That’s aside from the point. They could accomplish that by simply killing off the Mac Pro line.
The question is how they will pay for a high-end chip when they no longer can rely on Intel to spread out the development cost among many customers.
The question is how they will pay for a high-end chip when they no longer can rely on Intel to spread out the development cost among many customers.
Frustrating those people likely comes with a risk of losing high value customers.
I think it’s similar to the model a lot of game consoles have. They make little to negative profit on the console itself during the first couple years, but make it up on software and other benefits of hardware lock-in.
In the time after the trashcan Mac Pro they lost a significant portion of the professional market. And while that market is relatively small, it's highly influencial.
By the time Final Cut Pro X was unveiled Apple could boast that 60% of Hollywood movies are edited on a Mac. Now? Not so much. And this probably extends into other areas, too.
There was no version 9, nor version 8. ;)