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Apple Offers Developers a Closer Look at the New Mac Pro
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My first reaction is it looks stupid....then after thinking about it, I think it's something like SGI might have ended up doing, but then I look at the size and the fact that if you want to do anything useful you have to hook everything up externally and I'm back to this thing is a dud. It'll be the next TAM.
For using huge sample libraries (orchestral stuff for example), absolutely. Very processor intensive, needs tons of memory, and fast storage. I'm running an older mac pro with SSD I added (along with a sata III pci card since it wasn't included). Works well but I still run into bottlenecks here and there and could use something faster.
Audio is particularly demanding since it's a real time process versus other things that require lots of power but "render" as opposed to needing an instant response.
Depending what they do with Logic 10, it has the potential to be a great fit with this box. Especially if Logic gets openCL for running plugins and other processing.
Yeah
I'm thinking of things like Omnisphere too. Every update that thing gets seriously engorged in terms of its database.
The more tracks I do, the more tracks I want to do. It's not unusual for me to do giant guitar/synth choirs.
I eagerly await our new "Dark R2 unit".
I'm thinking of things like Omnisphere too. Every update that thing gets seriously engorged in terms of its database.
The more tracks I do, the more tracks I want to do. It's not unusual for me to do giant guitar/synth choirs.
I eagerly await our new "Dark R2 unit".
As a graphic designer is pretty stoke ith this new concept of MacPo. Sure I like to have several drives enclosed inside my MacPro, but again I like the fact this new from factor is so much easier to carry around transporting for my office to another site. Also most of my drives are on external enclosures anyway, so the lack of drive bays is not the end of the world.
It's a big departure and a shock for most people but again after the initial shock people will adapt and embrace it.
In the end people just like to whine. I am just excite that we have a very powerful MacPro computer and the possibility Apple down the road will come up with 4k displays to hook to this machine.
It's a big departure and a shock for most people but again after the initial shock people will adapt and embrace it.
In the end people just like to whine. I am just excite that we have a very powerful MacPro computer and the possibility Apple down the road will come up with 4k displays to hook to this machine.
Form Over Function My *ss
I know 3 different people who own a 2010-style Mac Pro at their homes, and we've got a dozen around the office.
Every single one of them is already a rat's nest of cables - Ethernet, monitor, external hard drives, scanners, tablets, keyboards, synths, video editing gizmos - you name it, they've got it plugged in.
So adding one more cable to the mix, to lead from the Mac Pro to a Thunderbolt box, is a total non-issue. Nobody could tell the difference.
And this assumes a single one of them would actually need an external Thunderbolt box, anyhow. I don't think a single use case that I've personally seen for a Mac Pro would require some kind of external card cage. I'm sure there are users out there who'd need one, but we're probably talking 10% of all Mac Pro owners, tops.
The rest of them would appreciate the space this thing gives back to them. And I'm betting a few rich idiots will snap these up just to have the "best" system Apple sells, whereas they'd have never touched the old Mac Pro because the wife wouldn't approve of that monstrosity.
I think for 90% of Mac Pro users, this is the superior form factor. For the other 10%, it remains to be seen. It'll depend on how expensive the Thunderbolt expansion boxes will be, to house multiple video cards or drive arrays or whatever you have to currently plug directly into the motherboard on a traditional desktop.
If Thunderbolt takes off, the traditional desktop is dead. I can't see why anybody would dump so many components into a single giant case when you could mix and match exactly what you need for your individual use case. In a few years a big tower might look as obsolete as one of those enormous console stereos from the '50s and '60s did by the mid '70s, when component stereos swept them from the marketplace.
I know 3 different people who own a 2010-style Mac Pro at their homes, and we've got a dozen around the office.
Every single one of them is already a rat's nest of cables - Ethernet, monitor, external hard drives, scanners, tablets, keyboards, synths, video editing gizmos - you name it, they've got it plugged in.
