This could be a turning point for Apple which has been sailing "insanely high" on mobile computing. For the company who seemed to be so concerned about changing the world (Tim Cook speech today), they are allowing the biodiversity of their product ecosystem to wither here. The Mac Pro can't sell itself. Apple management is blinded by the new nimble quick-reaction paradigm of management. It will be impossible to fix the damage when users vote no on dated Mac Pro specs, and self-fulfilling prophecy when Cook then quickly pulls the plug in a snap maneuver. Fast forward a year when the market figures out that docked notebooks are not for heavy thermal grinding tasks and wants new towers. Too late.
And call me crazy but this is sort of why I sold my AAPL stock when I made a nice profit. I see a "bubble" in sight and I'm ok with that. As of late, it has become way to trendy for me and I don't want to be on the bubble when it pops. What Apple has done is amazing but they have ignored there pro market a touch.
It seems that they are more so concerned with all the iDevices because of the huge market share they have and the Mac has been kicked to the corner. Believe me, as a business owner myself, I would focus on the profitable aspects as well but the Mac is what defined this company.
Ok, rambling...All I'm saying is, I wish they would show the mac a little more love.
I agree. We'll have to see if they get one more everybody-has-to-have-this-expensive-but-cool-TV consumer rush. But after that, I just don't see any new amazing product niches for Apple to fill and the stock climb has to level off. Of course "level-off" in a market with such insane expectations would be the equivalent of a "burst bubble". And if they allow Mac Pro to crumble there won't be any back-to-basics stuff to rely on. Cook described the new Retina MacBook Pro as Apple's new "Flagship". That also makes me nervous. Guess I'll shop around a little for some 2009 Mac Pro spare parts.
BS. Truly, unbelievable baloney. You can't be serious.
I can build an $900 box that will cream the $2,500 base MAc Pro
in Pro apps. You have absolutely no credibility.
Please check what you're regurgitating from 9to5 for heaven's sake!!
Radeon 5770? A 3 year old card? Look, Apple does not always use the latest and greatest, but to reuse the same card that's been the entry-level in the Mac Pro since 2010 would be a new low.
3.2GHz quad-core processor? There is no such processor in the Sandy Bridge Xeon line-up. There is a 3.2 Quad core Nehalem, but you can buy it right now in the 2010 Mac Pro.
It's more likely to be a 3.6 GHz Quad (E5-1620) or the 3.2 Hex (E5-1650)
2.4GHz 12-core ? There is no such thing in the model line-up that one would expect Apple to use
In the Sandy Bridge Xeon line-up you can get a 2.4 8 core (E5-2665) , which is ridiculously expensive, thus it would be a 16 core model (2x8) or you can get a 2.3 6 core. The 2.3 6 core (E5-2630) is less than half the price of the 2.4 8 core.
The 2.4 8 core costs about $1440. The 2.3 6 core costs about $612. Thus you won't see the 8 core in the entry-level dual CPU configuration. It's more likely to be a 2.3 12 core using the E5-2630 x 2.
At least try to get the basic facts right. Seriously, you guys.
Edit: I acknowledge that there is an E3 3.2 Quad Core, which was released in April 2011 and there is even an Ivy Bridge E3 3.2 Quad Core released recently, but it wouldn't make sense for Apple to suddenly start using the E3 series. The performance benefit from the 2010 models would not be worth it.
There is a 2.4 GHz 6 core, but it's the E5-4610, which is designed for 4 CPU systems and costs about $1219.
Those processor choices do not make sense based on previous trends.
Edit2: There is another thing that I've completely forgotten about...
The E5 - 24## series and specifically the E5-2440, which is 6 core 2.4 and costs about $832 each and supports dual CPU configurations. The 24## series runs lower TDP than the 26## and is meant to be the more light weight version. But this is designed for servers, rather than workstations, as per Umbongo.
Update:
