I would guess they may announce in March... but there is always the chance that they may hold off till WWDC to launch the new Mac Pros alongside Snow Leopard.
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Mac Pro Xeon Processors 'Imminent'
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I would guess they may announce in March... but there is always the chance that they may hold off till WWDC to launch the new Mac Pros alongside Snow Leopard.
Didn't Apple recently back out of trade shows? Why would they hold off another half a year to announce machines that haven't been updated in a lifetime hah
No, because its hard for a competitive chip to be worthwhile financially when Apple is your only customer.
What have trade shows got to do with anything?
Why would they hold it off? Because the Mac Pro is the perfect machine to demo Grand Central in Snow Leopard. Launch them together, they are a match made in heaven
I think the reality is that until software is available to take advantage of hardware improvements the value proposition for upgrading is limited.
When serious applications are finally rewritten to full take advantage of multithreading, multiple cores and the GPU then the full weight of a hardware revision will be felt. Until that time there are few (real world) applications or scenarios that can bring a early-2008 MP to it's knees.
When serious applications are finally rewritten to full take advantage of multithreading, multiple cores and the GPU then the full weight of a hardware revision will be felt. Until that time there are few (real world) applications or scenarios that can bring a early-2008 MP to it's knees.
What have trade shows got to do with anything?
Why would they hold it off? Because the Mac Pro is the perfect machine to demo Grand Central in Snow Leopard. Launch them together, they are a match made in heaven
Because WWDC is a trade show.. and Apple said they were over them. Anyways, yeah I guess you're right, but I just can't see another 4 months sans new Apple Pro wear. They're losing customers with their out dated Pro hardware. Someone with a gaggle of cash looking to buy a massive screen for design is looking at other brands these days. I see Apple making a move in the next couple months if not sooner.
WWDC is a developer conference run by Apple... it is not a trade show.
And if you have a lot of cash to drop on a display, why aren't you looking at Eizo or Lacie which offer displays with much more accurate panels with wider colour gamuts?
I agree, if they do change it I think it may be minor unless they implement something that is new and improved. UNLESS... UNIBODY MAC PRO!! You can't open it to change the HD or add RAM, YES! I'm going to go patent that design... Oh, wait.
Been using a G5 for the last four years, good machine but it hurts going from Mac Pro at work to four-year old G5 at home. Been holding out for this for a long time, now. /crosses fingers for March
I'm very surprised that Apple has chosen to wait so long, presumably to get the processor they want, rather than releasing new Mac Pros last Fall with the best processors available at the time. There will always be new and improved chips around the next corner. Haven't Mac Pro sales dried up as a result of the long time since the last releases?
Yeah I just realized that after I wrote it. I wanted to get a LaCie but they're super expensive for the large panels. Is there anywhere they offer refurbished ones?
I'm not sure if you're really agreeing with me, I'm not just saying gaming is the issue. OpenCL is going to make GPU a huge part of OS X performance in 10.6 (though it was promised in 10.5, so we'll see).
Okay first off: How? ZFS is promised in 10.6, and only server at at that. I've not heard anything about it being in client. ZFS looks awesome, I'll admit. I was disappointed when rumors of ZFS for 10.5 didn't pan out.
Second, does ZFS promise RAID speeds comparable to RAID 0 or even 5? How can a software RAID of any type be comparable to hardware?? Yes, I know ZFS has better data protection than the mid and low end RAID systems (theoretically, at least).
I bought a $200 PC motherboard in 2006 that had hardware RAID 0, 1, 10. The intel mobo Apple uses had RAID on it until intel crippled it and resold it to Apple. Hardware RAID 0,1,5, etc should be included in every mac pro--it's at least as important as a slightly faster processor speed
You're absolutely right, sorry
The last time I bought RAM for my MP was in 2007.
Yeah, thanks. Why didn't I think of that?
If I pay $3G for a computer, I want it included. Right now, Apple's using a DVD burner I can get off newegg for probably $20. I don't think it's too much to ask for them to raise the bar a little bit. Nehelem's aren't out yet, BluRay is, why not lead the industry like they did with USB?
Yes I know all that, you've stated the obvious once again.
However, you neglected to mention that it's still REALLY FREAKIN FAST as it is now. I have a 2.5ghz X 4 woodcrest and even when encoding video, it's still ridiculously fast. I'd imagine the current 3.0 x 8 is at least 50% faster at the same tasks.
I'm just saying: people are demanding basically nothing else besides faster processors. It's really silly when the rest of the machine isn't perfect yet. Another 15% boost in speed in some random tasks (being VERY generous) is not going to make up for lack of hardware RAID or a video card less than 6 months old.
Should we be looking for inventory shortages of Mac Pros next? That's usually the signal for an impending release with the laptops and smaller products. I wonder if the same is true for the Mac Pros, or if the numbers sold are so much lower that inventory shortages would be hard to notice.
Anyway, it's exciting to think about stimulating the economy with a Mac Pro purchase this year. And discussions regarding the killer speed of the Nehalem Xeons are a delicious way to pass the time until the actual boxes start shipping.
