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ATI 5000 Series and GeForce GTX 480 Drivers Hint at Desktop Mac Updates

Matrixfan said:
I have been wanting a backlit desktop keyboard from Apple for years so I second that.
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Here's another person waiting for one, but it will probably never happen. I'll even accept it when it comes with a cable. And even when it costs around $200

p.s. The Mac Pro update should be a huge one, or I'll stick to my 2009 octo with the ATI Radion 5970
 
shanmugam said:
remember currently iMac high end uses $200 CPU, 6 core CPU is currently going on $999

so no way unless apple going AMD route :p
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And the new Westmere-based 6-core Xeons are way expensive, so, be careful what you wish for. If Apple upgrades the Mac Pro right now, there would have to be a jump in price. Apple may be waiting for an Intel price reduction before they upgrade. Based on past experience, that may be September-October.
 
jnpy!$4g3cwk said:
And the new Westmere-based 6-core Xeons are way expensive, so, be careful what you wish for. If Apple upgrades the Mac Pro right now, there would have to be a jump in price. Apple may be waiting for an Intel price reduction before they upgrade. Based on past experience, that may be September-October.
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Yeah. The iMac update is the most likely one to be refreshed first.
 
DoFoT9 said:
Don't get your hopes up :( the MP is a workhorse not a show pony lol. Twould be nice!
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Who said "work" would not benefit from more than two monitors? :confused: I'm sure many people dream of the ability to have 3+ monitors in their office.
 
Max(IT) said:
How can this news be rated as NEGATIVE ??? :confused:
Trolls never rests :rolleyes:
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I bet there are people out there that just scroll down, clicking negative on each story they see. Really, that's the only explination I can think of for things like this, and for the Steam release on OSX...
 
jnpy!$4g3cwk said:
And the new Westmere-based 6-core Xeons are way expensive, so, be careful what you wish for. If Apple upgrades the Mac Pro right now, there would have to be a jump in price. Apple may be waiting for an Intel price reduction before they upgrade. Based on past experience, that may be September-October.
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The Westmere Xeons are barely, if at all, different in price from the processors they replaced. Only three, of the six, processors Apple currently used are replaced by 6 core versions though. The other three have been replaced by faster quad core versions. Intel rarely alter prices on Xeon processors, they just replace them with newer models. The last price change was to the 5300 series in 2007, 8 months after launch.
 
Master Chief said:
Here's another person waiting for one, but it will probably never happen. I'll even accept it when it comes with a cable. And even when it costs around $200.
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Just out of curiosity, what is the usage scenario that makes this so important?

p.s. The Mac Pro update should be a huge one, or I'll stick to my 2009 octo with the ATI Radion 5970
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You will probably be disappointed. Any upgrade Apple can offer right now will be modest compared to what you already have.

Just out of curiosity, what are you doing right now that is so CPU/GPU performance limited? Most people would benefit more from adding memory or adding SSD drives...
 
I've being waiting since last december for a Mac Pro update. But now I just invested in more memory and HDs so I would immediately buy a new graphic card for my aging Mac Pro 2x2.8. Not necessarily for gaming, but I wouldn't mind better gaming either. I want more graphic memory and more horse power for hardware rendering. For me a 5770 1gb at around $250 from my 2600 XT 256 would be fine as I don't want to invest $1800 in the Nvidia Pro option or $500 on a top and too hot gaming card. But, the 5870 - 50 options wont be out of the question for me as Apple traditionally has gone with the top single gaming cards on the Mac Pros. One last consideration from me is the new Valve influence on Mac gaming and it may produce more and better graphic card options.
 
On the Xeons and the Mac Pro

On the Xeon processors what I can say is that I want all the processing power from CPUs for software rendering. But since I last got my current Mac Pro 2x2.8 I haven't seen a significant improvement on the same price point. Actually the quadcores i7 can't compete in software rendering with my Mac. And only the recent 6 core i7 will get 20% faster times. But It may be to expensive for me to consider. I don't know when will be the next time we will get 2x or more performance at the same 3K price point like in 2006-2008. Please AMD push Intel back again!!!
 
Hurry!

I've been so for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 400 series, if there's a card coming out standalone I'll buy it immediately. I need to upgrade from the 8800GT, but the 8800GT has been very good on my early 2008 mac Pro.
 
miniroll32 said:
I'm sorry but these are ridiculous assumptions, on a technical level.

Case - Yes, the design is 'old' but since it does its job there is no need for Apple to try and fix it.

Bays - 'just add another row across' ? Never in a million years see 8 bays. Not only because of the lack of room (and design mess), but the total lack of need for most prosumers.

Keyboard - No need for illumination, unlike a mobile platform such as the MBP's.

Cinema Display - with those specs, why not just buy an iMac?

All for 20% less.... You've got to be joking, right?
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Not too ridiculous considering he said dream.

Case: redesign to allow 8 drive bays AND to allow ventilation with filtration so dust doesn't get on everything internally.

Prosumers = photographers with lots of storage needs.

SSD: We all hope the prices will fall to some level that we can afford in the very near future. It will be more likely to be usable for reliable backup that will not be susceptible to being moved such as when it is put away for safe-keeping.

Keyboard: with illumination since keyboard is in the dark most of the time when it's in normal use without having to turn on the room lights.

Cinema display: current 23-inch is just fine. Anything larger can be bought from other sources – for half the price of the ACD.

20% less: I'd like that! It IS a dream, anyway. :D
 
To each is own, but I really want to go back to Windows. These cards came out such a long time ago, and now all this excitement over them because they might be coming to the mac.
 
LIkely Upgrade Timing

The only question is what drives update schedules? If its a particular quarter's financial statements, then the first week of the new quarter is the latest you want because you need time to role them out and make them available in that quarter to have an impact on sales.

If its based on computer buying seasons, we're in the middle of the "for education" season and the next normal buying season (i.e. peak buying habits) is not until the Xmas holiday stretch from Nov on (where they announced the updates last year).

Its going to be interesting to see what they do.
 
Looking forward to a sooner rather than later iMac refresh - my old white G5 iMac died recently and we need a new kitchen computer. Hoping though that the small iMac (if they do a case change) is VESA compatible this time...
 
DoFoT9 said:
thats true. for a while there apple followed their roadmap - but lately its been... nonexistent? :cool:

any ideas?
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Apple sticks to the roadmap for the most part. The MacBook Pros were a little late this year but nothing is out the ordinary.

Arrandale has already seen speed bumped parts for standard voltage. Ultra Low Voltage sees one this fall.
 
Eidorian said:
Apple sticks to the roadmap for the most part. The MacBook Pros were a little late this year but nothing is out the ordinary.

Arrandale has already seen speed bumped parts for standard voltage. Ultra Low Voltage sees one this fall.
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ahh i see. apple better hurry up then, other wise more speed bumps are just around the corner! SURELY they wont wait for another tick.
 
5800 series has been out for almost a year with ATI launching new cards in October; better late than never I guess? Or are we to assume these drivers are for Southern Islands?
 
DoFoT9 said:
ahh i see. apple better hurry up then, other wise more speed bumps are just around the corner! SURELY they wont wait for another tick.
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My Core i5 750 from September 2009 should be enough for the next two years. My video card is already hitting 19 months though.

DesmoPilot said:
5800 series has been out for almost a year with ATI launching new cards in October; better late than never I guess? Or are we to assume these drivers are for Southern Islands?
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Southern Islands isn't concrete. I've heard that AMD wants to get it out this year but it appears that more effort is being placed on Fusion parts. They inched into Q4 2010 from 2011 in just the past few weeks. There is also handful of new sockets coming from AMD as well. It's a bigger change than AM2+ to AM3.
 
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