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Mac Pro-Still worth it?

T

theapplefreak

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 15, 2008
190
0
Do you think the Mac Pro hardware is sorta out dated? Like are the parts by now sorta over priced?
Just a question. I'm not complete geek here, but wondering.

And how about by Christmas?
 
I would say they are already overpriced by now (they would have been within a month or so after they were released) but the important thing is that there may not be updates till Q2 2010. So, until then, they are the newest and best (some '08 systems are probably better) and the "overpriced-ness" of the parts can only go up if not stay the same. :)
 
ssri1983 said:
I would say they are already overpriced by now (they would have been within a month or so after they were released) but the important thing is that there may not be updates till Q2 2010. So, until then, they are the newest and best (some '08 systems are probably better) and the "overpriced-ness" of the parts can only go up if not stay the same. :)
Click to expand...

Do you think they'll still be worth 2300 on a Quad Core Mac Pro?
In Christmas?
 
I'm very naive, but I'm seriously thinking of buying a MacBook Pro 17" so I'm intrigued by the topic of this thread. Why is the value of this computer in question? When was it first issued? What is a Quad Core Mac Pro? :confused:

I've posted only about the iphone on this site, so this is my first post about an Apple computer.
 
warburg said:
I'm very naive, but I'm seriously thinking of buying a MacBook Pro 17" so I'm intrigued by the topic of this thread. Why is the value of this computer in question? When was it first issued? What is a Quad Core Mac Pro? :confused:

I've posted only about the iphone on this site, so this is my first post about an Apple computer.
Click to expand...

The Quad core Mac Pro is the base model of the higher end desktop mackintosh. It has a Xeon processor (one (quad), two (octo)). The current model was released in March '09.

http://www.apple.com/macpro/
 
Hello.
If you're posing the question "Is it worth it?" in the first place, probably not.

Worth upgrading from an '08 8-core? probably not.

Worth upgrading from an '06 quad core? depends.

Worth upgrading from a G5? probably!

The '09 quad core is going to take a lot of heat for being "worth it" because every armchair general out there is going to compare it to an i7 homebuilt.
Which it is not. It is a Nehalem XEON-based workstation with an outstanding layout, great acoustics, solid case, a powerful and stable power supply and a lot of time spent getting the details all sorted out.

The '09 8-core is a dual socket Nehalem XEON workstation board with two quad XEON CPUs, six channel memory, an outstanding layout, acoustics, case, power supply, etc...

Both variants can legally run OSX (as well as Windows or anything else) if that's important to you.

Both variants are solidly built, warrantied, supported, stable, quiet and outstanding performers.

If you intend to use one in a semi or fully professional setting for Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Final Cut or other intensive Digital Content Creation task, they are hard to beat. Impossible to beat for legally running Final Cut or Logic Studio.

If you intend to use one for Internet browsing, word processing or checking email, they are a poor value for these and other less-demanding tasks.
They are also a poor value for running Windows-based games or for getting bragging rights to a high 3D Mark score.


Still liking my '06 quad for now,
Keri


PS. You will find no shortage of people that claim they can build a FAR SUPERIOR system for half the price (or less).
No They Can't. ;)
 
theapplefreak said:
Do you think they'll still be worth 2300 on a Quad Core Mac Pro?
In Christmas?
Click to expand...

Prices on the hardware the Mac Pro uses won't change much during it's lifetime, nor will the prices Apple charge. The big changes tend to be new graphics cards comming out, though for OS X they tend to come out a long time later. As ssri1983 pointed out though, it is already overpriced compared to the same sort of hardware from other companies.
 
I've been thinking on getting a quad-core Mac Pro or an iMac and as a consumer who goes about as deep into iPhoto and iMovie and Lightroom and Photoshop as you can, the Mac Pro MIGHT be worth it. But I kinda doubt it's worth it unless you are heavily into Final Cut or After Effects or you just HAVE to have external monitors and the ability to upgrade internally.

Someone on the boards here told me that the Mac Pro on the consumer side is for people who like to keep their systems as long as possible, and upgrading beyond obsoleteness. That's pretty much the only way a $2400 system is worth it.
 
just got to throw this out, first time poster, been reading the forums for a year, love it!

Ive got another year and a half at college for design, planning on trading my 3 1/2 year old Macbook Pro and Gaming computer to my parents for a Mac Pro around christmas time. Would this be a worthy trade for a design student/gamer?

