Loser Trump's last financial disclosure docs reveal Tim Cook gave him $5,999 Mac Pro, the 'first' made in Texas
- Reference: 1611234075
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/01/21/tim_cook_gave_trump_a_mac_pro/
- Source link:
In true Trumpian form, [1]the disclosure [PDF] contained a pretty major porky, falsely describing the machine as the first built at Apple's assembly plant in Austin, Texas.
[2]
In reality, Apple's facility in the Lone Star State (which is operated by electronics manufacturing services outfit Flex) has assembled Mac Pro machines since 2013, [3]starting with the ill-fated "trashcan" model . This fact eluded Trump on his 2019 visit, where he proudly "opened" a facility that had been in operation for almost six years prior, and wasn't actually owned by Apple.
If we want to be even pickier, we could point out that Apple made the predecessor to the Mac Pro, the Power Mac G5, at its own production facility in Elk Grove, California.
[4]
As a point of trivia Apple's reliance on China-based manufacturing is something of a recent phenomenon. In the 1980s and 1990s, production was largely done in-house at facilities in California, Texas, Colorado, and Ireland. Over time, Cupertino switched to an outsourcing-based model. While cheaper labour was a factor, you could argue a larger motivation was the global tech supply chain shifting to Asia. On a basic level, it makes sense for Apple to build their computers where it obtained other components.
Getting back to the financial disclosure form: Trump appraised the value of the Mac Pro as $5,999, suggesting it's the entry-level model. This comes with an 8-core Intel Xeon W processor, 32GB RAM, a Radeon Pro 580X GPU with 8GB of GDDR5 memory, and 256GB storage.
With [5]$191.83bn cash on hand , per its last financials, Apple could have easily afforded to kit Trump out with a faster processor, more RAM, or a better GPU. At the very least, they could have thrown in a monitor (the Mac Pro comes with a keyboard, as well as the choice between a trackpad or magic mouse, but that's it). Or maybe the caster-mounted wheels, which [6]retail at a perfectly reasonable $699 .
The company's thriftiness is also surprising considering the well-documented bromance between Trump and [7]Tim Apple . The pair were reportedly in regular contact, meeting for dinners and exchanging direct calls. In [8]a 2018 briefing with the press , Trump effused about his relationship with Cook, describing him as a "great executive".
"That's why he's a great executive because he calls me, and others don't. Others go out and hire very expensive consultants, and Tim Cook calls Donald Trump directly," he said.
Then again, perhaps a more potent machine would be wasted on Trump. Despite his very public predilection for social media, the ex-president was paradoxically known for being something of a luddite who seldom used a computer.
According to [9]a Politico profile published in late 2016, Trump would instruct aides to print out emails, rather than read them on screen. Replies would be written on paper, often directly onto the printout using Trump's preferred Sharpie pen.
Roger Stone, his one-time campaign advisor, described him as "old school" in that piece, saying: "Until a couple years ago, there were no computer terminals on some of the desks at the Trump Organization. He doesn't browse the Web. Until about four years ago, he was still using bicycle messengers. They were very popular in Manhattan in the 1980s."
The fate of Trump's gifted Mac Pro isn't known. One possibility is that it may appear in his presidential library, along with other documents from his time as the world's most powerful person. Trump reportedly [10]plans to build a $2bn facility in Florida , although it's unclear when it'll open or how it will be funded.
[11]
Across the pond, gifts are much less lavish. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has disclosed [12]just 11 gifts in the period between April and June 2020. These include baby products from Fortnum & Mason, wine from the Hungarian government, and caviar from the London Fine Foods Group. These were held by the Cabinet Office as they surpassed the £140 threshold [13]outlined in the Ministerial Code [PDF]. ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2021/01/21/exhibits.pdf
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_personal_tech/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YAmzKoUwQVacDGZ84u1HXAAAAMs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2013/12/18/apple_mac_pro_out_tomorrow/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_personal_tech/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YAmzKoUwQVacDGZ84u1HXAAAAMs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/30/iphone_shrinks_for_2nd_year_in_row/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2020/04/16/apple_mac_pro_699_dollar_wheels/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2019/03/07/trump_occupational_surnames/
[8] https://web.archive.org/web/20200109071806/https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-marine-one-departure-60/
[9] https://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/donald-trump-technology-luddite-233067
[10] https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-presidential-library-museum-florida-2-billion-fundraising-gop-2021-1?r=US&IR=T
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_personal_tech/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YAmzKoUwQVacDGZ84u1HXAAAAMs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/930203/Rt-Hon-Boris-Johnson-MP-gifts-April-to-June-2020.csv/preview
[13] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/826920/August-2019-MINISTERIAL-CODE-FINAL-FORMATTED-2.pdf
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
it is! :)
Any particular recommendations?
