Slashdot Mirror
Apple To Discontinue Mac Pro In EU Over Safety Regulations
jones_supa writes "Apple has been forced to remove the Mac Pro from sale in the European Union after an amendment to a safety regulation left the machines non-compliant. The updated electronics safety standard IEC 60950-1 increases requirements around electrical port protection (PDF) and the fan guards in the system. Apple does not plan to modify their machines and will simply pull them from market in the EU. Apple wishes to warn customers and partners about the change so that they would have sufficient time to order Mac Pro units and meet any needs prior to 1 March, when the amendment comes into effect."
Yeah, so instead of telling their customer :" Hold on, we'll deliver a brand new one", they go for "Rush for the shops, we won't comply the EU directives and there'll be no more of those Mac Pro in store in a couple of weeks".
Yeah thank you Apple...
It's not as if they would release 2 ipad versions in one year, completely killing the brand new tablet you bought 6 month earlier...
So if I understand the reg. in question, hardware with an internal fan (like a Mac Pro) that is only accessible if you pull the housing must have an internal fan guard? WTF?
This makes no sense. For that matter that thing about minimum and max cord length is pretty wacked. Is there really a computer, or transistor radio, manufacturer out there who wanted to deliver 7-meter power cords?
https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
If you bought your "brand new tablet" as a user device instead of an investment, you shouldn't really care if new versions come out.
I'm still happily using my first-gen iPad and aside from the sneers of derision from the 12-year-olds at airports :), I manage just fine.
The reality is that we're now a laptop world. A few want desktops, and that's why the Pro exists, and I'm sure it will be updated, but it's hardly a leading seller for Apple.
It is interesting that you seem to place the blame on the EU - if you read the second link of TFS it finishes by pointing out: 'This standard has been approved as a National Standard of Canada by the Standards Council of Canada, and has been approved as by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as an American National Standard.' It is, if I understand it correctly, an International Standard that the EU is obeying. I cannot imagine why the US or Canada, for example, is not also complying.
Have a look at soylentnews.org for a different view
Why do you think that? At their last conference call where they talked about money, I recall Apple being excited about the growth in their Mac sales.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
So basically you are arguing that Apple should be exempt from the rules because you judge its products to be safe. Perhaps you think the EU members should pay for inspectors to check every product and decide if it is safe enough for an exemption, rather than passing a blanket rule that isn't difficult or expensive to abide by.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Seriously people in the EU, WAKE UP!!! Your governments are NOT your friends!!!
Correct. On this side of the Atlantic, they are our servants.
I'll see your Constitution and raise you a Queen.
As someone who's spent significant time living in both, your belief that the US government is significantly better/different is quaint and amusing. Maybe the EU went overboard on fan guards (the new rule actually seems reasonable to me) but at least no one tells you how big your soda cup can be, or threatens to lock you up for carrying a bottle of wine in public, or crossing the street at the wrong place. Every country has their little restrictions and laws which often seem normal to those living there and batshit crazy to everyone else. C'est la vie :)
---- Den ene knappen er powerknapp, den andre er Bender voice knapp "Bite My Shiny Metal Ass"
Look. That law exists to prevent products that don't include appropiate safety measures which would reduce the profit margin to harm someone.
While in this case there might not be much harm if someone got a nick their finger, that law is still a good idea in general.
So please don't grab the first edge case to shoot down the concept. But feel free to implement the Ferengi way of life at your place, as long as you keep it far enough away from me.
As neither of us knows exactly how dangerous those fans are, what the new requirements actually are and why there was a consensus for raising them.... we can only read up on it or continue to talk about it without expert knowledge.