Apple has recently announced plans to update the Mac Pro, and have admitted the design flaws that the current high-end computer contains. Although the time and specific details of their plans are vague, the company have announced that full revamp is to follow after 2017.
The Mac Pro has come under a lot of criticism concerning its capabilities. Designed for professionals, the desktop computer didn’t turn out to have the GPU power expected, and isn’t proficient when it comes to more extensive editing work.
It’s not the only problem Apple’s consumers have highlighted, with the October 2016 MacBook Pro laptops also falling short of expectations for not having a powerful enough graphics card, less RAM and a shorter battery life.
With iPad and iPhone sales now representing a much bigger slice of the action, worried fans speculated that Apple were abandoning their laptop and desktop customers.
Responding to criticisms, Apple addressed a small audience of journalists, claiming that they are in the process of ‘completely rethinking’ the Mac Pro. They admitted that the current Mac Pro, which hasn’t been updated since 2013, has its flaws.
Specifically, the Mac Pro was designed with two mid-range GPUs running parallel, a design which aimed to reduce fans and heat sinks and replace them with a single aluminum conductor which would reduce heat quietly. In doing this, Apple sacrificed the ability to maximize the output of a single powerful GPU.
In the words of senior vice president of Software Engineering Craig Federighi, Apple backed themselves into “a bit of a thermal cornerâ€, as they were then unable to upgrade the Mac Pro. Doing so would have “required a different system architecture and more thermal capacity than the system was designed to accommodate.â€
After admitting their mistakes, Apple said that they need to build something that enables quick and regular updates so that they can keep the new Mac Pro state of the art and allow more adaptability for the different needs of pro customers.
Though not usually considered a gaming device, the soon to be upgraded Mac Pro may feature high enough computational power to attract gamers, as well as offering the capabilities that artists and professionals need for editing tasks.
The company now has a more active interest in VR, and current models do not support either the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive. Along with the usual array of low-capacity gaming options, Apple computers may soon catch up with the latest gaming revolutions.
Consumers will have to wait and see what the future holds for Apple’s desktop computers and laptops. The Mac Pro desperately needs an upgrade, with its target market criticizing the machine for not being capable of performing tasks that they need it for.
At the same time, Apple must know that they have a huge market to attend to when it comes to smartphones and devices. Will they shift their focus back towards the design and development of their high-end computers in time to win back the crowd?
The Mac Pro is set to be a defining moment, but until Apple make official announcements about its release date, features and updates we can only speculate as to whether it will bring their PCs into the next-generation.