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New Mac Pros?

akdj said:
"With all this hype surrounding the notebooks, I'm in need of a stronger desktop." OP

For what? Seriously, what do you need a stronger desktop for? There is nothing on the market from the "consumer" side of PCs that will come close to the performance you can squeeze from a MP.

I am using FCP, After Effects, Motion, playing games, Adobe Audition on the Windows side with Boot Camp....my MP runs circles around my quad core Intel in the same room, doesn't matter the application.

We need Snow Leopard, Adobe, and other manufacturers to take advantage of multi core procs, there is SO much headroom that is NOT used in a current Mac Pro. Ridiculous to need more power at this time.

J
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Reencoding an avc ts stream an creating an avchd disk for PS3 (just an example) using something like x264 (megui, ripbot264) will load all cores to the max.
The latest x264 releases already include a bunch of penryn and smp optimizations. But you are right in the sense that, apart from hd editing, there is hardly any software out there that scales properly with cores/threads.
 
One of very few examples Ceres, and I concur. I am editing DVCPro and DVCPro HD with P2 cards from Panasonic, as we are editing, rendering, and even field dumping 1080i and 1080p more than standard def these days. It's nice to have the Pros muscle. The difference between this one and our older machines can shave 70-80% of the time "waiting" :)

More power, I suppose, but when we pull a system monitor profile during some of the most demanding tasks, it's hard to believe how "little" of the power in the Pro is being utilized.

Hardware SHOULD be ahead of software, but the Mac Pro is definitely still a state of the art piece of gear and WELL ahead of 99% of the software curve right now, Just MHO!

Peace

J
 
Apple beat expectations (yes i was wrong but i'm happy about it :) ) So i doubt they will drop any line. And I think apple wouldn't drop it anyway they like having the saying "fastest computer ever". And they have different computers to appeal to different market segments and Mac pro is the high end.

Thanks tallest skill for clearing that up :). So you think it will be maybe another 200 days until new computer? should i just bite the bullet and get one now?

Technology never stays the latest and greatest very long but it would be nice if it lasted a little bit... :)
 
12 cores? Won't it be up to 16 in a dual CPU machine by the middle of next year?

I suspect Apple may well launch an entirely new Mac Pro in January, I mean along with the lil Mac Mini there now the oldest designs in the line up. I'd expect it would need some better cooling with the CPU count going up as well?
 
apolloa said:
12 cores? Won't it be up to 16 in a dual CPU machine by the middle of next year?

I suspect Apple may well launch an entirely new Mac Pro in January, I mean along with the lil Mac Mini there now the oldest designs in the line up. I'd expect it would need some better cooling with the CPU count going up as well?
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Hard to say, but I doubt it would happen that quickly. Intel could wait until the next die shrink (32nm). Keep in mind they want to pay for Nehalem first, plus a healthy profit. :p
 
Although I was hoping for an announcement in January it sounds like the Mac Pro might not arrive until later into 2009 as Intel's CEO is quoted as saying that the Gainestown Xeon which most folks seem to think will be used in a Mac Pro will go into production in the first quarter of 2009:

http://www.crn.com/hardware/210603466

It is usually a month or two after this that OEMs start shipping computers. So maybe May or June?

I sure hope my G5 keeps going until then.
 
Mattww said:
Although I was hoping for an announcement in January it sounds like the Mac Pro might not arrive until later into 2009 as Intel's CEO is quoted as saying that the Gainestown Xeon which most folks seem to think will be used in a Mac Pro will go into production in the first quarter of 2009:

http://www.crn.com/hardware/210603466

It is usually a month or two after this that OEMs start shipping computers. So maybe May or June?

I sure hope my G5 keeps going until then.
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We should have a better idea in a couple of weeks. If Gainestown gets the same "street date" as the three desktop releases then it could be January. There are rumours that indicate this will happen. Otherwise we are probably looking at late Q1. I don't think they will slide until Q2, but I wouldn't be holding off buying a Mac Pro right now if it is needed. I think we are looking at 3-6 months before something ships and it is out of Apple's hands.
 
ceres said:
Reencoding an avc ts stream an creating an avchd disk for PS3 (just an example) using something like x264 (megui, ripbot264) will load all cores to the max.
The latest x264 releases already include a bunch of penryn and smp optimizations. But you are right in the sense that, apart from hd editing, there is hardly any software out there that scales properly with cores/threads.
Click to expand...

