Apple Reveals All-New Mac Pro With Up to 28-Core Processor and 1.5TB of RAM, Starting at $5,999

[hermes16]

I'm saving my pennies now.

 

[Ryth]

You can't say Apple hasn't delivered. A serious new Mac Pro with serious professional software. Apple has listened to its customers. Look at all the optional professional expansions. For the first time in years I thought this was a good new line up.

And yet what is affordable for the pro freelancer or pro user that needs some upgradability or can do that as they go over time....the mid range user is stuck with a non-upgradable iMac or iMac Pro.

This machine is not for professionals...it's for EXTREME professionals...10-20% of the pro user base max.

If they would offer a "Mac" (non-Pro) with Intels HEDT CPU:s (not Xeon), or even the normal consumer CPU:s, non-ECC-RAM and half the PCI slots at a lower price, I'd buy it.

I can afford the Mac Pro, but the value proposition just isn't there. I'd be paying for stuff I don't need nor want.

And 256 GB and Radeon 580X is, to be frank, absurd.

I don't understand their business logic here. They make a machine for the absolute top niche professionals.
No problem at all.
But the market just below that (prosumers?) must be astronomical compared to people and companies who want the best, regardless of price. And for all those potential buyers, there is still no option with a PCI slot.

The top niche market is what I would basically call Hollywood or LA/NY creative agencies...you're missing a whole niche that is not these but are still professionals and doing high end work for TV, Commercials, Government, Corporations, etc...that is above "prosumers" that Apple priced this machine/monitor out of the reach of.

 

[BigBoy2018]

on Apple's website it is doing the encryption.
Apple T2 Security Chip.

Data on Mac Pro is protected by the Apple T2 Security Chip. It integrates discrete processors into a single chip. It also ensures that the lowest levels of software aren’t tampered with and that only operating system software trusted by Apple loads at startup.

Ok, well that kinda sucks. Would have been nice if they had put one standard 2.5 inch sata slot in there so end users could put a huge, afforable ssd inside to add additional internal storage

 

[InuNacho]

The product page indicates that the I/O is attached to the half-size PCIe slot, and that it’s configurable just like each other major component.

Configurable = more money for ports that should have been onboard to begin with.

 

[niun]

Finally a Mac for the 1%.

Not bad from the front, wide from the side and waaaaay too bling. But fingers crossed this is a turning point.

 

[thisisnotmyname]

I can't wait for fall, just take my money now

(and two XDRs please)

 

[jimmyrocker]

I get that the professionals are willing to pay more for a top tier machine but why should they need to? I look at the design and I can't see anything really that special to justify another crazy price hike. It's a nicely designed machine don't get me wrong but we are a long way from the beige boxes that HPE and Dell used to make. If you use the excuse that professionals make the money to justify the expense then why wouldn't they go somewhere else and get more bang for their buck? I was just looking at Dell's website and you can get a similar workstation with dual 3.2ghz 12 core intels for less than the mac pro.

 

[hudson1]

I was waiting for the Mac Pro for music production, but I am not spending 6k for an 256 gb ssd and 8 cores.

What are you using now?

 

[verpeiler]

If you don't like it, buy a junking PC or if you want to save some money with a iMac Pro. But when fall comes and I am super cruising with my new Mac Pro, that I purchased and got a discount with my new Apple card. Along with 5 years from now still using the same computer or 10 years from now when i retire this machine and get my new 2029 computer. I will have great memories, oh shoot my Window 10 blue screened again

Well, looks like you have no clue regarding computers. Maybe you should buy a "Mac for dummies" book at walmart.

 

[macgenius34]

This is what many of us have been waiting for, so those of you who like to complain can suck it.

These idiots cannot comprehend performance all they can do is whine about the look. . . .I have the 2009 that I'm still working with. . . .my only complaint is that I got the 2009 + 23" cinema display for less than the cost of the entry level machine. Although I can see getting another 10 years out of this new. . . .

