Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower
1–10 of 218 posts
Re: Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower
#2This is what they used to do with the venerable Mac Pro tower, built as recently as Mid 2012. The heavy gauge aluminum construction was a work of art. People pick up Mac Pro G5 shells and use them to build tables, benches, etc.
I am hoping that Apple returns to this sort of design philosophy. It's quite frustrating that many of their iMacs are not (easily) user upgradable. Upgrading an HDD to an SSD requires cutting adhesive, suction cups to remove the display, disconnecting not-meant-to-be-disconnected cables from comically delicate sockets, and similar feats of delicacy.
The Mac Pro redesign applied the same sort of anti-consumer bullshit.
Re: Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower
#3Apple did. It came with a G5 processor. Most people didn't want to pay the exorbitant prices that Apple wanted them to pay for things like Apple-compatible AGP graphics cards and such when PCs got the same thing at literally 1/3 the price, and they pretty quickly fell into irrelevance.
Apple would probably go the exact same route as they did the last time and fail just as miserably.
Re: Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower
#4Why not allow developers to build their own Macs?
The situation today in completely different than 1995-1996, when Apple briefly allowed Macintosh clones, before Jobs killed the project because they were cannibalizing Apple's high-end desktop sales. Now high-end desktop sales are such a small part of Apple's line that they let the products stagnate for years. Are Mac Pro motherboards really going to compete with notebook sales?
Re: Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower
#5HP has stepped up to compete with the sealed Mac Mini. Their "Z2 Mini Workstation" is small, has user upgradeable RAM/disk, optional Xeon and Nvidia GPU, and can drive six monitors, http://www8.hp.com/us/en/workstations/z2mini.html
Re: Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower
#6Do we really need a full tower? Isn't most of the space in a traditional PC "trash can" form factor wasted? The graphics card size would need to change, but it would be great if we could shrink the case and still have all the power of a desktop.
Re: Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower
#7This is what they used to do with the venerable Mac Pro tower, built as recently as Mid 2012. The heavy gauge aluminum construction was a work of art. People pick up Mac Pro G5 shells and use them to build tables, benches, etc. I am hoping that Apple returns to this sort of design philosophy. It's quite frustrating that many of their iMacs are not (easily) user upgradable. Upgrading an HDD to an SSD requires cutting…
The current philosophy is pretty solidly in line with the historical Apple design philosophy, so I wouldn't necessarily expect it to change. The iMac is basically today's evolution of the original Mac [1], a single-piece computer/monitor combination with no user-serviceable parts. Jobs said in 1984 that hardware customization is unnecessary to support, because "customization really is mostly software now".
The Mac Pro towers were pretty different, but if anything they were the aberration, going in a more Unix workstation direction.
Re: Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower
#8How about Apple create a "Custom Hardware" program ala their Developer program and basically charge $99+ a year for a legal install usb image. Then they can skip building a Pro and concentrate on the portables and iMac they like.
Re: Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower
#9There is a lot of opportunity for Apple to still make a design statement with a tower. One that people willingly display. The key is that is not only does it need to look good but cooling fans need to be deathly quiet. Then offer it up in aluminum or black enclosure.
Dimensions are pretty much locked down by what types of video card technology they wish to support, really would love a new solution that doesn't use the typical slots we still have today.
With regards to the mini, my only beef was when I wanted to integrate with my home theater white boxes just don't fit. It had to hide.
Re: Modern “Hackintoshes” show that Apple should probably just build a Mac tower
#10Do we really need a full tower? Isn't most of the space in a traditional PC "trash can" form factor wasted? The graphics card size would need to change, but it would be great if we could shrink the case and still have all the power of a desktop.
You can build a very nice and compact machine with a relatively small footprint using off-the-shelf components:
https://taoofmac.com/space/blog/2016/12/17/1840
...integrated graphics are plenty good enough for a lot of use cases, but you're right in assuming the graphics card would need to change. Current GPUs require a lot of extra power and cooling that requires a (mini-)tower form factor...