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2013 Mac Pro. Wait or buy now?

I have the same question!! Buy the Mac pro 2013 or wait for the update. Currently i have an iMac 2011 but actually im living in China and thanks god when i bought the iMac i also purchase the apple care. In this 3 years i already took the imac to repair almost 5 time because of several problems with the screen, cpu, superdrive... etc.
I use it for video editing, photoshop, Lightroom and some random gaming (when i have time)
So i decided that i dont want to buy a computer like the iMac again, always the fu.... problem with the screen.
My question is... Should i buy now the Mac pro or wait until the next year and check what will happen?
If i buy it will be the base model 4c / 12Gb ram / D500 / 500 Gb ssd
Thanks for the reply ;)
 
Last edited:
Chewakka said:
I have the same question!! Buy the Mac pro 2013 or wait for the update. Currently i have an iMac 2011 but actually im living in China and thanks god when i bought the iMac i also purchase the apple care. In this 3 years i already took the imac to repair almost 5 time because of several problems with the screen, cpu, superdrive... etc.
I use it for video editing, photoshop, Lightroom and some random gaming (when i have time)
So i decided that i dont want to buy a computer like the iMac again, always the fu.... problem with the screen.
My question is... Should i buy now the Mac pro or wait until the next year and check what will happen?
If i buy it will be the base model 4c / 12Gb ram / D500 / 500 Gb ssd
Thanks for the reply ;)
Click to expand...


Why wait?
 
Well, I deliberated over this like everyone else and it came down to the fact that I needed it / wanted it now so I ordered it. It arrives tomorrow and I know it'll smash my current setup (MB Air 11) for video/animation/number crunching so i'll be very happy!

Even if they do release a newer version later this year, it will probably not be that noticeable a speed increase in the everyday. It will only really be observable in benchmarking software, which in essence is all about prestige and not really a valid assessment of real work anyway.

Thats my two Great British pennies anyway :)
 
Dreadnought said:
Well the rumour is the next gen base model will be a 6-core. So if you can only afford a 4-core base model now, you're a consumer and not a company, don't need it immediately and do a lot of video editing, I would wait!
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Really? That might be wishful thinking... The only way I would consider that a possibility is if Intel's next gen Xeons only come with 6 cores or more. Otherwise I think a 4-core entry level is pretty much guaranteed. Do we know what Intel's plans are around Haswell Xeons?

EDIT: There's no guarantee that Apple will even update the Mac Pro for Haswell. There's plenty of precedent to support the fact the might not... 2012 Mac Pro and Mac Mini being great examples of systems that have missed being refreshed on an annual basis. In fact, personally, I'd say until there are new GPUs, there's little point in updating the nMP.
 
VirtualRain said:
Really? That might be wishful thinking... The only way I would consider that a possibility is if Intel's next gen Xeons only come with 6 cores or more. Otherwise I think a 4-core entry level is pretty much guaranteed. Do we know what Intel's plans are around Haswell Xeons?
Click to expand...

Another possibility that would give a 6-core base is if the 4-core Haswell-EP chips are somewhat limited compared to the higher end ones (slower memory, no hyper-threading, ...).
 
VirtualRain said:
Really? That might be wishful thinking... The only way I would consider that a possibility is if Intel's next gen Xeons only come with 6 cores or more.
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It's probably wishful thinking, but if there's a chance, it might come down to pricing and marketing.

Presently, there doesn't appear to be a 4 core Haswell-E chip (on the consumer side) - just 6 core CPUs. On the Xeon side, there is still a couple of 4 core Haswell-EP chips. However, we don't know pricing yet on those... if the base 6 core has gone down in price, it may be inserted as the base model.

Also, it's a bit embarrassing that the iMac can kick the nMP 4C's ass in CPU benchmarks, and a 6 core would help delineate the CPU difference.

The 4/6/8 core E5-16xx v2 chips used in the nMP are all identical except for number of cores, and if they stick with a similar E5-16xx v3 lineup, that wouldn't change for Haswell-E.
 
ixxx69 said:
It's probably wishful thinking, but if there's a chance, it might come down to pricing and marketing.

Presently, there doesn't appear to be a 4 core Haswell-E chip (on the consumer side) - just 6 core CPUs. On the Xeon side, there is still a couple of 4 core Haswell-EP chips. However, we don't know pricing yet on those... if the base 6 core has gone down in price, it may be inserted as the base model.
Click to expand...

