Has Apple finally given up on the MP?

[SDAVE]

I know there are dozens of threads about this, but really....has Apple given up on the MP and shut down U.S. manufacturing for the MP?

I think it's ridiculous that the MP is almost 4 years old and hasn't seen 1 single update. That's 48 months of no updates. Within those 48 months, the Xeon line has seen about 3 generations of updates. GPUs about 2. RAM 2. ThunderBolt is 3. USB is 1.

It's insane to me that Apple would spend this much money on R&D for a new design and then just completely dump it.

Don't get me wrong, I love Apple, especially OS X. I am really thinking of (shock!) doing a Hackintosh but since I use Macs professionally I don't want to deal with being an IT and no warranty and technical issues during work.

I sold my beautiful 2010 cMP (2x3.46Ghz 12 core, Mac EFI 780GTX, 32GB RAM) a while ago because single threaded software like Photoshop were getting a little slow to my liking on the Westmere CPU....compared to my i7 Haswell MacBook Pro. Also tired of "customizing" a cMP. (If anyone has a successful Hackintosh pls pm me I'd love to know, I know this isn't the right place to ask but I'm looking for an "out").

Apple keeps putting in AMD GPUs, which ARE computationally superior to nVidia in OpenCL, but they fall flat in everything else outside of that. AMD is so behind and has a different mindset compared to nVidia (which goes for raw power) AMD goes for computational and low energy. But no one can deny the nVidia 1080/1070 performance at such low wattages.

Anywho, my rambling doesn't help. Very disappointed in Apple and so are thousands of other professionals which rely on these machines on a daily basis.

 

[filmak]

We 're all disappointed.
We may have an announcement similar to the TB Display one or not.(yet)
Unfortunately Apple's secrecy is not helping, so we can't have a clue about their intentions.


At present time I think its 50-50 if we 're going to see a new iteration of MP or not.
If you have not a great need about a new system right now I would suggest to wait till October - November.(?)

Anyway the Hackintoshes are taking more and more mindshare amongst loyal MP users, and they appear to be, day by day, a possible and very capable solution.

 

[SDAVE]

We 're all disappointed.
We may have an announcement similar to the TB Display one or not.(yet)
Unfortunately Apple's secrecy is not helping, so we can't have a clue about their intentions.


At present time I think its 50-50 if we 're going to see a new iteration of MP or not.
If you have not a great need about a new system right now I would suggest to wait till October - November.(?)

Anyway the Hackintoshes are taking more and more mindshare amongst loyal MP users, and they appear to be, day by day, a possible and very capable solution.

Thanks for the reply.

I had the ability to buy a brand new nMP for $3,000 with the 6 core d500 variant (I think the one in your signature) but didn't pull the trigger as I wanted to see if there is another way of doing this.

I do need a desktop but can't justify $3,000+ on 4 year old hardware and the iMac is out of the question as I need raw CPU power and a good GPU. For now my workhorse is an upper range 2014 rMBP.

 

[keysofanxiety]

Yep, it's a joke. We'll just have to wait and see until September. It's really not right that they're still selling the D500/D700s amidst the documented GPU failures.

Then if they do release an update to thunderous applause, they'll act like they're all doing us a massive favour until the next update 4 years later. Oh well ...

 

[SDAVE]

Yep, it's a joke. We'll just have to wait and see until September. It's really not right that they're still selling the D500/D700s amidst the documented GPU failures.

Then if they do release an update to thunderous applause, they'll act like they're all doing us a massive favour until the next update 4 years later. Oh well ...

I really don't get what the game plan is for them. A lot of people have moved on to Windows (ew) and Workstations like HP, but design houses still use Macs.

They used to update the Mac Pro via spec bumps every year or two, now it's just iDevices.

 

[frou]

They need to keep making a workstation or else what will their own "Pro" employees in the new spaceship campus be using?

 

[maflynn]

I think it's ridiculous that the MP is almost 4 years old and hasn't seen 1 single update.

If 2016 comes and goes, then yes, I agree with you, that Apple has given up on the Mac Pro. I think people are hoping (can't say expecting), that we'll see something this fall, but if that does not materialize then the writing is on the wall.

