Mac Pro vs PC

Apple are certainly not the pro machine maker they were previously. Seem to be concentrating on the fluffier side of the market driven by the consumer rather than the pro market.
 
Completely pointless video. He is running "benchmarks". He does not even say that his PC is running Mac OS X and if not it is even more pointless. How much is he retailing these PCs that he is building? What warranty/after sales does he offer. Does he ship to UK. I think he even says near the start of the video that he could not get it to work at first but I'm not watching again just to check!
 
sphexx said:
Completely pointless video. He is running "benchmarks". He does not even say that his PC is running Mac OS X and if not it is even more pointless. How much is he retailing these PCs that he is building? What warranty/after sales does he offer. Does he ship to UK. I think he even says near the start of the video that he could not get it to work at first but I'm not watching again just to check!
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spoken like a true mac owner pmsl.....

I own a mac pro AND a x99 i7 beast

some things are faster on mac some on the pc depends how the software is written
 
owenb said:
spoken like a true mac owner pmsl.....
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So true but my view is also coloured by the fact that instead of spending this sunny afternoon in the garden with my dogs and ducks I have been sitting at my Mac using TeamViewer (which is brilliant) to sort out a friends Windows PC that has various malwares installed on it and struggling with Windows' crappy installation systems.
 
I'm pretty sure that <80% of windows problems would be solved simply by taking away administrator rights from most users.

Faster hardware will always be faster, and if your key criteria for speed is to see who made a macine then you're probably going to make some wrong assumptions about performance.
 
ancient_mariner said:
I'm pretty sure that <80% of windows problems would be solved simply by taking away administrator rights from most users.

Faster hardware will always be faster, and if your key criteria for speed is to see who made a macine then you're probably going to make some wrong assumptions about performance.
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Yes, I've tried that but then they phone because their visiting niece/grandchild etc *needs* the password to show granny something ... or whatever and life is too short and you have to tell them!
 
sphexx said:
Yes, I've tried that but then they phone because their visiting niece/grandchild etc *needs* the password to show granny something ... or whatever and life is too short and you have to tell them!
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That's irrelevant to that the fact that mac's aren't value for money in terms of hardware. Macs have their advantages but cost of branding is definitely a large factor in the price paid.
 
hsp70 said:
That's irrelevant to that the fact that mac's aren't value for money in terms of hardware. Macs have their advantages but cost of branding is definitely a large factor in the price paid.
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Macs are often good value for money, and sometimes not, but you can't do comparisons (of anything) on a narrow basis. You can see this even more clearly with cameras/camera systems -- fortunately those sorts of comparisons are largely absent on TP but so and read Dpreview to see it in glorious technicolor.
 
sphexx said:
Macs are often good value for money, and sometimes not, but you can't do comparisons (of anything) on a narrow basis. You can see this even more clearly with cameras/camera systems -- fortunately those sorts of comparisons are largely absent on TP but so and read Dpreview to see it in glorious technicolor.
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Quite, and if you have a wife who says "you can only get a computer if it looks like that iMac because all PC's are ugly and big" then no PC in the world will be 'better'.
 
Nawty said:
Quite, and if you have a wife who says "you can only get a computer if it looks like that iMac
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Then you would like any real man would do and do some research, you would then find that there are other companies create pretty all in one computers.
 
Not as pretty as the iMac they don't and none that run Mac OS. I recently dual booted my iMac and almost instantly remembered why I gave up Windows.

Besides, when you spec up a similar 'other' all in one the Apple tax isn't actually that much and with Apple you know the hardware is good and they've spent longer than anyone figuring out the compromises such a system requires.

If I was single and heavily into gaming then yes, I'd build a PC (as I used to do all the time) but nowadays I'm happy to pay a little bit extra and have domestic harmony. Besides, I can still play Shadow of Mordor on my iMac at high res and med/high detail.
 
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redsnappa said:
Then you would like any real man would do and do some research, you would then find that there are other companies create pretty all in one computers.
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I would just be like a real man and get rid of the wife personally lmao
 
Apple's average margin across all the products they sell is 42%, which is practically unheard of elsewhere in the industry.
 
afasoas said:
Apple's average margin across all the products they sell is 42%, which is practically unheard of elsewhere in the industry.
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But I *think* that's mostly from the phones where they are more or less the only company making a profit and the rest are only breaking even.
 
sphexx said:
Completely pointless video. He is running "benchmarks". He does not even say that his PC is running Mac OS X and if not it is even more pointless. How much is he retailing these PCs that he is building? What warranty/after sales does he offer. Does he ship to UK. I think he even says near the start of the video that he could not get it to work at first but I'm not watching again just to check!
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Well right, as an experiment I did build a hackintosh a while ago, and if the only criteria was 'build one faster than the Mac Pro' (which at the time didn't exist for a while) then I succeeded. But only by my own standards as;
a. Couldn't get a case and associated boards that made it look like a Pro. I got a very nice case, but it was still a generic PC case.
b. Processor couldn't really match it, but argued with myself that I didn't need the XEON really
etc.

