The Mac Pro has always been Apple’s flagship machine, undoubtedly best suited for sound and image professionals due to its easy upgradability of components such as RAM or SSD. However, for quite a few years now, due to strategic errors, we remember the black cylindrical Mac Pro, which, while quite sleek, turned out to be impractical. Apple’s second mistake was pushing the price of the Mac Pro beyond $3000 (between $7000 and $10000). Consider, for instance, an architect who has to pay $3000 to $5000 for their software. The same goes for desktop publishing and video production. Inevitably, customers are turning towards the Mac Studio, which quickly reveals its limitations for such use cases. It’s hardly upgradable and essentially just a bulkier Mac Mini, lacking real value for those in need of substantial power and expandability.

For desktop publishing, the Mac Studio is still acceptable, provided that it’s upgraded with more RAM and SSD, but at Apple’s prices, it ends up being prohibitively expensive. Consequently, more and more professionals are switching from Mac to Windows for purely economic reasons and the greater upgradability options in most Windows machines. It’s high time for Apple to cease being a seller of “i gadgets” or “i thingamajigs” and refocus on its machines. Drastically reducing prices is crucial, as the Windows world is becoming increasingly competitive. Furthermore, ARM processor-based machines are arriving and are directly poised to challenge Apple on its historical turf.

Another solution, if Apple no longer wishes to produce machines, is to concentrate solely on an operating system that could be used on any computer. After all, this is what Microsoft does, with the success we’re familiar with. The Apple brand is now well-established enough to follow suit. Of course, this isn’t in Apple’s culture, so let’s not hold our breath. Another significant issue that the Mac world has always faced is overly closed-off machines. We should demand that Apple makes SSD and RAM upgrades as straightforward as in the Windows world.

Even worse, in Apple’s laptop models, it’s now the 16-inch model that offers the best value for money. However, at that price point, it’s not affordable for everyone, and these machines are also too closed off. So yes, it’s high time for Apple to reassess its pricing downwards and finally make the necessary efforts so that users aren’t forced to go to an Apple store for the slightest SSD or RAM change. Continuing down this path, the sole purpose of their machines will not be for work but merely to showcase one’s social status. This phenomenon has already begun—Mac computers are increasingly rare in TV shows and movies. It’s predominantly Windows-based computers, often with designs that would make Apple envious, that we see. This is evidence that, apart from its iPhones and iPads, Apple is no longer capturing our imagination.