All-New Mac Pro Launches Thursday, December 19 Starting at $2999

[Digital Skunk]

I have a workstation that's fit for purpose, and not a spaghetti mess of cables and extra boxes.

it seems apples approach is "here is a piece of art" its natural state is to be in the middle of rats nest of wires, enjoy.

Totally agree. Even for iMac users like myself, just two boxes is enough to get your desk looking like it came from 1995. I have the iMac, an ACD, two Drobos, a LaCie TBolt to eSATA, M-Audio speakers, and a few other USB periphs. It's a MESS behind my desk.

Now, this new Mac Pro only serves be because I can just drop it in. I'll have to get another ACD so that's yet another cable I'll have to bring in. Also, the cylinder is too small to put under a desk, so it'll have to sit on top.

I may bite the bullet and get one really good TBolt RAID enclosure. That will kill off two wall worts alone. Maybe even bump down to one display . . . . . . . naw never mind **** that, I want two.

On a side note, any shop that asks me about upgrade paths from the OG Mac Pro is going to be told to either go PC, or prepare for a serious overhaul of their tech rooms.

Your post might have been useful had you actually qualified your specs, rather than just thrown out generic terminology.

I am more interested in the price. It's never been a challenge to build a PC that's wicked faster than any Mac, mobile or otherwise.

The question is whether or not you're willing to pay the price.

Even now PC users can get a dual 12 core CPU config for their workstations . . . . . for the amazingly low price of $10,000 with absolutely nothing else in the chassis. Once you drop the rest of the components in you can easily get a workstation or server chassis up to $18,500.

 

[handsome pete]

Anyone else read the footnote in the press release and notice the speed bump from 2.7 to 3.0 for the shipping 12-core model. I wonder if the 8-core also got a speed bump. If so, it will make the CPU upgrade a bit more appealing if the single-core performance penalty for the bigger CPUs is reduced. Now I needle to google around and find these Intel parts and figure out the TurboBoost speeds...

You're reading that wrong. Those are the specs for the old dual hex-core.

 

[fithian]

Not to make you feel old, but don't you mean 23 years ago? And what would that be in today's dollars? Daaaaaamn ...

I had one of those IIfx back in the day. It was expensive, although mine was not $10k. I saved the extra money to buy AAPL. Now I can buy a new MacPro with the $13.76 I spent then for 5.5 shares of AAPL (adjusted for three 2:1 splits). Looks like a savings of $2785.24 at Educ Price.

 

[doctor-don]

I think Apple have made an error in not putting in any slots/bays for internal conventional or hybrid SATA drives. Many folks don’t want external storage drives connected by cables hanging off their Mac Pro’s. It rather negates the neat design. Our oldest desktop a 2005 dual 2.3 PowerMac needs to be replaced because it will not run up to date software, such as Photoshop CC, Office 2011 and Intego Internet Security. I think I will be looking for a previous model MacPro 8 core ex-demo model at a good price. That way I can just move the 1.5 TB B and C hard discs with all my images and data back up from the PowerMac over to the new machine in seconds.

Check out used Mac Pros at places such as OWC as well as other sellers through Amazon.

 

[yoak]

I'm sure it's a nice computer, but not being able to choose dual Xeons is just wrong for a workstation. I guess all of us who waited and waited, and eventually went over to Win/Linux, certainly won't be coming back because of that fact.

I certainly will

 

[chrisn123]

You're reading that wrong. Those are the specs for the old dual hex-core.

Duh. I'm an idiot.

 

[iHEARTcartoons]

One Mac Pro to rule them all.

 

[doctor-don]

Two other possible explanations, not as sinister as yours:

1. Apple doesn't have the engineering staff yet to do everything they could be concentrating on. There's a reason they're building that new headquarters, in other words.

2. With displays, I get the impression that everything is turning around the availability of IGZO at high enough production levels. Once they committed to that technology, they can't be offering interim stop-gap compromises. They're going to "make you wait" until they get the manufacturing worked out.