 

[BigBoy2018]

Yes specs page says so specifically but also shows what looks like slotted SSDs

Slotted ssds (end user upgradable) would be a crucial element to making this thing appealing to me.

 

[Stephen.R]

This machine is not for professionals...it's for EXTREME professionals...10-20% of the pro user base max.

It’s two maxed out Mac minis (cost wise), with crazy expandability. If you’re freelancing and can’t spend that money every 4-5 years you should up your rates my friend.

 

[YodaATmac]

Incoming “too expensive “ comments. This is for professional

So. What makes you think a professional is willing to spend 6 grands + for a medicore computer, which has a potential? And to get using that potential you have to shell another 6 grands? 256gig storage? Ehrm... what? 256 gig for 6 grands? A medicore gpu worth 190 bucks? For 6 grands? You must know a lot of professionals, true dat.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

So, a modular Mac Pro. BUT, can anything OFF THE SHELF be put in here? Those MPX modules I bet will always be Apple TOP SECRET information. The PCI-e slots...what non-Apple parts can we put in there? RAM? Looks like it can be upgraded, but I wonder if Apple is using a special DIMM with special pin-out? SSD? Proprietary. Can this thing take SATA drives?

Of course, no room for 2.5 or 3.5" drives. Those must go external. So, in reality, this new Modular design is still locked into whatever Apple says you can put in it, and of course, it will be overpriced compared to similar part off-the-shelf.

 

[Kabeyun]

Freakin’ A! I have utterly no use for it, but I’m so excited that the “why no Mac Pro” people will finally have to shut up about it.

(Of course many of them are now “let me tell you why this new Mac Pro sucks” people. After all, this is MacRumors.com.)

 

[venom600]

Apple makes plenty of machines that are appropriate for people who need reasonably powerful machines but don’t NEED a $6K+ Mac Pro.

No, they don't. I don't consider a machine that forces you to pay for a display I don't need, has zero expansion or even the ability to change a drive without voiding the warranty, and absolutely pathetic cooling capacity that can't cool a processor without thermal throttling a good compromise. I don't have a problem with the iMac or iMac Pro internals... I have a problem with the form factor they force it into.

 

[milo]

But the market just below that (prosumers?) must be astronomical compared to people and companies who want the best, regardless of price. And for all those potential buyers, there is still no option with a PCI slot.

Sorry but I don't buy that the number of people who genuinely need a PCI slot is "astronomical". Tons of computers with PCI slots have shipped and never had any used beyond the video card it came with.

Ok, well that kinda sucks. Would have been nice if they had put one standard 2.5 inch sata slot in there so end users could put a huge, afforable ssd inside to add additional internal storage

There is a second SSD slot, looks like it may be the same format used in some other Macs. Hopefully there will be third party options available if there aren't already.

 

[felipey]

So, a modular Mac Pro. BUT, can anything OFF THE SHELF be put in here? Those MPX modules I bet will always be Apple TOP SECRET information. The PCI-e slots...what non-Apple parts can we put in there? RAM? Looks like it can be upgraded, but I wonder if Apple is using a special DIMM with special pin-out? SSD? Proprietary. Can this thing take SATA drives?

Of course, no room for 2.5 or 3.5" drives. Those must go external. So, in reality, this new Modular design is still locked into whatever Apple says you can put in it, and of course, it will be overpriced compared to similar part off-the-shelf.

Not really, look at a similarly specced HP Z6 workstation:

 

[gugy]

Agreed...we're on the same page. I'm not sure what your experience is freelancing but our clients have become so budget conscious now....this isn't like 10 years ago when only post-houses had the keys to the kingdom and $$$ to buy the software and hardware.

I'm not sure why Apple can't figure out that most of the "Pros" want something similar to their current iMac higher end or iMac Pro in a upgradable tower and as a separate monitor.

This machine & monitor is out of the range of the majority of "Pro" users.



