Apple Announces Penryn Mac Pros and Xserve

[KindredMAC]

Milo, you really need to stop posting for 2 seconds and actually READ and UNDERSTAND what people are saying here.

My gripe along with countless others today is the price. You need to stop babbling about "Find an equally priced PC!".

Here is the deal....
Even if there was a PC out there that was the same cost, if not cheaper, I and many others on here would never even think about buying that over a Mac. I am a tried and true Mac User for the better part of 15 years. The problem is that the costs HAVE jumped up by $300 for the "mid-range" Mac Pro over the 2.66GHz from last gen.

I personally don't care how much a Dell or HP are..... because I would never soil my home with their filth.

Those of us that have been around since the days of when the Intel Bunny Suits were on fire from the PowerMac G3's will remember that all PowerMacs usually stayed at about the same range, if not dropping in cost occassionally.

Today bucked the trend and we are not happy. I do not want to have the Mac Pros get to a $3000+ price point for a base model and if today is a precursor we could see that. That is way to expensive for Graphic Designers to spend for their tool.

 

[Muzzway]

Hmm, dunno if it's been posted, but you you can get a 4-core with the 8800 GT for the same price as the last base (or is it $100 more? Anyway, still a much better deal).

 

[persona1138]

Nice Upgrade, But What's With No Blu?

Overall, a really nice upgrade for the Mac Pro. Super-fast, tons of options...
My problem: STILL no Blu-Ray. Listen, I know we've got a format war going on, but with Apple on Blu-Ray's board of directors (and with Warner Bros. recently switching to being Blu-Ray exclusive!), I'd say that having a BD drive as an option wouldn't be out of the question. Plus, Mac Pros are for us hardcore folks, not the average consumer... A lot of us want all the goodies.
And no, I don't want an external BD drive. Most of the Mac third-party ones stink, and I don't want a ton of extra goodies hanging off my computer... I want an internal, Apple-approved Blu-Ray drive. Sure, it'd cost a premium, but it's worth it.
Heck, most of the major PC manufacturers offer it as an option... Why can't Apple?

 

[vansouza]

The Mac Pros were desperately out of date. The new ones are a mixed bag of good, bad and possibly ugly news in my opinion.

The Good:
More and faster processors/bus speed. Very nice
More RAM. About time
Updated OPTIONAL video card options. Way past due

The Bad: (not what IS but what IS NOT included)
No HDMI input/output (this is EXTREMELY bad for video professionals, professionals in general)
No Blu-Ray option (I really don't know where Apple's head is stuck but it must be a deep dark hole. Steve's ass?)
No eSATA support (give me a break Apple, pathetic. Yeah, Steve's ass)

The Ugly:
The once Crown Jewel is now relegated to a quiet refresh AFTER 18 MONTHS!!! I am not sure what this means for the Mac, if no answers come at Macworld it can only spell bad news. If Apple goes yet another 12-18 months to come up to what Dell and others have been offering for 6 months or so (Blu-Ray option) it becomes clear Apple doesn't have long to enjoy the positive spotlight.

Considering what IS NOT included in this much delayed refresh, I don't see how Apple can call these works stations keeping a straight face.

You might profit from professional help.

 

[e-coli]

Nice. No new displays. Great move.

 

[alexandr]

yeah I've been hoping for that too, but I think the fact these announcements today did not include bluray or new displays, makes it very unlikely that either will be announced at macworld. It just doesn't make sense to announce the new MacPros today (with only a few days shipping) and then announce new displays or bluray options next week.

unless.. the new displays will be really different. like have built in isight or smthn... i've been waiting forever to get rid of my imac and use my mbp as my main machine, but i can't do it with the crappy display it has..

 

[CaddDood]

Just Do It!

I ordered my 3.0GHz 8-core MP the day they were announced 4/4/07. I've been in 8-core bliss ever since. This machine is AWESOME! I know a lot of people ridicule the cheese grater look but it allows massive amounts of air to flow silently from the front to the back. In with the good air, out with the bad. These machines are very powerful and do put out a LOT of heat yet the case allows it to flow silently. The case design is an engineering marvel (I'm an engineer) and I hope it never gets changed just for the sake of change.

For the last 9 months I've owned the fastest PC on the planet and now with the new MP release I've only been bumped into second position.

One last thought: Anyone who complains or whines about the Mac Pro has most likely never used one, and probably never will.

8-Core Mac Pro
2 x 3.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
8 GB DDR2 FB-DIMM @ 667 MHz
ATI Radeon X1900 XT
4 x 500GB Drives
2 x DL OPTIARC DVD RW AD-7170A
Bluetooth & Airport
23-inch Apple Cinema HD Display

.

