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Mac Pro Unavailable for In-Store Reservations at Many Locations

Reserve And Pickup could use improvement

Wow, if that Reserve And Pickup system allowed you to choose BTO options and have the unit delivered to the store for pickup that's absolutely how I'd buy my next Mac. For me the base models are 1) too limited and 2) too overpriced. I like a middle ground with the lower-end base model with some add-ons.
 
No Blu-ray, No sale

Let's hope this is a real update, and not more tech smoke and mirrors trying to cover up the embarrassing and laughable and pathetic three-year old "super" drive burning technology.

People just aren't that stupid any longer.

:apple:
 
"whoa whoa wee wow...I like!"

Pro's are gorgeous!..but the dedicated tower is on the steady decline (coming from a dude who loves custom PC builds for gaming), when you can SPEND LESS and get close to Pro benchmarks + a gorgeous monitor all in one package (27 i7 iMac). Its seems the line between the iMac and Pro is being blurred more and more...as such, I think its completely ridiculous for Apple to place such a high premium on the Pro. If the next iMac features the rumored (lol) GPU upgrades (GTX 4XX, HD 58XX) and even a modest CPU bump, then (IMHO) the reasons to buy a Pro are dwindling quick. Certainly there are much cheaper server options out there, and the 27inch i7 is a great work station. Peace friends!
 
edoates said:
The issue to me is not so much a BluRay device, as FCS improvement to allow BluRay authoring. CS5 Encore doesn't cut it, especially since you need to the whole suite just to get that one piece. DVD SP needs to become BD-SP (whatever). Then the hardware needs to be ready to play Bluray movies (both BD-R that we generate via FCS / Toast / whatever, and commercially pressed movies), and that means HDCP compliant monitors, display cards, etc.

That likely means that BluRay playback to older monitors (like, my 30" ACD) won't work (no HDCP), so new monitors needs to be available, too.

I want BluRay for authoring and limited playback to test production. I watch real movies on a real viewing system.

Eddie O
Click to expand...

Does Encore CS5 even work? CS4 was a disaster for any Blu-ray with more than a single menu. I'm reluctant to upgrade yet to find out.

:apple:
 
PeterQVenkman said:
If they let me put in a hex core, I will be dancing in the streets. blu-Ray or not.


This mac:
6a0120a5580826970c01347fbb924f970c-800wi


http://www.patentlyapple.com/patent...hint-at-a-mini-tower-desktop-with-usb-30.html

Is precisely what many of us want. I don't care what it weighs, just give me power and make it a bit cheaper than the wasteful single quad mac pros.
Click to expand...
I remember this ages ago from HardMac's news. Apple has several layout and design patents that I've been sitting on for an eternity when it comes to desktops. They end up like the BTX layout with more fancy aluminium and hidden, routed cables.

Thomas2006 said:
If the Mac Pro is going off to the Business Store then room will open up for an xMac, and the Intel Core i7-930 will be a good CPU to use. Since Valve has ported Steam to the Mac and games are a big part of the iOS business then Apple should have no problem providing a tower model that is geared more toward the mainstream than professionals and prosumers.
Click to expand...
It's not happening. You'll just go online to the Business Store to order your Mac Pro. The retail store space will probably go to more iPhones.

People with cellphones are still impossible to reach.
 
faroZ06 said:
Will you guys STOP asking about Blu-Ray?! Nobody uses it anymore. The only things that come out on it are Disney stuff and a few things like Avatar. It's overpriced and overrated. It uses high compression H.264 to achieve stunning, crystal clear ragged edges in HIGH DEFINITION (being sarcastic) :p.

A DVD player with upscaler does the job for a lot less $$$ and no loading time.
Click to expand...

1. Get a big screen TV. 50-65".

2. Get a Blu-ray player and any disc of your choice.

3. Find a miracle worker who can restore your eyesight.

Then, and only then, you'll get it.

:apple:
 
xbjllb said:
1. Get a big screen TV. 50-65".

2. Get a Blu-ray player and any disc of your choice.

3. Find a miracle worker who can restore your eyesight.

Then, and only then, you'll get it.

:apple:
Click to expand...
I can't stand anything less than 720p on my 1680 x 1050 display. Thankfully I have a really good CRT TV to watch all the DVDs I get from the library in their glorious 480p with perfect blacks and colors.
 
bawbag said:
This was Steve's quote about Blu Ray in 2008.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/14/steve-jobs-calls-blu-ray-a-bag-of-hurt/

Then again in 2010

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/other/..._Is_Mess_and_Google_Wants_to_Kill_iPhone.html

I think he wants everybody to embrace streaming media in the future
Click to expand...

He'd better plan on becoming King of the Planet then, because the rest of the leaders of the countries of earth aren't about to supply him with a broadband pipeline in this, the Greatest Depression.

:apple:
 
2005CTS said:
What if (and this is random speculation) Apple opted to stop building the Mac Pro and instead built a slightly thicker and beafier iMac Pro that had some expandable slots, additional hard drives and a 30" screen?

It seems that Apple is wanting to simplify their line - and the MacPro is a niche machine relative to the iMac. I think the strategy could work for most buyers. Then they could offer a higher end tower type computer that would appeal to the real business based power users.
Click to expand...

You really don't know the Mac Pro market. If anything, we need mire ports, more expansion slots, eSata connections, BLU ray burners standard, etc. We already have our own monitors and graphics cards. We just want a newer, faster, more expandable box for all our gear to plug into. A new tower is a minor expense in a world where HD ingest cards are thousands and the yearly updates to CS5 and Studio are a few grand as well.
 
BryanBensing said:
It was about time, I really want to replace my 2008 model, but I doubt the prices will be LIKE the 2008 model. As of Blu-Ray I don't think it'll happen ( I think SJ said something about it a couple of weeks ago ) :(
Click to expand...


