It’s often been said that the most powerful division within Apple — outside of Jony Ive’s design group — is the company’s marketing division. It may sound counter-intuitive at first glance, but given how seriously Apple takes advertising and product secrecy, the marketing folks within Apple are often aware of release dates and comprehensive product specs far in advance, and often before some of the engineers tasked with working on a given product in question.
With that said, Apple earlier today may have inadvertently revealed when the recently unveiled next-gen Mac Pro is slated to arrive. It has since been changed, but for a few hours earlier today, visitors to Apple’s website who clicked the “Notify me” option with respect to the Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR release saw a pop-up window indicating that the machine and the display were “Coming in September.”
A few hours later, the notification copy was changed to “Coming This Fall.”
Now is it possible that this was simply a mistake with no real substance behind it? Of course. But given the power Apple’s marketing team wields, it’s just as plausible that the September date was mistakenly leaked out by someone in the know and then swiftly removed once word began to spread.
Launch date aside, it will be interesting to see how the machine resonates with pro users once it becomes available. Some folks have been quick to criticize the Mac Pro — which starts at $5,999 — for being too expensive. And while it’s undoubtedly a pricey machine, the reality is that Apple — after the tepid response to the last iteration of the Mac Pro — really put the pedal to the metal and delivered a machine exclusively for pro users. Put simply, the new Mac Pro isn’t designed to be a computer for everyone and it’s price point — and impressive specs — reflect that.
