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Design visualization for the 2013 Mac Pro...

violst

violst

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 14, 2012
339
161
Attached is a visualization I did of the 2013 Mac Pro. Clean, modern, sleek but still with the heritage and feel of the original mac pro.

Hopefully soon the new Mac Pro will be here and we will see its redesign.

This is just about the overall design not the function, I'll leave that up to apple.
 

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I hope its BIGGER than the last one. More slots. More bays. More CPUs. In the midnight hour...more...more...more. And I do absolutely mean that.

But I can't see Apple giving me what I want. Maybe sometime this year... I'll get what I need.

But Windows 8.... better OpenGL... more options...does beckon.

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Wardenski said:
How does it stay cool? I don't see any air vents.
Click to expand...

New Physics.
 
That looks like a style cross between the current MacPro and the plastic candy colored egg-shaped iMacs of years ago. :p
 
Would be so cool if it didn't have fans and was cooled by a really really large surface area or some silent operation... Maybe even like air rising up just by the heat.... Coolio :)
 
violst said:
Attached is a visualization I did of the 2013 Mac Pro. Clean, modern, sleek but still with the heritage and feel of the original mac pro.
Click to expand...

Just how narcissistic do you think Apple is? The logo on every side? It is a product, not a Times Square billboard.


It is doubtful would loose all of the front side connectors. In fact, Firewire might only be on the front. Any analog audio will probably only be on the front ( good chance loose analog in/out sockets to Thunderbolt or some other two sockets on the back. )

It is doubtful Apple would do a asymmetric design to this extent. There is nothing in the rest of their current design space that is.


This is just about the overall design not the function, I'll leave that up to apple.
Click to expand...

great design incorporates function; not oblivious to it.



akadmon said:
The left side is wide open.
Click to expand...

Not that this is serious, but wouldn't pass FCC Class B tests. There is more to the box/container than just cooling.

jamesjingyi said:
Would be so cool if it didn't have fans and was cooled by a really really large surface area or some silent operation... Maybe even like air rising up just by the heat....
Click to expand...

Like the failed Mac Cube ? Not particularly cool at all; literally or figuratively. Part of the gap in performance is going to be drawing power.
 
violst said:
Attached is a visualization I did of the 2013 Mac Pro. Clean, modern, sleek but still with the heritage and feel of the original mac pro.
Click to expand...

What's with the handles? They're unusable the way you've got them. I've always loved the Mac Pro design because it's easy to pick up, even if the thing weighs a ton.

violst said:
This is just about the overall design not the function, I'll leave that up to apple.
Click to expand...

Then you've failed miserably.

Jonathan Ive himself has stated numerous times that design and functionality are one and the same, if you want to build a tightly integrated product that looks and works well.

Examples:

- The meshed front and back of the Mac Pro, and the internal partitioning that separates the major component areas (ODD/PSU, PCI-e slots, and CPU/RAM). Air is drawn straight through the machine, reducing noise and increasing cooling efficiency.

- The CPU daughter card is removable, allowing Apple to sell Single and Dual CPU models by simply swapping that entire assembly. The chassis, backplane board, PSU, and fans remain the same between both models.

- The locking lever on the back doesn't just secure the side panel, it also secures the ODD carrier and the disk drive caddies. In the locked position, none of these components can "wiggle out" of their seated positions.

- The PCI-e expansion fan pivots on a hinge that mechanically releases a retaining bar that holds in the PCI-e cards. This means you don't need to reach down and fish around for a fragile plastic retaining tab that is prone to snapping off to release the PCI-e board.

I'm sorry, but your design takes absolutely no engineering issues into consideration. It is a bad design precisely because you don't want to worry about the function, and this is exactly what Apple was doing before Jobs came back (the design department would "make boxes the engineering guys could throw stuff in", and we got that insane lineup of quadruple-digited beige boxes that all kinda looked the same). It took Jobs and Ive to realize that design and function are one and the same, at which point we got the iPod, iMac, the G4 Cube, iPhone, iPad, Mac Pro, etc.

-SC
 
violst said:
Attached is a visualization I did of the 2013 Mac Pro. Clean, modern, sleek but still with the heritage and feel of the original mac pro.

Hopefully soon the new Mac Pro will be here and we will see its redesign.

This is just about the overall design not the function, I'll leave that up to apple.
Click to expand...

I applaud your effort at thinking about this, and the work that you did to put those thoughts to 'paper' (as it were). However, by posting this publicly I also hope that were expecting some feed-back.

I like the handles on top. I don't think Apple will abandon the feet however. They serve an important function by lifting the body off the floor and away from the dust. That gap of just a few inches eliminates more than half of the dust that gets ingested.

