Regardless of Intel CPUs, what would it really changed to at least update the GPU. A AMD 5770... in 2012. Sad.
Apple doesn't need to wait for Intel necessarily to update the Mac Pro, there's more to it than just a CPU.
Looks like USB3 comes to macs when intel provides a motherboard that includes it. Likely to come to MP (assuming it ever gets updated) just because intel will have done the work. Same probably goes for SATA III.
Totally agree about SSD although on a machine with SATA III (particularly with multiple discrete busses), PCI shouldn't be necessary for it.
In the case of MP it seems unlikely that enclosure is a factor, they just don't want to update the MP unless they can do it with literally zero work (current MP is basically the same mobo as the 2009 version). But at some point they're going to have to move to a new mother board or dump the product.
For once, being late to the party may have avoided a problem. It now appears that USB 3 has a lot of problems, some of which may be inherent in the technology and that it could easily wind up as a footnote to the history of failed technologies.
A "lot of problems"? Really?
It sounds like you're on a one-man mission to create usb3gate - when in fact looking at the web it looks like Apples have more problems than most due to poorly shielded ports.
I've been using USB 3.0 (and so has my group) for quite some time, and today was the first time that I've heard of this crisis that you're trying to promote.
By the time the new Mac Pro is announced, the second generation Thunderbolt should be available to be included. With a little luck the price premium for Thunderbolt will come down to make the performance increases even more appealing.
I can't wait for Thunderbolt to kill the Universal Suck Bus. Just imagine how much smoother my mouse and keyboard will be when they've got unfettered access to full on PCI-E bandwidth over fiber optic cables.
Overkill? I think not. People who say otherwise are just living in the past. Apple is the future. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and hook up a HEMI engine to a shopping cart so I can get my groceries faster.
For once, being late to the party may have avoided a problem. It now appears that USB 3 has a lot of problems, some of which may be inherent in the technology and that it could easily wind up as a footnote to the history of failed technologies.
By the time the new Mac Pro is announced, the second generation Thunderbolt should be available to be included. With a little luck the price premium for Thunderbolt will come down to make the performance increases even more appealing.
I doubt USB 3 is going to fail, and even if it did, that doesn't necessarily mean that Thunderbolt will succeed. The price premium hasn't gone down a penny for the buyers despite being on the market for 20+ months.
Given the reach of USB 3 use is easily 10x to 100x that of Thunderbolt, for all we know, Thunderbolt might also be hiding some issues.