Oh, I am absolutely sure, the intended audience will be delighted with the Mac Pro and get great value. The problem is, that this audience is a very small one and more generic professionals don't have a real alternative in the Mac universe. A lot of users are looking for and not finding a Mac with a
- powerful desktop processor
- good desktop graphics card
- extensible storage
Bonus points for a machine that can be repaired with a reasonable effort.
I feel like Apple has a huge hole in the market here by not having beefier Mac Minis available with matching-form-factor Thunderbolt enclosures (hard drives, eGPU, etc) that are easily stackable. That could get most of the way to a traditional high-end desktop system but with each part of it purchasable separately over time.
Yes, stacking the Mini would be kind of an option, but it lacks a powerful desktop processor. And when you are done, your desk is covered by your Mac cluster :)
Yes, I don't get why the external enclosures for graphic cards don't have some space for disk space. But I found this link today: https://www.ifun.de/animaionic-desktop-untersatz-fuer-den-ma...
If that sees the light, that could be some improvements. If only Apple would offer the Mini in a not so mini enclosure :)
> Yes, I don't get why the external enclosures for graphic cards don't have some space for disk space
eGPUs currently are kind of a wild west of development and are still trying to decide on basic stuff like form factor and how to route USB passthroughs. That concept you linked looks like it sidesteps a lot of that by using multiple Thunderbolt connections at once, though.
