How many would have preferred the old form factor with upgraded parts?

[warrenpeeps]

Going to make chili in mine ;-)

 

[Oracle1729]

I am willing to bet that what you think a really smart thing for Apple to do is completely different than what Apple thinks is a really smart thing for them to do.

I wonder if anyone actually interested in a mac pro thinks this piece of crap is a good idea. My guess is it's just the kiddies who think making the iPhone 1mm thinner is a revolutionary improvement who like the new "pro". Of course they're not in the market for a real computer.

Who gives a damn how much effort apple puts into new manufacturing and design processes? Make a decent computer with decent functionality. It should be a no compromise workhorse not a cheap little frilly bit of eye candy that's 8% faster than the one from 3 years ago.

 

[scottsjack]

I am willing to bet that what you think a really smart thing for Apple to do is completely different than what Apple thinks is a really smart thing for them to do.

Definitely. I tend to buy products that I think are really smart things rather than those that Apple thinks are really smart things. Therefore I own a Mac Pro, a MacBook Pro and a mini but not a retina MBP or an iMac.

 

[nordicappeal]

Just got a Mac Pro

I just got a used mid 2010 Mac Pro - I like a tower with my additional drives installed. I will see how the Mac Pro 2013 will do - I will get one in the future but I'll let it mature.

Except for the design I don't really think there is that much difference!!

 

[philz4life]

And I have no intention of getting one. Quite happy with my iMac, but this is Apple we're talking about. Remember the mirror version of the PowerMac G4? Was that version really necessary to Pros? No, but apparently Apple still cares about looks. Needn't look any further than the new Mac Pro teaser video that Apple showed at WWDC to see that.

Besides, if the new Mac Pro does start appealing to more prosumers, then I believe users could start caring more about design aesthetics.

I love the design of the mirror door drive Powermac G4. What was it that wasn't necessary or good for pros?

 

[JoeG4]

Aside from the screwy power supply, the MDD G4 was better than the QS it replaced; It had 4 easier to access HD bays, 2 optical bays, and better CPU cooling. The G5 was a lot better in the cooling department though!

 

[slughead]

And I think we can all agree that if some guys at Asus figured out a better way for offering TB while still allowing user freedom in GPU choices, then clearly they are just smarter than or less interested in selling proprietary poppycock than the engineers in Cupertino.

The fact that they did it an ENTIRE YEAR AGO just cements the case in concrete that Apple isn't trying to "innovate" anything other than ways to lock future sales in.

Can we drop it now?

I don't think he can agree to that. He's probably written 100+ pages on here defending the iTube since it was announced, it's not like he's going to turn around and say "my bad, ignore the last 500 posts I wrote."

Honestly, I've learned a lot from the discussion about thunderbolt Vs PCIe, but ultimately it just solidifies my position that TB is an answer to a question nobody asked.

 

[barmann]

I don't think he can agree to that. He's probably written 100+ pages on here defending the iTube since it was announced, it's not like he's going to turn around and say "my bad, ignore the last 500 posts I wrote."

Not fair .

Discussing forum members is a bit lame, but allow me to chime in .

deconstruct has made countless arguments both pro and con the tube MP and TB , Apple marketing and product policy , since the tube announcement .
My computing knowledge is rather dismal, yet I dare say this poster doesn't sound biased to me .

Disclaimer: I don't fancy the new MP, and am quite opposed to TB the way Apple is handling it .

 

[slughead]

deconstruct has made countless arguments both pro and con the tube MP and TB , Apple marketing and product policy , since the tube announcement .
My computing knowledge is rather dismal, yet I dare say this poster doesn't sound biased to me .

Disclaimer: I don't fancy the new MP, and am quite opposed to TB the way Apple is handling it .

I guess I mostly agree, he has brought to my attention a lot of positive and negative things about TB that I didn't know (he being clearly in love with TB while I being confused as to why PCIe was a problem). However, I keep seeing the same false-choices about TB presented to make it look better than it is--and he doesn't seem to respond when he's directly called out on some of these things, instead choosing to argue over semantics and compare 3-year-old hardware to this iTube thing which wont even be out for 6 months (perhaps longer).

 

[radesousa]

The ican isaw is an isore.

Moreover, it's gonna make our DTs like spaghetti junction.

Gimmee the old form factor any day. Count me in for option 1.

This is a stupid decision by Apple! The Mac Pro line form factor should remain with upgrades internally so the computer can be better and faster. This gimmick reminds me of the Cube which happily died!

 

[Macman45]

Im in the old form factor camp....as nice as it looks, the newbie just isn't going to be as easy to get into...not impossible, just harder. Will it stop me buying one?

Not a chance

 

[radesousa]

Mac Pro

I bought a used Mac Pro tower (early 2009 model with a Nehalem 64bit 2.93 GHz CPU) which is in route to my residence but it doesn't have an Apple Airport Extreme Card 802.11n card. Does anyone know where I can find a compatible card as it seems Apple had manufactured several variety of cards.
Thank you.