A very British solution
Impound some baby clothes in a govt warehouse because allowing them on a baby would be corrupting, but the recipient can later get a £M year directorship with the company he gave PPI deals to and that's fine
A HUNDRED AND FORTY QUID!?
Well, when I was employed by a university a job or two back I had to sign a statement that limited gifts to five EUR (same limit for the Professors, as one of them remarked when a student invited the whole group for a beer or five after handing in his thesis; "nah, I cannot have a second one, otherwise I have to call the university's president" - "but between five and six they are half price" - "ok then").
GBP 140 would buy a few pints...
Re: A HUNDRED AND FORTY QUID!?
When I was a consultant to government agencies and departments, I was told I could buy the civil servants a coffee, or cheap snack of up to £10 value, otherwise they would have to declare it as a 'gift'.
One client I bought lunch for would only accept a cheese sandwich as his wife would be annoyed if he didn't eat his dinner that evening. My and his lunches that day actually cost me less than I normally spent on my own lunch when was working at the office, so I did not even bother to claim it on expenses.
Re: A HUNDRED AND FORTY QUID!?
I was contracted out to GPT in Coventry in the late 80s. The managers there invited me to lunch every day and were annoyed, when I declined one day, because I had to go to the bank at lunch time.
When they had guests, they could get a free meal, with silver service, at the on-site golf club! Luckily, my company had no rules about being fed by the client - in fact, they preferred it, because I didn't then submit an expense claim...
Re: A HUNDRED AND FORTY QUID!?
One employer I worked for (pre bribery law) had a rule that if somebody gave you something (under ~£200) you couldn't sell it. You could give it away but not sell it. I received a few low rent gifts that weren't anywhere near £200 but then one that was around that mark. I asked my boss what I should do about it. He said that the value of the thing was technically just over £200. As it was engraved with my name on it that had reduced the value considerably and so that was fine.
I was unofficialy looking at vendors who had products that would replace the DOS software we currently relied on. I had two software products on the cards one was a Windows version of the DOS product we used already and the second was from a new vendor. The windows version of the legacy software was actually just the same as the original. It still had all the faults and things that people hated with no attempt apparently being made to improve it. The second company was streets ahead and their software was far better than anything we'd used before. They also had a willingness to make modifications/include features and functionality if we asked them nicely which was a revelation.
I explained at one stage to both firmd that I had made up my mind. I therefore wasn't going to be swayed by anything other than the software performance. Both companies had sent people to London to see me and to answer any questions I might have. Despite my original warning before they left for blighty both took me out for lunch. I'd already made up my mind which product I preferred and I would be sticking to that come hell or high water. One took me to a very nice full service restaurant in Soho with a decent meal including desert and drinks (soft in my case as I was working). The other took me to Pret a Manger for lunch buying me a sandwich and a Coca-Cola. Unsurprisingly it was the new guys who were the former and the existing bunch the latter. The legacy lot were given their marching orders but only because their windows version was a straight port from DOS.
No need to get excited.
Relax! Calm, happy thoughts. He's gone now. If someone handed me a $5999 computer with 8 cores and 32GB RAM for mahala , I — for one — certainly would not be wondering if they could not afford better.
He's not finished yet
@"He's gone now."
Not yet. He's still trying to keep control of the Republican party. Both by threatening to split them by creating a "Patriot Party", and by his Seditious-Senators like Rand Paul claiming impeachment would cause 1/3rd of Republicans to quit.
If he wins them into submission, then you have 4 years of him pretending to lead the Republican party, and an election attempt in 2024.
4 years of Turning Point and its Twitter sock puppet accounts spewing lies.
4 more years of Fox News trying to undermine Corona virus handling.
450k people dead in the US, 1 in 14 Americans have had the disease, so 6.3 million potential deaths, given the new South African strain 501Y.V2 may not respond to the vaccine (VOC-202012/01). You would do well to give Murdoch consequences.
Then Republicans lose in 2024. Trump would never have won 2016 if Republican's hadn't done all that Gerrymandering, voter suppression and trickery. He lost by even more votes in 2020. In 2024 they have to find 6 million more votes to replace all the dead people, he loses by so many, its difficult to imagine Republicans could ever lose so badly... or that they will ever win again!
