Quote:
Originally Posted by chucker
You’re not wrong, but keep in mind you can upgrade basically all of that aftermarket (unlike virtually any other Mac now). Getting the base config may actually be the smart buy.
|
I guess that’s true. But for $6,000, you shouldn’t
have to upgrade it to get a workstation that’s worth $6,000. At the price they’re charging, that base config is borderline insulting. I get that there is a real cost associated with making the Mac Pro larger and more upgradeable and packing in a massive PSU and a ton of stainless steel and shit, but it almost feels like you’re getting $1000 worth of computer in a $5000 case.
The 2013 Mac Pro started at $2999, and every configuration had dual workstation-class graphics cards. We’re used to complaining about the half-decade-old 2013 Mac Pro but in 2013 it was a bargain. The new Mac Pro is double the price and comes with a single consumer-grade graphics card, and not even a particularly high-end one. (I got the then-equivalent GPU in a Dell gaming PC I bought last year for $749.) It’s an odd regression. And yeah, the expansion slots and larger case add to the cost, but…surely the doubling in price covers that?
I don’t normally complain about Apple’s prices. Like, yeah the iPhone X and Xs are more expensive than past iPhones, sure the new iPad Pro is more expensive than past models, but all those products are way better than their predecessors in virtually every way except price, so it’s more forgivable. The iPhone X and Xs are more premium products. The iPad Pro is a bonkers powerful tablet. Apple’s at the forefront of those industries.
But with the Mac Pro, it feels different. Like, it’s more expensive, which would be fine if it was way better, but in some ways it’s no better or even worse than cheaper options. Unlike iPhones and iPads, there are comparable workstations that use the same parts. Unlike iPhones and iPads, we know how much the components cost. The difference is the Mac Pro is expensive, and it
shouldn’t be.
I don’t know if they’re convinced they have to amortize their engineering costs over a very small number of machines or what. But the pricing on this Expensive Apple Product feels very different to me than past Expensive Apple Products. I just don’t understand it.