Or it could be getting to market later due to the fact they are being manufactured in the U.S. in a new facility.

 

[69650]

No displays

I know. Are they expecting us all to just sit around gaze at it without actually using the freaking thing while we wait (yet again) for a new Apple Display.

 

[blue22]

take your sweet time Apple, geez...

Lordy, this new Mac Pro took forever to finally be open to orders.

NOTE TO SELF: next time Apple says a product is being released in the "Fall/Autumn" they really mean expect it the week before winter officially begins.

 

[gugy]

Curios about the BTO pricing.
Either way I am thinking holding of for a year since my MP 12 core 2010 still holding very strong. Also it will give time for Apple to fix any kinks on the first generation and more time for peripherals using TB2 to come up to the market.

But I have to say, I am itching to get the nMP. Looks very cool.

 

[NightFox]

At this price I wonder if there will be any sites able to show a 'tear-down' of the Mac Pro.

This site appears to have got their hands on one and has some tear-down pictures:

http://www.apple.com/mac-pro/

 

[jhwalker]

Lordy, this new Mac Pro took forever to finally be open to orders.

NOTE TO SELF: next time Apple says a product is being released in the "Fall/Autumn" they really mean expect it the week before winter officially begins.

Two *days* before Winter officially begins

 

[217833]

And I want it to look like this:

There's a lot of chances for the new Mac Mini to look like this, or even to look like the new Airport Extreme:

I can easily imagine it in black, and instead of all Ethernet ports, it would have the USB & Thunderbolt ports (such the current Mac Mini), and probably even smaller if they use only SSD.

It would make the Mac Mini even closer to the current Apple TV. If we can get the Haswell Quad i7 CPU and 32GB or RAM, that would do it for me and I won't really need the Mac Pro (even if I'd love a 12 core, that's for sure ).

 

[reden]

I think Apple have made an error in not putting in any slots/bays for internal conventional or hybrid SATA drives. Many folks don’t want external storage drives connected by cables hanging off their Mac Pro’s. It rather negates the neat design. Our oldest desktop a 2005 dual 2.3 PowerMac needs to be replaced because it will not run up to date software, such as Photoshop CC, Office 2011 and Intego Internet Security. I think I will be looking for a previous model MacPro 8 core ex-demo model at a good price. That way I can just move the 1.5 TB B and C hard discs with all my images and data back up from the PowerMac over to the new machine in seconds.

It's seriously the biggest mistake. I wouldn't even be bothered if they've gone the 2.5 HD route instead of the larger ones. I've always purchased Mac Pros until they took forever to upgrade, and now I have a MacBook Pro Retina, I'll stick to this.

----------

There's a lot of chances for the new Mac Mini to look like this, or even to look like the new Airport Extreme:

Image

I can easily imagine it in black, and instead of all Ethernet ports, it would have the USB & Thunderbolt ports (such the current Mac Mini), and probably even smaller if they use only SSD.

It would make the Mac Mini even closer to the current Apple TV. If we can get the Haswell Quad i7 CPU and 32GB or RAM, that would do it for me and I won't really need the Mac Pro (even if I'd love a 12 core, that's for sure ).

No.

 

[TsunamiTheClown]

And I want it to look like this:
Image

Ah that sir is the new MacPro Mini

 

[derbladerunner]

why does it say "available to order", and not simply "available". This looks like a pre-order announcement.

I'm glad others caught that too. I think actual deliveries will take more time.

Are the base configurations even available in retail stores by tomorrow? Not sure because of the PR wording.

January 2014 deliveries looks more realistic to me.

Anyway, not a big deal after some people waited for years...

 

[iBug2]

I'm glad others caught that too. I think actual deliveries will take more time.

Are the base configurations even available in retail stores by tomorrow? Not sure because of the PR wording, but I doubt it.

January 2014 delivery looks more realistic to me.

Anyway, not a big deal after some people waited for years...

