As someone who daily-drove Macs from 2006 through 2021 and who've since switched back to PCs, this does not surprise me. From 2017 through late 2021 I used a refurbished 2013 "trash can" Mac Pro as my daily driver; I have since moved to a Ryzen 9 3900 build as my daily driver. I actually purchased my Mac Pro from Apple not too long after Apple announced that it was still committed to pro users (https://web.archive.org/web/20170405022702/http://www.anandt...). It shipped with 12GB RAM, and during the COVID lockdowns of 2020 I upgraded it to 64GB RAM. My Mac Pro was a beast, and it's still a very capable machine despite the lack of support for current versions of macOS.
I want user-serviceability and expandability in my computers. I remember a time when Apple delivered this in spades; the Macintosh IIfx, the Quadra lineup, the beige Power Macintosh towers such as the 8600 and 9600, and the "new world" G3, G4, and G5 Power Macs were a testament to this. While I'm at it, let's also remember the NeXT Cube and the NeXTstation, which were wonderful workstations. Fast forward to 2013, and while the "trash can" Mac Pro lacks expansion slots, it does have user-serviceable RAM and storage, and some users have even upgraded its processor. This was a great machine, and it would've been cool had Apple kept updating it, though I know Apple ran into a wall with its dual-GPU approach.
Unfortunately, I'm disappointed with Apple's stewardship of the Mac Pro line. The 2019 Mac Pro is a very beautiful machine that supports unfathomable amounts of RAM (up to 768GB in the base models and up to 1.5TB in the highest-end models!), and I intend to buy one to add to my Mac collection when prices fall, but at the time of release the Mac Pro was prohibitively expensive: $5,999 compared to $2,999 for its predecessor. I was now priced out of buying a Mac Pro. The ARM-based Mac Pro has soldered RAM, which meant the entire Mac lineup lacked RAM upgradability, and is even more expensive at $6999.
I still pay attention to the Mac; I have a work-issued M3 MacBook Pro and I love its performance and battery life. However, I don't think I'll be buying a Mac for personal use unless Apple changes its direction. I want user-serviceable hardware, and while I'm at it, I want macOS to be unabashedly a workstation OS, not the increasingly iOS-ified environment we have today.
m463•2mo ago
People love the Mac Pro, but it is the Jackling House.
linguae•2mo ago
I want user-serviceability and expandability in my computers. I remember a time when Apple delivered this in spades; the Macintosh IIfx, the Quadra lineup, the beige Power Macintosh towers such as the 8600 and 9600, and the "new world" G3, G4, and G5 Power Macs were a testament to this. While I'm at it, let's also remember the NeXT Cube and the NeXTstation, which were wonderful workstations. Fast forward to 2013, and while the "trash can" Mac Pro lacks expansion slots, it does have user-serviceable RAM and storage, and some users have even upgraded its processor. This was a great machine, and it would've been cool had Apple kept updating it, though I know Apple ran into a wall with its dual-GPU approach.
Unfortunately, I'm disappointed with Apple's stewardship of the Mac Pro line. The 2019 Mac Pro is a very beautiful machine that supports unfathomable amounts of RAM (up to 768GB in the base models and up to 1.5TB in the highest-end models!), and I intend to buy one to add to my Mac collection when prices fall, but at the time of release the Mac Pro was prohibitively expensive: $5,999 compared to $2,999 for its predecessor. I was now priced out of buying a Mac Pro. The ARM-based Mac Pro has soldered RAM, which meant the entire Mac lineup lacked RAM upgradability, and is even more expensive at $6999.
I still pay attention to the Mac; I have a work-issued M3 MacBook Pro and I love its performance and battery life. However, I don't think I'll be buying a Mac for personal use unless Apple changes its direction. I want user-serviceable hardware, and while I'm at it, I want macOS to be unabashedly a workstation OS, not the increasingly iOS-ified environment we have today.