Apple Offers Developers a Closer Look at the New Mac Pro

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Personally, I think the design is fantastic.

Once you're free of the SuperDrive and large HDDs, I suppose you really can come up with a creative solution for cooling the CPU and GPU.... which is what they've done.

Just because computers have always been a large cuboid with fans here, there and everywhere doesn't mean that's the best solution. A single unified heatsink inside of a cooling tower seems like a damn good idea, and it must work pretty well if Apple are this confident in the design to show it off. A 12 core CPU and two beasty GPUs are going to create a lot of heat, I think everyone will be amazed how something of this size is able to cope with that... whilst toasting marshmallows over the top. Now that's multitasking.....

 

[pearvsapple]

Lol. Consumers ask for a new Mac Pro, Apple gives them a trash bin. Everyone will just get a iMac now.

 

[Xiroteus]

Not one of the idiots here who have posted negative stuff about this has seen it, or played with it or anything else. But you don't like it anyway. What a load! You'd complain if you won a million dollars!

If something was missing that they wanted it would not be too hard to take issue with it. It does appear powerful enough.

How would someone complain about a million dollars? That it was not ten million?

This is a true Apple product Innovative, ground breaking and forward thinking in every sense of the word. Is it for you? Don't know and care even less. In fact I think it's really funny how some are getting their knickers in such twist over it. Hahahaha!
Don't like it...get a PC!

I think people just want a powerful Mac that meets their needs so buying something else is not always the answer, I do hear that a lot, don't buy it etc.. the problem is they want to like whatever new product is coming out thus the complaints.

You all bitched about floppies, then SCSI, then whatever else Apple threw away...but you are still alive and getting your work done. I'll bet faster than ever.

Apple removes stuff too early, living so far in the future they forget about the present.

 

[69650]

Except it's going to be so hideously expensive... to buy and to expand.

I'm guessing $4500 base model.

The really annoying thing is the GPUs are engineering GPUs, meant for rendering and such, and not necessarily great for video and other graphics work. Apple's gonna need some real work on those drivers to get them performing well for everything else.

I don't know but I doubt they would do that. They know their market and what people are willing to pay. Yes it will command a premium over the current Mac Pro in the same way the MBP-R did but to jump from $2500 to $4500 for the base model is very unlikely. My guess is they will drop the Server version and go with $3299 and $3999 with various upgrade options.

 

[torana355]

Except that out of the box, this Mac Pro will satisfy the needs of 95% of the pro user base without needing to expand anything. The remaining 5% is not worth losing any sleep over.

Sadly this is the case and Apple know it. Apple know most pros will just buy it then when its time to upgrade they will be forced to buy another new Mac Pro because the "trash can" will not be upgradable.

 

[wildmac]

$4k of RAM isn't a lot for a professional workstation (if that's what this truly is). A company I worked with last year spent $60 million on a new workflow and related software and hardware for one of its key operations.

Most government clients I work with have single servers specced at $20k+.

$4k, heck, $10k for a new system is not a lot of money in many professional computing and hardware contexts.

True, but to the freelance design/photographer/videographer that's a HELL of a lot of money, especially when there are valid concerns about their choice of GPUs. Will be interesting to see how much work those drivers get.

 

[LOLZpersonok]

In complete honesty, I don't like it. To me, it looks strange.

I know I'm going to get my head blasted off for stating my opinion, because MacRumors is North Korea.

 

[Prof.]

omg, just go to apple.com people...google? seriously?

Ah yes, god forbid an Apple user also uses a Google product. The horror!

 

[tevion5]

Bricked GPUs - you're right - how forward thinking!

Why not some sort of external GPU? With thunderbolt 2 anything would work.

 

[3282868]

I think people just want a powerful Mac that meets their needs so buying something else is not always the answer, I do hear that a lot, don't buy it etc.. the problem is they want to like whatever new product is coming out thus the complaints.

Additionally, we've invested thousands in time and money as we earn a living from these systems, have been for 10+ years. It takes a lot of money and time to move to another platform and master new applications and workflows crucial for out work. This is not about gaming or "Mission Control", this is about professional grade systems that will help improve our work, not hinder it. Excellent points.

 

[Atlantico]

Design? Wonderful.
Practicality? Ehh...
Cost? The real pain lies here.

This sums up my thoughts as well.

Love the design (if it wasn't a Mac Pro)
Practicality.. who knows - at the moment TB is a dud.
Cost; that's what sunk the Cube and may well sink this one too.

......

Comparing a TB chain to a SCSI chain is a very valid point btw (to the person who thought it was something strange)

And only in Apple La-la-land would anyone scoff at the suggestion of a BD drive.

Apple, where is the Blu-ray support already?

 

[tevion5]

In complete honesty, I don't like it. To me, it looks strange.

The Internet must have been hard for you.