I think the standard configs will be available right away, but BTO options might be delayed, like most Mac Pro releases in the past.

 

[217833]

No.

Well if you mean No for the 32GB, you're probably right, there's a lot of chances that the new Mac Mini will stay with 16GB (unfortunately). But if you say no for the future form factor, well, I think you're wrong because there's so many reasons for Apple to change the form factor of the current Mac Mini.

But since we both don't know anything about that, let's just wait & see when they will announce it and we'll see who was wrong (you might be, I might be, we'll see)

 

[WestonHarvey1]

I know. Are they expecting us all to just sit around gaze at it without actually using the freaking thing while we wait (yet again) for a new Apple Display.

You can use the monitors you currently have, you know.

 

[doctor-don]

Actually the Apple MacII is 33 years ago.

Apple II (1977), Apple II+, Apple //e, Apple ][gs - all were different compared to the Macintosh line. None of them had a built-in hard drive and their RAM was minuscule.
My first Mac which I bought in 1996, a Performa, also had little RAM - came with 5MB and I upgraded to 20MB. It had a 250MB hard drive which I upgraded to a 4GB hard drive. My Mac Pro today has 16GB RAM and 4 internal drives, one of which is a solid state drive.

We've come a long way, baby!

 

[chfilm]

Exciting! I'm not sure why everyone is so afraid of external upgrades.
It's impossible to keep all the data one needs to store if working with a current Mac Pro internally.

My colleague has an oMP and at least 6 external FireWire drives laying around (he's an editor)

I have an iMac and a thunderbolt Pegasus raids + drobo 5d stored in a cabinet, so my desk looks perfectly clean. If I would get a Mac Pro, it's so small I would just put it in the cabinet as well. With bug thunderbolt raids (which are definitely THE way to go because of both speed and security) you don't have to worry about any more than one cable.

Ok let's say you need an Aja card or something, then you'll put one of sonnets boxes next to the raid. But seriously, whoever works with this sort of devices, will have it stored not in the actual suite itself but in a separate room...

 

[NewbieCanada]

It's seriously the biggest mistake. I wouldn't even be bothered if they've gone the 2.5 HD route instead of the larger ones. I've always purchased Mac Pros until they took forever to upgrade, and now I have a MacBook Pro Retina, I'll stick to this.

Sure. because that has lots of internal expansion room.

 

[Riverrun]

i waited, and waited, and waited for the mac pro refresh, then they announced this useless ornament and i spent the money on building a MUCH more powerful PC, Hackintoshed it, and now i have the Mac Pro that "Should" have been, Internal, easy to upgrade 2TB SSD Raid boot drive and an 8TB raid with redundancy for local storage, easily, "OFF-The-Shelf" upgradeable high end graphics, and a user replaceable CPU, and drives,

All in one BOX, no messy thunderbolt cables, caddies, external raid enclosures and additional plug sockets to find.

Out the back of my box are three cables, Video, Keyboard and Ethernet (mouse is wireless), i have a workstation that's fit for purpose, and is not a spaghetti mess of cables and extra boxes.

it seems apples approach is "here is a piece of art" its natural state is to be in the middle of rats nest of wires, enjoy (oh and you'll need to buy a new one every three years or less).

I'm curious and for a good reason. I'm considering a powerful Hackintosh such as yours or the nMP. I'd love to see a spec sheet for your build.

 

[KdParker]

Man $10,000 really is a good price for a system like this.

Not the most efficient if you've got an equipment rack/room full of OG Mac Pros, but definitely a good price if you're a solo shop, boutique shop, or any shop looking to replace iMacs, Mac Minis, and MBPs.

I am not pressed about displays. They'll be here when they get here, and in the meantime you can pick up a TBolt display, then sell them when the new ones are released.

would you really replace a MBP with this? A loaded MBP retina wouldn't even come close to $10000 and if you only needed a MBP to get by, why spend the extra for MP?