Apple Offers Developers a Closer Look at the New Mac Pro

[AZREOSpecialist]

I for one am very disappointed. I like to get under the hood so to speak and add hard drives, graphics cards, etc. This looks like a very hands-off machine which apple wants you to stay away from. I can imagine everyone with a bunch of daisy chained thunderbolt devices on their desks instead of a nice (but large) clean tower...

I for one will not be buying. I guess I'm going pc .... whouda thought.

Of course you won't switch to a PC, stop talking nonsense. If it's so easy for you to switch to a PC, that means you have very little invested in Mac expansion cards, memory, etc. So this new Mac Pro is actually perfect for people like you. Stop acting emotionally and use your head.

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Revolutionary design!

Well, in the end Apple killed off the Mac Pro. This should be called the iMac Pro.

I'm sorry, but what is your current workflow that the new Mac Pro cannot accommodate? How is this new Mac Pro not powerful enough for you? Please share with us your "pro"-ness...

 

[chrono1081]

I don't understand all the whining on here.

Folks from Pixar, The Foundry, and Black Magic who have had early access to the machines are raving over it. That should be enough for anyone to realize that the new Mac Pro isn't a piece of junk.

People get so dramatic on these forums. "Oh I don't like the color, I'm switching to PC and posting it so everyone feels pity for me...".

 

[cmanderson]

Ha ha, add a couple of $1,000.

The GPU's are $3,200 each retail, so say Apple get a 50% discount buying in mass orders, that's your $3,000 already, then there are the RAM modules, CPU, all the other little extras. Let alone the cost of it being made in the US.

I'm going to guess $8000 if you were to build it yourself.

 

[Philter]

Just like with the FCPX fiasco, the people defending the iUrn are talking about "new ways of working" and all the possible workarounds that will make all the omissions from this model "no big deal."

Guess what guys, I don't need a new way of working, current way works just great, and I don't want workarounds, I want solutions. I see no solutions here, just new problems created by a slavish devotion to style over function.

 

[Rocketman]

For those folks who "need" internal PCI expansion and the current form factor internal drives can easily maintain a current form factor MacPro and put a new MacPro (or 3) on the TB2 or Infiniband network as a "compute dongle".

 

[nikto70]

While many seem to be mewling discontent, I bet this new Pro will be excellent and pave the future of such machine. People are stuck in the current paradigm of PCI cards and inner-expansion space. Once they have a computer that is cooking and doesn't need to rely on much expansion (aside from storage), they'll conform begrudgingly, and in 5 years they will rave about it.

Perhaps, but let's not pretend that Apple hasn't been dead wrong and made horrible mistakes. I'm no expert, but from what I've been gathering many pro users really need internal upgradability. It would be nice if they made one about twice the size and included some internal expansion, which would still conform to this new paradigm thing I keep hearing about, AND make the pros happy. I guess time will tell.

I've actually been a pro user since system 7, although my work doesn't require such hefty specs and expansion so this really doesn't affect me that much. I just hate to see Apple screw up because I love working within their ecosystem.

 

[AZREOSpecialist]

It'll cost 2,5k...yes..but you'll get low end CPU, 4gb of ram, and Low end *****ty AMD GPUs...Want an incredible machine? Be prepared to spend 5k+....and that too will be obsolete within 1 year.

No different than the previous Mac Pro. What's your point?

I bought my MP 5,1 for one reason only - expandability: ram, hard drives, PCI cards, CPU updates (possible), GPUs....No, sorry, I'll take the last one back. Apple showed all of us a big middle finger when it comes to GPUs and not even bother to update them.
Whoever thinks this new Mac Pro is innovation is simply delusional.

You bought your Mac Pro for CPU updates that aren't even officially supported by Apple? You are not Apple's target market for this product, so you should not even be criticizing. If you changed your CPUs, you've already violated and nullified your warranty. You also are doing things 95% of Mac Pro owners would never do. You admit that you can't even use updated GPUs in your old Mac Pro, yet somehow the incredible GPU power in the new Mac Pro does nothing for you.