Are you sure Compressor (or whatever you're using) is truly capable of taking advantage of an 8 core machine's power? My impression is that the octomacs leave quite a bit of performance on the table due to the fact that most apps and OSX itself aren't optimized for them.

When it comes to DV editing I would always be happy with more render speed, but honestly I'm pretty thrilled as-is with the power of this machine. So far the most tedious operation I've found is when it comes time to render long HD sequences in Color.
 
Umbongo said:
We should have a better idea in a couple of weeks. If Gainestown gets the same "street date" as the three desktop releases then it could be January. There are rumours that indicate this will happen. Otherwise we are probably looking at late Q1. I don't think they will slide until Q2, but I wouldn't be holding off buying a Mac Pro right now if it is needed. I think we are looking at 3-6 months before something ships and it is out of Apple's hands.
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Sounds likely. Fortunately I don't need to upgrade quickly as my productivity applications all work OK on PowerPC, it is just a few games I'd like to run are now Intel only and better video encoding performance would be very welcome. As long as my liquid cooling holds out I can wait :)
 
Mattww said:
Although I was hoping for an announcement in January it sounds like the Mac Pro might not arrive until later into 2009 as Intel's CEO is quoted as saying that the Gainestown Xeon which most folks seem to think will be used in a Mac Pro will go into production in the first quarter of 2009:

http://www.crn.com/hardware/210603466

It is usually a month or two after this that OEMs start shipping computers. So maybe May or June?

I sure hope my G5 keeps going until then.
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The statement is somewhat vague. :rolleyes: ;)

I'm with Umbongo here, as I don't think they would wait until Q2. It's not in their best interest, as they need to get them to market and recoup their expenses as quickly as possible.

Ultimately, we'll have to wait and see. :eek: :p
 
We really need AMD to get back in the fight just for the sake of rumour mongering. If there were Opterons crapping all over Intel's server parts the tech sites would have had a lot more than half a dozen or so non-rehashed articles on Nehalem-EP.
 
Tallest Skil said:
The best guess is 3750 as base, 9900 GT mid, and Quadro 5600 (or 6600 if it exists) at the top.
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I think it's the Quadro CX that succeeds the 5600.

Mattww said:
Intel's CEO is quoted as saying that the Gainestown Xeon which most folks seem to think will be used in a Mac Pro will go into production in the first quarter of 2009:
…
It is usually a month or two after this that OEMs start shipping computers. So maybe May or June?
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So the predictable cycle of new Mac Pro at the start of each year was a bit too predictable after all.

I think a WWDC 2009 release is likely, given the significant update. We could see a slight case change then too (like WWDC 2006). That'll give Apple something else to talk about besides Snow Leopard and the iPhone.

This also increases the likelihood that there will be a slight 3.4 GHz CPU update late this year or very early next year.

Umbongo said:
We really need AMD to get back in the fight just for the sake of rumour mongering. If there were Opterons crapping all over Intel's server parts the tech sites would have had a lot more than half a dozen or so non-rehashed articles on Nehalem-EP.
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Hopefully Istanbul and Magny-Cours will do just that.
 
Umbongo said:
We really need AMD to get back in the fight just for the sake of rumour mongering. If there were Opterons crapping all over Intel's server parts the tech sites would have had a lot more than half a dozen or so non-rehashed articles on Nehalem-EP.
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This may be a little more difficult for them to do just now, as AMD is going fabless.

link
 
My bet for graphics cards would be the GTX 260 taking the place of the 8800GT, and the 4870 will be released through ATI, not apple, as rumored.