Ive been reading the forums this summer and people complaining about the "value" of the 09 Mac Pro. Is it really that bad?

edit: my apologies for stealing the thread a bit...
 
Granturismo said:
j
Ive got another year and a half at college for design, planning on trading my 3 1/2 year old Macbook Pro and Gaming computer to my parents for a Mac Pro around christmas time. Would this be a worthy trade for a design student/gamer?

Ive been reading the forums this summer and people complaining about the "value" of the 09 Mac Pro. Is it really that bad?
Click to expand...

Hi granturismo.

Welcome to the Forum!

People will complain about the "value" of every single Apple product. Ignore them. They're just jealous!
They'd complain about "value" if the Mac Pro was given away for 25% under manufacturing cost. (like many non-Apple computers that end up sold at close-out prices)

Here's what you need to decide:

If you're a design student and prefer Mac OS, the Mac Pro is the way to go for any number of creative disciplines. Especially ones that require a lot of "Rendering" such as Video Editing, 3D, etc...

If you're a serious Gamer, the Mac Pro is not especially your best option due to the lack of videocard selection. Otherwise it's a strong system if you don't mind not having the absolute top 3DMark scores.

The Mac Pro is a solidly built work of art inside and out. It's also an extremely capable computer that's extremely stable, quiet and unobtrusive.

It's basically a workstation. Do not compare it to normal desktop systems, it isn't one. When you compare it to other serious workstations, the value doesn't seem bad at all.

One thing it does have for now is resale value. Eventually I'm sure it will go the way of the G5 PowerMac but right now used ones still retain a lot of their value.


Have Fun
Keri
 
People can debate the values of these machines bitterly for hours, and on this forum, they do, but it's this simple: if you want an OS X machine that you can add hard drives to internally or run more than two displays, or run larger quantities of RAM, or run two optical drives, it's your only choice. You could go the route of a hackintosh, but unless you're the sort of person into switching graphics cards and overclocking - tinkering with your machine at great length - you won't want to bother.

For my part, I would say my computer use has actually shifted from mobile to being a desktop user, as I've done more and more photography and video editing. For what you want to do, it should be more than adequate. And you can upgrade to a nicer graphics card, or boot windows if you want to.

As for the hardware, it may be overpriced to a lot of people, but it is not outdated. It'll start to be outdated right before they release the new one, when a new microarchitecture is out.
 
theapplefreak said:
Do you think the Mac Pro hardware is sorta out dated? Like are the parts by now sorta over priced?
Just a question. I'm not complete geek here, but wondering.

And how about by Christmas?
Click to expand...

I guess you're talking about the 2009 Mac Pro models? Nope, not outdated at all. They're right in Apple's planned product cycle with new machines about to be served up. The 2009 models were overpriced (between $1k and $2K spread across the base prices) from the get-go though - I guess they're more over-priced now that the distribution channels for similar/equivalent parts are nice and saturated.

When Apple releases whatever it is they have planned for their 2010 lineup they'll be as much at the forefront of the planned-obsolencence curve as all the other VARs and etc. (I just hope they don't overprice it again this time!)



.
 
Tesselator said:
When Apple releases whatever it is they have planned for their 2010 lineup they'll be as much at the forefront of the planned-obsolescence curve as all the other VARs and etc. (I just hope they don't overprice it again this time!
Click to expand...

Same here! Although I think now that Apple raised prices they would keep them hovering in that area... But Apple did lower the MacBook to $1K, so one never knows...

Also, part of me is thinking that they might swap firmwares like they did for the 2008 model - only this time to the new UEFI (custom for OS control) from EFI 1.1.

Just a thought.
 
Tesselator said:
When Apple releases whatever it is they have planned for their 2010 lineup they'll be as much at the forefront of the planned-obsolencence curve as all the other VARs and etc. (I just hope they don't overprice it again this time!).
Click to expand...
I'm with Dr.Pants on this one. Now that the MSRP's are where they are, I wouldn't expect a sudden shift the other way. :rolleyes: :(

Not that MP users shouldn't hope for lower prices on the 2010 models, but I wouldn't "bet the farm on it" as the saying goes. :p
 
nanofrog said:
I'm with Dr.Pants on this one. Now that the MSRP's are where they are, I wouldn't expect a sudden shift the other way. :rolleyes: :(

Not that MP users shouldn't hope for lower prices on the 2010 models, but I wouldn't "bet the farm on it" as the saying goes. :p
Click to expand...