It does make people wonder how you define "innovation". It would appear that in your world, innovation is continuing the status quo but only in a way that satisfies you. That is, perhaps, the antithesis of innovation.

 

[kunia]

I see a contradiction in your post. First you say you like the old-style MacPro because you can upgrade components instead of purchasing a new machine. Then you say you want Apple to release a spec-updated MacPro so you can purchase said new machine instead of upgrading the components of your old one. Shouldn't you instead be saying you want Apple to release a new motherboard (including CPU and memory) that fits the old MacPro case? That would then allow you to continue using your existing graphics cards and hard drives.

Updated MP to current technology...PCIe3, Haswell CPUs, SATA3, USB3, ...that's what I mean by updated MP - current architecture.
My old MP1,1 still running decent. Why? more ram, more internal (cheap) storage, better video cards, expansion PCIe cards.
My newer MP5,1 is also running decent. Cheap SSD upgrades, cheap ram upgrades, 4 more usb ports and 2 more firewire posts thanks to internal PICe card (30$), two video cards....What else can I do to upgrade my MP that's cost effective? more 2.5" SSDs, cheap ram, internal Blue ray burner, PICe expansion cards, GPUs (well...third party GTX680)
And you know what...it's all MUCH cheaper and it's all INSIDE my MP - clean, simple, efficient.

 

[G4er?]

Central heat core, does this remind you of something...?
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Very clever, Apple. Out of the box indeed
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World Trade Center towers?

 

[potatis]

So who will be the first to put it in a G4 cube enclosure?

 

[HelveticaRoman]

Needs to be much thinner ;-)

 

[paulsdenton]

Dark forebodings...

This looks great and sounds even better, but it looks fearfully expensive and the peripherals all look to be as well.

Great idea though. I'm not interested in stuff I used to like, such as system building and messing with Molex connectors and the like. Now I only want it to work.

Had enough of Windows, too. "NTLDR is missing" just once too often, I guess.

Hope I can afford one of those 4K monitors!!

 

[andrewzz]

Dumb

The new Mac Pro. What a dumb idea. Pro users need configurability and expandability INSIDE the box, not outside it. Looks to me that Apple engineers were thinking "outside the box" heh.

Mac Mini on steroids? Yep

Soon to be replaced by common sense box? Yep

They should instead go back to the NeXT cube.

 

[chirpie]

deleted

 

[snowmen]

Eventually your clients will want you to join them in 2013.

That's why we need "OPTIONS", so we can grab client who's living in BOTH present and past.

Maybe you are good enough to only pick clients who uses internet, but then maybe you don't know anything.

 

[oalabaster]

New MacPro - What are we giving up?

I love the present MacPro, but for its lack of Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 slots, and outdated processors. The current MacPro tower is the best designed case in the world by far. However, the new futuristic design raises suspicions that there may not be optical drives, that there may be much less internal storage than the present MacPro, and that 3rd party upgrades may be very limited.
Having a small tower but lots of connected Thunderbolt peripherals is not an advance over the present 'compact' integrated design.

 

[AZREOSpecialist]

This is one major screw up by Apple
The new iTrash will be bough by a few. People like me (semi-pro on a budget) wont touch this with a 10 foot pole. It's going to cost a fortune, and with non-replaceable parts, it'll be become obsolete within 2 years (if not sooner).
There was NOTHING wrong with the existing Mac Pros. I bought mine because there are options to upgrade the components. All they had to do was update the specs to latest and greatest and I'd be buying one.....

I'm sorry, but what components inside a previous generation Mac Pro are upgradeable? The CPUs are not upgradeable, the video cards are not upgradeable (because there are no after market video cards for Mac Pro that aren't 2 generations behind their PC equivalents). The only upgradeable part of the previous Mac Pro are memory (same as new one) and hard drives/storage (same as new one). So what are you yacking on about?