 

[CWallace]

nVidia 8800GT Available for Previous Mac Pro

Looks like those with the (now) old Mac Pro wanting the 8800GT are in luck.

The UK and Germany stores show an "NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT Graphics Upgrade Kit for Mac Pro" with the part number of MB137. One forum member in the UK just ordered it and I found the German store entry.

 

[giles117]

The Bad: (not what IS but what IS NOT included)
No HDMI input/output (this is EXTREMELY bad for video professionals, professionals in general)

No eSATA support (give me a break Apple, pathetic. Yeah, Steve's ass)

So Screw the 3rd Party Guys, Apple just needs to do EVERYTHING....

COme on be real. Only wasteful pockets buy Apple Memory and certain apple add-ons. I certainly never have bought any Appl with Appl upgrades in 17 years....

 

[gugy]

Exactly. Some of us Pros have better things to do then play with joysticks all day.
Just buy a friggin xboxpspwii and be done with it.

Best quote of the day!

MacPro is for professionals. Period. Nobody with major work to do has time to spend all day fooling around with video games anyway. Get to work!

 

[milo]

Milo, you really need to stop posting for 2 seconds and actually READ and UNDERSTAND what people are saying here.

You need to quit resorting to lazy ad hominem comments and actually address the things you don't agree with.

The problem is that the costs HAVE jumped up by $300 for the "mid-range" Mac Pro over the 2.66GHz from last gen.

And the new "midrange" is comparable to the old top of the line MP for hundreds less. If the midrange is too expensive for you, just buy the $2299 one. Same price as yesterday. It's like you're bitching that 7-11 started selling a 128 oz. big gulp for more than the old 64 oz. one...when at the same time they have a new 24 oz. one at the same price as yesterday's 16. But I don't actually expect you to understand an analogy.

I personally don't care how much a Dell or HP are..... because I would never soil my home with their filth.

You completely miss the point. Any computer is going to have its price dictated to a large degree by the cost of the parts used.

8 cores from intel costs apple more than 4 cores. Period.

The whole point of mentioning PCs with the same chips is because if PC makers could sell the same machine cheaper, they would. The fact that PC makers seem to be charging MORE for a similar box just illustrates that the parts are expensive.

Apple is in the same situation as every other manufacturer. They can include the latest and greatest chips, even if they cost more, or they can keep prices low but lag on performance.

Right now apple seems to be leading the market for these particular configurations in terms of price versus performance.

Sure, I get it. You wish these were cheaper (and you keep forgetting about the $2299 model). But insisting these are overpriced, particularly when apple is selling these configurations for less than anyone else, is living in a fantasy.

Today bucked the trend and we are not happy. I do not want to have the Mac Pros get to a $3000+ price point for a base model and if today is a precursor we could see that. That is way to expensive for Graphic Designers to spend for their tool.

Today, the lowest price point for a MP is $2299.

Yesterday, the lowest price point for an MP was $2299, and that was for a slower machine. Entry level for these machines didn't go up a penny. You obviously don't want the $2799 model, so why don't you just buy the $2299 model and quit complaining about configurations you have made it clear you are not in the market for?

 

[crazysnake]

In the German Store you can find this when you open the infos regarding the graphic cards

Eine PCI-Express 2.0-Schnittstelle mit 16 Lanes und doppelter Breite unterstützt die neusten Grafik-Controller für einen Datendurchsatz von bis zu 8 GB/Sek. - doppelt so viel wie der PCI-Express-Steckplatz der vorherigen Generation. Durch eine Gesamtleistung von bis zu 300 Watt für alle PCI-Express-Steckplätze bietet der Mac Pro auch Platz für leistungsstarke Grafikkarten der nächsten Generation.

Sie haben die Wahl zwischen diesen Grafikkarten.

ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT
Wählen Sie eine oder mehrere unserer ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT Karten für vielseitige Aufgaben in Kreativ- und Produktivitätsprogrammen. Diese Karte umfasst einen 256 MB GDDR3 Bildpuffer und zwei Dual-Link-DVI-Anschlüsse. Damit kann sie zwei 30" Apple Cinema HD Displays gleichzeitig unterstützen. Diese PCI-Express 2.0-Grafikkarte bietet eine Leistungsverbesserung bis um den Faktor XXX.

ATI Radeon HD 3870
Die leistungsstarke ATI Radeon HD 3870 mit 512 MB dediziertem GDDR4 Arbeitsspeicher ist die ideale Lösung für bewegte Grafiken, Animationen oder 3D-Design und -Visualisierung. Sie besitzt zwei Dual-Link-DVI-Anschlüsse, die den gleichzeitigen Anschluss von zwei 30" Apple Cinema HD Displays für einen unglaublich großen Breitformat-Arbeitsbereich unterstützen.