What I'm saying is, it's better for the Republicans to impeach him, block him from running again, then rebuild their party, free from Trump taint. Don't go down the hole with that flushing turd.
Sure he'll do his little tantrum, so what, he was a loser, you need to cut ties with him.
Sure he'll promise you he'll go and you'll never hear from him again if you don't impeach him. He lies. He's never kept a promise, don't be dumb.
Re: He's not finished yet
Seditious-Senators like Rand Paul claiming impeachment would cause 1/3rd of Republicans to quit.
Sounds like win-win to me.
$5,999
Why should any personal computer cost $6,000 ("keep the change!")?
The most expensive machine I've ever built came in at under £1k (roughly $1,200), and that was built from industrial grade parts with five year replacement warranties.
Re: $5,999
That wins an award for the most pointless comparison of the day! I have a Raspberry Pi which cost less than a tenner - it’s a computer too, but it doesn’t mean that it’s a valid comparison.
Did you one kilopound machine have comparable CPU performance - single threaded, multithreaded? A comparable monitor - resolution, response, colour accuracy? Comparable memory? Comparable storage? Etc., Etc. And whether it’s industrial grade or not is moot - what does that even mean? Is my Z800 Industrial Grade (it was built for business, after all)? And if it is, then is my old Mac Pro (which is, objectively, the better built machine)?
Still, if you’re happy with your computer then that’s really all that matters. And the $4800 that you saved can buy an awful lot of good stuff. A nice second hand car. A holiday. A pair of Apple Airpod Max Pro (coming soon, with optional extra cost, wheeled bra to transport the heavy ass things around)!
Re: $5,999
"A comparable monitor - resolution, response, colour accuracy?"
You must have missed the bit in the article about the $5999 mac pro not including a monitor
Re: $5,999
Thumbs up to you, thumbs down to me. Thank you for the proof read! This is what’s called a failure to attend to the detail - I misread it as iMac Pro. I was too busy lining up a snide comment on Apple’s headphones.
If there was an option for me to downvote my own comment then I’d use it. I could delete it, I suppose, but it feels a little Trumpian to try to hide my sins from the world and deny that I’ve been a doofus.
Re: $5,999
Helluva price for an etch-a-sketch [1]https://dilbert.com/strip/1995-04-03
[1] https://dilbert.com/strip/1995-04-03
I'm always amazed at the prices people will pay for Apple kit. Six grand for what I would describe as eff all storage! That wouldn't store my pr0n let alone give me room for work, games, music, movies, etc.
849 € for [1]4 wheels ...4 months of salary for an indian worker making iPhones countless hours per day.
I'm amazed that anybody would pay so much for something like that.
[1] https://www.apple.com/fr/shop/product/MX572ZM/A/kit-de-roulettes-pour-mac-pro-apple
I dunno the mac might store your games with an expensive upgrade, but its all for naught when you can't play them
To understand Apple prices ...
... you have to understand what their kit is for.
It is not about making phone calls, typing letters or watching pr0n. The unique selling point of Apple is their customers can [1]boast that they can afford to spend silly money for ordinary tech.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_good
Re: To understand Apple prices ...
Damn it why did I forget that, this means if a customer owns an apple product I should put up my prices, assuming they have enough left over after blowing their load on an apple device (that's a tough call)
Re: To understand Apple prices ...
If they've blown their load over an Apple device, I'd be backing away, very quickly...
$5999 maybe what was declared, but?
I think the devil's in the detail, bear in mind the value of the gift is taxable.
Be nice if it was preconfigured so the hosts file redirects twitter.com to localhost?
Apple could have easily afforded to kit Trump
But why, you can only compute so fast typing with two thumbs, and limited to 140 characters.
Photo of Mac Pro
https://www.fisher-price.com/en-ca/product/laugh-learn-click-learn-laptop-fnt20
Can he keep it?
Maybe I’m wrong, but I was under the impression that presidents can’t keep any gifts they’re given, they become the property of the government? (Not that Trump would allow himself to be constrained by silly thing like laws)
baby products from Fortnum & Mason, wine from the Hungarian government, and caviar
Or, as Johnson calls them, lunch.
Is Trump Capable of Handling So Many Keys?
Given that Trumps choice of technology has been smartphones, can Trump handle so many keys?
Let's hope Trump's new toy has a spell checker and a grammar checker. Now he has to find a media platform that will let him lie his head off.
Re: Is Trump Capable of Handling So Many Keys?
covfefe baby, covfefe
[1]Hungarian wine is very nice
[1] https://winefolly.com/deep-dive/hungarian-wines-for-the-win/