Waiting until tomorrow (July 13th) or pulling the trigger!!

[WardC]

So I've made up my mind....if Apple doesn't refresh the Mac Pro line by tomorrow (July 13th) then I am definitely just going to buy one of the current generation ones. I have waited long enough and I just can't wait for anytime longer for Apple to release a new Mac Pro. If it doesn't happen tomorrow, it may be until September before the new ones come out. So, this is my decision, and I finally look forward to getting a new Mac Pro (I just returned a 27" iMac today due to high frequency noise coming from the display of the unit)

 

[fearoftigers]

So I've made up my mind....if Apple doesn't refresh the Mac Pro line by tomorrow (July 13th) then I am definitely just going to buy one of the current generation ones. I have waited long enough and I just can't wait for anytime longer for Apple to release a new Mac Pro. If it doesn't happen tomorrow, it may be until September before the new ones come out. So, this is my decision, and I finally look forward to getting a new Mac Pro (I just returned a 27" iMac today due to high frequency noise coming from the display of the unit)

I'm in a similar position. What spec Pro are you getting?

 

[ValSalva]

Hopefully something will be updated tomorrow - or the 20th. Of course there have been rumors of new ACDs coming out with a new Mac Pro. What display will you use or buy if there are no updates tomorrow and you buy a current Mac Pro?

 

[prettydamnsweet]

I bought a temporary machine instead

I just started freelance editing again, and my old G5 from the last time I freelanced just can't cut it. All the aps I use have to be on Intell machines. So last week I went to a local reseller and got a 4 core (2xduo core) for $1200. This should work for the next couple of days/weeks/months until something actually gets announced - then I'll spend the $6000 for the RIGHT machine!

 

[WardC]

I'm in a similar position. What spec Pro are you getting?

Probably a single 6-core 3.33GHz one (if they are available). I had planned on buying the quad core 3.33GHz but right now the price is pretty steep for what you get. I plan on upgrading the video card (4870 or GFX 285), adding 16GB of RAM, and adding two 1TB drives and an SSD to boot. Should give a killer machine!!

Hopefully something will be updated tomorrow - or the 20th. Of course there have been rumors of new ACDs coming out with a new Mac Pro. What display will you use or buy if there are no updates tomorrow and you buy a current Mac Pro?

I have a 23" ACD already that I am using with my MacBook Pro as my main machine. It's a great display, I absolutely love it! The size is just right, and the 1920x1200 resolution is just perfect for just about anything.

 

[redscull]

So I've made up my mind....if Apple doesn't refresh the Mac Pro line by tomorrow (July 13th) then I am definitely just going to buy one of the current generation ones.

Why? For less money, you could get a 15" MacBook Pro, connect an external monitor and keyboard/mouse, and have a more powerful system. And it'd be portable! I'm not sure what exactly, if anything, the current Mac Pro tower can do better than the laptop can (until they refresh it, obviously).

 

[rajbonham]

Sorry to sound like this, but don't hold your breath. An update tomorrow is as likely as an update next week, or the week after, or the week after...

 

[WardC]

Why? For less money, you could get a 15" MacBook Pro, connect an external monitor and keyboard/mouse, and have a more powerful system. And it'd be portable! I'm not sure what exactly, if anything, the current Mac Pro tower can do better than the laptop can (until they refresh it, obviously).

That's what I am using right now...a 15" MacBook Pro hooked to an external monitor. I just want a dedicated desktop system, a very powerful one, and I am willing to pay the extra money for it. I want a Mac Pro, and I am going to get one!! My 2.4GHz MacBook Pro with 4GB of RAM is pretty fast, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't scream. It sometimes chokes up when playing 1080p video even. The tiny 160GB internal 5400rpm hard drive cripples the system, and it's video card is only a 256MB nVidia 8600M. A Mac Pro would be anywhere from 3-5 times as fast (and can handle 1080p video without breaking a sweat)! So what if I want a powerful system? Why do you have to be so critical?

Sorry to sound like this, but don't hold your breath. An update tomorrow is as likely as an update next week, or the week after, or the week after...