Agree it's possible. I'm not intimate enough with Intel's pricing history to comment on whether that's likely.

ixxx69 said:
Also, it's a bit embarrassing that the iMac can kick the nMP 4C's ass in CPU benchmarks, and a 6 core would help delineate the CPU difference.

The 4/6/8 core E5-16xx v2 chips used in the nMP are all identical except for number of cores, and if they stick with a similar E5-16xx v3 lineup, that wouldn't change for Haswell-E.
Click to expand...

And while it is a bit embarrassing that a BTO iMac can compete with the entry-level nMP, it seems Apple doesn't really care or they would have put some distance between them with this iteration.

The more I hang around the Mac Mini forum debating why that product didn't get a Haswell update, the more I'm inclined to think the same thing will happen to the nMP. The theory is that Haswell is not much of a compelling update for a desktop given it's primary benefit is improved battery life - especially a desktop not needing the on-die GPU. The next compelling CPU update from Intel will be Broadwell. So if the nMP follows in the Mini's footsteps, a refresh may not happen until Broadwell-E. Of course, that hasn't stopped Apple from updating the iMac desktops with Haswell (but at least the lower-end units can benefit from the added Iris GPU power), so we just don't know. But I think it's a bit naive to assume a nMP refresh is absolutely coming with Haswell-E.
 
So... I think I will wait because I have the apple care in the iMac until mid 2015. It really annoying to take it every time the screen has some black spots but... Meanwhile they repair it for free is ok.
Other question I will buy the base model nMP thinking in the future to change the processor... Do you think we will have the possibility to upgrade the 2013 with the new processor Haswell -E??
Do you think the prize of the actual processors for the nMP 2013 will be cheaper??
 
VirtualRain said:
But I think it's a bit naive to assume a nMP refresh is absolutely coming with Haswell-E.
Click to expand...
Totally agree. We obviously just don't know and this is all pure speculation.

That's a good analysis you've outlined. I think the argument for a Haswell-E upgrade would be that they don't want to find themselves in the same boat again (and the problem that the Mac Mini is currently suffering).

Updating each year isn't necessarily about the improvements it offers over the previous generation... it's about smoothing out the cyclic nature of purchasing and easing the minds of the market.

It's one thing to buy 9-month old tech or even year-old tech right before a new release. It's a bitter pill to swallow purchasing 18-24 month old tech right before a new release.

So if there's no new Haswell-E MP, that means Broadwell MP late 2015 at the earliest, which means if you're in the market for a new MP mid-2015, you're not going to happy being forced to purchase a 2013-era MP.

It's interesting you bring up the Mac Mini, because it's the same problem as well. I'm actually interested in getting a MM, but there's no way I'm buying a 2012 MM at this point. The monkey-wrench with the MM (assuming Apple is planning on updating it) was the delay in Broadwell, which was originally due earlier this year... by the time it became apparent that MM suitable Broadwell chips would be early 2015, it was "too late" to do a Haswell refresh.
 
Chewakka said:
Other question I will buy the base model nMP thinking in the future to change the processor... Do you think we will have the possibility to upgrade the 2013 with the new processor Haswell -E??
Click to expand...

The new processor is Haswell-EP - and since it uses a different socket, it won't be possible to put an E5-x6xx-v3 into the MP6,1.

Most likely, once E5-x6xx-v3 start shipping the prices on E5-x6xx-v2 will start to slide down. You'll be able to put a 6/8/10/12 core E5-v2 in it, for a good discount from today's prices. Be prepared to wait quite a while for the prices to drop, though.
 
ixxx69 said:
Totally agree. We obviously just don't know and this is all pure speculation.

That's a good analysis you've outlined. I think the argument for a Haswell-E upgrade would be that they don't want to find themselves in the same boat again (and the problem that the Mac Mini is currently suffering).

Updating each year isn't necessarily about the improvements it offers over the previous generation... it's about smoothing out the cyclic nature of purchasing and easing the minds of the market.

It's one thing to buy 9-month old tech or even year-old tech right before a new release. It's a bitter pill to swallow purchasing 18-24 month old tech right before a new release.

So if there's no new Haswell-E MP, that means Broadwell MP late 2015 at the earliest, which means if you're in the market for a new MP mid-2015, you're not going to happy being forced to purchase a 2013-era MP.

