That's Apple's challenge, isn't it? To keep people from doing so.
I can't comment on how well they've done, but only because I don't know the numbers.
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Anyone going to wait until Snow Leopard ships before buying a Nehalem Mac Pro?
- Thread starter jjahshik32
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That's Apple's challenge, isn't it? To keep people from doing so.
I can't comment on how well they've done, but only because I don't know the numbers.
They'll probably just make it an addition to the lineup, like the 3.0 GHz Clovertown.
And no, I don't see any interim update until 2010, an addition or so might happen, but no real update.
Its not really about the $129 per say. Its more about getting to actually use the Nehalem architecture to the fullest by the time Snow Leopard ships and maybe the silent upgrade could come at the same time.
I mean when Intel officially announces the Nehalem Xeons then I'd think the prices will either come down or at least the 2.66GHz Octad will cost $3299 with the 3.2GHz model being the top of the line.
I dont blame Apple for charging the extra $$ and being stingy about the specs when they get their machines earlier while other vendors dont have them in stock. But once the 3.2GHz comes Apple has to do something about the lineup it really really reminds me of the silent upgrade the 15" unibody has gotten 2 times I believe over the time Apple has switched to Intel.
I mean do you honestly believe Apple will give you 4 configurations with the 3.2GHz version being $1400-$1600 more than the 2.93GHz? Nope not going to happen, silent upgrade is the only viable option that I can see.
I mean c'mon Apple is already over charging the Mac Pros right now, they can get fat for now but when everyone else has the same goods, Apple will lower it.
Yeah the MacBook Pros have had quite a few silent upgrades.
1.67/1.83 GHz » 1.83/2.0 GHz (2.17 BTO) in February 2006 (before they shipped I think)
1.83/2.0 GHz (2.17 BTO) to 2.0/2.17 GHz in May 2006
2.2/2.4 GHz to 2.2/2.4 GHz (2.6 BTO) in November 2008
2.4/2.53 GHz (2.8 BTO) to 2.4/2.67 GHz (2.93 BTO) in March 2009
But with the Mac Pro, they didn't do a silent update for the 3.4 GHz Harpertown released late last year.
Yes. And with the CPU price difference being $428, I don't think the 3.2 GHz BTO will be as high as +$1400 (2.67 to 2.93 is $856 and 2.27 to 2.67 is $1170).
The difference between two 2.67 GHz and two 2.27 GHz is $1170. Pretty big. If Apple were to do a silent update, I'd say they would just bump each CPU by 133/267 MHz.
There is a first time for everything.
Just replace the 2.93GHz to the 3.2GHz and bump down the 2.93GHz to the middle and bump down the 2.66GHz to where the 2.26GHz is now.
Actually the 2.66GHz to 2.93GHz costs $1200 more.
Snow Leopard May Run Faster While Refurbs Will Cost Less
1. Waiting for SL.
2. Waiting for Nelham MPs to appear in the Refurbished Store to pay less for the same thing as now.
Both events are very likely to happen within a month of one another in the June-July time frame. Say Mid-Summer 2009 along with the new iPhone hardware and iPhone OS 3.0 software.
NOTE: We are also in an odd year Intel "Tick" year so real steep increased performance shouldn't have been expected until the even year 2010 "Tock" part of the Nelham cycle. This makes owners of last year's MPs a lot less likely to upgrade until next year's refresh - certainly not until mid-summer except for those who are on the cutting edge of work that can always fiscally benefit from fastest possible processing times.
All these new Mac Pros are more evolutionary than really big performance leap models. However, new versions of Final Cut Pro and Logic that are more optimized for multi-cores should also help us realize bigger performance boosts on both the old multi core MPs and these new ones as well.
The speed bump need not be via hardware but rather via the increased multi-core optimiztion Snow Leopard (SL) will certainly provide.
The prices will come down via the Refurbished Department. So waiting is a two pronged project -
1. Waiting for SL.
2. Waiting for Nelham MPs to appear in the Refurbished Store to pay less for the same thing as now.
Both events are very likely to happen within a month of one another in the June-July time frame. Say Mid-Summer 2009 along with the new iPhone hardware and iPhone OS 3.0 software.
NOTE: We are also in an odd year Intel "Tick" year so real steep increased performance shouldn't have been expected until the even year 2010 "Tock" part of the Nelham cycle. This makes owners of last year's MPs a lot less likely to upgrade until next year's refresh - certainly not until mid-summer except for those who are on the cutting edge of work that can always fiscally benefit from fastest possible processing times.
All these new Mac Pros are more evolutionary than really big performance leap models. However, new versions of Final Cut Pro and Logic that are more optimized for multi-cores should also help us realize bigger performance boosts on both the old multi core MPs and these new ones as well.
I'm waiting for SL and to see what happens with the models.
I would agree that in normal circumstances that Apple may not drop prices/update the CPU mid-cycle but these are not the usual circumstances. A recession forces companies to react more to the times. Now maybe the MacPro will sell well regardless, who knows? We await the sales figures....
I would agree that in normal circumstances that Apple may not drop prices/update the CPU mid-cycle but these are not the usual circumstances. A recession forces companies to react more to the times. Now maybe the MacPro will sell well regardless, who knows? We await the sales figures....
The best thing for us would be AMD getting their act together and releasing CPUs that can actually compete in terms of performance against the Nehalem Xeons. Nevertheless, I think Apple is simply charging too much for the Quad configuration.
Yes but when?
And another example, Apple didn't even use the initial set of Clovertowns in late 2006.
I was referring to Intel's prices.
Nehalem was the "tock." Westmere will be the "tick," and it'll give some good performance boost since the number of cores is expected to increase to 6.
If we don't have the software to make good use of 8 cores, what are we going to do with 12?
I think software is going to need more than a year before it can make use of even what we have now.