“Yesterday I received a call that Apple Store UTC [University Towne Centre, San Diego] had demo units on the floor and I should come check them out. As any deserving person does to test the power of a system, I rebooted the thing. The system was up and running in under 10 seconds from a dark screen. Yeah,” Todd Baur reports for The Apple Blog.
“Then I proceeded to open every application using the classic select all – command ‘o’ method. This unit had 23 applications open in 1:14s. Apps like Photoshop, Final Cut, DVD Studio, the entire iLife suite, and all the normal suspects. 3GB of RAM certainly helps this,” Baur reports.
Baur reports, “Here’s the best part I was told. The stores have the full capability to perform build-to-order Mac Pro’s in house. That means if you want three hard drives, you can get three hard drives. Want 16GB of RAM – Fantastic. There is no need to order online and wait for shipping. Of course, the store has to have the parts on hand. Other than that, they can build the system however you like.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “The Other Steve” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: Dell’s inventory-free retail stores selling mail-order OS-limited PCs are going to do really well, huh?
Related MacDailyNews articles:
AP: Time to think different, Apple Mac beats Dell on price, software compatibility, and more – August 23, 2006
Thurrott pits Apple Mac Pro vs. similarly configured Dell, figures out the Mac is less expensive – August 18, 2006
Dell cannot compete with Apple’s new Mac Pro price or feature set – August 15, 2006
Apple Mac Pro with/ 20” Cinema Display less expensive than Dell Precision 690 sans monitor – August 10, 2006
Bear Stearns: Apple’s new Mac Pro, Xserve pricing well below comparable Dell systems – August 09, 2006
Survey shows big jump in consumer interest in buying Apple Mac; Dell takes steep slide – July 06, 2006
Time Magazine on Apple’s 13-inch MacBook: ‘Dell and HP should be very worried’ – June 07, 2006
The Channel Insider: Dell is no Apple – May 31, 2006
Will Dell’s retail computer stores work sans inventory? – May 30, 2006
Dell to open retail stores – May 22, 2006
Smart! Apple will do well with having the ability to create custom configurations in-house. When someone is spending that kinda cash they want service now — not having to wait even a few days. This will make Dell’s delivery model look even more out of date.
I think I’m a Mac Pro. Good news for me. Can I get longer toes? And I really need more memory.
This is pretty logical: except for the cost of having to have the parts in stock, the fact that it’s so easy to add all this stuff means that the consumer could add the parts (from third party vendors) later–so why shouldn’t Apple reap the money from selling the added parts?
Ampar –
All you really need is Dale Carnegie’s “How to win Friends and Influence People.”
Success is guaranteed!
The MacDaddy-Oh!: Thanks!
Got it. Dale. But not Andrew?
I think Apple is getting back to the old way of selling, one that worked for thousands of years. Making something in the store worked really well for smaller companies and stores. Only recently has the emergence of the assembly line taken the creating process out of the store. I appreciate that a large company like Apple can emulate a small, flexible company. People have gotten sick of large complanies with centralized bureaucracy and will reward companies that can emulate the feel of small companies.
Yes, but is the processor CTOable?
Good, I want an extra hard drive in my new 17″ MacBook Pro.
What? They can’t do that? Why not? It is a Pro model, isn’t it? It’s big enough for a second hard drive.
If Apple lowered their huge premium for add ons, particularly memory, their volume of BTO purchases, whether in store or not, would skyrocket.
This really is irresponsible reporting. I called 4 different stores to see about getting things configured and they all said the same thing.
No, no, no, and gues what the last one is, no.
The stores all said the same thing. They are able to ADD ram to the stock configuration but ANY other customization would needed to be done ONLINE.
Now I understand the whole a blogger is not a journalist thing.
Apple should do this for all their models not just the MacPros
“The stores have the full capability to perform build-to-order Mac Pro’s in house.”
Agree with JEG. “well, we could add the RAM, but it would cost you $X more than if you ordered it”
Blech. This is good new, though.
I’ve been in the new Dallas Dell store. Its about 50 feet from an Apple store. There is no comparison. The Dell store is like a kiosk. The help wasn’t very good. Several of the demonstration products didn’t work and there wan’t a price tag in sight. Apple has Dell beat hands down in the store area. Other areas as well, but the store was a joke.
I was in the Apple Store Mall of America. Didn’t see any Dell store in the Big Mall
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
Contrary:
Wow, talk about irresponsible. What are the odds of FOUR different stores giving you the wrong information? (assuming you did ask specifically about the Mac Pro). Sadly, this doesn’t surprise me at all.
Fact is, yes, said blogger is correct.
Headlines aside,
The story didn’t report on an Apple announcement but on one person’s experience. In a responce, one person said he was told his store would be able to offer custom upgrades “in the coming months.”
They can upgrade the HDs in store… I know this for a fact.
okay make mine an octo core xeon with 16 gigs ram, 2 TB of storage, and a side of fries and xtra cheese……
The Apple stores have been upgrading stuff while-you-wait for a while now. Well … “stuff” may simply be “RAM”, but that’s a start. They need to carry some things … HDs, RAM, video cards and the like … anyway, so stocking them for this is hardly a deal-breaker. And installing any of that stuff in a brand new Mac Pro is hard mainly because you have to un-box it first then box it up again when done.
j is right that this is a tip-o-the-hat to Mom-&-Pop computer stores (or is that Bob ‘n Ray?) where you come in and they build it from the parts bins while discussing what you need/will pay for. We have one of those in Cambridge … good prices and all the customization most folks could want. When Apple went to the “Standard Model” thing for the Pro it pretty much had to consider limited in-store customizing. There isn’t much more they can do to simplify their line further … maybe with the mini … but the oh-so-accessible makes such changes easy.
… make that
“…but the oh-so-accessible <u>Mac Pro</u> makes such changes easy.“
There are quite a few considerations you should look at for selecting a location for your PC shop. First the area should be well lit, clean and dry. It should be located in an area so that it easy to transport whole computers and components in and out of the area. For example, an office space on the 4th floor of a building with no elevator would not be suitable..
My own website
<.http://www.prettygoddess.com