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT

NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600
Mit 1,5 GB GDDR3 Bildpuffer ist die NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 die ideale Workstation-Grafikkarte. Sie ist prädestiniert für anspruchsvolle Aufgaben wie 3D-Design, Modellierung, Animation und 3D-Stereo-Visualisierung. Diese Karte zählt zu den fortschrittlichsten Grafikkarten, die es derzeit gibt. Sie besitzt einen integrierten 3D-Stereo-Anschluss, sodass Sie Stereobrillen für "Stereo-in-a-Window"-Visualisierungsprogramme verwenden können. Über zwei Dual-Link-DVI-Anschlüsse können Sie zwei 30" Apple Cinema HD Displays anschließen. Sie erzielt eine überzeugende Leistungsverbesserung bis um den Faktor XXX.

Verwendung von zwei Bildschirmen
Jede Grafikkarte verfügt über integrierte Unterstützung für zwei Bildschirme in zwei praktischen Modi. Der Modus "Erweiterter Schreibtisch" erlaubt die Arbeit auf zwei Bildschirmen gleichzeitig für eine größere Anzeigefläche und mehr Produktivität. Der Modus "Bildschirme synchronisieren" ist nützlich, wenn Sie Inhalte vor Gruppen präsentieren. Hierbei wird die Anzeige auf dem lokalen Bildschirm zusätzlich auf einem Projektor oder einem anderen Hilfsgerät dargestellt. Schließen Sie einfach zwei Bildschirme an und Mac OS X erkennt sie automatisch. Verwenden Sie die Systemeinstellung "Monitore", um Ihre Bildschirme für die Modi "Erweiterter Schreibtisch" oder "Bildschirme synchronisieren" zu konfigurieren.

Sie können mehrere Apple Flachbildschirme mit DVI-Anschlüssen direkt an die Grafikkarte Ihres Mac Pro anschließen. Bei Apple Flachbildschirmen mit ADC-Anschluss ist ein optionaler Apple DVI-auf-ADC-Adapter erforderlich (separat erhältlich).

 

[psingh01]

Best quote of the day!

MacPro is for professionals. Period. Nobody with major work to do has time to spend all day fooling around with video games anyway. Get to work!

Except for video game developers but that's why there are no games for mac I guess

 

[swagi]

Take it with a grain of salt

Looks like those with the (now) old Mac Pro wanting the 8800GT are in luck.

The UK and Germany stores show an "NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT Graphics Upgrade Kit for Mac Pro" with the part number of MB137. One forum member in the UK just ordered it and I found the German store entry.

The Mac Pro introduction seems so kind of rushed, that I really think we will see something major next week. There are so little minor annoyances in the German Store, that it makes you think, the update was rushed.

I mean, for heavens sake, why do I read an English Text about Mac OS 10.5 Server on the German order page? Why is wireless module not included in the German store? Why is the 1TB HDD strangely missing on the third drive bay, while awailable in the three other?

I'm just browsing the store for other glitches

 

[giles117]

I can imagine the songs I will mix with this thing. 3-5 days to ship is great...

 

[Carl Spackler]

So Screw the 3rd Party Guys, Apple just needs to do EVERYTHING....

COme on be real. Only wasteful pockets buy Apple Memory and certain apple add-ons. I certainly never have bought any Appl with Appl upgrades in 17 years....

eSATA and HDMI connections will soon be as common-place on a pro machine as FW800. You could easily argue that HDMI is already is commonly used for HD capture. On this one, I expected Apple to skate to where the puck was going.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

They could have at least given this thing a face lift. Overpriced in my view and ill be very happy with my iMac 2.4. Its a good thing they have the 8800GT but the entry price to get there is kind of a joke.

 

[aussie_geek]

Is it? I was under the impression that the computer game market isn't all that big and shrinking all the time due to consoles (which it can't really compete with). It would be nice if apple shipped some machines that appealed to gamers, but I don't think it would result in that big a boost in sales.

Until you can play a FPS game on a console with a keyboard and mouse, PC games will always reign supreme. PS3 has 1 game compatible : UT3. Keyboard and Mouse Vs controller in FPS = pwnage.

