What ISN’T in the Rumor Mill for Apple’s September 12 Media Event?

[Brian Stoppee]

There’s no chatter about new muscular horsepower tools which plug into AC wall outlets.

That makes sense, though. In June, Apple dazzled us with the iMac Pro teasers. Getting that very powerful toolbox onto desktops should not be confused by the introduction of other products. The iMac Pro will redefine the intense strength of an all-in-one desktop computer: https://www.apple.com/imac-pro/

So, if you can edit a big motion picture production on the new iMac Pro, what else do you need? That’s a good question, but probably not one worth attempting to answer. How many people expected Apple to put monster power into a form factor usually reserved for classrooms and office cubicles. But, it did follow an HP introduction of an all-in-one with not only a great touch screen, but also a beautiful form with an impressive built-in Bang & Olufsen audio system.

In April, Apple teased about a replacement for the Mac Pro, a potentially even bigger powerhouse than the iMac Pro.

And, while the Mac Pro is all about bigness, what about tininess? Is there still a market for the Mac Mini? But doesn’t a Mac Mini and a Mac Pro deserve some seriously impressive Apple designed and branded displays?

And speaking of “deserve,” doesn’t macOS Server need some sibling hardware power to truly unleash the kind of power in a market which HP owns?

Some great things are coming from Apple in 2017 but some fabulous future introductions are marinading in the Apple kitchens for 2018.

[Trevor.Dennis]

Blimey.  A Mac with 18 cores, 4.5Ghz turbo, 128Gb DDR4, 4Tb SSD with NVMe performance, 5K display....

That'll be a zillion dollars please.

[EDIT]  Just to add that the lifespan of Apple kit appears to be minute judging by the worn out Lightning socket on my two year old iPhone.  I guess that is designed in so we keep buying the latest kit.  There'll be people reading this genuinely astonished that anyone would still be using a two year old phone! 

[Brian Stoppee]

Trevor.Dennis  wrote

Blimey.  A Mac with 18 cores, 4.5Ghz turbo, 128Gb DDR4, 4Tb SSD with NVMe performance, 5K display....

That'll be a zillion dollars please.

That's a valid point, Trevor, but there are a few manufacturing cost and marketing reality issues for Apple to weigh.

As Janet & I put this together, last night, we tossed in our observances of what's happening down the street from Apple HQ at HP's HQ. We think of HP as a place with a bunch of bean counters but Apple's just as good at counting the beans as their Adobe, HP, and Microsoft counterparts.

First, muscular hardware isn't always a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solution. Made to order (MTO) becomes necessary for those buyers. That's not one of those things Apple can have manufactured in Asia the way iPhones are assembled at a rate of many thousand units per day. MTO isn't cheap.

When Apple and HP can manufacture in huge quantities, the discount on components drops the cost on that stuff to insanely low levels. So they can afford to sell for less.

Many of these things can be done as COTS. So, COTS could be assembled in one cost effective plant and MTO could happen elsewhere (such as a plant in North America, another in Europe, etc)

There's a big, big audience for this stuff and the more it gets into enterprise application, the more new uses are discovered. All of that drives the price structure downward.

Then, there are many enterprise users who can choose to buy Apple and/or HP or they can choose HP and/or Apple. So, it's a partially closed marketplace.

Finally, the muscle machines are what allow Apple and HP to separate themselves from the rest of the pack. Even if they have to sell things close to margin, it allows them to sprint 100 miles ahead of the other guys until their competition says, "We're not even going there." So, the bean counters have to keep the sale price low enough to win the must-win race.

[Nancy OShea]

Muscular shmuscular.  I want a quantum computer .

Why we need quantum computers, how they compare to classical computer and what is holding us back fr...

[Brian Stoppee]

https://forums.adobe.com/people/Nancy+OShea  wrote

Muscular shmuscular.  I want a quantum computer .

Why we need quantum computers, how they compare to classical computer and what is holding us back fr...

I guess our CC apps don't run on something like that, huh?

[Trevor.Dennis]

Apple are up against a whole new price structure for high end workstations, NLE systems, and the so called HEDT systems now that Intel have been forced to price the i9X range of processors competitively because of AMD Threadripper.   $1000 now gets you a 16 core 32 thread Threadripper from AMD, and $1999 gets you an 18 core 32 thread from Intel.

An 18 core Xeon E5-2699 would cost you a whopping $3500, and only runs at 2.3Ghz, and you'd still be looking at >$4000 using dual Xeon.  I am not understanding how Apple get a 4.5Ghz turbo boost from a Xeon system.  Could they be using the i9-7980X?  I can't think of an X299 board with interface options, and other features the Apple site mentions, so I have no idea how it would work.  But by heck it would be expensive!

It's a pity you didn't start this thread on the PremPro Hardware forum.  We'd have seen some informed comments from Bill and the other regulars over there.

[Brian Stoppee]

But by heck it would be expensive!

I have no idea what HP and Apple pay for a few boatloads of Intel processors many times per year but it's a whole bunch less than you and !.

[Ussnorway]

ime week old apples belong in the bin