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Apple Silicon Exec Explains Mac Mini AI Demand and On-Device Future

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Re: Apple Silicon Exec Explains Mac Mini AI Demand and On-Device Future

#281

Post by biztos »

sajithdilshan wrote: post #61
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #20

Apple could probably sell a machine starting at $10,000 if they architected it as the sole place one’s Private Cloud Compute [1] ran. It would need a path to a $2,500 machine, I think. But this is a niche I don’t think another consumer-facing brand could do like Apple. [1] https://security.apple.com/blog/private-cloud-compute/

But that would be more for enterprise usage. I cannot imagine a personal computing usage which can justify a 10k machine.

I just went to Apple.com and specced out the top of the line 14" Macbook Pro, and the price is $9,849.00. Well over 10K with California sales tax.

I could absolutely justify having that machine for the actual work I do, and I'm not even doing any of the really hard AI things. If I were, I might prefer a Thelio Mega workstation from System76, which is $90,383.00 fully loaded.

Alas I can not afford a 10K personal computer right now, which is not the same thing.

Re: Apple Silicon Exec Explains Mac Mini AI Demand and On-Device Future

#282

Post by thisislife2 »

Aurornis wrote: post #225
tl wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I asked an Apple (via a sales rep who visited our company to showcase in internal iPad healthcare app) to please do this for iCloud when iCloud Drive was in-development. We would have easily paid $50,000 for a rack-able Mac Pro you could point "managed" devices at. Apple simply cannot comprehend the ask.

> Apple simply cannot comprehend the ask. Apple knows the market demand for this type of device. You may have paid $50,000 for it, but you’re only one customer. At Apple scale they need to focus their finite resources on the products that serve the largest market demand. $50,000 rack mount servers are not a large demand.

Apple just doesn't do "enterprise" well - they need to poach some Microsoft employees to figure it out.

Re: Apple Silicon Exec Explains Mac Mini AI Demand and On-Device Future

#283

Post by throw1234567891 »

brandensilva wrote: post #203
throw1234567891 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

512GB M3 Ultra is out of stock, not coming back, and there’s nothing like it on the consumer market. That’s the reason they go for so much.

But there will be and his point is they cut off supply to make room for the new M5 ultra which I hope has 768GB or more of memory.

By the way, they cut the supply because they run out of RAM. They still sell the 96 GB model. Everything else is gone, no stock, they cannot manufacture them. Even minis are 48GB max!

Re: Apple Silicon Exec Explains Mac Mini AI Demand and On-Device Future

#284

Post by spacedcowboy »

blitzar wrote: post #210
spacedcowboy wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having worked at Apple for over a couple of decades, I can attest there are some very (very) capable and intelligent people there. I trust they know more about their business model than some rando on the internet, sorry.

Those of us that are less capable and less intelligent must just be holding it wrong.

you don’t need to be less intelligent or less capable, but you will necessarily be less informed.

How you hold it is, of course, up to you.

Re: Apple Silicon Exec Explains Mac Mini AI Demand and On-Device Future

#285

Post by gizajob »

bigyabai wrote: post #243
gizajob wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They could do both though. The margin from one user buying a $25000 is sky high compared to sixty kids all with the cheapest computer possible.

It's really not. Apple's phone margins have been as high as 30-40% per-unit, it's likely that they make at least ~$80-150 per Macbook Neo sold. At the $150 mark (which is probably accurate factoring in lifetime service spend), that's a $10,000 minimum return on the 64x Macbook Neos. Apple can charge that type of premium on consumer hardware, but they're in no position to command $10,000 margins on professional hardwa…

Maybe margin was the wrong way to phrase it, but I know which customer I’d choose to have.

Re: Apple Silicon Exec Explains Mac Mini AI Demand and On-Device Future

#286

Post by dwaite »

overfeed wrote: post #255
xyst wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple has failed to live up to the Steve Jobs era and initial iPhone hype. It's not just "AI experiences", it's computing in general. Maybe the consumer sector is just dead/dying. Maybe consumers are just running out of cash because filthy VCs are destroying communities and forcing the 99% into poverty. The one thing that is marginally exciting: the Apple SoC or M series chips. It's unfortunate they are locked behind…

> it's computing in general. Unsurprising. Apple seriously thought the iPad would replace computers and usher in a "post-PC" word during their "What is a computer?" ad campaign era. Now they are sticking phone chips in laptop chassis.

