I really wasn't happy with the whole module thing on my TI 99/4A.
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Apple Planning 'Something Really Different' for New Mac Pro
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I really wasn't happy with the whole module thing on my TI 99/4A.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/...xQY2SfD1lfLpxuB-hHJv1dVeoJiwTD1De6IVRjR5yoMqg
Look at what Radius did with the Radius Rocket back in the Mac II days.
Did pretty much EXACTLY what you are talking about over a freaking NuBus interface. To say that the same couldn't be accomplished over Thunderbolt is laughable.
The Mac Pro is for anyone who can pony up to the Apple Store and supply the $$$$.$$ that Apple ask for said box.
You are still trying to say that you can do same with 2 TB sockets than with 40 lanes of PCIe?
You can do something, but not all...
Nubus had speed of 20MB/s. You know what killed Radius Rocket? PCI slots in macs...
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Look Ma, no cables!
I've said it before and ill say it again, what i want is something like a two tier mac pro. now let me explain. i like my iMacs, but i dont like lhe lack of upgradability. i would love the upgradability of a mac pro, but i don't really NEED all that stuff the pros love. hows about making a version of the mac pro with desktop chipsets like i7 and upgradable GPU & RAM (just without the massive expandability and mortgageable price of the current pro) maybe just 1 GPU slot and 2 HDD bays. Also a proper pro version with more expandability (more GPU & RAM) multi processor capable chipsets etc, for those that need it.
If Apple show us something really different than the tower mac pro this only could means one thing :
A NEW FORM FACTOR
so the new mac will be update able an expandable but *really different *
So get ready to get shocked with something like an iMac Pro or an NeXT like cube (I hope the last one).
Given Xeon E3 only supports a single cpu (Haswell) it could be paired with some mobile nVidia quadro inside a special iMac, no way to fit dual Xeon E5v2 and powerful gpu on an iMac.
Serious dual cpu requires an big case with dual 1KW psu and two 12cm fans at least, no way it to fit an mac mini like chasis, so it's very probable an big cube chasis (enough to fit 3 gpu and 2 cpu plus an small 5x2.5" hdd rack. And still having good thermodynamics.
The only problem with the cube design is it actually is twice wider at least than current tower but with 2/3 depth , will be the easier to open and update having all hdd at the frontal area, it's easier to assume that individual 2.5hdd could be loaded in cartridges (as actually is common on other's workstations). Would require an new desk for most users or an new dedicated floor stand.
A revised tower seems more logical specially if it's one that could be reconfigurable as an 3U 19" rack mount with some kit. This would be an logical solution to kill two birds with one shoot. But thus means an slight slimmer and taller tower (no problem) and compromised thermodynamics in rack mode, no big deals here REAL PROs pleased.
Ahh no variant contemplates 5.1/4 bays for any purpose, 2.5" hdd only if it's an NeXT cube and 3.5" hdd for revised tower with an cage reconfigurable to hold 5 2.5 hdd in hot swappable cartridges.
This is my vision, if I could vote at apple desk, as engineer I vote for the revised rackable tower, as an Steve Jobs fan I vote for the NeXT like cube.
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Nevermind, Rip CD/DVD/BD (1983-2013) 20th years f#ing our data
A NEW FORM FACTOR
so the new mac will be update able an expandable but *really different *
So get ready to get shocked with something like an iMac Pro or an NeXT like cube (I hope the last one).
Given Xeon E3 only supports a single cpu (Haswell) it could be paired with some mobile nVidia quadro inside a special iMac, no way to fit dual Xeon E5v2 and powerful gpu on an iMac.
Serious dual cpu requires an big case with dual 1KW psu and two 12cm fans at least, no way it to fit an mac mini like chasis, so it's very probable an big cube chasis (enough to fit 3 gpu and 2 cpu plus an small 5x2.5" hdd rack. And still having good thermodynamics.
The only problem with the cube design is it actually is twice wider at least than current tower but with 2/3 depth , will be the easier to open and update having all hdd at the frontal area, it's easier to assume that individual 2.5hdd could be loaded in cartridges (as actually is common on other's workstations). Would require an new desk for most users or an new dedicated floor stand.
A revised tower seems more logical specially if it's one that could be reconfigurable as an 3U 19" rack mount with some kit. This would be an logical solution to kill two birds with one shoot. But thus means an slight slimmer and taller tower (no problem) and compromised thermodynamics in rack mode, no big deals here REAL PROs pleased.
Ahh no variant contemplates 5.1/4 bays for any purpose, 2.5" hdd only if it's an NeXT cube and 3.5" hdd for revised tower with an cage reconfigurable to hold 5 2.5 hdd in hot swappable cartridges.
This is my vision, if I could vote at apple desk, as engineer I vote for the revised rackable tower, as an Steve Jobs fan I vote for the NeXT like cube.
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Nevermind, Rip CD/DVD/BD (1983-2013) 20th years f#ing our data
I predict that it would sell as well as the Pippin.
What is the purpose of gimping a machine that is specifically made for power users with bigger budgets? I'll take a Mac Pro that has been scratched and urinated on before I pay three grand for a non-mobile computer that has a discrete GPU.
It's very easy to just buy an external drive, I agree, but ultimately, it's about Apple scoffing at the actual needs of the pros who use their machines, and refusing to put an optical drive in because it's older technology. My studio archives old projects on DVDs (probably 20-30 per month), so we use the built in optical drives extensively. Not every pro's needs are the same, but why take something out of a machine that's intended to be a hunk of processing power for the sake of taking it out, if it's really needed?