To be honest, my G5 Dual 2.0 is working just fine for nearly everything I do (95% print work; hardly any video; and some 3D), so even when the new Mac Pro's arrive, I may not feel inclined to upgrade for a while. Feels weird, since I've generally upgraded in four-year cycles, and my G5 is well into its fifth year right now. Perhaps Apple's technological brilliance has been its biggest downfall - perhaps it needs to think like GM and Ford and start building planned obsolescence into its products.
Wait a minute. What am I saying...?
Anyway, it's exciting to think about stimulating the economy with a Mac Pro purchase this year. And discussions regarding the killer speed of the Nehalem Xeons are a delicious way to pass the time until the actual boxes start shipping.
To be honest, my G5 Dual 2.0 is working just fine for nearly everything I do (95% print work; hardly any video; and some 3D), so even when the new Mac Pro's arrive, I may not feel inclined to upgrade for a while. Feels weird, since I've generally upgraded in four-year cycles, and my G5 is well into its fifth year right now. Perhaps Apple's technological brilliance has been its biggest downfall - perhaps it needs to think like GM and Ford and start building planned obsolescence into its products.
Wait a minute. What am I saying...?
Actually, I had the same dilemma with my Dual G5 2.0. I'd still have it today, except that I also needed to replace my windows computer at the time (mac pro + bootcamp)... the 4 hard drive bays were a definite selling point too.
You're going to need to switch to intel with 10.6.. but you're probably best off just waiting to buy a computer with 10.6 on it.
My 2.8 Octo Mac Pro is fast, but these Gainestown Mac Pros are going to be insane. Like others, my computer has chewed up everything I've managed to throw at it, without really breaking a sweat.
If Grand Central in Snow Leopard is half of what it's designed to be, we're in for a treat.
If Grand Central in Snow Leopard is half of what it's designed to be, we're in for a treat.
If that pile of money was that important to you, then you'd have ordered the required tools you needed to complete it , the moment you received the work order. You can't have too much vested in it, if you're actually waiting on new hardware releases.
Buy now if you NEED it now, buy later if you do not.
So it looks like when the Mac Pro does go to Nehalem EP processors, we could see a serious performance boost.
The Nehalem Xeon 5570 is posting SAP transaction numbers over twice as fast as the Harpertown Xeon 5450 at similar clock speeds. Now SAP database transactions are a very different kettle of fish from desktop Mac OS applications, but it does seem to point to the Nehalem EP Xeons being some serious performance monsters and the improvements just might be a bit better then the ~10% that many figured we'd see.
Makes me glad I waited and I look forward to see how a Nehalem-powered Mac Pro benchmarks out.
The Nehalem Xeon 5570 is posting SAP transaction numbers over twice as fast as the Harpertown Xeon 5450 at similar clock speeds. Now SAP database transactions are a very different kettle of fish from desktop Mac OS applications, but it does seem to point to the Nehalem EP Xeons being some serious performance monsters and the improvements just might be a bit better then the ~10% that many figured we'd see.
Makes me glad I waited and I look forward to see how a Nehalem-powered Mac Pro benchmarks out.
Good point! The dual booting aspect of Intel boxes is appealing. I forgot about the web work that I do. Right now I use Virtual PC to test sites in Windows XP, which is adequate for basic inspection in that environment, but golly, is it slow. Still, the amount of use I require in Windows itself probably doesn't justify a whole new system.
Yeah, I just upgraded to 10.5 recently, and that's as far as I can go with the G5. Not a big deal for me at this point. Most likely, I will listen to my wife, and save my money for a later upgrade (strange how easy it is for her to recommend not buying a computer since she got her brand new MacBook Pro for Xmas).
Still, it's nice to dream.
"The fact that you are questioning the "obsession" over faster processors, means you are not a candidate for getting a Mac Pro at all. You should know by now the frequency of the processor has little to do with it's actual efficiency and overall "speed". A single core of the latest processor technology is much faster than a comparably clocked last generation. The number of cores is irrelevant unless the application takes advantage of them."
Hmmm, I wasn't aware that you had to meet certain requirements to be a Mac Pro owner. Sorry, slughead since you and I do not need more processing power we are not candidates for the new Mac Pro. Some of you people are so arrogant.....(Puked in my mouth)
Hmmm, I wasn't aware that you had to meet certain requirements to be a Mac Pro owner. Sorry, slughead since you and I do not need more processing power we are not candidates for the new Mac Pro. Some of you people are so arrogant.....(Puked in my mouth)
My argument was more toward the Mini and the iMacs. On the MacPro they should be offering 4GB RAM and a 500GB drive standard though.
Damn right they should. There are some people out there that think Apple can do no wrong. I am sick of getting screwed by the company that I've supported since I was old enough to own a computer..... Beacuse I don't care what any of you apple apologist say, we are getting screwed.
So true. Id trade in speed for a stable After Effects CS3box
My current MacPro must have sent Adobe at least 1000 messages by now (crash report). I guess Adobe dont like me...they havent replied LOL!
ATI = ATI Radeon HD 3870 (you can buy one here)
For Real Video professionals = AJA Video's Kona.
These were found with a simple search.
The most I think they'll change appearance-wise is a splash of black somewhere to go with the aluminum color. It looks fantastic as is. Perhaps a black front with silver sides? That'd be sweet.
But who really buys these things for appearance? Oh wait......