As for the boost in sales - There are more PC gamers worldwide than the entire Number of Mac's on OSX. There is definite sales to be had here mate.
aussie_geek

 

[ezekielrage_99]

Well it was about time and I'm glad they've actually added some good graphics cards options as well, the nVidia 8800GT is a nice addition

 

[iW00t]

And the new "midrange" is comparable to the old top of the line MP for hundreds less. If the midrange is too expensive for you, just buy the $2299 one. Same price as yesterday. It's like you're bitching that 7-11 started selling a 128 oz. big gulp for more than the old 64 oz. one...when at the same time they have a new 24 oz. one at the same price as yesterday's 16. But I don't actually expect you to understand an analogy.

By your logic shouldn't the MBP cost $10,000? Afterall it offers almost twice the clock speed and two times the number of cores as compared to the Powerbook G4!

 

[milo]

By your logic shouldn't the MBP cost $10,000? Afterall it offers almost twice the clock speed and two times the number of cores as compared to the Powerbook G4!

Um...what?

Overnight, the cost of an 8 core machine went from $3499 to $2799.

 

[DrinkingLizard]

They're still working on the site...

Just started browsing the Australian Apple Store and clicked the drop down for a description of the video cards....seems they're still working on the final text:

A 16-lane, double-wide PCI Express 2.0 graphics slot supports the latest graphics controllers for up to 8 GBps of data throughput, twice that of a previous-generation PCI Express slot. And by supplying up to 300 watts of total power to all PCI Express slots, the Mac Pro provides the headroom for high-performance, next-generation graphics cards.

Choose among these graphics card options.

ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT
For excellent all-around performance in creative and productivity applications, choose one or more ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT cards.. This card features a 256MB GDDR3 frame buffer and two dual-link DVI ports, making it capable of simultaneously supporting two 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Displays. This PCI Express 2.0 graphics card provides up to XX performance claim.

ATI Radeon HD 3870
If you’re working in motion graphics, animation, or 3D design and visualization, the powerful ATI Radeon HD 3870 with 512MB of dedicated GDDR4 memory may suit your needs perfectly. It offers two dual-link DVI ports that can simultaneously support two 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Displays for an incredibly large widescreen workspace. We need performance numbers to position this card relative to 8800 GT. Also, a PCIe2.0 card.

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT
. We need performance numbers to position this card relative to 3870. Also, a PCIe2.0 card.

NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600
Featuring a massive 1.5GB frame buffer of GDDR3 memory, the NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 is the ultimate workstation-level graphics card. It’s ideal for industrial-strength 3D design work, modeling, animation, and stereo 3D visualization. One of the most advanced graphics cards available, it has an integrated stereo 3D port, so you can use stereo goggles for stereo-in-a-window visualization applications. With two dual-link DVI ports, you can connect two 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Displays. Featuring amazing performance up to XXX performance claim.

Dual-Display Modes
Each graphics card offers built-in dual-display support in two modes. Extended Desktop mode allows you to work on two monitors at once for increased desktop real estate and enhanced productivity. Video mirroring mode is useful when presenting to groups — the same image that you see on your local display also appears on a projector or auxiliary display. Simply attach two monitors and the Mac OS will recognize both displays. Use the Displays system preference to configure your monitors in either extended desktop or video mirroring modes.

You can attach multiple Apple flat panels with DVI connectors to your Mac Pro graphics card directly. If you have an Apple flat panel with an ADC connector, the optional Apple DVI to ADC Adapter is required (sold separately).​

 

[ipoppy]

Overall, a really nice upgrade for the Mac Pro. Super-fast, tons of options...
My problem: STILL no Blu-Ray. Listen, I know we've got a format war going on, but with Apple on Blu-Ray's board of directors (and with Warner Bros. recently switching to being Blu-Ray exclusive!), I'd say that having a BD drive as an option wouldn't be out of the question. Plus, Mac Pros are for us hardcore folks, not the average consumer... A lot of us want all the goodies.
And no, I don't want an external BD drive. Most of the Mac third-party ones stink, and I don't want a ton of extra goodies hanging off my computer... I want an internal, Apple-approved Blu-Ray drive. Sure, it'd cost a premium, but it's worth it.
Heck, most of the major PC manufacturers offer it as an option... Why can't Apple?

OMG...People STOP asking for it!!!!As someone already nicely described, how the hell you could expect blue-ray. Its massive technology which will need a lot of space/cooling. Plus what about media? Do you think 30" display will do to watch it? What about output like HDMI. Where is it.
You need wait longer for bluray to be put inside Mac Pros........a far longer.

 

[csimmons]

iPredict:

With this coming before MacWorld were gonna see mini towers at MacWorld.​

.

We'll see a quad-core iMac before we see a Mac mini tower

 

[swagi]

Strange conicidence???

Just found another glitch on the European stores (I checked German and French store):

While U.S. and New Zealand store (just checked them) refer to it as MacBook, French and German store speak of MacBook 13".