I agree with others that there will still be some accessible ports on the front. Perhaps there is a way to make them less obvious?

Not a chance there will be big lit logo on the side. The laptops have them because the lid of a laptop is very noticeable - especially in photos of people in classrooms or at meetings. Laptops can light the logo with no extra power use because they using the light from the display. A Mac Pro is rarely seen in photos of meetings or classrooms. Plus Apple is working to minimize the power their systems draw. Adding a light to illuminate a logo that is rarely seen just doesn't fit into the pattern.

However, how about a logo made up of a grill of micro pores (like the speaker grills on the laptops)?

Thanks for sharing...
 
snberk103 said:
Not a chance there will be big lit logo on the side. The laptops have them because the lid of a laptop is very noticeable - especially in photos of people in classrooms or at meetings. Laptops can light the logo with no extra power use because they using the light from the display. A Mac Pro is rarely seen in photos of meetings or classrooms. Plus Apple is working to minimize the power their systems draw. Adding a light to illuminate a logo that is rarely seen just doesn't fit into the pattern.
Click to expand...

I wish that they had these on iMacs, they could light up both the back and front easily and it would make it look so cool :)
 
snberk103 said:
I like the handles on top. I don't think Apple will abandon the feet however. They serve an important function by lifting the body off the floor and away from the dust. That gap of just a few inches eliminates more than half of the dust that gets ingested.
Click to expand...

Do you have any proof or documentation to backup that claim?
 
brand said:
Do you have any proof or documentation to backup that claim?
Click to expand...

It was something I read years ago, and I have always lifted my towers a few inches since then and they have stayed (relatively) dust free inside. Since I don't have towers on the floor to compare this can only be considered anecdotal, of course.

The theory makes sense, though. Regardless of where a computer is it will suck up the lighter dust that floats around in the air. Heavier dust settles on the floor. A computer probably can't suck that dust up off the floor, but every time you walk by the computer you kick that heavier dust back up into the air where the computer can ingest it before it settles back onto the floor. Every time someone walks by that dust is kicked up, so your tower will have several chances a day at the same pile of heavy dust. Of course if the tower is tucked away from foot traffic then this isn't an issue.

I actually put my Mac Pro on top of 4" blocks to get more protection. When I opened up my 2008 Mac Pro after 3 years of constant use I was pleasantly surprised at how little dust there was. Still too much, and I really should have been cleaning it... but it certainly didn't look like 3 years worth.

But an actual link to a stat... no... I don't have. So consider this 'in my experience' & IMHO, & anecdotal.

It certainly doesn't hurt it to be lifted, and adds a layer of protection in case a bit of water is on the floor. A regular beige box tower will at a minimum risk rusting if a little water gets in underneath (deeper than the rubber feet if on a hard floor, or just enough water to make a rug damp if it's on a rug).
 
goMac said:
Which totally doesn't work when in a rack or under a desk. :p
Click to expand...

The result of scanning the thread a bit too quickly: wondering why it would not work when a rock star is under a desk. :) (Just WHY the rock star is there is a whole other question!)
 
snberk103 said:
Not so easy... there is a lot of "stuff" between the display on one side and the back. That stuff being the computer itself.
Click to expand...

Just add in a light panel... I've done it on my iPhone 4 so cant they do it to something that is a lot bigger and is constantly plugged in?
 
jamesjingyi said:
Just add in a light panel...
Click to expand...
Sorry, but I'm not familiar with this... do you have an link perhaps?
jamesjingyi said:
...they do it to something that is a lot bigger and is constantly plugged in?
Click to expand...
Even if Apple could, I doubt they will. That would increase the power used, even if only marginally, and Apple is working towards greener products.

Which doesn't mean some 3rd party vendor couldn't offer it, though....
 
snberk103 said:
Sorry, but I'm not familiar with this... do you have an link perhaps?

Even if Apple could, I doubt they will. That would increase the power used, even if only marginally, and Apple is working towards greener products.

Which doesn't mean some 3rd party vendor couldn't offer it, though....
Click to expand...

I don't like Green Apples, I like 'm Red and fully juiced! "-D
 
ScottishCaptain said:
It took Jobs and Ive to realize that design and function are one and the same,
Click to expand...

ROTFLMAO..... like Jobs and Ive discovered/realized that concept. Chose to apply it consistently at Apple? Yes. Discovered? No. not by a long shot.

Unibody design.... done way before showed up in Macs.

There is lots of incremental refinement in Apple designs, but there is nothing particularly revolutionary if examine the breadth of design spaces outside of the particularly crude, "lowest common denominator" PC market.
 
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