New Mac Pro Lineup Now Available on Apple Store, But 8-Core Model Currently Unavailable Online

[Kabeyun]

You trust a few words from Schiller?

Well, I do suppose the alternative would be to decide that he's either lying or delusional. We'll see what happens.

 

[AZ63]

It took longer than a year for Apple to determine their assumptions about computing that led to the Mac Pro design were incorrect. They probably saw the writing on the wall last year and started working on a replacement form factor then. But they're not going to just give us a mass-produced Windows PC form factor so it takes time to design and validate. And if they are moving to nVidia (either as the only option or another option in additional to AMD) they need to develop drivers and validate macOS. And a price drop - two things this forum has been demanding for thousands of posts over scores of threads. And yet as soon as both happen, plenty of folks are still not happy with either, much less both.

I am not sure who you know inside of Apple that informed you of the timeline of Apple's awakening to the error in design, but that still wouldn't have stopped Apple from providing spec bumps as they just recently announced. Price also should have been addressed some time ago as well, because the "new" machine was not so new and now Apple seems to have corrected these two areas to some extent. It has been just too long. I am happy to agree that Apple fans can be quick to criticize but you have to admit Apple neglected to attended to the Mac Pro for far too long.

 

[CWallace]

I am not sure who you know inside of Apple that informed you of the timeline of Apple's awakening to the error in design, but that still wouldn't have stopped Apple from providing spec bumps as they just recently announced.

They didn't bump the specs - they just dropped the entry-level model and moved every other model down a price point. It's still the same CPUs and GPUs launched in 2013.

Price also should have been addressed some time ago as well, because the "new" machine was not so new...

Apple's history has to not drop the price of an existing model until it is replaced with a new one. That they did drop the price on this one is to me a sign they're trying to clear out stock before they bring the new one out next year.

 

[shadowmatt]

Perfect example is Pro Tools 12, used to be THE software for Mac, running far superior on Mac than Windows up until 7 years ago. From then on, it's been a steady downslope and now on Windows, Pro Tools 12 runs up to 40% faster and more efficient.

Yup, and Adobe software on Windows has better GPU support.

3D rendering apps need all the GPU power you can get, for real time previews. Not something Apple seems to think its Pro users want / need.

There is so much you cant do well on a Mac now. The problem used to be software support for OS9 / Early OSX but now the software is all there. The lack of support comes from Apple and how they treat their customers.

 

[bigtomato]

Yup, and Adobe software on Windows has better GPU support.

3D rendering apps need all the GPU power you can get, for real time previews. Not something Apple seems to think its Pro users want / need.

There is so much you cant do well on a Mac now. The problem used to be software support for OS9 / Early OSX but now the software is all there. The lack of support comes from Apple and how they treat their customers.

It's pretty obvious where apple has all their eggs ..iOS...if you plan on running desktop apps just switch to windows it won't kill you and you will be better off with all the advance software and hardware.

 

[tkatz]

Yup, for 2000 you can get a PC that outperforms the fastest Trashcan with at least 64 GB of ram.

Not entirely true. Graphics card wise with a non-xeon cpu and regular ssd then yeah, probably. But I'm showing the (albeit old) 12-core cpu in the mac pro as still being $2300+. And 64gb of ram for the machine is $700 on crucial. A 1tb m.2 can run $500.

However, I was able to put together a pretty nice dual cpu x 12-core, dual 1080, 64gb, 1tb m.2 pc config for just slightly over the price of the maxed out 12-core. So even with the price cut its still too expensive for what it is, but to say a $2000 pc can outperform it is only true in specific parts of the specs.

 

[AZ63]

They didn't bump the specs - they just dropped the entry-level model and moved every other model down a price point. It's still the same CPUs and GPUs launched in 2013.
Apple's history has to not drop the price of an existing model until it is replaced with a new one. That they did drop the price on this one is to me a sign they're trying to clear out stock before they bring the new one out next year.

Well, we know now there will be a redesigned Pro out next year.

 

[scoobs69]

Following a surprise Mac Pro update today, Apple has now listed the repriced models on its online store. Essentially, this is just a pricing adjustment: the former $3,999 model is now the $2,999 base model, while the previously built-to-order 8-core model with dual D700 GPUs is now the high-end stock configuration.

The base model Mac Pro with a 3.5GHz 6-core Intel Xeon E5 processor, dual AMD FirePro D500 GPUs, and 16GB of RAM is available to purchase now for $2,999 online and at select Apple Stores in the United States, Canada, Europe, and select other regions. Online orders ship in as little as one business day.

$1,000 price drop is nice - but if you buy the refurb 6-Core for $2,550, it's basically a $1,500 price drop. And the discontinued (refurb) base configured 3.7GHz Quad Core MP is now listed at $2,120. A $1,000 price drop in and of itself.

I would have never bought the Base model for $3,000, and definitely not the current 6-core base for $4,000. But as refurbs at these prices - now I'm looking. They're officially less expensive than the 2015 4GHz 5K refurb iMacs.

This is something I've been waiting for: I can get a Quad Core Mac Pro with the memory upgraded to 64GB for $2,600 (or a 6-Core with 64GB of memory for $3,100). Don't have to worry about ThunderBolt 3 and USB-C incompatibility issues. What's not to like?

Though not sure I'm going to jump in just yet, as I'm still interested in seeing the new iMac offerings later this year -