While the 9800GT might seem like a more obvious option (The 9900GT doesn't exist, and will continue to do so), the rumor is that ATI will release the 4870 for Mac. The 9800GT is an 8800GT on a smaller process and slightly higher clock speed. Neither can compete with the 4870. If Nvidia wants to have a competitive offering, the GTX 260 is the lowest they can go.
 
My guess is that in january we'll see the new line of "professional" macs, which will probably have a somewhat different look than the consumer-level macs, distinguished by their aluminum body with a glass screen framed in black (with the exception of the air).

This would explain why the mac pro, 17" macbook pro, and the cinema displays are all still waiting to be updated. The replacements for these, probably rolled out over the next year or so, will be the new line of professional macs, all designed with a consistent look.
 
tusker said:
My guess is that in january we'll see the new line of "professional" macs, which will probably have a somewhat different look than the consumer-level macs, distinguished by their aluminum body with a glass screen framed in black (with the exception of the air).

This would explain why the mac pro, 17" macbook pro, and the cinema displays are all still waiting to be updated. The replacements for these, probably rolled out over the next year or so, will be the new line of professional macs, all designed with a consistent look.
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Unfortunately though macworld is a consumer event, So if it they were to introduce a new pro line, wouldn't it be at WWDC?
 
NRose8989 said:
Unfortunately though macworld is a consumer event, So if it they were to introduce a new pro line, wouldn't it be at WWDC?
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They introduced the 2008 Mac Pro a week before Macworld so the need for an event isn't important. It's all about Intel's schedule. We could see them at Macworld if there is a bunch of stuff that can be shown together, new Mac Pros, new professional Cinema Displays and Snow Leopard's abilities that are highlighted on a system like the Mac Pro for instance.
 
tusker said:
My guess is that in january we'll see the new line of "professional" macs, which will probably have a somewhat different look than the consumer-level macs, distinguished by their aluminum body with a glass screen framed in black (with the exception of the air).

This would explain why the mac pro, 17" macbook pro, and the cinema displays are all still waiting to be updated. The replacements for these, probably rolled out over the next year or so, will be the new line of professional macs, all designed with a consistent look.
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I hope that's the case, and it makes sense too. The 17" MacBook Pro would have 2.67/2.93 GHz Core 2 Duos instead of 2.53/2.8 GHz, and the Mac Pro would have 3.4 GHz Harpertown option (Q1 2009) or Nehalem (≈WWDC). I'm sure we'll see improved GPUs (at least in the Mac Pro) too. 9650M in the 17" MacBook Pro?
 
tusker said:
My guess is that in january we'll see the new line of "professional" macs, which will probably have a somewhat different look than the consumer-level macs, distinguished by their aluminum body with a glass screen framed in black (with the exception of the air).

This would explain why the mac pro, 17" macbook pro, and the cinema displays are all still waiting to be updated. The replacements for these, probably rolled out over the next year or so, will be the new line of professional macs, all designed with a consistent look.
Click to expand...

I don't know. It seems strange to me that they would designate the 17" MBP as the Pro product while moving the 15" MBP closer to the MB.

The trend lately seems to be that they're blurring the line between consumer product and pro product, not redefining them; the only unambiguously professional product left is the Mac Pro.

Then again, I'm not privy to Apple's internal sales reports, so anything could happen. But I'm inclined to side with the Skil on this one - I think they're just dependent on Intel's release schedule.
 
O. Frabjous-Dey said:
I don't know. It seems strange to me that they would designate the 17" MBP as the Pro product while moving the 15" MBP closer to the MB.

The trend lately seems to be that they're blurring the line between consumer product and pro product, not redefining them; the only unambiguously professional product left is the Mac Pro.
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I would think they haven't updated the 17" as it doesn't sell anywhere near as many as the other notebooks, they may even have a lot of surplus stock though I would think Apple probably utilize just in time manufacturing well.

Apple never really had many non-consumer products anyway and they were all to fill niches. The Macbook Pro broke out of a niche due to Apple's increasing popularity and the rise of the notebook, I don't think that means the others will be abandoned. They all add to Apple's overall presence and I think every Apple product these days makes them money, so no reason to discontinue them.
 
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