Looking to purchase a Mac Pro, the $2999 model. I can see it has been a long time since the last update -- and the buyers guide suggests 'DO NOT BUY'. What do you guys think? Obviously I'd prefer to not buy a Mac Pro and then there is a dope update 3-4 months from now.
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Bad time to buy a Mac Pro?
- Thread starter harryhood
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I agree with the buyers guide.
Wait till WWDC in June.
If it's not significantly updated then, the MP is prolly toast.
Wait till WWDC in June.
If it's not significantly updated then, the MP is prolly toast.
It's a colossally bad time. If you can wait, I'd wait, unquestionably.
According to the buyer's guide the average wait between updates is 449 days, and it's been 758 days since the last update. That's a record-breaking wait. On top of that, you're paying brand-new prices for a model that's over 2 years old, the same price to the penny that people paid for it on day 1.
On the other hand, if you cannot wait and you need to get work done, well, go do what you have to do. Nobody knows when the next update is coming.
According to the buyer's guide the average wait between updates is 449 days, and it's been 758 days since the last update. That's a record-breaking wait. On top of that, you're paying brand-new prices for a model that's over 2 years old, the same price to the penny that people paid for it on day 1.
On the other hand, if you cannot wait and you need to get work done, well, go do what you have to do. Nobody knows when the next update is coming.
It has not been updated in many years. If this is the kind of system you need, I would look to a workstation tower from Dell or Lenovo. You will get much newer parts and a lower price.
If OS X is a must on your production machine, look for a refurb unit. $3,000 for an Ivy Bridge Xeon in 2016 is insane.
If OS X is a must on your production machine, look for a refurb unit. $3,000 for an Ivy Bridge Xeon in 2016 is insane.
I'm in the same boat. I'll wait until March, but after that it's either going to be a 27 inch iMac to tide me over until a new Pro model is out or I'll jump ship altogether and go Windows 10. Going Windows after more than 20 years on a Mac is a pretty drastic move, but I'm not sure how much of a choice I have now that Apple has become a phone company.
That's a good plan but wait until WWDC in June if you can.
But if you need something now the latest 27" i7 iMac is very good.
http://barefeats.com/imac5k18.html
http://macperformanceguide.com/blog/2015/20151224_1306-iMac5K-arrives.html
http://macperformanceguide.com/iMac5K_2015-RealWorldPhotoshopPerformance.html
Waiting on something NEW that might be announced in June sounds good and all, but the questions are...
Do you have something that would benefit from an upgrade NOW?
Is this a purchase for your business, a purchase which might help you make more $$$ or expand your capabilities?
If yes, you have some options to buying new...
- buy an Apple refurbished model at a reduced cost.
- buy a used Mac Pro for even less.
- upgrade what you have now.
Whatever you might do now, your system will still have value and you could sell to fund the purchase of something new, if it is announced.
IMHO, waiting on what new product might be announced is a never ending merry-go-round.
Do you have something that would benefit from an upgrade NOW?
Is this a purchase for your business, a purchase which might help you make more $$$ or expand your capabilities?
If yes, you have some options to buying new...
- buy an Apple refurbished model at a reduced cost.
- buy a used Mac Pro for even less.
- upgrade what you have now.
Whatever you might do now, your system will still have value and you could sell to fund the purchase of something new, if it is announced.
IMHO, waiting on what new product might be announced is a never ending merry-go-round.
Apple should give us an update on the last WWDC, not this one, but they didn't. So, who knows?
If one had money to burn, one would buy a more powerful configuration with d700s.
If one does not have money to burn, yet the base configuration would immediately be put to work on a project which would pay for the machine, why not?
Outside of those 2 cases, there are other options: external GPU over PCIE (magma & the like) on a cMP, or external GPU over Thunderbolt (maxexpansion, etc.) on a nMP.
The new Nvidia cards (1080 and 1070) offer nice performance gains at a significant discount over the previous generation.
Of course this is assuming you need some more GPU muscle. If you just need the CPU cores, you might look at a refurbished 12 core, or possibly upgrade the CPU yourself if you're feeling manly.
Unless I missed it, we really don't know your intended usage for the box (cylinder).
If one does not have money to burn, yet the base configuration would immediately be put to work on a project which would pay for the machine, why not?
Outside of those 2 cases, there are other options: external GPU over PCIE (magma & the like) on a cMP, or external GPU over Thunderbolt (maxexpansion, etc.) on a nMP.
