WWDC 09 Mac Pro Changes?

[Strobe]

Does anyone think the Mac Pro will get any changes at WWDC?

I am in the market for a new Mac Pro. I have settled that I do not need 8-core power. I found a good deal on eBay and not sure if its a good idea to buy one off of eBay when WWDC is less than 2 weeks away. Anyone feel there will be a speed bump, case redesign, snow leopard?

If snow leopard came out, does anyone know if Apple includes free upgrade for new systems from a certain date?

Any advice on whether buying a Mac Pro on ebay is a bad idea? Does Apple take PayPal receipt for eBay purchase as a valid proof of purchase? I've never had to provide a receipt for my Macbook Pro even though I did buy it at a true reseller.

 

[Anuba]

Since the Mac Pro was revised only 3 months ago it's highly unlikely that it will be updated again for the WWDC. If you live in the U.S, I'd say buy one now. If you live in Europe you might wanna hold off buying anything that Apple released in March '08 (iMac, Mac Pro, Mini) because the prices were set during a week when the US dollar peaked against other currencies, so those machines remain extraordinarily expensive in Europe compared to the November '08 machines (MacBook, MacBook Pro).

Notice that crazy peak in March? That's what determined the current Mac Pro prices internationally. The next time they update the Mac Pro, they will have to cut their prices outside the US by several hundred dollars.

 

[grue]

is it really that hard to check even the top ten threads in the forum to see if there might already be an ongoing discussion on the subject?

I mean seriously, you wouldn't even have needed to scroll down.

 

[Strobe]

is it really that hard to check even the top ten threads in the forum to see if there might already be an ongoing discussion on the subject?

I mean seriously, you wouldn't even have needed to scroll down.

This is my first post on a forum. Give me a break. Besides I read those threads in the upper section and maybe I wanted a more personal touch of a response rather than trash. You're not helping my issue.

 

[DeepCobalt]

This is my first post on a forum. Give me a break. Besides I read those threads in the upper section and maybe I wanted a more personal touch of a response rather than trash. You're not helping my issue.

How about adding to this thread (just a few lines down)... It asks the identical question to yours...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/707437/

But the short answer to your question is no. The Mac Pro will not be updated at WWDC.

 

[fs454]

Hell, the first big octo core update didn't even happen at an event. It happened randomly like a day before and got like two words at the conference.


I literally sped to the nearest Apple Store to pick one up, haha.

 

[crackbookpro]

This is my first post on a forum. Give me a break. Besides I read those threads in the upper section and maybe I wanted a more personal touch of a response rather than trash. You're not helping my issue.

Welcome aboard Strope. These guys like to 'bust balls' on here some times

...but, you will find out real fast that few on here will help to those who post repetative post topics. Plus, you have to relax a bit, and give respect to the 'maccers' who have been on here for quite some time...

...to answer your question - I don't think it is likely, I could see something of an upgrade early fall though

"you get a lot more bees with HONEY than you do VINEGAR"

 

[yiyopr]

mac pro speed bump

In my opinion they *might* make a slight processor speed bump, but not in summer. The upper 15 inch macbook pro went up from 2.53GHz to 2.66GHz a couple months after its release. If they were to speed bump the mac pro I doubt it will be this summer, I think they might bump up the 2.66 processor to a 2.8GHz or maybe (hopefully) a 2.93GHz but in september, when the nehalem processors prices go down, and maybe update the 2.26GHz 8-core to 2.66GHz.

This is probably just me being paranoid, I want to buy a mac pro myself but don't know when to jump in (there's always something new around the corner).

 

[Anuba]

In my opinion they *might* make a slight processor speed bump, but not in summer. The upper 15 inch macbook pro went up from 2.53GHz to 2.66GHz a couple months after its release. If they were to speed bump the mac pro I doubt it will be this summer, I think they might bump up the 2.66 processor to a 2.8GHz or maybe (hopefully) a 2.93GHz but in september, when the nehalem processors prices go down, and maybe update the 2.26GHz 8-core to 2.66GHz.

Yeah. Problem is, there is no 2.8 model of the processor, there's 2.66, 2.93 and 3.20 (Apple skipped the lower-end 2.4 and 2.53 versions). So Intel would have to do a speed bump across the board in order for Apple to follow.

This is probably just me being paranoid, I want to buy a mac pro myself but don't know when to jump in (there's always something new around the corner).

Same here. I had the mouse cursor on the "place order" button last night, but bailed out, thinking I should at least wait until after WWDC. Not that I expect them to revise the machines in any meaningful way this soon, but they might adjust the prices. Like I said, the Mac Pro is inordinately expensive in my country due to the price having been set when the value of the USD peaked. It has since dropped almost 20%. If they launched a new Mac Pro today it wouldn't merely be a tiny bit better/faster/whatever, it would also cost a whole lot less.

If an American came to Sweden and bought a MacBook Pro 17" and a Mac Pro today, he would get the MBP 17 for $2628 ($2795 in the US), but he'd have to pay $2782 for the Mac Pro ($2499 in the US). The Mac Pro is already overpriced, adding another $300 doesn't exactly help.

 

[Gonk42]

Yeah. Problem is, there is no 2.8 model of the processor, there's 2.66, 2.93 and 3.20 (Apple skipped the lower-end 2.4 and 2.53 versions). So Intel would have to do a speed bump across the board in order for Apple to follow.

Xeon X5560 is a 2.8GHz version (X5550 = 2.66, X5560 = 2.8, X5570 = 2.93 and the workstation W5580 is 3.2 (and 130W instead of 95W)).

I think Apple will announce a change about two days after I've given up waiting for decent prices and 6 RAM sockets per processor and have gone off and bought a DELL.

The Mac Pro is a work of art but unfortunately is priced as such.

 

[Anuba]

The Mac Pro is a work of art but unfortunately is priced as such.

They could charge anything they want for the unique case, of course, it just gets a tad ridiculous when they charge 2-3 times the street price for generic internal components they didn't even make.

Apple wants 5,350 SEK for the 2.93 GHz W3540 option on the quad.
Dell wants 4,287 SEK for it.
The actual price difference between the W3520 and W3540 is 3,195 SEK.
I can almost, but not quite, buy a separate W3540 2.93 for the same money that Apple wants for going from the 2.66 to the 2.93.

Apple wants 3,240 SEK for an additional 1 TB WD black hard drive.
I can buy one for 1,250 SEK and that's probably not even the lowest price.

The difference between their 6 GB (3x2) and 8 GB (4x2) option is 1,080 SEK.
But a 2 GB DDR3 ECC chip costs 500 SEK. In fact I can by 8 GB for 2,000 SEK. Apple wants 1,620 SEK for going from 3 GB to 6 GB.
Dell wants 1,108 SEK for the 3 GB > 6 GB difference, and they'll give you an additional 11 GB (the default config is 1 GB) for a total of 12 GB for 4,045 SEK.

They want 1,620 SEK for each additional GT120 card. It's worth 500 SEK tops.

The list goes on... I think Dell and other PC vendors have found a good balance, they're overcharging a little for the options but it's within the limits of decency. With Apple it's just obscene, and I don't see what they're gaining from it when pretty much everyone orders the basic config and buy the options from third parties. There can't be THAT many people who are both rich AND born yesterday.