If Apple is actually doing timely updates, then we might see GPU upgrade next year with Arcturus based one, then move straight to Sappire Rapids with pci 5.0 and DDR5 in 2021. Ice Lake is going to have pci 4.0 but looks like it will only last a year and still have DDR4, so might not have much reason to upgrade to that platform.
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Apple Reveals All-New Mac Pro With Up to 28-Core Processor and 1.5TB of RAM, Starting at $5,999
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If Apple is actually doing timely updates, then we might see GPU upgrade next year with Arcturus based one, then move straight to Sappire Rapids with pci 5.0 and DDR5 in 2021. Ice Lake is going to have pci 4.0 but looks like it will only last a year and still have DDR4, so might not have much reason to upgrade to that platform.
They will likely load up a windows OS or a linux OS instead and switch away from Mac OSx with that machine. The T2 chip may make upgrading the Mac Pro a big headache. It is likely to keep component prices high because there will be no second sources - no competition.
But don't let me spoil your enthusiasm. When you buy yours you should be happy.
It was the rare bird who could afford the IBM PC back in 1984, at least for "personal" use. I had access to machines like that as well as some early Apple machines back then - but at work. I had also been working with PDP-11 mini-computers which ran ran around 20K at the low end - at work. The most expensive desktop I ever had on my desk - at work - was a DEC Alpha workstation in 1996, which ran $12000. I think perhaps you are onto something in that this new Mac Pro is really designed for high end graphics rendering, etc., for businesses. It's pushing the price threshold for most hobbyists and home computer enthusiasts. Which is okay, since this is a "PRO" machine. That is where its market will be made or broken.
I'm not sure there are that many "who have been waiting for this" that are still around. I have friends that spend a lot of their working day in Adobe Premiere and After Effects. They have jumped ship years ago to be able to speed up their work day significantly.
If you have stuck with your old Pro for a looong time by now, how much have you really needed a boost in performance? The solution has been on 'the other side of the fence' for quite some time at a reasonable price.
I get that there are people with very specific needs, but the vast majority of really power hungry apps are available on both platforms and behave as good as identical on both.
If you have stuck with your old Pro for a looong time by now, how much have you really needed a boost in performance? The solution has been on 'the other side of the fence' for quite some time at a reasonable price.
I get that there are people with very specific needs, but the vast majority of really power hungry apps are available on both platforms and behave as good as identical on both.
Yeah but if we tell the audio peeps this machine also good for gaming maybe that will close the deal! ; )
LOL. Easy solution. OWC Thunderbay. I have two of them with 52TB of storage. They work great!
Tim is, if nothing else, analytical. If anyone feels excluded from this product, that is by design.
Support and performance are different things though. Also I read elsewhere people saying that TensorFlow and Pytorch still exclusively support CUDA (not sure how important this is).
i've been waiting for some years to replace my 2012 tower. i use it for ProTools, with a card, so i appreciate that this new form factor can accomodate it.
but i guess i would have to shell out for a TB-enclosure for my audio drives.
i do wonder if apple will, in a years' time or so, announce a smaller form-factor (Mac Pro Jr?) that isn't so concentrated on graphics editing. again, the mac pro seems to cater more towards video pros than (say) audio or software developement.
i sure don't need anything more than a typical graphics card, i need CPU and RAM.
i don't care about looks, as function > form for such a tool, but i think it looks fine.
but i guess i would have to shell out for a TB-enclosure for my audio drives.
i do wonder if apple will, in a years' time or so, announce a smaller form-factor (Mac Pro Jr?) that isn't so concentrated on graphics editing. again, the mac pro seems to cater more towards video pros than (say) audio or software developement.
i sure don't need anything more than a typical graphics card, i need CPU and RAM.
i don't care about looks, as function > form for such a tool, but i think it looks fine.
So is that a complaint about people complaining. Hmmmmmmm. I guess you would complain regardless of whether the complaints had merit or not.