 

[hipnetic]

This thing's going to be crazy-expensive. Not because of the technology/design, but because of the USA union labor. Don't buy one made on a Monday...you might find a beer can in there!

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Lol. Consumers ask for a new Mac Pro, Apple gives them a trash bin. Everyone will just get a iMac now.

Everyone minus at least one (me). I will not buy an iMac because literally nothing but RAM is upgradable on it. And you still have to have lots of external devices but have a much less powerful machine, not to mention if something goes wrong with the monitor you have to hand over your entire computer to Apple vs w/ a MP you send out the monitor and use a backup in the interim.

 

[esquared]

And now you are adding at least 3 more, for the PCI chassis for video cards, another for another storage array, another for optical drive.. and power for all those.

And none of this stuff will stack on top of the MacPro like it does now.. gonna need a rack for it all.

I'm not adding anything, as a Pro they are already right here next to me x2. You need to understand what a Pro is before trying to scare away the amateurs. BTW, I don't stack anything on top of my old MacPro, I treat it with respect and leave it the ******* alone.

 

[wildmac]

Except that out of the box, this Mac Pro will satisfy the needs of 95% of the pro user base without needing to expand anything. The remaining 5% is not worth losing any sleep over.

Not quite. 95% of the users will need to buy some sort of storage expansion. You aren't putting 4TB of Flash memory in there, and that's typical storage for photographers, and a bare minimum for video work.

 

[Tech198]

Lol. Consumers ask for a new Mac Pro, Apple gives them a trash bin. Everyone will just get a iMac now.

lol... an expensive trash bin..

(I wonder if i can pop the hood and mix stuff up)

 

[chumpy34]

Lol. Consumers ask for a new Mac Pro, Apple gives them a trash bin. Everyone will just get a iMac now.

Not me, will order one of these on Day One. I was waiting/hoping for a new Mac Pro and Apple answered. My 2009 Mac Pro has been working fine all of these years, but I am running out of internal drive space and I am ready for a change and the new Mac Pro delivers that. Very excited to get one of these, change-up my workflow and take advantage of this amazing machine. Guys over at Black Magic are saying this machine is incredible!

 

[Marx55]

Apple should make a Mac Pro mini. Quiet and cheaper.

 

[Byrnes3969]

Pretty enough, but not practical and not professional.

I need space for four internal hard drives, a dvd / cd / Blu Ray drive as my clients still want stuff on disc.

I don't want cables taking over my workspace. If anything it looks back to front and what the hell do we do with the empty space inside ? Maybe we can use it as a trash can ...

I just hope it's user expandable as i like to upgrade parts as and when rather than the whole darned unit.

Been a G3 / G4 / G5 and two Mac Pro user for years but all in all a bit disappointed and now what computer will i buy ?

Well said.

This is not a "working man's machine".

It's the new "poser-mac". It's a rich man's desktop accent piece that they can brag about. It's meant to be displayed on top of a shiny desk without work piled on it.

It's also the only reason for lightning bolts existence.

My guess $2999.99 for the starter piece of ***t model and $3999.99 for a nicely equipped model. But get your credit card out for all the external hard drives you'll have to plug into this "beautiful piece of artwork".

I'll wait and buy a top end mac pro.

 

[wildmac]

Why not some sort of external GPU? With thunderbolt 2 anything would work.

Adding another $2k+ to the cost. Vs. $600 for a dedicated card in a current MacPro.

 

[akadmon]

I don't understand the cylinder design. Yes, it makes sense for cooling (high surface to volume ratio), but it is space wasting when more than one module is required (as will be the case with the new MP). From this POV, a better design would be to place the cylindrical cooling core inside a triangular base. This would make it possible to have add-on modules (e.g., multi-bay hdd enclosures, video card enclosures, additional CPUs) that blend seamlessly with the main CPU module. Instead, we're going to wind up with a mess of cylinders and cubes on/underneath our desks

 

[Atlantico]

Why not some sort of external GPU? With thunderbolt 2 anything would work.

No, it would not.

Maybe with Thunderbolt 5 or Thunderbolt 6 or whatever.

PCIe x16 allows up to 15.75 GB/s - that's 3x what TB2 can manage.

Might as well suggest people use USB3 to connect GPUs. Only in Apple's La-la-land.

 

[Tora Shin]

Are we supposed to know about that samsung PCIE SSD yet?
And BTW it looks like you can add two of them.

 

[chumpy34]

Sadly this is the case and Apple know it. Apple know most pros will just buy it then when its time to upgrade they will be forced to buy another new Mac Pro because the "trash can" will not be upgradable.

Well, for a lot of us "pro users" we have to buy equipment each year or the IRS takes even more of our money. If I can use this new Mac for a few years and then upgrade, totally fine with that. As a self-employed videographer, I need write-off's just like most of you do...