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Apple Mac Pro Wheels Kit

38 points| foxh0und | 5 years ago |apple.com | reply

69 comments

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[+] andrewstuart|5 years ago|reply
All founders on HN when they see this no doubt have a twinge of envy. Imagine creating a brand so successful that you could do this.
[+] strombofulous|5 years ago|reply
The craziest thing is they even charge $8 for non-ground shipping. I just bought from a website that did free 2 day shipping on all items over $50!
[+] wetpaws|5 years ago|reply
I wonder if in a long run this actually injures the brand.
[+] nojito|5 years ago|reply
Nothing to do with brand and everything to do with Enterprise spending.

Enterprise spending consists of obscene markups.

[+] TAForObvReasons|5 years ago|reply
The Mac Pros start at $6K. Choosing every max option except for the wheels is $54K. $700 for wheels isn't that crazy in relation to the product price.

Plus, if you know you want the wheels before purchasing, you can get them for $400 in the configurator

[+] pcmoney|5 years ago|reply
Before you mock it. This is not for YOU. Just like the monitor stand. It is way more about the form than the function. You go into a big time executive/creative head/hedge funder's office and it is baller, except for that ugly ass plasticy monitor stand on their desk (Dell Circa 2002). For a $1000 that eyesore turns into a piece of art, considering they likely have art pieces on the walls worth $50-100k it is a no brainer. Same thing for the wheels. I would say I would never buy one but if $1000 wheels were the equivalent of a latte to me... sure wtf not? People whined at Apple for not making a "pro" product for awhile, then they made one that was too "pro" apparently. By pro, I mean gets PAID not gets by. Now they will whine about definitions of pro. Apple has a pretty good idea of what "rich suckers" will buy.
[+] oliwarner|5 years ago|reply
Why shouldn't we mock that too? Why is there suddenly a limit on the number of fingers we're allowed to point at disgusting levels of excess?

I'm not communist, I'm happy for people being fairly remunerated, but a world where $1k wheels make sense is a world that is dangerously close to not making any sense at all.

[+] hindsightbias|5 years ago|reply
10 years ago, who would have thought a $1000 phone would be ubiquitous?

Such luxury, in our pockets.

[+] bnj|5 years ago|reply
To me, the "feet kit" is the bigger eyebrow raiser. Even though the total cost is less, the wheels actually... you know, they turn. They're wheels. They perform a function that's somewhat greater than a brick sitting on the ground.

The feet kit is half the cost, but they're feet. It's like they're designed for safe use in operating theaters or something.

[+] noodlesUK|5 years ago|reply
Serious question - Who puts towers on wheels? If you need to move a computer don’t you normally use a cart that has eg a display and keyboard on it?
[+] cocoa19|5 years ago|reply
I do. My desk is small and I don't want to put the tower on the ground/carpet.

I have a cheap $20 stand with wheels. The wheels help me move it around in case I'm cleaning the area or need to disconnect/reconnect cables (which I do frequently).

[+] pinacarlos90|5 years ago|reply
The price is a marketing move. Apple couldn't care less if they sold 12 units of these wheels-kits per year, as long as it gets people talking about Apple. "There is no such thing as bad publicity"
[+] mav3rick|5 years ago|reply
You think the world's biggest brand and cash cow needs negative publicity. You're delusional.
[+] sdan|5 years ago|reply
This is AUD. In either case, I'm not entirely surprised.

I'm repeating what many have said before: If you're a legit pro / enterprise, the value behind the Mac Pro is probably a lot more than the minuscule amount you'd pay.

For comparison, I've made 10x from my MBP, so I'd say the value and quality was worth it.

Edit: Ok, yes obviously you shouldn't be comparing the price of your work with your laptop of choice: but the experience and quality was definitely worth it more than the Dell XPS. I mostly ssh/use sublime into bigger servers, but the quality of Macs in general are so good that I don't put much focus on performance.

[+] LeifCarrotson|5 years ago|reply
It's not about whether you've made more revenue/profit than the cost of the equipment. It's about whether you've made more than you would have with a competing option - a HEDT Linux or Windows workstation, plus an old Mac Mini build server if your business absolutely needs to run xCode.
[+] shawnps|5 years ago|reply
Genuine question -- how does adding wheels to the Mac Pro add value? I figured most people would just plop it on a desk.
[+] jimnotgym|5 years ago|reply
Not automatically. It depends on what you do. I see Mac Pros specced where a fast PC might even be more productive, without the ridiculous premium on RAM and storage.
[+] 0x00000000|5 years ago|reply
When Dell charges $200 for a $2 stamped metal server rail no one bats an eye
[+] drglitch|5 years ago|reply
A new set of wheels for your average Honda or Toyota costs just about as much. I want these and I don’t even own a Mac Pro. ;)
[+] qzw|5 years ago|reply
Don’t complain about the price. This isn’t for you. It’s for pros who need the best rolling performance to do their jobs. I mean, when the pros’ time costs $$$$/hr, are they really going to buy some knock off wheels for $500 and risk getting octagonal ones made in China instead? At least you know these will be perfect circles.
[+] catchmeifyoucan|5 years ago|reply
I wonder if they have locks. Seems like you can just pop em off, put em in a bag. Pretty expensive accessory.
[+] m463|5 years ago|reply
My first thought was... why not just wheel the computer out?

My second thought was... comes back to find computer up on cinder blocks, wheels gone.

[+] kylec|5 years ago|reply
You can't just pop them off, they're screwed on from inside the case.
[+] rvz|5 years ago|reply
No mention of locks. This first iteration is obsolete by design and will eventually be replaced with a new version with locks in another Apple line up. Who knows on what the price that would be.

The lesson here is to not purchase the very first iteration of Apple products. Sometimes it can turn out to be an expensive sunken cost.

[+] jimnotgym|5 years ago|reply
...and they continued to pay it, despite it being an obvious rip-off. Until one day they didn't.
[+] ertemplin|5 years ago|reply
The Mac Pro starts at $6,000. You can build a better PC for less than half that.

In my opinion, the Mac Pro and its relevant accessories are targeting a luxury customer that doesn't really care how much it costs.

[+] czzr|5 years ago|reply
No, you can’t. You might be able to build a pc that meets your specific needs for half that, sure.
[+] sixothree|5 years ago|reply
I believe it is similarly priced to the HP z series. Which incidentally has a 10/10 iFixit rating. But.... that HP support though.
[+] amanzi|5 years ago|reply
I'm sure that Apple is conducting a social experiment to see how much money people are willing to pay for their products.
[+] bfrog|5 years ago|reply
So this is why everyone in the valley needs mega pay checks. Likely Made in PRC made casters, $700 USD + shipping and tax. If there were ever a sign that Apple is charging too much for their products (as if the signs weren't already there over and over)...
[+] coenhyde|5 years ago|reply
Actually no, it's so they can afford a 500sf apartment.