RIP iMac Pro

[Pauly]

And so far it still is, but my question is with them locking down all their other lines, how long is that going to be the case.

Even though it was always against the EULA (even to run it as a VM as well) to do a Hackintosh, up until recently, Apple never really (as much as they could) put a stop to that. It's getting harder and harder and with them going M1, even more so.



I'm going to catch flack for this, but a lot more of Apple is that marketing gimmick then it used to be. It has become more of a fashion accessory then anything else now. That is my own opinion and it is from someone that has dealt with all 3 desktop OSs and dealt extensively with the 3 Unix-like OSs on mobile as well. Macs (Windows too) aren't what they used to be back in the heyday of desktop usage. Even Windows had more power to the user back in the 9x days compared to now (not talking necessarily raw computing power like processor and ram etc, but options and abilities with the end user, but audio actually was handled better back then on Windows then now, but I digress).

As to M chips, they are already partly there now. The "security" hardware feature that I alluded to in my previous post makes it easier to bypass the Intel chip and go M1 and this also blocks certain 3rd party (including you) attempted repairs/upgrades. The presence of this hardware alone is what dings it (in my mind) for fully upgradable.

IMO, i think the Mac Pros will stay true to itself. They copped a lot of backlash, professionals stopped using them etc. I believe the proper upgradable tower will stay.
Same goes with their monitors. Yes they are stupid expensive, but they are built for pros, Film ind, photography (high end) ind. etc. Same as the Ezio or even Asus pro art displays.

It seems operating systems are going in the directions of UX for the consumer, simplicity.. basically turn it on and use it. Im not against it. But i believe there still needs to be a middle ground for pros/businesses that need extended features.

Yes apple has gone more fashion accessory market, but in saying that.. their products are still very high quality, The iPhones are still brilliant, those airpods (all of them) are excellent, they don't make shit products.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

IMO, i think the Mac Pros will stay true to itself. They copped a lot of backlash, professionals stopped using them etc. I believe the proper upgradable tower will stay.
Same goes with their monitors. Yes they are stupid expensive, but they are built for pros, Film ind, photography (high end) ind. etc. Same as the Ezio or even Asus pro art displays.

I would say price is what got them for those that were borderline on needing/wanting etc.
I will admit for the longest time, screens were always the wow factor for me on their stuff, but it is increasingly becoming apparent that they are resting on their laurels and chipping away with the good will that they have accrued over decades of really good product. Even the rapid fans on reddit for Apple stuff are really not happy with some things.

It seems operating systems are going in the directions of UX for the consumer, simplicity.. basically turn it on and use it. Im not against it. But i believe there still needs to be a middle ground for pros/businesses that need extended features.

I am. It's no bueno on every level and it wasn't this way before. While they are selling it as a computer that anyone can use, really what you are getting is a computer that you don't really own, even more so, you are renting and they expect you to upgrade every 2-3 yrs. Even the Windows Pro version when Win 10 came out initially had features that wasn't in the Home version, but those got castrated. Same with the Enterprise version.

One of the reasons why I love the 9X era for Windows is not only did they get the UI right (and thus UX as well), but the user had control over ever inch of the OS and yes that meant that they may have borked their install. Now, if MS had true multi-user accounts on that line of their OS, this could have been mitigated much easier then just locking it down from the outset no matter what the user did. I would not be surprised that even Regedit would be off limits to end users and I think even people on here have had a time or two needed to edit the registry and maybe even edited the host file (which is now ignored by Windows in Win 10).

Yes apple has gone more fashion accessory market, but in saying that.. their products are still very high quality, The iPhones are still brilliant, those airpods (all of them) are excellent, they don't make **** products.

They have had their fair share of "hardware"-gates (and still do). Even updates and hardware that have affected their phones and their computers for regular and professionals have had issues.

Now, that can happen with anyone, but with Apple having more and more control over the entire lifespan of the device, I have much less sympathy then a company that doesn't. Just like I would have less sympathy for MS with their Surface line then I would with MS on an HP/Asus/Toshiba/Lenovo computer.

I do always find it funny that whenever there is an outcry, it starts off with them saying it's a minority of users. Then eventually, it's oh yea, this keyboard design may not be all that great or this kernel really did cause overheating of the computer, or this update really did this/that/the other etc.

Now, most know on here I do have certain bent to my thinking, but I would caution with remembering them more for what they used to be over the direction that they may be going in, albeit slowly, but the destination does appear to be on the horizon.