Despite the coming availability of a new generation of Sandy Bridge desktop CPUs suitable for advancing Apple’s Mac Pro line, the company has reportedly been evaluating whether to continue to invest in furthering its full-sized workstation line beyond this year in the face of limited sales.
Although the Mac maker has reportedly developed a revision to the existing Mac Pro that may or may not see the light of day, people familiar with the matter said management as far back as May of 2011 were in limbo over whether to pour any additional resources into the product line.
As a Mac Pro user (at work, at least), I am sad — but not surprised — at this rumor.
People buy Mac Pros for two reasons:
- Power
- Expandability
Those of us who use Mac Pro to crunch video and audio know it to be a workhorse machine. We bought the low-end model last year, and it still smokes most machines in the office. However, most people don’t really need a Mac Pro, now that the Intel’s i7 chips can be found in MacBook Pros, iMacs and Mac minis. The more powerful Macs have become, the more marginalized the Mac Pro has become.
Thunderbolt may be the killer of the Mac Pro. If external PCI-E cards become available, and prices on external Thunder-bolt RAIDs come down, the massive shell of the Mac Pro won’t be needed anymore.
The reality is, however, that most people never max out their Mac Pro’s internal storage or card bays. So maybe this reason isn’t as important as it once was.
There will always be edge cases — people who really do need wring out every ounce of power and flexibility of a machine. However, Apple is more and more focusing on meeting the needs of the majority. Depending on how far the company pushes that mindset, the Mac Pro may some become a memory.
I, for one, would be sad.