Yup, agree totally.
 
The system/chip price Apple tries to pull on the quad Mac Pros disgusts me. Regardless of how much they say it cost them to "develop", there should never be this much profit margin on a professional product. If you compare today's MP to one from 2006, one could easily get TWO of the 2009 Xeon 3200 series CPUs for the same price as ONE of the original dual core Xeons. I'm not trying to complain here, but the fact that they also ridiculously overcharge on BTO options like a RAID card ($700, seriously?) just aggravates me. I miss the days when a MP could actually be a good value, and not just a novelty workstation only for the people who can justify throwing money at Apple. Don't get me wrong, I have a 2009 quad and love it to death, but only because I got it for $1,500 on craigslist.
 
Techhie said:
The system/chip price Apple tries to pull on the quad Mac Pros disgusts me. Regardless of how much they say it cost them to "develop", there should never be this much profit margin on a professional product. If you compare today's MP to one from 2006, one could easily get TWO of the 2009 Xeon 3200 series CPUs for the same price as ONE of the original dual core Xeons. I'm not trying to complain here, but the fact that they also ridiculously overcharge on BTO options like a RAID card ($700, seriously?) just aggravates me. I miss the days when a MP could actually be a good value, and not just a novelty workstation only for the people who can justify throwing money at Apple. Don't get me wrong, I have a 2009 quad and love it to death, but only because I got it for $1,500 on craigslist.
Click to expand...
This has been discussed extensively in multiple threads, and your view is shared by many here. ;)

The only power users have, is to vote with their wallets. A simple concept, but not necessarily as easy as it seems, as it means switching applications as well. Software cost can easily exceed the machine, and by a substantial amount. So it's up to the individual user to determing which is the best path to take financially. It's going to be a rough time for some users, especially if there may be no choice in the end. So timing would be critical.
 
nanofrog said:
Not that MP users shouldn't hope for lower prices on the 2010 models, but I wouldn't "bet the farm on it" as the saying goes. :p
Click to expand...

Maybe the refurbs will be slightly generous in pricing. :rolleyes:

Maybe we should start our own company to sell our own OS for workstation use! Actually keep firmware up-to-date, partner with Adobe, Autodesk, Foundry, and the like for software support (and a pledge that we'll be trying our hardest to keep our customer's machines up-to-date) and design a render-node based off the Cell to process massive amounts of data. :cool:

I think the chances of either happening are about the same :p:D
 
nanofrog said:
No doubt. I certianly don't have that kind of scratch lying around. :p
Click to expand...

Heh. Well, since Solaris isn't going anywhere, we've gotta make our own:D I have the itch to manage a startup like that, but the competition-space means that the fledgling We-Make-Apple-Esque-Computers LLC. would be subjected to all sorts of strain. Especially making an OS, which isn't something done overnight.

I mean, to have an OSX-like-interface and UNIX enviroment.... We can steal ZFS for a filesystem :D
 
Dr.Pants said:
Maybe the refurbs will be slightly generous in pricing. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

The pricing compared to original retail will be nice, but when compared to what you are getting, will still be ridiculous.

It just irks me that Apple promotes itself constantly as being a company catering to "Pros", and yet they make little drawbacks on the MP like the use of substandard DDR3 1066 and a complete crap GPU on their highest end computer. I know they are a company and must operate as such blah blah, but it seems every time I hear someone talk about them I'm reminded of how they value an extra .5% profit margin over the satisfaction of their loyal customers.
 
Dr.Pants said:
Heh. Well, since Solaris isn't going anywhere, we've gotta make our own:D I have the itch to manage a startup like that, but the competition-space means that the fledgling We-Make-Apple-Esque-Computers LLC. would be subjected to all sorts of strain. Especially making an OS, which isn't something done overnight.

I mean, to have an OSX-like-interface and UNIX enviroment.... We can steal ZFS for a filesystem :D
Click to expand...
I wouldn't mind doing something like that myself, but I doubt my programming skills are up to it as they are. I don't know the API's well enough to make a nice UI, as I work with Hardware Description Languages (VHDL for example). The API's are components/gates/functions, not things that are made to create a "UI Button". :p

Techhie said:
... I hear someone talk about them I'm reminded of how they value an extra .5% profit margin over the satisfaction of their loyal customers.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, this is apparently what it's all about for Apple. :( Margins. Obscene ones at that. :eek: :p
 
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