buy a 2009 ???

[theste]

howdy,

I am thinking of buying a 2009 mac pro (on the cheap) and then updating in to 5,1 mac pro. The only thing that is stopping me is the life span of the mac (mean how long will it take before apple stop supporting it, with newer a OS's) I would like it to last about 5 to 6 years.

really it is out of a 2009 mac pro or a iMac (2011/2012), what do you think

 

[rondocap]

I just got a 2009 Mac Pro, and it's amazingly fast and upgradable. SSD, lots of ram, ATI 6870, etc.

The 4.1 Mac Pros share a lot with the 5.1, so I doubt they will be obsolete anytime soon. Definitely get a few more years out of them, I'd guess at least 4-5. (The 2006 Mac Pro I had is pretty much current till today, and it's 6 years old)

 

[thefredelement]

Yeah for sure, I got my 2009 MP a few weeks ago and it rocks. I don't think it's out of line to expect the next 2 - 3 OS upgrades will be good with it.

the 2008 MPs are compatible with Mountain Lion, and we've all had 64 bit EFIs since then, so barring some major technological advancement I don't see Apple throwing out the baby out with the bath water on these older but still incredibly powerful devices.

The only caveat is that CPU speeds are starting to tick back up again, which is great, I just don't know if an OS could ever possible require anything in the high 2s or even anything past 3Ghz, that's some serious sustained clock.