Re: @Craig S.

[Craig Seeman] "I don't think the port itself drives up the price that much."

It might not for Apple, but I believe it will for the consumer.

One thunderbolt cable costs about $50, and new Macs don't come with a cable. If you have to buy separate modules you need to add another $50 to the cost of each one to connect it. If you could buy a Thunderbolt GPU it would be the cost of the GPU module + cable or the cost of the cable would be included with the module, making that GPU module more expensive than purchasing just the GPU alone.

Or buy a system with a couple PCIE slots, buy your GPU and plug it into an existing PCIE slot - no additional connection cost there. The cost of the modular Mac would have to be low enough to offset the increased cost of module design, cooling, and cabling.

If you end up needing 6 thunderbolt cables, you're adding $300 to the cost in cabling alone. I'd expect each module to be a little more expensive, too - just as a bare internal hard drive is much cheaper than an external one. The cost of the case, design, etc...drives the cost up.

Is this where Apple will make money, though? I imagine the profit margins for cases and cabling would be pretty high. From a consumer standpoint, however, it's suddenly gotten a whole lot more expensive.

Something to consider. Modular could easily be a lot more expensive -just like FCPX costs about $800 if you need OMF export.

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Michael Hancock
Editor