So adding one more cable to the mix, to lead from the Mac Pro to a Thunderbolt box, is a total non-issue. Nobody could tell the difference.
And this assumes a single one of them would actually need an external Thunderbolt box, anyhow. I don't think a single use case that I've personally seen for a Mac Pro would require some kind of external card cage. I'm sure there are users out there who'd need one, but we're probably talking 10% of all Mac Pro owners, tops.
The rest of them would appreciate the space this thing gives back to them. And I'm betting a few rich idiots will snap these up just to have the "best" system Apple sells, whereas they'd have never touched the old Mac Pro because the wife wouldn't approve of that monstrosity.
I think for 90% of Mac Pro users, this is the superior form factor. For the other 10%, it remains to be seen. It'll depend on how expensive the Thunderbolt expansion boxes will be, to house multiple video cards or drive arrays or whatever you have to currently plug directly into the motherboard on a traditional desktop.
If Thunderbolt takes off, the traditional desktop is dead. I can't see why anybody would dump so many components into a single giant case when you could mix and match exactly what you need for your individual use case. In a few years a big tower might look as obsolete as one of those enormous console stereos from the '50s and '60s did by the mid '70s, when component stereos swept them from the marketplace.
Alright well go get a Dell/Lenovo then which features BR. Apples never had BR, never intended to, this was well known, and you still are angry at Apple for not embracing a ridiculously trivial point. BUY A BR BURNER FOR $100.
BR is a retarded, come-lately development anyway. By the time BR makes any headway into the mainstream consumer market, everyone will have high-speed connectivity in some form and get their content over it. By the time people notice the difference in BR quality over 1080p, physical discs will be as dead as floppies and tapes.
And printed/framed photos are also physical products as well. Sending it to your clients need works too. So while you're at it why not you send the electronic copy as well in a disc? What's so ancient about it really?
Or you always tell your customer to effin download, edit, and print themselves over the fancy eff tee pee?
Might as well do everything myself and fire you instead. That would save tons of money, and energy.
There are tons of more generous, humble, creative and responsible designers out there.
You're the one who might want to think through that first before saying it.
As a First gen Intel MacPro user, I have mixed feelings. One, I can totally see myself having one of these. On the flip side, that means I would have to get Thunderbolt cases for all my HHD's that are currently on my MacPro which currently run about $700+ or the cheaper alternative with Firewire cases, at least they give me a choice. I also have a capture card so that would mean I would have to buy a Thunderbolt PCIe case, but then again I hardly capture much. The same can be said about my optical drive, I hardly use the thing unless I'm backing up Dreamcast games. 
Graphics, I was disappointed that they are using proprietary connections but dual gpu's and using the next gen AMD's. I don't see it getting long on the tooth till maybe 5+ years, which is currently around my MacPro's age but I was able to prolong it with adding a flashed 5770 and upgrading the Xeon's from dual to quads.
All that being said, I can definitely look forward into getting one as long as the price is "Reasonable", which remains to be seen.
Graphics, I was disappointed that they are using proprietary connections but dual gpu's and using the next gen AMD's. I don't see it getting long on the tooth till maybe 5+ years, which is currently around my MacPro's age but I was able to prolong it with adding a flashed 5770 and upgrading the Xeon's from dual to quads.
All that being said, I can definitely look forward into getting one as long as the price is "Reasonable", which remains to be seen.
Nail On The Head, Sort Of
And that's precisely why Apple needed to radically change the form factor - because traditional workstations are a teeny niche market, growing smaller every year in relation to the rest of the computing industry.
The new Pro will appeal to a much broader array of customers. I wouldn't be surprised if they double their sales.
And that's precisely why Apple needed to radically change the form factor - because traditional workstations are a teeny niche market, growing smaller every year in relation to the rest of the computing industry.
The new Pro will appeal to a much broader array of customers. I wouldn't be surprised if they double their sales.
I think it's brilliant.
