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Apple Allowed Developers to Test a Prerelease Mac Pro Hidden Inside a Metal Box

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Before Phil Schiller gave the world a sneak peek of the new Mac Pro at WWDC this week, Apple allowed select developers to come to its Cupertino headquarters to test out their software on preproduction hardware.

AppleInsider spoke with employees of The Foundry, a firm that develops high end rendering software used on Hollywood productions.

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The Foundry shared with AppleInsider the story of how its team worked with the new Mac Pro in a room at Apple HQ known as the "Evil Lab" ahead of the desktop's unveiling. During the tests, the Mac Pro was entirely concealed in a giant steel cabinet, keeping its new design a mystery to The Foundry and Pixar.

"We were essentially doing a blind tasting of the machine," said Jack Greasley, MARI product manager at The Foundry. "All we could see was the monitor, and the Mac Pro was encased in a giant metal filing cabinet on wheels. Experiencing the machine in this way was actually really cool, because I can tell you that the speed and power of this machine really stands up. Mari running on this machine out of the box is the fastest I have ever seen it run."
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Greasley said "some real innovation and thought has gone into what users want and need" with the new Mac Pro, and he doesn't "think pro users should be concerned" about the new machine.

Representatives from The Foundry and Pixar participated in a lunchtime session at WWDC this week, demonstrating the company's MARI software running on the new Mac Pro. The company managed to get a working copy of MARI ported to the Mac in just under a week and convinced Apple executives to give a significant block of time at WWDC to demo the software and the new machine.

The Mac Pro is expected to be released later this year.

Article Link: Apple Allowed Developers to Test a Prerelease Mac Pro Hidden Inside a Metal Box
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/06/14/developers-got-to-test-a-prerelease-mac-pro-stashed-inside-a-giant-metal-box/
So basically they are saying the software is running faster?

Really, who would have thought it. A brand new computer running faster than an old one.
 
Edit: Was the "metal box" approximately the same size and shape as the old Mac Pro?
 
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From the link..

MARI was ported to OSX in about a week. Pretty impressive. I've never heard of it, but odds are that someone on MR is a user.
 
The company managed to get a working copy of MARI ported to the Mac in just under a week and convinced Apple executives to give a significant block of time at WWDC to demo the software and the new machine.
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Hats off to the pros cultivating the future pros. :)
 
G4DP said:
So basically they are saying the software is running faster?

Really, who would have thought it. A brand new computer running faster than an old one.
Click to expand...

The didn't say it runs faster. It runs faaaaaaaaster.

On stage, they gave examples where instead of waiting 12 hours for some rendering to apply changes, they could make changes in real time.

If all you want is faster, then if you still have a Macintosh G5, you need to upgrade to an iPad 4 :)
 
I guess we are looking at December then...if it was within 3 months, they would have announced September...it's not going to be September.
 
YeahBuddy said:
I don't want to hear anymore "Mac Mini Pro" nonsense.
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You'd think if it's good enough for a Hollywood Studio that would sort of put the kibosh on stuff like that.

But (sigh) it's the internet, and people are happier when they're complaining.
 
It is nice to know that there was some kind of real world testing by professionals. I'm eager to see what they price this at.
 
chirpie said:
Hats off to the pros cultivating the future pros. :)
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Suspect that refers to giving Pixar and The Foundry a slot at WWDC proper rather than the keynote reveal. Which when you think about it makes sense, it's a bit weird for a 3rd party to be promoting a machine that's not out yet using software that isn't available on the Mac at a developer conference.

What makes this article really interesting is that Mari is currently available on Windows and Linux so that quote about "Mari running on this machine out of the box is the fastest I have ever seen it run" paints both the Mac Pro and OS X in a VERY good light. Have to see how that pans out of course but as a first reference point it's certainly hopeful....
 
G4DP said:
So basically they are saying the software is running faster?

Really, who would have thought it. A brand new computer running faster than an old one.
Click to expand...

"Mari running on this machine out of the box is the fastest I have ever seen it run."
Maybe this thing actually outperforms new hardware. It depends on whether or not he's seen it running on a recently-built homemade workstation with new hardware.
 
KylePowers said:
I have zero need for one, but I want one!

Will it be any good for gaming?
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No and yes. The FirePro series are a little like the Quadro. They have great rendering, for Pro works it's perfect, but live 3D like in games won't be it's top feature.

Of course, cards like these always have enough power to run games. But you would be as well going for a 27" iMac, believe me. It will run as fast on the (what is it exactly ?) GTX 675MX/GTX 680MX. If you have the budget for a Mac Pro, you'll have it for a 27" Top Notch iMac.
 
The crucial point is going to be the price, they have a chance here to go mainstream with this and keep at the same price or lower than existing Mac Pro's. When I first saw the spec I thought it would be 5k! so they could go the other extreme end route which would be Apple's normal policy of top end prices. But looking at the reduced sized and the and the borrowed tech from their other Mac lines I'm hoping they set to shock people with a low price.
 
They should have just hidden it inside the old Mac Pro. They could have fit several of the new model, plus a few TB2 RAIDs, a PCI card chassis, and a taco stand.
 
The MacBucket Pro will take some getting used to. Maybe there's an add-on market for that steel box the developers used? :eek:
 
I dream of a "Mac", period

This is a great design, which will be accompanied with a great price tag.

But the average consumer does not need Xeon's and dual workstation class GPU's. Way too many "developers" are going to buy this but people making iOS apps do not need a 12 core Xeon CPU to do the trick.

I am tired of Apple missing a market segment to build a "high-performing" consumer level desktop WITHOUT an integrated display. A lot of people think they are "pro" but they are deluded by Apple's marketing and the lack of a upper-middle tier desktop option. Apple just wants to funnel developers into an expensive desktop product.

Apple needs to come out with the "Mac", period. Not iMac, not Mac Mini, not Mac Pro, but a consumer level "high-end" desktop. And I don't want a laptop with "near" desktop performance.

Make a grey version of this using desktop Haswell CPU's, and the option to have one or two GPU's.

Fine, it will steal market away from the "pro" consumers, but it will INCREASE market presence overall. Now that services like Steam are no longer bound to PC gaming Apple is just ignoring the importance of not offering a desktop in this class without the Mini or "i" monikers.

Why not? It just makes sense. Do it now!
 
I'm pretty stoked and will no doubt get one to replace my aging '08 MP.

As I posted in a separate thread, the key will be having lots of attachment / enclosure options for those of us with a bunch of drives that no longer fit inside the MP itself.
 
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