Mac Pro was super expensive when I bought it in 2009. I could have bought 3 PCs with higher specs for that price at the time. But it's STILL going strong with just minor updates to RAM and graphics card each year.
I had a friend at the time build a kickass gaming PC that blew the 2009 Mac Pro out of the water at the time at roughly the same cost, and he's replaced his computer at least three times now. It's not a gaming machine anymore either.
The costs have probably balanced itself out, but I suspect the Mac Pro was the better value these past 4 years if I ran the numbers, even accounting for inflation.
I had a friend at the time build a kickass gaming PC that blew the 2009 Mac Pro out of the water at the time at roughly the same cost, and he's replaced his computer at least three times now. It's not a gaming machine anymore either.
The costs have probably balanced itself out, but I suspect the Mac Pro was the better value these past 4 years if I ran the numbers, even accounting for inflation.
I'm calling shenanigans on this. If he built a top of the line Mac Pro killer in 2009, he would've grabbed a first gen i7, which is still plenty strong enough to run just about everything you throw at it. Worst he would've had to do was upgrade his graphics card in the intervening 4 years.
You jest, but it may be something similar.
A modular system with processing bricks including GPUs and memory slots, that are daisy chained together with multiple thunderbolt ports. You drive it with something like a Macbook or iMac.
Need more power? Slap another brick on the chain.
Need to work on something in low detail on the road? Do the design/etc on your portable, plug it in when you get to the office/home to do the grunt work.
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8 gig USB sticks are like 8 bucks...
Which I create apps for.......using a Mac Pro. I hope Apple keeps this in mind.
We already had a cube and it failed.
I really hope it is something else.
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By peoples standards on here I am a PRO user and I don't want an optical drive. And I will never pay the price for Thunderbolt add ons so don't need that either. I want USB 3 thou.
I really hope it is something else.
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By peoples standards on here I am a PRO user and I don't want an optical drive. And I will never pay the price for Thunderbolt add ons so don't need that either. I want USB 3 thou.
I'll just leave this here.......
From MAY 22, 2013
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Intel-Xeon-Phi-Coprocessor-CPU,22700.html
Thunderbolt 2 is PCIe 8x compatible
Yep ...
You'd have to be an idiot to pass up a brand new Mac Pro that met your needs except for the lack of an optical drive, when all you have to do is add a USB external one to regain the functionality. Makes far more sense anyway if you're a heavy CD or DVD creator, because the lasers in the optical drives really don't hold up to lots and lots of use. I'd say you're looking at needing a new one at least every year to 2 years, tops, if you burn a lot of media. So why make it more difficult to replace than it needs to be?
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If you have a strong preference for OS X and don't want to run a hackintosh, then yep - the Mac Pro is *still* the "best PC on the market" even 4 years later.
That's not to say it REALLY needs an overhaul. It does and should finally get one. But there are definitely places, like where I work, where the last model of Mac Pro was the best option for them to purchase. The advertising/marketing projects people have completed with it in the last year or two made it well justified.
I think some people are losing sight of the big picture here? If you're sold on Mac, you're really saying you're sold on their operating system and the applications designed to run in it. The hardware is only one part of that whole, and it's clear your ONLY choices come from Apple if you want to legally use the environment.
I can sit all day and scream about how I could buy 2 Windows workstations for the price of the current Mac Pro, or how I could get X more CPU speed, Y better video, and Z disk space for that money, elsewhere. But that doesn't always help someone accomplish their goals more effectively.
You'd have to be an idiot to pass up a brand new Mac Pro that met your needs except for the lack of an optical drive, when all you have to do is add a USB external one to regain the functionality. Makes far more sense anyway if you're a heavy CD or DVD creator, because the lasers in the optical drives really don't hold up to lots and lots of use. I'd say you're looking at needing a new one at least every year to 2 years, tops, if you burn a lot of media. So why make it more difficult to replace than it needs to be?
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If you have a strong preference for OS X and don't want to run a hackintosh, then yep - the Mac Pro is *still* the "best PC on the market" even 4 years later.
That's not to say it REALLY needs an overhaul. It does and should finally get one. But there are definitely places, like where I work, where the last model of Mac Pro was the best option for them to purchase. The advertising/marketing projects people have completed with it in the last year or two made it well justified.
I think some people are losing sight of the big picture here? If you're sold on Mac, you're really saying you're sold on their operating system and the applications designed to run in it. The hardware is only one part of that whole, and it's clear your ONLY choices come from Apple if you want to legally use the environment.
I can sit all day and scream about how I could buy 2 Windows workstations for the price of the current Mac Pro, or how I could get X more CPU speed, Y better video, and Z disk space for that money, elsewhere. But that doesn't always help someone accomplish their goals more effectively.
Saw a latest imac recently with attached optical drive which apparently doesn't get unplugged because of regular useage. At this stage there is really no excuse for excluding useful components because of Jobsian minimalist design aesthetics when users are having to attach externals to get their work done.
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Apple will try to make it thin and compact, perhaps even using thunderbolt and using a modular design. I really wish they would just update the insides of the current Mac Pro.
Goes back to some not wanting to, I know I would never want to. Installing an optical drive has never been hard on any machine I have worked on nor have any failed after thousands of hours of use.