I predicted to my FB friends months ago that they would go this route: small powerful core, expandable externally.
I think it's great. You guys imagining a desk full of wires and boxes have like no imagination. Come on!
If you want something all in one, get an iMac.
If you want a hackintosh - make one.
And if you want a small, quiet, elegant powerhouse for editing and grading - get this little guy and buy a nice small rack for your drives and chassis expansion and whatever else. Put all your expansion in one small rack case. There. No mess, whiners.
Don't like FCPX? Don't use it!
Don't want to spend the money on the new Mac Pro and expansion gear?
Then don't!
Lol.
You guys 'waited for five years'? Get a grip. Stop waiting. Buy an iMac. I did. My 2007 Mac Pro sits under my desk collecting dust. I'll probably donate it to a worthy cause.
Personally, I'll be investing in a new Mac Pro and some expansion hardware. I'll get a lease, I'll pay for it monthly, and I'll pay the whole darn thing off in three years and make my money back in a few months of work.
I think it's the perfect update to the cheese grater and a great addition to the mac line up.
So while I'm editing and grading Cinema DNG raw in 4k in real time, you guys can sit around here and whine some more about how you can't plug in loud, energy hogging hard drives and video cards into a loud, heavy, massive desktop case. Sucks to be you.
Lighten up fellas.
I predicted to my FB friends months ago that they would go this route: small powerful core, expandable externally.
I think it's great. You guys imagining a desk full of wires and boxes have like no imagination. Come on!
If you want something all in one, get an iMac.
If you want a hackintosh - make one.
And if you want a small, quiet, elegant powerhouse for editing and grading - get this little guy and buy a nice small rack for your drives and chassis expansion and whatever else. Put all your expansion in one small rack case. There. No mess, whiners.
Don't like FCPX? Don't use it!
Don't want to spend the money on the new Mac Pro and expansion gear?
Then don't!
Lol.
You guys 'waited for five years'? Get a grip. Stop waiting. Buy an iMac. I did. My 2007 Mac Pro sits under my desk collecting dust. I'll probably donate it to a worthy cause.
Personally, I'll be investing in a new Mac Pro and some expansion hardware. I'll get a lease, I'll pay for it monthly, and I'll pay the whole darn thing off in three years and make my money back in a few months of work.
I think it's the perfect update to the cheese grater and a great addition to the mac line up.
So while I'm editing and grading Cinema DNG raw in 4k in real time, you guys can sit around here and whine some more about how you can't plug in loud, energy hogging hard drives and video cards into a loud, heavy, massive desktop case. Sucks to be you.
Lighten up fellas.
If the Mac Pro is a giant truck which Steve Jobs says nobody needs anymore, and laptops are compact cars... then the new Mac Pro is this:
That's all the peripherals you gotta plug into it.
Although Steve would approve of the design:
That's all the peripherals you gotta plug into it.
Although Steve would approve of the design:
I think after Steve jobs left Apple has lost it self big time when it comes to desktop computers
I don't think Steve was focused on the Mac Pro line anyway. Steve made a conscious decision to focus on the consumer market but have Macs be strung along in the process. No longer is the professional market Apple's money maker. I'm not so sure anything would have been different under Steve's reign. Perhaps the design of the computer but Johnny Ive really captured Steve's love for minimalism and for complexity.
I wish they would make the "guts" of the MacPro see-thru and maybe have a neon blue light showing it. That would inspire me to edit on that rig!
Yeah, I know. That's why they made iMovie and the Mac Mini.
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Not to mention, DaVinci Resolve requires Cuda - at least the version I have does.
Also not really a fan of RED, but their RedRocket got F'd today.
As a long time user of SGI workstations, I can say I love this machine. I truly believe it will sell well if its price point is close to the previous Mac Pro price. If they manage to even lower the price a bit, it will sell massively.
Why? Because there's big need of a fast Mac. Anybody who works with CAD, 3D, FEA, video,etc, need something more powerful than the iMac or the Mac Mini. And the new Mac Pro offers just the performance they (we) always wished to have.
