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Speaking of....

Since we do have to buy a Mac Pro before the end of the year... should I consider getting a used one somewhere for cheap instead of plopping down $3499 on a brand new dual 4 core?

Just get one of the last or current models of the Mac Pro.

Although the Mac Pro looks like a nice machine to have, it still seem crazy to me to drop 4-5k on a machine that will be outperformed by a MacBook Pro or iMac a year or a year and a half later for a fraction of the price.

And that's not even considering the MBP and iMac both come with keyboard, mouse or trackpad, monitor and speakers.

I see it as you're not really paying for the power, but for having that power 1/1.5 year in advance. And it seems like people buying Mac Pros don't upgrade every year, a lot of them plan to keep theirs for like 5 years, so it doesn't make sense to me.

For the same price, you could buy the best iMac every year and resell it, and you would end up:
1) Having a more powerful machine on average
2) Paying less
3) Always having a warranty
4) Getting the cool new stuff first (Thunderbolt, 27" IPS display, FaceTime HD...)

So unless you work requires you to have power that can't be achieved with a high-end iMac/MBP right now, and that you also upgrade/change your Mac Pro every 2 years or less, I see no point in buying it.

Am I missing something?

How does a machine that cannot have its RAM increased to as much as 32GB qualify as being more powerful?
 
You really should brush up on CPU specs (not megahertz) and compare what your G5 is capable of vs. a Core I5 or I7.

WAT? No way a Mac Mini can run Safari, Mail, iTunes, InDesign (with about 15 windows open), Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat, Suitcase, Preview, Image Grab, Transport, QuarkXpress, and Remote Desktop Connection without dying.
 
16 cores at 2.6GHZ!!! :eek::eek::eek: HOLY **** STICKS! Man that would fly, but I can also guarantee people on here will max it out.. Lets hope we get that redesign?

Hmmm, I don't think the new MacBook Pro's next year will match them :D
 
Last gen (early 2011) MBP apparently outperformed some 2010 Mac Pro configurations in Geekbench.

Link

That's crazy stuff.

it is not crazy. The entry level 2010 Mac pro is using 2009 era processor tech. A Xeon E3530 which is a just a clock bump of the E3520 that the 2009 Mac Pro shipped with. The flaw is Intel's release last year in 2010 for the Xeon E3600 series. Namely, it consisted of just one model ( E3680 ). So only the top end of the single package Mac Pro got a core technology bump last year.

I'm not sure what folks want Apple to do in that case (and no; shipping a minitower isn't the hand wavy answer). They cranked up the clock speed a bit but the current entry level Mac Pro model is a complete tick+tock cycle back from the Sandy Bridge cores. It should be surpising that it has troubles keeping up.


If folks bother to look at the dual package models and the top end single package model the 2010 Mac Pros still have performance margin on top of the 2011 iMacs and quad MBPs.
 
it's been so long since the Pro got updated I'm fairly concerned it will just be phased out completely. The revenue stream has to be nonexistent for the Mac Pro at this point, and compared to the popular consumer line, is it relevant for Apple to pursue anymore?
 
it's been so long since the Pro got updated I'm fairly concerned it will just be phased out completely. The revenue stream has to be nonexistent for the Mac Pro at this point, and compared to the popular consumer line, is it relevant for Apple to pursue anymore?

Yes it is. Next question.
 
largely unimpressive, i have a friend who just built his own (pc) 16 core, 32gb RAM, 256 solid state, 2 1tb HDD's for 5000. apple is lucky to have OSX or i would have switched back by now
 
I'm quite due for a new main computer, but whenever I try to convince myself to just buy an iMac I end up seeing the final cost and the lack of expansion for PCIe&USB3, the 4HDD bays, space for SSD, ability to use my 3 existing and excellent monitors, and I put it off until the Mac Pro refresh.

Give me a $2500 3.6 quad base option and I'll buy one.
 
What a strange lineup of processors.

It's interesting how the clock speed of CPU's is going down in most cases not up.

It's a shame there's no dual CPU configuration of chips running at over 3GHz purely from a promotional and psychological standpoint.