When I didn't skimp on the specs, case, power supply, fans, the lot...it actually didn't end up much different in price....
 
sphexx said:
But I *think* that's mostly from the phones where they are more or less the only company making a profit and the rest are only breaking even.
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Not quite break even and even a pretty good business by other people's standards but by Apple's it's barely worth the effort from a profit point of view and is more about building a desirable brand that provides the justification for a 40% margin on their bulk sale products.
 
Nawty said:
Not quite break even and even a pretty good business by other people's standards but by Apple's it's barely worth the effort from a profit point of view and is more about building a desirable brand that provides the justification for a 40% margin on their bulk sale products.
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Actually I think Apple make a mistake in not selling their stuff for lower prices while they can afford to and murder the opposition. But they haven't asked my advice for some reason
 
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sphexx said:
Actually I think Apple make a mistake in not selling their stuff for lower prices while they can afford to and murder the opposition. But they haven't asked my advice for some reason
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At lower prices they'd be much less desirable - it's the un-affordability that makes many want them, rather than anything they actually do better. If they sold iPhones at the same price as typical Chinese-design smartphones then they would quickly lose their cache and become just another commodity. In a mild touch of irony the most basic Macbook used to be priced about right, but go a little further up the scale and margins get a lot bigger.
 
ancient_mariner said:
At lower prices they'd be much less desirable - it's the un-affordability that makes many want them, rather than anything they actually do better. If they sold iPhones at the same price as typical Chinese-design smartphones then they would quickly lose their cache and become just another commodity. In a mild touch of irony the most basic Macbook used to be priced about right, but go a little further up the scale and margins get a lot bigger.
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Yes, I know the arguments but I still think they are missing a trick - on the other hand my view may be coloured because it would save me money!
 
afasoas said:
At least as far as the computer components go, they are exactly the same as you'd get in any PC. Foxconn labelled components all over the place.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn
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Not quite any pc, any laptop PC, then yes but properly powerful desktop components no.

Before you all go telling me the 5k iMac uses a desktop cpu, it gets so hot stuffed into the tight casing it's not like a proper Overclockable processor:D
 
dejongj said:
Well right, as an experiment I did build a hackintosh a while ago, and if the only criteria was 'build one faster than the Mac Pro' (which at the time didn't exist for a while) then I succeeded. But only by my own standards as;
a. Couldn't get a case and associated boards that made it look like a Pro. I got a very nice case, but it was still a generic PC case.
b. Processor couldn't really match it, but argued with myself that I didn't need the XEON really
etc.

When I didn't skimp on the specs, case, power supply, fans, the lot...it actually didn't end up much different in price....
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Yeah, there's a not a lot of Apple Tax on a Mac Pro, if you want something with that much grunt, and don't mind it looking like a bin, then the Mac Pro is a good buy tbh.

But for Core i5 / i7 desktops, you can build something pretty meaty with a good monitor for a lot less than an iMac, and all-in-one's have the added issue of underclocked CPUs.
 
KitsuneAndy said:
Yeah, there's a not a lot of Apple Tax on a Mac Pro, if you want something with that much grunt, and don't mind it looking like a bin, then the Mac Pro is a good buy tbh.

But for Core i5 / i7 desktops, you can build something pretty meaty with a good monitor for a lot less than an iMac, and all-in-one's have the added issue of underclocked CPUs.
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True, you can. But again you will be compromising somewhere. Which may not be a bad thing when you are happy with that. For example it won't look as sleek and need; it will be a two box solution. It won't be as quiet and void of vibrations. Well not unless you go for a minutiae case perhaps attach to the vesa mount but then you get into cooling etc. Servicing and warranty will also be different.

Bottom line is that if you want you can definitely get more bang for your pound elsewhere. Especially if you are happy with the compromise and associated consequence. Heck I know many who didn't want those "advantages" in the first place.
 
There was a similar video published about a year ago comparing a self build gaming machine with a mac Pro. Similar results, except when it came to video editing. The Mac Pro was faster ( can't remember the difference but it wasn't a small a margin) .The Mac Pro was designed as a tool for the film/video market, to support Apples app Final Cut Pro X. The MacPro must be due for an upgrade soon, as current iMacs will probably give it a run for its money.

Also comparing price with a self build and an off the shelf model gives a slightly distorted view, as the cost of manufacture and support isn't included.

I've no idea how many Mac Pro Apple sell but it must be enough to warrant production. However I would agree if you want a good fast general computer, Mac or otherwise there are better options on the market
 
Chappers said:
There was a similar video published about a year ago comparing a self build gaming machine with a mac Pro. Similar results, except when it came to video editing. The Mac Pro was faster ( can't remember the difference but it wasn't a small a margin) .The Mac Pro was designed as a tool for the film/video market, to support Apples app Final Cut Pro X. The MacPro must be due for an upgrade soon, as current iMacs will probably give it a run for its money.

Also comparing price with a self build and an off the shelf model gives a slightly distorted view, as the cost of manufacture and support isn't included.

I've no idea how many Mac Pro Apple sell but it must be enough to warrant production. However I would agree if you want a good fast general computer, Mac or otherwise there are better options on the market
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For Apple it also has added kudos for being "built" in USA.
 
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