here, because admittedly, the person…

" If people cared most about function, every single person on this planet would be walking around in New Balance trainers (or maybe Crocs), basketball shorts/track pants, and a Wallmart t-shirt. But instead, people pay hundreds of dollars for jeans that are far from functional. "

I think your argument is salient, but for the opposite reason. Everybody on the planet does wear these things. It's a very small majority of the population, usually urban and with money to spend, that dresses in hundred(s) dollars jeans. Walmart pulls down half a trillion per year on cheap schlock with hundreds of millions of happy customers.

Most people actually do dress like the Mac Guy

http://www.dailysloth.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/mac.jpg

Paradoxically, in terms of computer fashion, Apple doesn't sell to these people.

Re: Mac Pro gets half-assed “update”

#188

Post by bane »

bronxbomber92 wrote: post #158
robomartin wrote: post #98

This illustrates the issue I highlighted in another thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4097141 The fact that Apple keeps hardware and, increasingly, software, so tightly controlled leads to a situation like that of this "new" Mac Pro. If the Apple hardware ecosystem were open like that of Windows you'd have major companies all over the world evolving the platform in wonderful ways. Performance would go up an…

If you want non-Apple hardware, go buy it. There's nothing stopping you (or anyone else) from doing so. I think Apple fills an obviously valuable niche (several niches, really) and I don't see any incentive for them to open up like you suggest. A lot of us do like to pay for design, reliability, and the end-to-end experience, and I'm glad there is a company like Apple to provide for customers like myself.

"If you want non-Apple hardware, go buy it. There's nothing stopping you (or anyone else) from doing so. "

Unless I want to use non-Apple hardware with Apple software.

Re: Mac Pro gets half-assed “update”

#189

Post by ktizo »

alaskamiller wrote: post #130
robomartin wrote: post #98

This illustrates the issue I highlighted in another thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4097141 The fact that Apple keeps hardware and, increasingly, software, so tightly controlled leads to a situation like that of this "new" Mac Pro. If the Apple hardware ecosystem were open like that of Windows you'd have major companies all over the world evolving the platform in wonderful ways. Performance would go up an…

The irony of this post is so hilarious to me, this is Apple coming full circle from its clone wars days. Man, those were some shitty experiences. Apple is an hardware company. They make money off the nuts and bolts pieced together with premium markup, software is but icing on top. They practically give away the results of their development costs on OSX. You're encountering the cognitive dissonance as experienced in t…

They practically give away the results of their development costs on OSX.

Most of the development was already done for them in the development of Open-BSD.

Re: Mac Pro gets half-assed “update”

#190

Post by sitkack »

abruzzi wrote: post #19

I think there are two possible explanations: 1. Marco's pessimistic take that they are clearing through existing inventory in slightly reconfigured and cheaper machines. 2. grecy's comment here that they needed to keep people hooked while they get the real bump out the door. If the answer is 2, then they really can't wait too long. A few people will be satisfied that they can get 12 cores for $3800, but it's only a s…

U should build a hackintosh using E5 Xeons

    http://vr-zone.com/articles/ultimate-8-core-matx-powerhouse-xeon-e5-2690-r4g-7970dcii-and-more-/15123.html
    http://www.macbreaker.com/2012/04/ultimate-xeon-hackintosh-server.html
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