The new Nvidia cards (1080 and 1070) offer nice performance gains at a significant discount over the previous generation.
Of course this is assuming you need some more GPU muscle. If you just need the CPU cores, you might look at a refurbished 12 core, or possibly upgrade the CPU yourself if you're feeling manly.
Unless I missed it, we really don't know your intended usage for the box (cylinder).
Considering what Apple has devolved into, I would consider an updated Mac Pro to be a happy surprise at this point.
Copied from a previous posting.
I suggest you take the following into consideration before making a decision: speculations, rumors, emotions, having the ability to predict the future (accurately), unbiased and educated responses to this and other related threads, possibilities, probabilities, what someone heard, the forum person who has the psychic ability to know and speak on behalf of anyone who has considered purchasing an apple product (they profusely use the word "everybody" in their posts), etc.
One thing will happen following your purchase - an upgrade - be it a bump, hardware, software, or feature. And following that upgrade, there will be another and so on.
I purchased the nMP roughly 4 months after its release. The same questions and comments appeared long before that date. As someone above posted, it depends on your requirements. Even if the purported update comes with TB3 and slew of other updated options, it won't matter to me. All of my photography and videography requirements are fulfilled with the current model. The tone of the answer will be based on the user and if their requirements are fulfilled.
Given that WWDC is around the corner, hopefully it will provide a light on what is to come. This "could" lead to a discount on current models or help you decide if (it's announced) an upgraded model is on the way.
Best of luck with your decision.
I suggest you take the following into consideration before making a decision: speculations, rumors, emotions, having the ability to predict the future (accurately), unbiased and educated responses to this and other related threads, possibilities, probabilities, what someone heard, the forum person who has the psychic ability to know and speak on behalf of anyone who has considered purchasing an apple product (they profusely use the word "everybody" in their posts), etc.
One thing will happen following your purchase - an upgrade - be it a bump, hardware, software, or feature. And following that upgrade, there will be another and so on.
I purchased the nMP roughly 4 months after its release. The same questions and comments appeared long before that date. As someone above posted, it depends on your requirements. Even if the purported update comes with TB3 and slew of other updated options, it won't matter to me. All of my photography and videography requirements are fulfilled with the current model. The tone of the answer will be based on the user and if their requirements are fulfilled.
Given that WWDC is around the corner, hopefully it will provide a light on what is to come. This "could" lead to a discount on current models or help you decide if (it's announced) an upgraded model is on the way.
Best of luck with your decision.
Look at refurbished units, some good prices for what you get, I'd probably even say buy a refurb that suits your purposes before WWDC, but with the return window just in case.
My money is on it being dumped. or they will release the Mac Pro "pro" slapping another $1000 for the extra pro name.
I bought a refurb a while back, perfect for my needs, and even if they upgrade it, the upgrades will not be worth the full price for me.
My money is on it being dumped. or they will release the Mac Pro "pro" slapping another $1000 for the extra pro name.
I bought a refurb a while back, perfect for my needs, and even if they upgrade it, the upgrades will not be worth the full price for me.
My guess is it's a slim chance a new 2016 Mac Pro will be announced at WWDC. Though my guess could be wrong as surprises may come. I am basing my speculation as Apple has many things to deal with first. Top on their list is improving overall sales in the next few months. It was reported the sales were lower for the early part of 2016 and the stock prices of Apple going down. A big chunk of the sales composed of the iPhone while Mac computers only plays a small part. Another factor is the timing of a new Mac Pro update. Most of the Mac computer line have not been updated and most likely Apple will update the laptops first.
There is also the ongoing GPU repair program on the 2013 new Mac Pro. This may be an added operational expenses on Apple on the current new Mac Pro. There is also the problems with Premiere Pro video editing with new Mac Pro users having horizontal artifacts on rendering exports. Apple would need to figure out a way to fix this issue with the next new Mac Pro release. Some tried to avail the GPU repair program but in this forum from a posting by a member, kylec23872453 Apple refused to replace his GPUs ( GPU repair program ) because his GPUs have been replaced already before the announcement of the GPU repair program. https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1422947?start=760&tstart=0
If you plan to get the 2013 new Mac Pro, the 6 core 3.5ghz or 8 core 3.0ghz might be a better bang for the buck deal than the $2999 quad core model. Depends on your type of usage. A few months back I've seen a lot of the quad core models for sale at eBay. I don't know how things are now.