It's interesting you bring up the Mac Mini, because it's the same problem as well. I'm actually interested in getting a MM, but there's no way I'm buying a 2012 MM at this point. The monkey-wrench with the MM (assuming Apple is planning on updating it) was the delay in Broadwell, which was originally due earlier this year... by the time it became apparent that MM suitable Broadwell chips would be early 2015, it was "too late" to do a Haswell refresh.
Click to expand...

Agreed on all fronts. I'm also looking to upgrade my aging 2010 Mac Mini and looking at the Geekbench scores, the 2012 i7 would nearly double my performance, while a Haswell refresh would only add another 5%. So while I agree, I'm not buying a new MM now, I may buy a used 2012 if I can get an i7 for a decent price because the new ones (if there are any) won't offer much added performance.

So would Apple refresh the nMP for a 5% performance improvement? Maybe. I think new GPUs are a minimal requirement for a refresh and I don't know when the next gen GPUs will land... do you guys?
 
AidenShaw said:
Why not look at benchmarks for the apps that are important to you?

Geekbench is great if you run Geekbench 24x7... If not, not.
Click to expand...


Normally, I'd agree but in the case of my Mac Mini it's a NAS, Plex media server /player, Downloader, and mixed bag. It's not a productivity machine like my Mac Pro. The current dual core is pegged pretty often on one or the other. I need more general purpose multitasking from it than anything. So Geekbench is probably as good an indicator as anything in this case.
 
I you have a job, get it now, there is no point waiting.

I knew I had a project coming in, 24 episodes of 30mins videos. In the past I only do 5 minute corporate videos, and my 2009, octo 3.33 oMP was handling it just borderline ok.

I actually delayed getting the MP because I was divided on if I should get the D700 over the D500, in the end I went with 6core 3.5, D500 and spec it with 32GB of RAM and left extra budget for SSD drives.

NOW I can't wait for it to reach, I regret not getting it in sooner. The work is definitely more than what my current MP can handle. I've been working over nights to finish the 1st 2 episodes, compress and upload takes 3 hours, I want this pain to end soon.....
 
Darwin36 said:
Well, I deliberated over this like everyone else and it came down to the fact that I needed it / wanted it now so I ordered it. It arrives tomorrow and I know it'll smash my current setup (MB Air 11) for video/animation/number crunching so i'll be very happy!

Even if they do release a newer version later this year, it will probably not be that noticeable a speed increase in the everyday. It will only really be observable in benchmarking software, which in essence is all about prestige and not really a valid assessment of real work anyway.

Thats my two Great British pennies anyway :)
Click to expand...

which model did you order and are you happy with it?
 
GreyMatta said:
which model did you order and are you happy with it?
Click to expand...

I went for the 6-Core, 16GB RAM (to be upgraded later), D700, 1TB

I am very very happy with my purchase. in terms of heavy apps, I run MotionBuilder, Maya, DAZ, MATLAB, SAS, Vicon Nexus (MOCAP) and i'm currently able to run them pretty darn well in Parallels to be honest, no lag at all in fact. I use Bootcamp to do the final renders for a little extra speed but i see no slow down at all.

It boots to OSX with resumed apps faster than my router can assign it an IP, it is always whisper silent and the footprint is amazingly small and pretty!

Hope this helps your decision!
 
koban4max said:
read the link
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What link? The MacRumors article just talks about the new Xeon chips, which we already knew about, and provides no new evidence or even rumors that Apple will update the nMP with the new chips. It's like saying a Mini update is imminent because the Haswell i7-4770HQ is out. The chip is available, but that is clearly not the only factor Apple considers when planning a hardware refresh.
 
I'm seriously thinking of getting nMP 6 core D700...Still thinking, but I just hope Apple will stick with AMD in the future MP. I'd be pissed if next MP gets Nvidia card or option to upgrade to it...
 
Dokebi1221 said:
I'm seriously thinking of getting nMP 6 core D700...Still thinking, but I just hope Apple will stick with AMD in the future MP. I'd be pissed if next MP gets Nvidia card or option to upgrade to it...
Click to expand...

AMD as the underdog in the graphics card arena has far more impetus to offer Apple a discount on its custom cards.

And considering how Nvidia lags severely in OpenCL performance it'd be a step backward for Apple's pro applications as well.

So aside from people with CUDA-based workflows it probably behooves AMD and Apple to keep working together closely.
 
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