> Apple seriously thought the iPad would replace computers

...for some users. See their "Mac is a truck" analogy.

And it has. My parents haven't owned a Windows or Mac machine in six years, since they got rid of the one I gifted to them a decade ago. Its all iPad and iPhone.

Re: Apple Silicon Exec Explains Mac Mini AI Demand and On-Device Future

#287

Post by Ancapistani »

sajithdilshan wrote: post #61
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #20

Apple could probably sell a machine starting at $10,000 if they architected it as the sole place one’s Private Cloud Compute [1] ran. It would need a path to a $2,500 machine, I think. But this is a niche I don’t think another consumer-facing brand could do like Apple. [1] https://security.apple.com/blog/private-cloud-compute/

But that would be more for enterprise usage. I cannot imagine a personal computing usage which can justify a 10k machine.

> I cannot imagine a personal computing usage which can justify a 10k machine.

If Apple released a machine that would let me run, say, DeepSeek V4 Pro or GLM 5.2 locally at 100 tok/s for $10k, I might hurt myself running to get my credit card.

But then, I'm also posting this sitting in my truck while my family attends an event, with a Vision Pro on my face so I can monitor 7 Claude Code sessions without constantly switching screens on my laptop.

Re: Apple Silicon Exec Explains Mac Mini AI Demand and On-Device Future

#288

Post by dwaite »

thisislife2 wrote: post #282
Aurornis wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple simply cannot comprehend the ask. Apple knows the market demand for this type of device. You may have paid $50,000 for it, but you’re only one customer. At Apple scale they need to focus their finite resources on the products that serve the largest market demand. $50,000 rack mount servers are not a large demand.

Apple just doesn't do "enterprise" well - they need to poach some Microsoft employees to figure it out.

Apple has plenty of enterprise-specific features.

From a historic standpoint though Apple came back from near-death because they differentiated by focusing on the consumer first.

While other companies were recycling the same beige boxes meant to be tucked under desks for home use, Apple came out with products in candy colors.

While Microsoft was rolling out new business process tool SKUs, Apple came out with GarageBand and bundled it in for free.

Apple is not the company prioritizing going after a Fortune 500 company to replace their fleet with Macs. So their focus isn't going to be to design products and features to try to get that deal closed.

Re: Apple Silicon Exec Explains Mac Mini AI Demand and On-Device Future

#289

Post by bigyabai »

gizajob wrote: post #285
bigyabai wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really not. Apple's phone margins have been as high as 30-40% per-unit, it's likely that they make at least ~$80-150 per Macbook Neo sold. At the $150 mark (which is probably accurate factoring in lifetime service spend), that's a $10,000 minimum return on the 64x Macbook Neos. Apple can charge that type of premium on consumer hardware, but they're in no position to command $10,000 margins on professional hardwa…

Maybe margin was the wrong way to phrase it, but I know which customer I’d choose to have.

But surely you understand how your preferred customer is the less profitable one?

Apple won't subsidize these low-margin enthusiast products with the profits made from services and higher-margin hardware. Tim Cook would much rather ship the 64 Macs, and get ~15-20 school-age kids hooked on Apple One or the App Store for the rest of their life. There's understandably not much patience for catering to people that want to opt-out of the Apple Intelligence service ecosystem, effectively leeching off of more successful products. The volume and opportunity cost kills the concept in the cradle.

Re: Apple Silicon Exec Explains Mac Mini AI Demand and On-Device Future

#290

Post by dwaite »

egorfine wrote: post #197
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sadly, that is an outdated PoV. It has probably not been valid, since last century. It's just that Apple isn't really focused on software development professionals, and it's still fashionable to throw shade on them, so we hear a lot of kvetching about it, in communities like this.

Could you please point me out which current Mac model has enough storage for full feature video editing job? Thanks.

How much internal storage do you use for your full feature video editing, vs attached/network attached storage?
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