There has been much, much speculation about a July 13th refresh to the lineup. Apple has updated the MacBook Pro, the Mac Mini, and introduced the iPhone all on the second Tuesday of the last 3 months. That's why we think there is just a chance for the Mac Pro tomorrow. It's the most likely machine to get the next update, since it hasn't been updated in well over a full year!!

 

[oilfighter]

Why? For less money, you could get a 15" MacBook Pro, connect an external monitor and keyboard/mouse, and have a more powerful system. And it'd be portable! I'm not sure what exactly, if anything, the current Mac Pro tower can do better than the laptop can (until they refresh it, obviously).

On paper, the MBP might seen faster, but in practice, I found my 2 year old PC (with a slower processor) faster than my MBP when it comes to photoshop. I think it's the HDD that's slowing down the MBP.

But I still prefer to use Apple OS to do things, even if it's slower. I hope Mac Pro comes out tomorrow, if not, it'll be a long wait till Sept.

 

[Cindori]

Paul has spoken.

 

[abccba]

Paul has spoken.[/QUOTE]

LOL! :D

This is awesome! :D

 

[slughead]

Paul has spoken.

Win.

 

[Icaras]

Sorry to sound like this, but don't hold your breath. An update tomorrow is as likely as an update next week, or the week after, or the week after...

This time however, I strongly believe that tomorrow will see an update, and not next week on the 20th.

I'm going off the recent pattern of monthly mac updates, and also the recent observation in the OP's post here:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/963885/

This is concerning the fact that every monthly update since April has definitely been, in fact, the exact Tuesday closest to the middle of the month, in this case, the 13th, which is closest to the 15th or 16th; the middle of July.

Hey I know this seems like we're grasping at straws at this point, but it follows Apple's recent patterns, so I'll remain hopeful for tomorrow.

What machine will update tomorrow is the real question I think. Air or Mac Pro. It's a flip of the coin now.

 

[rmwebs]

Why? For less money, you could get a 15" MacBook Pro, connect an external monitor and keyboard/mouse, and have a more powerful system. And it'd be portable! I'm not sure what exactly, if anything, the current Mac Pro tower can do better than the laptop can (until they refresh it, obviously).

Would you like a list?

- Multiple monitors
- Upgradability (not just RAM and HDD like the MBP)
- More RAM
- Better storage options (without having a crap load of USB DC powered drives!)
- Longer life (obviously carting around a laptop has a higher chance of damaging hard drives and fans)

My personal reasons for wanting a Pro are that I use 2x 24" screens for design and programming, I want to be able to get semi-decent graphics out of it (not fussed about all these fancy graphics cards but I would like something a bit better than a mobile nVidia chip offers.

A few 'perks' that I'm after is the ability to use 4 internal hard drives, and not have to worry about dasychained power cords to plug in a bunch of powered USB drives. The ability to put a 3rd party blueray drive in there (not a major thing but would be pretty cool to do). The ability to add ram as/when I want that is over 8GB (or 4GB in the case of my original unibody MBP).

As you can see, there's a huge number of reasons the pro should still be around. Dont get me wrong, I love my MacBook Pro. But a laptop will never substitute a good desktop - not unless someone comes up with a way to stick multiple (changeable) graphics cards, hard drives, cpu's, etc.

Back on topic!
----------
I'll be biting the bullet tomorrow too. I've fired off a few stinking emails to Steve Jobs basically expressing my utter disgust in Apple's lack of support for the Pro. I did remind him that its highly likely that most 'Pro' users are the people who make apps for his iToys. Obviously I didn't get a response.

If only Hackintosh was more stable...

 

[mutalib]

I hope they don't update it tomorrow...

Because all these threads will die, and I only come here to be entertained by these threads of hope and despair.

 

[DSchwartz88]

Would you like a list?

- Multiple monitors
- Upgradability (not just RAM and HDD like the MBP)
- More RAM
- Better storage options (without having a crap load of USB DC powered drives!)
- Longer life (obviously carting around a laptop has a higher chance of damaging hard drives and fans)

My personal reasons for wanting a Pro are that I use 2x 24" screens for design and programming, I want to be able to get semi-decent graphics out of it (not fussed about all these fancy graphics cards but I would like something a bit better than a mobile nVidia chip offers.