 

[coolspot18]

...and user-upgradable. Most semi-pros and pros are NOT made of gold. How many pros can justify spending upwards of 5k for a machine that has no way of easy and cheap upgrade options. TB is expensive, period.

Totally agree, and when push comes to shove, a Pro would be just as happy on a Windows machine as OSX, especially if it is significantly cheaper and more powerful.

 

[wildmac]

Choose your own storage solution. Raid array in a rack, desktop drobo, nas in a small network, massive corporate DFS/AD setup.

If you think the Mac Pro isn't really suited for your needs, chances are you fall into the high end iMac target group.

Drobos are a disaster.. as well as many NAS. Gimme a Gtech RAID any day over those.

Regarding the iMac, it fails on one thing, the GPU. Provide an option with a MUCH better GPU, and a lot of the current MacPro users would be happy with it.

 

[porres]

Thunderbolt 3rd party devices

Hopefully this thing will get Thunderbolt 3rd party devices going. I REALLY WANT a decent Thunderbolt Docking station kinda thing for my MBP. The two on the market suck and are way too pricey!

Hey, this dock looks good, powerful and good cost in relation to other docks http://www.sonnettech.com/product/echo15thunderboltdock.html

 

[wildmac]

Of course you won't switch to a PC, stop talking nonsense. If it's so easy for you to switch to a PC, that means you have very little invested in Mac expansion cards, memory, etc. So this new Mac Pro is actually perfect for people like you. Stop acting emotionally and use your head..

If this new MacPro winds up costing $8k, it's his wallet that will do the talking.

Cost is gonna be the big driver here.

 

[JesperA]

I'm sorry, but what components inside a previous generation Mac Pro are upgradeable? The CPUs are not upgradeable, the video cards are not upgradeable (because there are no after market video cards for Mac Pro that aren't 2 generations behind their PC equivalents). The only upgradeable part of the previous Mac Pro are memory (same as new one) and hard drives/storage (same as new one). So what are you yacking on about?

The CPU:s on the previous generation of Mac Pros was upgradable.

And the videocards was current generation when release, like the recently launched GTX 680 for the Mac Pro, that card, and another card from AMD was the current gen GPU:s when released.

Where do you get your facts? By guessing?

 

[wildmac]

Touched a nerve, did I?

No, you just come off as an ass, and your reply just reinforces it.

 

[digibdallas]

Fun but thats not going to keep me in business

Amazing, fun design. Unbelievable cool and innovative but I'm sure the sparkle is going to fade FAST on this. It is a cube in a shiny new case. NOT AND ETERNALLY, internally expandable "PRO" piece of hardware. I'm getting very serious for the first time in my life about going PC for the long haul.

After the FCP debacle, now all this time spent building another ultra powerful, flashy consumer toy for the masses then calling it a Mac Pro... I'm pretty much over Apple as a professional tool. They have bailed on us all. All of us who stood by them through thick and thin in our professional lives dedicating our careers to Macintosh workstations.

Sorry for the negativity. I hope this nightmare is over soon. People wake up and speak up. Do you really want to work on can with dozens of cables dangling off of your desk or under your feet? RIDICULOUS!

One cool thought... if they can put all that power in such a small space, imagine what they could be putting into that TV we the consumers are probably going to love. Crazy. That side of Apple I will always love.

My two cents, out.

 

[Dr.Buzz]

No upgrades needed ever

has just announced a machine that ends the requirement for upgrades. Stop making the same argument for towers that are not needed.

Graphics cards: 3 4k monitors worth of power. That means that your new machine can now drastically support the NEXT generation of video that isn't even standard yet.

Home processing power just maxed out people. The only reason you'd get a better graphics system is if something beyond 4k was invented and standardized. That isn't going to happen for a long long time. By then, you'll be buying a quantum computer anyway.

Professional setups are all different. Making everything external via thunderbolt is logical. Don't whine about costs. Pro level stuff costs money, that's just a reality. It's still insanely cheaper than avid.