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Still Waiting for Mac Pro Updates, Suitable Intel Processors Due in Q4
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Ignorance must be bliss.
Come back when you understand processor architecture and design.
I hope you're right.
The fact that every other Mac now has Thunderbolt also supports this, they can't leave their "Pro" machine without TB another 6 months (I hope).
I don't disagree, but I think unlike cutting servers or professional video editors off (the latter still having options on the Mac side via other companies), cutting the professionals content creators or developers off *would* hurt them on the consumer side over time. While consumers certainly make up most of their audience, I'd like to think that Apple should remember that it's the pros that create the content and Mac/iOS apps that consumers purchase Apple devices for in the first place.
If you read the iPad forum, there will be people trying to convince you otherwise.
That's what is is becoming. Look at Final Cut Pro X.
The numbers are in consumer products, and it's all about money.
They can only sell what Intel has to offer.
Note that I see a TB-less Mac Pro as a little outdated at the moment but the fact remains Apple needs something worthwhile to up grade to. Either that or they need to completely refactor the Mac Pro.
As to your issue do you realize just how much faster even todays Mac Pro would be over that G5? You really have no reason to hold off.
Note that I see a TB-less Mac Pro as a little outdated at the moment but the fact remains Apple needs something worthwhile to up grade to. Either that or they need to completely refactor the Mac Pro.
As to your issue do you realize just how much faster even todays Mac Pro would be over that G5? You really have no reason to hold off.
Not sure what you mean here. Intel's server CPUs are called Xeons. Xenon is an element.
Do you realize how irrational this brian of thought is?
Anybody and I mean anybody that can't see the value in the current Mac Pro over a G5 has issues.
Anybody and I mean anybody that can't see the value in the current Mac Pro over a G5 has issues.
I'm very disappointed in this. I need a new desk top NOW as my G5 simply won't suffice any longer and I was really looking forward to getting a new Mac Pro. However, I can't see buying the current Mac Pro either given how much faster the upgrade will be and what I can build a PC for. I hate to say it but I'm going to be forced to build a Windows box and simply deal with not having OS-X then buy a Mac Pro in a couple of years when the PC has more or less paid for itself.
John
I don't see them eliminating the Mini, it's 1/2 the price of the 21.5" iMac for a good reason. Also, the reviews of the new Mini's have been really, really good, and its a product that gives Apple the chance to sell even more $999 Displays, not to mention mice / magicpads and keyboards, and does A LOT of things that the Apple TV can't.
In the context of the Mac Pro your concerns are baseless.
Think about it, in order for Apple to upgrade the Mac Pro they need to have something to upgrade it with. It amazes me that the Mac Pro whiners don't grasp this little detail.
Have you really looked closely at Sony lately? They aren't exactly thriving.
This whole thing is very tiring. It is like everyone using Apples pro gear is some sort of democrat with the common expectation of entitlements. The constant give me, give me on these forums with respect to the Mac Pro really poisons the forum.
Think about it, in order for Apple to upgrade the Mac Pro they need to have something to upgrade it with. It amazes me that the Mac Pro whiners don't grasp this little detail.
First off grow a pair. 1. XServe died because sales sucked, it was a business decision. 2. Mac OS is UNIX underneath you can basically do whatever you want with it. As for the Server product that will be very popular with the targeted audience. 3. I'm not at all impressed with the so called professionals and their response to the new Final Cut. You can't have everything in the first rewrite of a major release. 4. As to getting worst, the Mac Pro will stagy around as long as it sells well enough to justify its existence. Personally I believe that it is close to being axed simply because it targets the the wrong people to be a success. There are not enough pros that actually need all the power in the Mac Pro to make it a success for Apple. This is why I would not be surprised to see the machine refactored soon.
Maybe it is because there is no market there. XServe is a prime example, if Apple is not selling enough product to pay for production much less engineering and development then why would the continue to sell the product? There is no magic here at all, it is business and business remain businesses by selling profitable products.
