[geeks] Replacing a Mac Pro 2006

[Andrew Jones]

On 12/04/12 15:31, Mark Benson wrote:
 >
> Flawed logic. The Cube bombed because it used the same hardware as the
> full-size desktop (literally, same RAM, same CPU modules, same CPUs, same
> chipset, even the same gfx card) but was MORE expensive
>

The Cube was judged a failure and discontinued after less than a year.

Phil Schiller stated: "Cube owners love their Cubes, but most customers 
decided to buy our powerful Power Mac G4 minitowers instead."

Pricing was very similar.  Powermacs were modestly more. (Keep in mind 
these are prices at introduction, and the cube came out a year later, 
which drove down prices

450 MHz Cube introduced 2000.07.19 at US$1,799;
500 MHz Cube announced 2000.07.19 at US$2,299;

400 MHz PowerMac G4 (Sawtooth) introduced 1999.10.13 at US$2,499
450 MHz PowerMac G4 introduced 1999.08.31 at US$2,499
500 MHz PowerMac G4 introduced 1999.08.31 at US$3,499

>
> A proposed mid-range system in this Apple era would use consumer level i5/i7
> hardware (same as the iMac). The Mac Pro uses server/workstation grade Xeon
> hardware. The price difference is huge. Even while keeping Apple's markups it
> could easily be sold for $899 (base spec) and $1495 (top spec) which is half
> what the Mac Pro sells for.
>

This is exactly the problem I was talking about.  Apple will *never* 
pass savings through to you if it could cannibalize another product. 
Apple is a high margin OEM, and they want it to stay that way.

It may be *possible* to sell a $899 core i5 system, but if it risks 
cannibalizing even one sale of a $2,000 mac pro, it's gonna cost $2,000. 
(Or, I guess, they could replace the mac pro entirely.)