I want to replace mine too but do I really need to? My MP is still fast for my needs. If anything, I would like to add some SSD's and upgrade the 8800GT GPU to the lastest "compatible" GPU....perhaps from this rumored update?
 
It's too little, too late for me at this point. I think this post may sum up and be of interest to those that are wondering why many professional users, like myself, have decided to leave the Mac Pro. NOTE: I LOVE the Apple Mac Pro and have one that has now been made part of my "render network" but this should be a good read for those asking the question just what would someone do with all that CPU/GPU power?

I am a 3D artist and use many high-end 3D programs that cost between $1,000-3000 each. These include Maxon Cinema 4D, Autodesk Max, ZBrush, Vue Infinite, Poser Pro 2010 and Adobe Photoshop CS5 "Extended".

Now, most of these programs are 64bit and are capable of using as much RAM as you can throw at them. Then the Xeon CPUs REALLY come into play with their multi-cores. Having two 5680 Xeon CPUs with 12 cores and 24GB of memory with an nVidia 480x or professional series graphics card with "CUDA" support and "Shader 3". These types of programs can and will eat as much as you have. If one checks benchmarks such as "Cinebench" and other render testing software you will see where all of this comes into play and it is drastic the difference all of this high-end hardware makes.

What does this mean? A few things, but most important is the amount of material a single scene can handle, rather static or animated and the time it takes to render those scenes. Those two things alone make a LOT of difference in being hindered in what you can do.

The other thing it is worth noting is that nVidia is typically the champ when it comes to best performance for 3D rendering. One reason is some programs will take advantage of specific codecs and processes such as "CUDA". Going with anything other than nVidia for a 3D workstation would not be quite as good and in some cases cripple some features in select 3D programs, which if you spent thousands on is not an option.

Now, lets take this one step further to what I do. Some of those 3D software programs have programs included or sold separately that you can install on other systems dedicated to 3D rendering. You build a "render farm" and those sub-systems are put on your local network. My network, as most high-end 3D artists consists of Cat 6e (NOT 5e) Ethernet and are hard wired connection for best speed and reliability. This means you can setup as many "render nodes" as you want with each one processing a rendering task. A simple way to think of it is something like "SETI at home" where they use your unused CPU cycles to make a large pool of processing power.

There is also another problem with using an Apple Mac computer and that is the fact of some 3D applications work better under Windows 7 64bit. The reason is that is where the majority of their user base is at and therefore more focused on fixing bugs on that platform. If the Mac version does get fixed, which it may or may not, it can be months later. Also, some programs and plug-ins simply are not available on the Mac.

What this means for someone like myself is I am VERY dependent upon new hardware. Since Apple has left the Mac Pro behind with very late product cycles it makes it impossible for me to continue their support. The Macs I have now are relegated to server status for part of my render farm. At this time I have gone back to building my own custom computers and most likely will never go back. For family and others that do not work with programs like this, I would certainly recommend a Mac. But if you are really into 3D art design, then the choice is clear in my opinion.
 
2010 Mac Pro

Hope that Apple new Mac Pro's are coming out soon along with the larger LED Cinema Display, i'm going to sale back my 08 3.2GHz Mac Pro to Apple in the recycle program apple offered me $1650 gift-card and I already saved $13,000 towards my new setup.
 
skyline r34 said:
Hope that Apple new Mac Pro's are coming out soon along with the larger LED Cinema Display, i'm going to sale back my 08 3.2GHz Mac Pro to Apple in the recycle program apple offered me $1650 gift-card and I already saved $13,000 towards my new setup.
Click to expand...

Toss some of that cash my way, Uncle money bags! ;)
 
available?

I went to the reserve and pick up link and checked out all of the New York stores mentioned in this article (as well as a few of the other stores mentioned in previous comments) and I didn't run across a single "unavailable" message. Please say it ain't so!! is anyone still seeing that their stores are out?

m
 
To all you guys crying over no Blu-ray on the Mac Pro, can't you just add a third party BD-R station to one of the empty slots in the Mac? They cost like less than $200.
 
You can run anything thats Windows thats on a Apple Mac using emulators or Dual-booting. You can't actually run Access on the Mac software as it is not compatible, but there is a better alternative to the software called FileMaker, it is much better than Access.
 
maz-o said:
To all you guys crying over no Blu-ray on the Mac Pro, can't you just add a third party BD-R station to one of the empty slots in the Mac? They cost like less than $200.
Click to expand...

Yes, but I don't think there is native Mac OS X support for it. You would need to bootcamp into Windows to properly utilize the blu-Ray drive, but it's definitely do-able and Im sure a number of pro users here have that exact setup as well.
 
skyline r34 said:
Hope that Apple new Mac Pro's are coming out soon along with the larger LED Cinema Display, i'm going to sale back my 08 3.2GHz Mac Pro to Apple in the recycle program apple offered me $1650 gift-card and I already saved $13,000 towards my new setup.
Click to expand...

You can get $2,000 - $2,500 for that system on craigslist or eBay.
 
miniroll32 said:
Lets hope they bring back "killer graphics"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko4V3G4NqII

Steve loved saying that :cool: I can just imagine the graphics card producing some kind of death ray, frying everything around it!
Click to expand...

Ah the good old days... I wish I had appreciated them more. That's when Mac and OS X was the apple of Apple's and SJ's eye...

maximaxi said:
I went to the reserve and pick up link and checked out all of the New York stores mentioned in this article (as well as a few of the other stores mentioned in previous comments) and I didn't run across a single "unavailable" message. Please say it ain't so!! is anyone still seeing that their stores are out?

m
Click to expand...

My local West Hartford, CT store shows the single quad available but the dual processor Mac Pro unavailable.
 
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