Most users who need top performance with professional applications, don't need PC-like expandability, and, if they need, it will be just for audio or a minor specific card they need, so external expandability will be fine.
So, if they don't increase the price, or are even able to lower it a bit, it will sell very, very well.
What I don't understand is people talking about the fusion drive. Isn't this Mac Pro 100% SSD? I hate the Fusion drive, I hope it's only pure SSD.
Art, the Mac Pro wasn't created exclusively for you - I hope you've grasped that, right? They didn't make a one-off and etch your name into it - they're made by the million, and anyone with a few grand can buy one; you don't need a "Certificate of the Elite Guild of Los Angeles Video editors" to buy one.
If you are such a distinguished editor, what are you doing hovering about on MR forums, arguing with the "ordinary Mac users"? LOL!
Enjoy your delusion, God bless you mate.
This perfectly fits the German Language.
Trashbin=Mülleimer
Pronouncing the i like you do and take the rest of the German word above and we're done.
Welcome to the : iMer
No, I don't not use FCPX. I tried it. It's a joke. I had to switch to Avid because FCPX is, like the new tower, for enthusiasts not professionals. You want to see a video from a "RESPECTED AND WELL KNOWN PROFESSIONALS" after a little time with Apple's new forward thinking, google 'Walter Murch' and 'Final Cut Pro X'. That's what Mac is doing to professionals.
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All of the Mac Pros fit on racks...up until today.
I predicted to my FB friends months ago that they would go this route: small powerful core, expandable externally.
I think it's great. You guys imagining a desk full of wires and boxes have like no imagination. Come on!
If you want something all in one, get an iMac.
If you want a hackintosh - make one.
And if you want a small, quiet, elegant powerhouse for editing and grading - get this little guy and buy a nice small rack for your drives and chassis expansion and whatever else. Put all your expansion in one small rack case. There. No mess, whiners.
Don't like FCPX? Don't use it!
Don't want to spend the money on the new Mac Pro and expansion gear?
Then don't!
Lol.
You guys 'waited for five years'? Get a grip. Stop waiting. Buy an iMac. I did. My 2007 Mac Pro sits under my desk collecting dust. I'll probably donate it to a worthy cause.
Personally, I'll be investing in a new Mac Pro and some expansion hardware. I'll get a lease, I'll pay for it monthly, and I'll pay the whole darn thing off in three years and make my money back in a few months of work.
I think it's the perfect update to the cheese grater and a great addition to the mac line up.
So while I'm editing and grading Cinema DNG raw in 4k in real time, you guys can sit around here and whine some more about how you can't plug in loud, energy hogging hard drives and video cards into a loud, heavy, massive desktop case. Sucks to be you.
Lighten up fellas.
Totally agreed. Side note: Sell the MP to me. I have a project that I can do with it. tdtran1025@yahoo.com.
The problem of overdesigning everything: the Designers forget about important things. For example: where is the sd Card Slot?
You've addressed storage and RAM. Two important things... no doubt.
But... the biggest issue with the old Mac Pro was the lack of upgraded processors all these years. That's where the Mac Pro has suffered.
Oh I see your point... you can no longer cram a bunch of SATA drives inside the Mac Pro anymore. The old Mac Pro had what... 4 drive bays? One bay for the OS... maybe you RAIDed two bays together... and had a backup drive in the 4th bay. To be honest... that doesn't seem like enough anyway.
Depending on the type of work done today... storage was probably already handled by an external RAID array. And a simple external drive for smaller backups.
You make it sound like external storage is some weird foreign thing. I bet many existing Mac Pros already have some kind of external storage hooked to them... either a NAS or a Drobo or something.
Sure... instead of having 4 SATA drives in the case... you'll now have one ridiculously fast SSD inside for the OS and have to rely on external storage for everything else.
It's different... but I don't think it's the end of the world.