Just drop it. Apple have not released Mac Pros for 6 years. Do you think Intel was waiting all these years to release new versions? Besides, Apple is a much less important customer to Intel than HP and Dell. Those buy way more processors from Intel.
It's an important part of a computer for SOUND ENTHUSIASTS. Just as high end graphics cards are important for GAMERS AND GRAPHICS ENTHUSIASTS. If you don't care about high end sound reproduction, you don't care about high end wired headphones for connecting to high end DAC devices through the <drum roll> headphone jack. But you are correct, it isn't the most important part of a computer. It's just really nice for sound, and if you have a high end computer to which you can add nice sound hardware sans bluetooth latency issues, just put a headphone jack in it. That goes for phones and tablets as well.
"Apple says the new Mac Pro starts at $5,999 in the United States with an eight-core Intel Xeon processor, 32GB of ECC RAM, AMD WX 7100 graphics, and 256GB of SSD storage and will be available to order in the fall."
Oh, COME ON! Only 256 GB?!? Seriously?!?
Oh, COME ON! Only 256 GB?!? Seriously?!?
Looks like a great machine for high-end pro users, including its 1.5 TB max RAM, numerous PCIe slots, and ability to handle four high-TDP GPU's. And I really like the lift-off cover. I don't know if Afterburner offers performance that's difficult to obtain with Windows/NVIDIA workstations, but if it does that's certainly an excellent way for Apple to distinguish its product from the latter.
My one criticism (and this is something I anticipated would be an issue, prior to the announcement) is that most companies that produce workstations for pro users understand that they're not a monolithic user group (i.e., there's a wide range of needs there) and thus, sensibly, produce more than one form factor (essentially, a larger box and a smaller box) to accommodate that range of requirements. Optimally, then, Apple would have offered two form factors as well. Given this machine's high capabilities, an obvious second form factor would be a smaller (but still modular/upgradeable) box that accommodated a maximum of two (instead of four) high-TDP GPU's (this by itself would reduce the TDP requirement by 500W), along with sensible corresponding reductions in other max specs, at a correspondingly lower base price.
And it's not as if Apple doesn't understand this concept. After all, they produce each of the MacBook Pro, iMac, iPad Pro, and iPhone in two (or more) form factors.
Perhaps they'll produce a smaller form factor in the future. I suspect much of the design work (and thus design cost) done for this machine could be used to engineer a smaller box.
My one criticism (and this is something I anticipated would be an issue, prior to the announcement) is that most companies that produce workstations for pro users understand that they're not a monolithic user group (i.e., there's a wide range of needs there) and thus, sensibly, produce more than one form factor (essentially, a larger box and a smaller box) to accommodate that range of requirements. Optimally, then, Apple would have offered two form factors as well. Given this machine's high capabilities, an obvious second form factor would be a smaller (but still modular/upgradeable) box that accommodated a maximum of two (instead of four) high-TDP GPU's (this by itself would reduce the TDP requirement by 500W), along with sensible corresponding reductions in other max specs, at a correspondingly lower base price.
And it's not as if Apple doesn't understand this concept. After all, they produce each of the MacBook Pro, iMac, iPad Pro, and iPhone in two (or more) form factors.
Perhaps they'll produce a smaller form factor in the future. I suspect much of the design work (and thus design cost) done for this machine could be used to engineer a smaller box.
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Please.
PCIe 3, when PCIe 4 launches next month.
A 2 year old video card that sells for less than $200.
Who is going to pair an 8 core CPU with 1.5 TB of RAM?
At least they are whining about the actual subject at hand and not at other people’s opinions. For real?
it wasnt an exact comparison. When the thing release we can do exact spec matches. History will show that the prices are comparable.
This was covered in the notes at the bottom of the Mac Pro page - they are using preproduction Xeons for their results.
I am really curious to find out what causes the price so high! Is it because of trade war tariffs? or are these being build in the USA?