You obviously have no idea what most "professionals" video editors/musicians are using...most would not be able to justify the cost of these 2 items.

And I don't see many corporations unless they have massive deep pockets and no idea what their creatives buy footing the bill for theses.

Again, these are aimed at the XTREME Pro user out there in Hollywood mainly.

Yep, most companies I see designers using the iMac and animators using maxed out PCs. Sure there are some MP's and the majority use standard 4k/5k displays.
When I started back on the late 90's the budgets were very high. The last few years as motion graphics become somewhat "mainstream", the pro's don't make the money as they used to. Like you said, clients are smart and they are not paying the high prices of the past.
Apple could have this high end MP/display and an entry level at half of these prices. iMac Pro is not a solution to many due the lack of expandability. I think this is a huge miss on Apple's part. I am happy they put the effort and created these amazing spec machines but they will be not accessible ($$$) for a huge part of the pro market.

 

[venom600]

Right...good analogy....

This new Mac Pro and Display is the Ford-150 Raptor fully loaded...where most of us want the low-mid range F-150 that we can add on as needed.

I chose the F450 because it's a heavy duty (aka Pro) truck and it can be priced to nearly a hundred grand, but the analogy works your way too

 

[sidewinder3000]

To say this is beyond pro expectations is an understatement. Apple has invented new ideas and processes wayyyy beyond the simple spec bumps people have been asking for. They’ve been truly innovative and inventive, creating things people didn’t even know they wanted. Which is a very Steve Jobs (and Henry Ford) way of thinking and operating. This is the new gold standard for pros across all platforms. This thing is spectacular.

I think it will also help usher in a new era for Final Cut and Logic, helping them ascend back into pro workflows and professional post houses, and even Hollywood. They crushed it.

Can’t wait to get my hands on one.

 

[Jetfire]

Phenomenal machine. I'm just curious as to what the price tops out at. I know it's not geared towards people like me but i'm guessing like $40K

Go to Dell's website and spec out a fully loaded Dell Precision 7920. You can top $100,000. The 1.5 TB Ram might be more than $46,000 alone. That's what I'm going to look at when doing price comparison. Spec out the Dell as close to the Mac. Because A Dell speced the same way is about $3,700.00. Will need to know the exact processor to make it more accurate and everything else. But with an 8-core Xeon, 32 GB ECC Ram, 256 GB SSD, WX 7100 GPU, 10GB Network card, Thunderbolt 3 card, that's what Dell is asking.

FYI, I won't be going full out if I got one. I also just built me a Windows 10 PC. But I'm not happy with my iMac Pro (base model), I need more Ram (got it new for $3,999). Maybe selling it soon but the Mac Pro looks like it's too much. The new Mac Pro seem to have lower Specs the the iMac Pro and costs $1,000 more. The iMac Pro comes with 1 TB SDD vs 256 GB. I washing the Display from the iMac Pro for the case and motherboard in the Mac Pro.

 

[Horselover Fat]

While I like the new Mac Pro, I also see some heavy drawbacks, if they're true:

- no option without proprietary GPUs (audio pros are pros too) – what was the pro workflow team doing?
- no support for standard off the shelf components (GPU, SSDs)?
- no more HDDs?
- no way to swap the boot drive since it's T2?
- 6.000 $ with a 256 GB SSD?

 

[milo]

RAM? Looks like it can be upgraded, but I wonder if Apple is using a special DIMM with special pin-out?

Has Apple ever built a mac pro with non standard memory? And proprietary or not, third parties have offered SSD upgrades for a number of macs, I'd be very surprised if that doesn't happen for this one.

 

[ridgero]

W

What are you using now?

Windows, Ryzen 2700 and Cubase

I want to switch to OSX and Logic.

Buying an iMac i9 with 1 TB SSD, 8 GB RAM and upgrading to 64 GB (2x 32 GB, giving me the option to later update to 128 GB. Costs me about 3.500 Euro.