I have a top of the line dual quad-core 2.93Ghz 2009 Mac Pro - it would be interesting to see how it would fare against the entry level 12 core set up, or the entry level single cpu 6 core setup. It just feels strange taking steps backwards in CPU clock.

Why don't they offer the quad core 3.6Ghz CPU in a dual CPU configuration just for kicks? I'm presuming that CPU would have a turbo around 4Ghz?

Still holding out hope that the full package turns out promising. Be nice to have some top of the line GPUs to choose from and a new enclosure.

Scott
 
What a strange lineup of processors.

It's interesting how the clock speed of CPU's is going down in most cases not up.

It's a shame there's no dual CPU configuration of chips running at over 3GHz purely from a promotional and psychological standpoint.

I have a top of the line dual quad-core 2.93Ghz 2009 Mac Pro - it would be interesting to see how it would fare against the entry level 12 core set up, or the entry level single cpu 6 core setup. It just feels strange taking steps backwards in CPU clock.

Why don't they offer the quad core 3.6Ghz CPU in a dual CPU configuration just for kicks? I'm presuming that CPU would have a turbo around 4Ghz?

Still holding out hope that the full package turns out promising. Be nice to have some top of the line GPUs to choose from and a new enclosure.

Scott

Did you see the Dell specs I posted above? Dual 6 core 3.4ghz
 
With the processing power of the latest 2600Ks and what's coming next, Apple should avoid Xeons at least on one model of Mac Pro. In single processor setups, these things are way more expensive, and offer virtually no gain in performance compared to a regular i7.
 
It appears there's many more CPUs apple could choose from.. note the different memory speeds also.

I see an 8 core 3.1Ghz CPU down there.

Xeon E5-2603 4 4 1.8 GHz 10 MB DDR3-1066 80 Watt
Xeon E5-2609 4 4 2.4 GHz 10 MB DDR3-1066 80 Watt
Xeon E5-2620 6 12 2 GHz 15 MB DDR3-1333 95 Watt
Xeon E5-2630 6 12 2.3 GHz 15 MB DDR3-1333 95 Watt
Xeon E5-2630L 6 12 2 GHz 15 MB DDR3-1333 60 Watt
Xeon E5-2637 2 4 3 GHz 5 MB DDR3-1600 80 Watt
Xeon E5-2640 6 12 2.5 GHz 15 MB DDR3-1333 95 Watt
Xeon E5-2643 4 8 3.3 GHz 10 MB DDR3-1600 130 Watt
Xeon E5-2650 8 16 2 GHz 20 MB DDR3-1600 95 Watt
Xeon E5-2650L 8 16 1.8 GHz 20 MB DDR3-1600 70 Watt
Xeon E5-2660 8 16 2.2 GHz 20 MB DDR3-1600 95 Watt
Xeon E5-2665 8 16 2.4 GHz 20 MB DDR3-1600 115 Watt
Xeon E5-2667 6 12 2.9 GHz 15 MB DDR3-1600 130 Watt
Xeon E5-2670 8 16 2.6 GHz 20 MB DDR3-1600 115 Watt
Xeon E5-2680 8 16 2.7 GHz 20 MB DDR3-1600 130 Watt
Xeon E5-2687W 8 16 3.1 GHz 20 MB DDR3-1600 150 Watt
Xeon E5-2690 8 16 2.9 GHz 20 MB DDR3-1600 135 Watt
 
it's such a shame Apple are dropping the Mac Pro... but then, they don't care about it or it's market [discuss]
 
I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic, but...
* Your dual 2.5GHz G5 barely holds a candle to my MBP 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo from 2006.
* Your dual 2.5GHz G5 gets smoked by my MBP 2.66GHz Core i7 (dual core) from 2010. SMOKED.

I really hope you're being sarcastic about clock speeds...

I remember the days when I thought a higher clock speed was the way to determine if upgrade's worthwhile. Must have been over 2 years ago when I lost that way of thinking-that'd be when I was 16... :cool:
 
Sweet Jesus. I can't wait. My lab currently uses a PowerMac G4 [with 1.5 whole GB of RAM], but is going to upgrade to the newest MacPro [we upgrade every ~7 years; earlier this year we got two new iMacs].