 

[GermanyChris]

I bought a used Mac Pro tower (early 2009 model with a Nehalem 64bit 2.93 GHz CPU) which is in route to my residence but it doesn't have an Apple Airport Extreme Card 802.11n card. Does anyone know where I can find a compatible card as it seems Apple had manufactured several variety of cards.
Thank you.

If you want an Apple card then ebay is your friend, if you want after market TP link is your friend.

 

[slughead]

PS: You can't have the Mac Pro and Thunderbolt without doing exactly what they've done. I called that one months and months ago. It is impossible to run Thunderbolt on a Mac Pro without proprietary video cards. So really, your only choice boils down to an updated Mac Pro in the existing form factor OR the new Mac Pro with Thunderbolt (any version). You can't have both.

Not true. They could have done any of the following:

- Had Thunderbolt ports WITHOUT the display component (would not be able to run thunderbolt displays, but could do everything else).
- Used a CPU with integrated graphics and pipe the signal through using memory sharing (not likely with LGA2011)
- Used an (optional) external cable from the display port to the thunderbolt controller like this.​

I'm not saying any of this is very likely, as Apple is trying to sell thunderbolt displays to people whose money to common sense ratio is alarmingly high. Still though, they had options to innovate here and chose to create a clearly inferior product for their most discerning class of customer.

 

[VirtualRain]

Honestly, I've learned a lot from the discussion about thunderbolt Vs PCIe, but ultimately it just solidifies my position that TB is an answer to a question nobody asked.

I believe that TB was born to address a mobile computing issue. Apple wanted a single cable to connect your Macbook to a display/dock. TB is exactly that.

I also believe that on a Mac Pro with PCIe slots, TB adds little or no value. A dock isn't needed, there's space for cards inside, and cable clutter is not a priority.

Lastly though, I believe that PCIe card support for the Mac Pro is poor with little hope of improvement (and likely getting worse) in which case allowing the Mac Pro to tag along with the Mobile computers and use TB devices, is a potential boon (yet to be realized).

Of course, if you think PCIe card support for the Mac Pro is great, then I could certainly understand why this new direction makes no sense to you. But as I've said numerous times, after living with numerous PCIe card compromises in my 2009, I'm all for this new direction (especially given all that I've added to my Mac Pro is now integrated into the new model).

 

[OS6-OSX]

OK Apple it's 185 to 110. First one to 200 wins.
And per your contract, if the old form factor crowd wins you build a MP 6.1 that has the best of both worlds!

 

[Macsonic]

Not true. They could have done any of the following:

- Had Thunderbolt ports WITHOUT the display component (would not be able to run thunderbolt displays, but could do everything else).
- Used a CPU with integrated graphics and pipe the signal through using memory sharing (not likely with LGA2011)
- Used an (optional) external cable from the display port to the thunderbolt controller like this.​

Also wishing Apple could have retained the old Tower form factor with updated specs. It also boils down to costs of upgrading to a new system and weighing things out.

 

[radesousa]

I wonder if anyone actually interested in a mac pro thinks this piece of crap is a good idea. My guess is it's just the kiddies who think making the iPhone 1mm thinner is a revolutionary improvement who like the new "pro". Of course they're not in the market for a real computer.

Who gives a damn how much effort apple puts into new manufacturing and design processes? Make a decent computer with decent functionality. It should be a no compromise workhorse not a cheap little frilly bit of eye candy that's 8% faster than the one from 3 years ago.

The new Mac Pro may be as good looking as the Cube but as a professional business computer it will be a flop just like the Cube!

 

[Zaap]

I don't really care all that much since I abandon all hope of using desktop Apple hardware years ago in favor of rolling my own, but the top poll choice should be dual Haswell, not IvyBridge.

 

[MacVidCards]

The new Mac Pro may be as good looking as the Cube but as a professional business computer it will be a flop just like the Cube!

Many dead cubes became Aquariums and other fun things.

I wonder if anyone will repurpose the iTrashCan into a food processor? Sharpen the fan blades and add a rheostat.

Julienne or diced?

 

[OS6-OSX]

Many dead cubes became Aquariums and other fun things.

I find that very difficult to believe! You are beginning to make things up!

 

[slughead]

It doesn't help your case or make TB one tiny bit faster than the 1/4 of the speed of the two fast slots in my "ancient" 2009 MP.

What I'm going to be saying to nMP users in 2 years when these become commonplace:

 

[OS6-OSX]

http://gizmodo.com/this-samsung-ssd-runs-at-a-blistering-3-000mb-s-823656231

http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/18/samsung-enterprise-ssd-nvme-xs1715/

http://www.zdnet.com/samsung-outs-super-fast-3000mbs-enterprise-ssd-7000018247/

 

[phoenixsan]

I am not concerned.....

by the form factor, after all, this is Apple: The Cube, the original iMac, the igloo iMac....the list can go on.

But I am concerned by questions about price, performance, lack of internal expansion and yes, upgraded hardware....

 

[GreenWater]

Out of the following options in upgrading an old Mac Pro, how many are purchased from Apple or result in a payment of any other form to Apple?

1. CPU
2. GPU
3. RAM
4. SSD

Therein lies the reason for the end of the old form factor.

The old Mac Pro is a cash cow that keeps giving to everyone else apart from Apple.