Have you really looked closely at Sony lately? They aren't exactly thriving.
This whole thing is very tiring. It is like everyone using Apples pro gear is some sort of democrat with the common expectation of entitlements. The constant give me, give me on these forums with respect to the Mac Pro really poisons the forum.
Actually, no. There are substantial differences in the amount of possible RAM, multiple HDs, and graphics cards for starters.
The Mac Pro has to be established as the high end version of an Apple computer.
1. Get rid of those single processor units. "Entry Level" units make no sense in this price class.
2. The profit margin with the Mac Pro is very high, so I read (sorry, no link available). Why not bring it down a bit and make a dual processor unit available at $3000?
3. I hope we'll see decent dual six units.
Question to discuss: are there any bottlenecks in the current Mac Pro configuration and how could they be widened?
I suppose having an SSD as as start-up could fix quite a bit of "bottleneck".
1. Get rid of those single processor units. "Entry Level" units make no sense in this price class.
2. The profit margin with the Mac Pro is very high, so I read (sorry, no link available). Why not bring it down a bit and make a dual processor unit available at $3000?
3. I hope we'll see decent dual six units.
Question to discuss: are there any bottlenecks in the current Mac Pro configuration and how could they be widened?
I suppose having an SSD as as start-up could fix quite a bit of "bottleneck".
Prematurity
It is premature to presume Apple is "abandoning" the pro market because of a delay in hardware or a change in direction in software.
Points for consideration:
Just as iOS grew from a handful of native apps, Thunderbolt, Final Cut Pro X will grow into its own.
Apple takes it time to build sustainable ecosystems. Often new ecosystems take time to mature, and often challenge us to rethink our old paradigms (recall the death of the floppy? the birth of the mouse? the independence of any country?)
It is premature to presume Apple is "abandoning" the pro market because of a delay in hardware or a change in direction in software.
Points for consideration:
- Where are the Thunderbolt devices? They only just started appearing recently. What is the purpose of having a powerful computer that cannot utilize its maximum potential right from the start? Why bother upgrading?
- Where are the Thunderbolt displays? The new Cinema Display hasn't even started shipping yet. What is the purpose of having a powerful computer that cannot link up to multiple displays and devices at the same time to take advantage of the speed of Thunderbolt which professionals have the most to gain from?
- Final Cut Pro X is a 1.0 software. It is unfair to compare the intelligence of a newborn and a 7 year old don't you think?
Just as iOS grew from a handful of native apps, Thunderbolt, Final Cut Pro X will grow into its own.
Apple takes it time to build sustainable ecosystems. Often new ecosystems take time to mature, and often challenge us to rethink our old paradigms (recall the death of the floppy? the birth of the mouse? the independence of any country?)
This is NEVER going to happen. As Steve said we are in the post PC era and introducing this so called Mac minitower is completely against Apple's current iDevice and mobile device strategy. They will keep making desktops for a few more years (especially iMacs) but no way are they going to introduce a new desktop model. The Mac Mini was the last one and will probably remain the last one until Steve gets his way and all desktops are phased out. I don't like it either because I love sitting down at my iMac, but it is where Apple is headed and the industry will follow them there.
Let the PC builders and Microsoft play around in the tower market. There is no money in that business anymore. iDevices is where all the money is!
You obviously don't 'need' the extra power and cores if you're still poking along with any PPC machine, a machine that is outclassed by even the lowliest mini at this point. The new entry level mini Geekbench scores are roughly double those of a quad G5, for reference.
Unfortunately, some of us have jobs that require more firepower more often. The Mac Pros we have are well out of date, especially after killing the Xserve what options do enterprises that buy 10k-15k Macs a year have?
It's not a matter of being right more so than stating the obvious.
The Mac Pro always gets updated later in the summer, that's nothing new. Every year people start to get scared that Apple is abandoning the machine but they never do. The release dates have never been an exact science mainly cause they rely on Intel processors that aren't always readily available.