A few 'perks' that I'm after is the ability to use 4 internal hard drives, and not have to worry about dasychained power cords to plug in a bunch of powered USB drives. The ability to put a 3rd party blueray drive in there (not a major thing but would be pretty cool to do). The ability to add ram as/when I want that is over 8GB (or 4GB in the case of my original unibody MBP).

As you can see, there's a huge number of reasons the pro should still be around. Dont get me wrong, I love my MacBook Pro. But a laptop will never substitute a good desktop - not unless someone comes up with a way to stick multiple (changeable) graphics cards, hard drives, cpu's, etc.

Back on topic!
----------
I'll be biting the bullet tomorrow too. I've fired off a few stinking emails to Steve Jobs basically expressing my utter disgust in Apple's lack of support for the Pro. I did remind him that its highly likely that most 'Pro' users are the people who make apps for his iToys. Obviously I didn't get a response.

If only Hackintosh was more stable...

this is hilarious. I was in the exact same situation last week. I too am a developer and part of the reason why I wanted the Mac Pro is the 2x24" screen setup.

I have no idea what kind of dev you do, but i've been doing some pretty hard core ruby/php/sql/etc. + running all the web browsers in OSX and virtualizing them in parallels over windows 7 + running CS5 stuff ontop of it and the computer hasn't chocked once.

Just got this beauty last week off Craigslist for a severe discount and I couldn't be happier. Here are the specs in case your trying to decide:

2.66 Single Quad Core Xeon (I checked and you can upgrade to the W3580 or 3.33GHZ version very easily)
8GB RAM (4 x 2GB)
160GB Intel X25-M SSD
1TB media disk

 

[xgman]

For anyone who does bail and goes for a 2009, you would be strongly advised to go refurb or even used. The value for a new full price 2009 system is simply not there. At least save yourself some cash. Then again, buy as many 2009's as you can. maybe Apple is waiting to clear out some stock before making the move.

By the way, there is only one thing worse than waking up to an open Apple store when refreshing your browser. That would be waking up to a closed Apple store and subsequently finding out it was closed for something other than a MAC PRO!!! Maddening I tell you . . .

 

[2005CTS]

This time however, I strongly believe that tomorrow will see an update, and not next week on the 20th.

I'm going off the recent pattern of monthly mac updates, and also the recent observation in the OP's post here:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/963885/

This is concerning the fact that every monthly update since April has definitely been, in fact, the exact Tuesday closest to the middle of the month, in this case, the 13th, which is closest to the 15th or 16th; the middle of July.

Hey I know this seems like we're grasping at straws at this point, but it follows Apple's recent patterns, so I'll remain hopeful for tomorrow.

What machine will update tomorrow is the real question I think. Air or Mac Pro. It's a flip of the coin now.

The OP mapped out his pattern from my observation a while back:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/934626/

If you look at the Buyer's Guide on this site you can see that Apple has updated a Mac computer every four or five weeks for the past three months. First it was the MacBook Pro, then the MacBook, then just yesterday the Mac Mini. There are three other Mac's still needing an update...the MacBook Air, iMac and Mac Pro. It seems to me that for the pending fall school sales drive Apple would want the MacBook Air and iMac to get their refresh before the Mac Pro. Using that logic, I predict that we will see a Mac update on July 13th and on August 17th. This fits their pattern for the last three updates spacing the updates out about a month targeting the Tuesday that falls in the middle of the month.

I suspect that the MacBook Air will be updated next followed by the iMac in August. Speaking of which...we just joined the Mac family last week with the purchase of a MacBook Pro and are eying a refreshed iMac to replace our desktop. I plan on ordering the day the update is announced. I can't wait.

Many have started seeing low inventory notices on the iMac - so all signs seem to be pointing to an iMac update tomorrow.

 

[TheLOGICalone]

That op sounds really smart, hehe I'm also banking on tomorrow, if not I'm gonna take a long hard look at the hakintosh solution. Btw, I didn't make the mid month Tuesday observation, I quoted a guy from the gtx 480 ati 5000 series drivers... Thread.

This time however, I strongly believe that tomorrow will see an update, and not next week on the 20th.