If anyone here has ever used IDL on massive amounts of data, you'll understand my pain. [I'm talking .txt/.xdr files that are roughly 500MB each. Reading them line by line.]

Needless to say, it'll be nice to run Lion [and the new IDL] on a machine with essentially 32 cores and a cool 64GB of RAM.

I fully expect to become at least twice as productive, now that I don't have to limit myself to a two IDL programs at a time.

Your lab should just buy base level mac minis with the 7200rpm drive upgrade and carry over the monitors and keyboards.
 
With the processing power of the latest 2600Ks and what's coming next, Apple should avoid Xeons at least on one model of Mac Pro. In single processor setups, these things are way more expensive, and offer virtually no gain in performance compared to a regular i7.

I would love to see them offer a model with an i7 2600 for sub $2k, preferably around $1,500. With every generation the base price of the Mac Pro has gone up. In the G4 days they were $1,600, G5 $2,000 and now Intel Xeon $2,500.

I just want a desktop, that is a Mac, that doesn't have a screen, is upgradable and is very powerful. I'm at the point of building a hackintosh for sub $1,000 which I know will blow any Mac in the price range away but I hate the idea of having to support my own computer and it not "just working" which is why I use Macs to begin with...
 
it's such a shame Apple are dropping the Mac Pro... but then, they don't care about it or it's market [discuss]

Sorry but I don't see them dropping their 'pro' desktops just like they won't drop their 'pro' notebooks.

Consumer:
Macbook Air
Mac Mini
iMac

Professional
Macbook Pro
Mac Pro

Actually I'd go as far as to say the 13" Macbook Pro should be a consumer model or wiped off the lineup.

The Mac Pro isn't going anywhere. It's the only high end option for Mac users, and Apple has such a strong foot hold on the creative industry that they would be doing themselves a massive disservice by dropping the Mac Pro. I just don't see it happening. I really don't. I expect them to do something with the enclosure to make it more appealing to drive up sales, and I expect that they would be getting special pricing from Intel to keep the costs down compared to the prices listed in the OP.
 
Although the Mac Pro looks like a nice machine to have, it still seem crazy to me to drop 4-5k on a machine that will be outperformed by a MacBook Pro or iMac a year or a year and a half later for a fraction of the price.

And that's not even considering the MBP and iMac both come with keyboard, mouse or trackpad, monitor and speakers.

I see it as you're not really paying for the power, but for having that power 1/1.5 year in advance. And it seems like people buying Mac Pros don't upgrade every year, a lot of them plan to keep theirs for like 5 years, so it doesn't make sense to me.

For the same price, you could buy the best iMac every year and resell it, and you would end up:
1) Having a more powerful machine on average
2) Paying less
3) Always having a warranty
4) Getting the cool new stuff first (Thunderbolt, 27" IPS display, FaceTime HD...)

So unless you work requires you to have power that can't be achieved with a high-end iMac/MBP right now, and that you also upgrade/change your Mac Pro every 2 years or less, I see no point in buying it.

Am I missing something?

You sound more like a Mac enthusiast rather than someone who wants a work horse to get a job done The TB, shiny monitor, unserviceable hard drive, non replaceable GPU and really hot running processor don't appeal to everyone.
 
TwitchOSX - you clearly have never heard of the megahertz myth or how current CPU technology works.. maybe you should commit 5 minutes of educating yourself on it before making such idiotic claims.
 
A bit confusing

aren't the current prices off? Shouldn't they be:

$2499
$3499
$4999

I think the article divided up both single and dual processor configurations in low-mid-high range and not by Apple's three base configurations. So today's pricing would be:

Single: Low $2499 - Mid $2899 - High $3699
Dual: Low $3499 - Mid $4999 - High $6199
 
It appears there's many more CPUs apple could choose from.. note the different memory speeds also.

I see an 8 core 3.1Ghz CPU down there.

I don't think they will put 150 W processors in the Mac Pro ever. The wattage is going down if anything.
 
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