There is a reason why that Thunderbolt display had a 2 month wait time and by the time that 2 month rolls around all of Apple's computers will be Thunderbolt compatible.
Now the biggest problem is that I have a 6 month kick ass Mac Pro and I'm sure Apple will create a way for me to hate this thing before too long. Gotta stay strong and not buy the new one
Pro
Of course this doesn't really mean they are selling any less of the desktops, they're probably selling more than ever, it just shows they're shipping a lot more mobiles. But whatever.
Of course this doesn't really mean they are selling any less of the desktops, they're probably selling more than ever, it just shows they're shipping a lot more mobiles. But whatever.
creative pros?
Apple hasn't updated their creative pro page since 2009:
http://www.apple.com/pro/
you can find people talking about Final Cut Studio with links to Final Cut X
and here is another creative pro page in "hot news"
http://www.apple.com/hotnews/#section=pro
I think we can see just what apple is focusing on
As a creative pro with alot of Apple hardware I am discouraged by Apple's move to all iOS all of the time - and the features in Lion are not useful - full screen apps, window animations - come on.
I thought they would abandon Mac Pros kind of soon (since that market is a drop in the bucket for them) but then I think alot of us would not buy Macbook pro's anymore either if we had to buy a desktop system from another company. And they won't do anything to hurt their portable market.
Apple hasn't updated their creative pro page since 2009:
http://www.apple.com/pro/
you can find people talking about Final Cut Studio with links to Final Cut X
and here is another creative pro page in "hot news"
http://www.apple.com/hotnews/#section=pro
I think we can see just what apple is focusing on
As a creative pro with alot of Apple hardware I am discouraged by Apple's move to all iOS all of the time - and the features in Lion are not useful - full screen apps, window animations - come on.
I thought they would abandon Mac Pros kind of soon (since that market is a drop in the bucket for them) but then I think alot of us would not buy Macbook pro's anymore either if we had to buy a desktop system from another company. And they won't do anything to hurt their portable market.
It could also be an indicator of how unappealing and out-of-touch Apple's two desktop models are (one is extremely limited, the other is extremely priced).
This whole thing reminds me so much of last year waiting for the Mac pro refresh. I mean it's like people are literally saying the same exact things that they said last year in a very similar thread. I mean, c'mon people are your memories that short?
It's weird too as they are the only company I can think of that never drops prices when hardware ages. 2,500 for the Mac pro is fine if they had a decent workstation graphics card in it as well. iMacs are appealing to myself, but yes they lack an in between option and as said a few times; that aint happening.
I agree with you, unfortunately though it is kind of pathetic that we more than likely wont even have an option to have a speedy, expandable desktop when/if they discontinue the tower. iMacs possibly. There will always be some profit there. The iDevices can make them a lot of cash, but eventually the masses/casuals tire and like to try new things out; and the 1 device approach they have wont cut it as it didn't years ago. (more limited selection against a ton of windows boxes)
Better to have your hand in a few cookie jars. Or just give us OSX and they can play in iDevice land all they want. Hackintoshing still isn't simple enough for me to drop the hammer. Yet I do get closer everyday to just going through the paces of building my own. I need speed when I video edit large files. Not ultra thin laptops that are going to throttle from heating up. Common sense says the goose wont lay golden eggs forever.
EDIT: The tower is upgradable (mentioned above) but limited. I cant change the CPU, MOBO, limited graphics card selection, few other things I can't think of at the moment.
...but many people would prefer a moderately upgradeable, moderately priced system.
And the Mac Pro isn't actually that expandable compared to comparably-priced workstations. Even my $700 Dell XPS has 3 free PCIe slots (and 6 memory slots, instead of 4 on the single socket Mac Pro).
The Dell Xeon dual-socket supports 192 GiB of RAM (12 slots), has 7 PCI slots and standard eSATA.
I'm not sure how that was meant, but I'm in a good mood today so I don't care
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