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Considering Mac Pro. Any issues with past models?

2contagious

2contagious

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 29, 2008
755
0
UK
Hi,

After using a MacBook Pro for four years (2006 model, first generation) that had the annoying high pitch whine, it finally died (logic board failure) in January. I then decided to wait for new MacBook Pros to come out (Arrandale) and bought one the week it came out. I have since gone through several MacBook Pros, as they all had some sort of problem (mainly screen problems, dead pixels, etc., but also the high pitch noise again.)

I am now playing with the idea of giving up on the current MacBook Pros and buying a Mac Pro for that money (or slightly more) instead. My budget is 2500 british pounds max (after educational discount), so I think that without a real need of a portable computer, a Mac Pro might be the better option (especially since it will be much more powerful than a laptop).

Now, my question is: how prone to issues have Mac Pros been in the past compared to MacBook Pros and iMacs? With MacBooks a lot of people always say "don't buy rev. A!".. is this the case with Mac Pros? I am asking as I am planning on getting a final refund for my MacBook Pro and waiting for WWDC and (hopefully) the new Mac Pro.

see you,
2c
 
KeriJane

KeriJane

macrumors 6502a
Sep 26, 2009
578
1
ЧИКАГО!
Hello.

I've been using this Mac Pro 1.1 (first revision, 2006-2007 model) for over two years with only one issue. The issue is with the rear speaker output when using Windows on BootCamp.
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/8731232/

Otherwise, it's been outstanding. I'll buy another when the time comes.
This computer is now essentially four years old and still plenty powerful for my video editing.
No funny noises, bad odors, tendencies to crash or breakdowns.

Just a very fast and reliable computer. Still.

+1 for a Mac Pro. ANY Mac Pro.

Have Fun,
2¢ Keri
 
H

HSJR

macrumors member
Mar 26, 2009
93
0
I am using my MP 2009 (Quad Core) for Mac & win7 with no issues at all (so far). I am using it for CS4, final cut, gaming, etc. I havn't any trouble running any application. It is very solid machine and I am sure it will fit for your use.
But I am wondering what are issues had you got with your MP?
 
2contagious

2contagious

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 29, 2008
755
0
UK
Thanks for your posts guys :) Glad to hear the first generation Mac Pro was already flawless :p

Did anyone have any major problems with the Mac Pro? or any annoying behavior, sounds/noise/vibrations, etc.?
 
B

benborman

macrumors member
May 28, 2008
81
0
I used to have a weird pulsating harmonic vibration issue caused by the hard drives. Other users have noted this issue as well, but it is not common, nor easily reproducible. It happened to me when I had 3 of 4 hard drive bays occupied, only some of the time. I now have all 4 bays occupied, haven't heard it since.

I would not let this discourage you from buying a 1st Gen Mac Pro. Great machine, does not feel "old" at all. I'll be adding an SSD boot drive to mine this week!
 
2contagious

2contagious

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 29, 2008
755
0
UK
benborman said:
I used to have a weird pulsating harmonic vibration issue caused by the hard drives. Other users have noted this issue as well, but it is not common, nor easily reproducible. It happened to me when I had 3 of 4 hard drive bays occupied, only some of the time. I now have all 4 bays occupied, haven't heard it since.

I would not let this discourage you from buying a 1st Gen Mac Pro. Great machine, does not feel "old" at all. I'll be adding an SSD boot drive to mine this week!
Click to expand...

Hi, thanks for your post. Glad you could resolve the issue :)
I am not planning on buying a 1st gen Mac Pro, I am asking about issues of past models to get an idea of a "track record".. see if there were many issues or not compared to iMacs and MacBook Pros. I am planning on buying a new Mac Pro when the next revision comes around (really hoping for a WWDC release :))
 
colinsky

colinsky

macrumors regular
Apr 3, 2009
170
148
I've had one issue with my early '09 Mac Pro: intermittent connection with my Bluetooth keyboard. I took it to the Apple Store yesterday and they ordered a new Bluetooth card for me.

The Genius Bar people were conferring with each other about it--nobody knew exactly where inside the case the Bluetooth card was, or how big of an operation it was to replace it. I was the only desktop guy at the Genius Bar at the time--everybody else had MacBook or iPod issues.

My impression was that the Genius Bar was unfamiliar with Mac Pros because so few of them come in for repair.
 
2contagious

2contagious

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 29, 2008
755
0
UK
colinsky said:
I've had one issue with my early '09 Mac Pro: intermittent connection with my Bluetooth keyboard. I took it to the Apple Store yesterday and they ordered a new Bluetooth card for me.

The Genius Bar people were conferring with each other about it--nobody knew exactly where inside the case the Bluetooth card was, or how big of an operation it was to replace it. I was the only desktop guy at the Genius Bar at the time--everybody else had MacBook or iPod issues.

My impression was that the Genius Bar was unfamiliar with Mac Pros because so few of them come in for repair.
Click to expand...

The bluetooth card and the airport card (not sure if it's all in one or not) has to be added as a CTO option, right? did you order your mac pro online or buy it in-store?
 
Loa

Loa

macrumors 68000
May 5, 2003
1,723
75
Québec
colinsky said:
I've had one issue with my early '09 Mac Pro: intermittent connection with my Bluetooth keyboard. I took it to the Apple Store yesterday and they ordered a new Bluetooth card for me.
Click to expand...

Your BT issue is most likely NOT a BT card issue: the BT antenna location has been changed compared to older models, and the decision was a very stupid one.

To verify if it's an antenna or card problem, bring you Mac Pro "on" your desk if it's not already there, open the side and bring your keyboard pretty close to it.

If the connection problems go away, a new BT card won't help you.

Some people have bought longer BT antennas and let them hang outside of their Mac Pros to get better reception.

Good luck,

Loa

P.S. on 09, the airport is an option, but BT is standard.
 
cherry su

cherry su

macrumors 65816
Feb 28, 2008
1,217
1
There used to be an issue with some Mac Pros that encoding media would overly tax the machine and become essentially a fail. Apple has released an Audio update to remedy the issue.
 
N

nanofrog

macrumors G4
May 6, 2008
11,719
3
There's not been too many major issues with the MP's, but they're not 100% problem free either (i.e. logic board failures, memory riser failures, PSU failures have occured with some regularity).

I'd stick to a 2008 or newer, as they're able to run the 64 bit Kernel (which will become exclusive within the next revision of OS X or so; 10.7 or 10.8 will cease K32), as well as more graphics card choices ('06 - '07 systems can't run the newer nVidia based cards, as they require EFI64 firmware in the system).
 
D

DualShock

macrumors 6502a
Jun 29, 2008
568
121
Not sure if this is relevant to your case, but on my 2008 Mac Pro I've experienced an unusual issue where VT-x support is disabled if booting directly into Windows 7. This is mainly an issue for virtualization software. The problem was specifically fixed in the 2009 models.

Other than that, no issues whatsoever with my Mac Pro. Well, RAM for it could cost a lot less, and I wish there was a Radeon 5870 Mac Edition card for it, but we can't have everything now can we. :D
 
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