[kogepathic]

> Apple might be left with the maintenance burden forever but no real prospects for a mainstream product.

This seems unlikely. Apple has not hesitated in the past to exit market segments they felt did not suit them. To name a few: servers, displays, routers.

[bombcar]

And to be fair to Apple, on those sunsetted products, they supported them quite well during the sunset and even after, especially the Xserve.