I'm going off the recent pattern of monthly mac updates, and also the recent observation in the OP's post here:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/963885/

This is concerning the fact that every monthly update since April has definitely been, in fact, the exact Tuesday closest to the middle of the month, in this case, the 13th, which is closest to the 15th or 16th; the middle of July.

Hey I know this seems like we're grasping at straws at this point, but it follows Apple's recent patterns, so I'll remain hopeful for tomorrow.

What machine will update tomorrow is the real question I think. Air or Mac Pro. It's a flip of the coin now.

 

[Icaras]

That op sounds really smart, hehe I'm also banking on tomorrow, if not I'm gonna take a long hard look at the hakintosh solution. Btw, I didn't make the mid month Tuesday observation, I quoted a guy from the gtx 480 ati 5000 series drivers... Thread.

Haha, indeed. Hey, what you pointed out makes sense to me, so I'm sticking with your theory.

However, the iMac update history doesn't point to an iMac refresh for me. The so-far-consistent 8-11-8-11 month update cycle seems to keep holding true and I don't think we'll see the iMac tomorrow.

I can understand how popular Apple's notebook line is, as all of them, save for the Air, have already been updated twice in one Mac Pro cycle. However, two iMac updates in one Mac Pro cycle could most certainly send this forum into a violent rampage.

 

[deconstruct60]

The OP mapped out his pattern from my observation a while back:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/934626/

Unless there is a CPU update from Intel there isn't much to move these three to that is new. MBA is maxed out for that form/power factor of CPU (MBP 13" used 'hand me down' C2D to do updates. There is nothing "above" the MBA to get updates from). Likewise the 3600 Xeon ( nor upper end i7 ) line is not flushed out with newest microarch. The i7 micro arch update isn't due till Q4. The iMac updated last Fall if Apple does them on a 12 month schedule that's when they'd be due again.

That's is the pattern Apple was using but they have to have the newer components to ship them. Intel is doing significant updates on more of a 12 month schedule these days. Not sure why folks keep drumbeating for something that is faster than that.

 

[2005CTS]

Unless there is a CPU update from Intel there isn't much to move these three to that is new. MBA is maxed out for that form/power factor of CPU. Likewise the 3600 Xeon ( nor upper end i7 ) line is flushed out with newest microarch. The i7 micro arch update isn't due till Q4. The iMac updated last Fall if Apple does them on a 12 month schedule that's when they'd be due again.

That's is the pattern Apple was using but they have to have the newer components to ship them.

Wasn't there just recently a CPU update announced by intel with updated chips shipping starting in July of this year?

There are other wasy the iMac line could be updated though, a better GPU, offering the i5 chip in the 21.5 inch iMac, more memory, etc. Still pegging an update for tomorrow - a bump in specs of some kind.

 

[redscull]

So what if I want a powerful system? Why do you have to be so critical?

Sorry, I wasn't trying to be critical. I just don't think the current tower is much, if any, upgrade over the current macbook pros. I guess my point was that your ultimatum didn't make sense. Either wait on the next tower refresh, or buy the latest macbook pro. The current tower doesn't seem like a very good deal to me.

To the other responses, yes, I guess they are some technical limitations to the laptop, like the number of screens you can connect. But when I look at what I normally consider to be the main "power" aspects of a computer (cpu, ram, video), the i7 MBPs are pretty freakin' powerful.

 

[rmwebs]

Sorry, I wasn't trying to be critical. I just don't think the current tower is much, if any, upgrade over the current macbook pros. I guess my point was that your ultimatum didn't make sense. Either wait on the next tower refresh, or buy the latest macbook pro. The current tower doesn't seem like a very good deal to me.

To the other responses, yes, I guess they are some technical limitations to the laptop, like the number of screens you can connect. But when I look at what I normally consider to be the main "power" aspects of a computer (cpu, ram, video), the i7 MBPs are pretty freakin' powerful.

The screen is a dealbreaker for almost all people who need a powerful mac. Would you expect a movie editor to be slumped over his little laptop with the director sitting next to him?

 

[Icaras]

The screen is a dealbreaker for almost all people who need a powerful mac. Would you expect a movie editor to be slumped over his little laptop with the director sitting next to him?

Whenever I watch behind-the-scene features in newer Steven Speilberg films, I always see a Macbook Pro nearby on the set. They look like 17" sized ones though.