The Apple Mac Pro is a Deluxe Coffee Maker

Why does Apple offer the Mac Pro? It's expensive and it offers little more than the Mac Studio. So why is it in the product line? Several have asked this question, and I have an idea.

But before discussing the Apple Mac Pro, I want to talk about coffee makers. Specifically the marketing of coffee makers.

Coffee makers are, at best, a commodity. One puts coffee, water, and electricity in, and after a short time coffee comes out. The quality of the coffee is, I believe, dependent on the coffee and the water, not the mechanism.

As bland as they are, there is one legend about coffee makers. It has to do with the marketing of coffee makers, and it goes something like this:

(Please note that I am working from a dim memory and much -- if not all -- of this legend may be wrong. But the idea will serve.)

A company that made and sold coffee makers was disappointed with sales, and wanted to increase its profits. They brought in a consultant to help. The consultant looked at the product line (there were two, a basic model and a fancy model), sales figures, sales locations, advertising, and various other things.  The consultant then met with the big-wigs at the company and presented recommendations.

The executives at the company were expecting to hear about marketing strategies, advertising, and perhaps pricing. And the consultant did provide recommendations along those lines.

"Add a third coffee maker to your product line," he said. "Make it a deluxe model with all of the features of your current models, and a few more, even features that people won't use. Sell it for an expensive price."

The executives were surprised to hear this. How could a third coffee maker, especially an expensive one, improve sales? Customers were not happy with the first two; a third would be just as bad.

"No," said the consultant. "The deluxe model will improve sales. It won't have many sales itself, but it will encourage people to buy the fancy (not deluxe) model. Right now your customers see that fancy model as expensive, and a poor value. A third model, with lots of features and a high price will convince customers that the fancy (not deluxe) model is a bargain."

The company tried this strategy ... and it worked! Just as the consultant said. Sales of the deluxe model were dismal, but sales of the (now) middle-tier fancy (not deluxe) model perked up. (Pun intended.)

We often forget that sales is about psychology as well as features.

Now let's consider Apple and the Mac Pro. The Mac Pro is not a good bargain. It performs only slightly better than the Mac Studio, yet it carries a much higher price tag. The Mac Pro has features that are ... questionable at best. (PCI slots that won't take graphics cards. Don't forget the wheels!)

Perhaps -- just perhaps -- Apple is using the Mac Pro to boost sales of the Mac Studio. Pricing the Mac Pro the way Apple does, it makes the Mac Studio a much more attractive option.

I suspect that if Apple had no Mac Pro and put the Mac Studio at the top of its product line, then a lot of people would argue for the Mac Mini as the better option. Those same people can make the same argument with the Mac Pro and convince themselves to buy the Mac Studio.

So maybe the Mac Pro isn't a Mac Pro at all. Maybe it is a deluxe coffee maker.