The new iMac Pro will ship later this month and as is always the case people who never had any intention of buying the iMac Pro are saying why they have no intention of buying the iMac Pro.
But it doesn't stop there; they also want to tell you why you, or anyone else for that matter, shouldn't buy an iMac Pro.
For them, it's yet another example of a pointless product from Apple, the brand that brought other failures like the iPhone, the MacBook, the iPad, all of which contributed to the terrible state of Apple and their stock price, one of the world's wealthiest companies. It seems that Apple is keeping their business failure as big a secret as their upcoming products.
"Steve would never have done such a thing" lapsed Apple apostles declare, every time a product is released post Jobs, words typically followed by the obligatory spinning grave imagery for added effect.
It seems Apple's latest faux pas is that the iMac Pro and most of its parts are almost impenetrable to an average person with a screwdriver.
Of course, the argument is this reduces the possibility of upgrading later.
I've owned a Mac Pro Late 2013 'Trash Can' for over three years. You may remember the advert with the sexy spinning shot as the lid magically lifted off. Even if you haven't seen the ad then taking the cover off is a work of art, slide the lock, and it slips off to reveal the inner guts of the beast. I did it once for fun, because I could and haven't done it since.
I can tell you that taking the lid off a computer doesn't float my boat. It's not on my bucket list; it is in fact not even on the things I need to do most days in my busy working studio.
However, I get some people like to be able to take things apart, to be able to modify them, to keep their options open. If that's you, then buy a Windows computer or build a Hackintosh (no endorsement implied) it's horses for courses. My wife jokes that if someone made an invention to bring world peace and cure hunger, the first thing some people would do is share it with the world, the first thing others would do is take it apart to see how it works.
I once did have computers you could take the lid off and tinker with, I have also owned several cheese graters. To be frank half of the people who want to get inside their computer couldn't tie their shoelaces, so anything to stop them poking around inside something with power running through it seems like a good idea to me. Some of these people are the ones that go back to the store three days after buying something to report it has a fault. They swear blind they have not done anything to it, but as soon as a QUALIFIED technician gets it on the bench, the thing is more smoked than a side of bacon.
Take a car, for example; you find some people under a car every chance they get, adjusting the sprocket wangle or replacing the diff splitter. And chipping has nothing to do with paint, but getting a laptop out and hacking stuff. As you probably realise I have next to zero knowledge about cars, I am a service mechanics dream; they start to explain things to me then I glaze over and just chuck my wallet at them. It is for this reason I own a car that only needs me to put in fuel.
Many people like me just want a car that works, if I ever have to open the bonnet, then it will be to put in some screenwash.
Are Apple on glue by insisting on sticking together the new iMac Pro so you can't replace anything yourself? No, they are aiming the computer at people like me, a fully fledged professional, who doesn't care about being able to take the lid off.
The new iMac Po will also be a dream for some IT purchasers who want to put in computers knowing that no would-be-IT-specialist will be popping the lid and poking around as soon as they get the chance.
I'll let you into a secret which when some people come to my studio look at me as if I'm insane. My Mac Pro is in a cupboard and not sitting on my desk like some advert for a hipster design agency. Apparently, I'm meant to have it out to share it with the world; it is so beautiful, but it's a tool that helps me make money, so I don't care where it lives as long as it keeps doing that. If people want to look at something beautiful, then I have thousands of pictures of my kids and the dog they can see.
Of course, you may have worked out by now that much of this article is tongue in cheek, but with a serious point. I don't give a rat's ass what computer you buy, just get the one that suits you and meets the needs of your studio.
It may not be an iMac Pro that suits you; you might hate it, for the very reason that you claim Apple fanboys love it, it has an Apple logo on it. But the new iMac Pro will satisfy plenty of people who have a different set of requirements, one of which is never to have to take the lid off. Perhaps they will be in a minority, even still a large enough one to keep Apple in business for at least another year!