They need to keep making a workstation or else what will their own "Pro" employees in the new spaceship campus be using?

iMacs

 

[filmak]

I do need a desktop but can't justify $3,000+ on 4 year old hardware and the iMac is out of the question as I need raw CPU power and a good GPU.

And these are the most logical thoughts, actually I have the same opinion.

I think people are hoping (can't say expecting), that we'll see something this fall, but if that does not materialize then the writing is on the wall.

Yes, indeed.
[doublepost=1467199542][/doublepost]

Don't get me wrong, I love Apple, especially OS X. I am really thinking of (shock!) doing a Hackintosh but since I use Macs professionally I don't want to deal with being an IT and no warranty and technical issues during work.

Nobody is going to get you wrong, we 're all in the same boat......

 

[dollystereo]

Dell 7000 series workstation looks really good in my opinion. Xeon v4 CPU, DDR4 ram, etc...
I don't do graphics anymore, only computing and Linux Mint is really nice.
The Mac pro pricing is really bad, old CPU, old GPU. It's sad, because CPU tend to last way longer than GPU, and with no aftermarket option, putting down 4000USD and not be able to upgrade it's not a safe bet.
The best that could happen is that apple licenses OS X to dell or HP. They even include full 3 year support.
For 2999 you get this:
http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/p...810w7p_3&model_id=precision-t7810-workstation

 

[thefredelement]

No they haven't, unless I was flat out lied to by an Apple engineer at WWDC. The team he was on runs them headless with Xcode server for CI of their apps. They run 24/7.

I don't think it's direct proof that a new one will be on it's way or that the team who makes the MP even talks to the teams that use them for dev work, but to me it shows at least a strong internal need for a workstation.

 

[filmak]

Dell 7000 series workstation looks really good in my opinion. Xeon v4 CPU, DDR4 ram, etc...
I don't do graphics anymore, only computing and Linux Mint is really nice.
The Mac pro pricing is really bad, old CPU, old GPU. It's sad, because CPU tend to last way longer than GPU, and with no aftermarket option, putting down 4000USD and not be able to upgrade it's not a safe bet.
The best that could happen is that apple licenses OS X to dell or HP. They even include full 3 year support.
For 2999 you get this:
http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/p...810w7p_3&model_id=precision-t7810-workstation

This Dell is a very nice system and 10 cores Cpu...

 

[dollystereo]

I was just playing with their site, the 3000 series workstation is very cheap and powerful!
You can get an i7 4GHZ (skylake), 32GB DDR4 ram, PCIe SSD for 1300USD. It's really tempting. (headless iMac) and 3 years of warranty.
It's a pity that the 3 years of warranty is not default with every apple system. They should be confident about their quality and at least cover their products for 3 years. Another option is make this mandatory by law (UK or netherlands)

 

[tsang2320]

I know there are dozens of threads about this, but really....has Apple given up on the MP and shut down U.S. manufacturing for the MP?

I think it's ridiculous that the MP is almost 4 years old and hasn't seen 1 single update. That's 48 months of no updates. Within those 48 months, the Xeon line has seen about 3 generations of updates. GPUs about 2. RAM 2. ThunderBolt is 3. USB is 1.

It's insane to me that Apple would spend this much money on R&D for a new design and then just completely dump it.

Don't get me wrong, I love Apple, especially OS X. I am really thinking of (shock!) doing a Hackintosh but since I use Macs professionally I don't want to deal with being an IT and no warranty and technical issues during work.

I sold my beautiful 2010 cMP (2x3.46Ghz 12 core, Mac EFI 780GTX, 32GB RAM) a while ago because single threaded software like Photoshop were getting a little slow to my liking on the Westmere CPU....compared to my i7 Haswell MacBook Pro. Also tired of "customizing" a cMP. (If anyone has a successful Hackintosh pls pm me I'd love to know, I know this isn't the right place to ask but I'm looking for an "out").

Apple keeps putting in AMD GPUs, which ARE computationally superior to nVidia in OpenCL, but they fall flat in everything else outside of that. AMD is so behind and has a different mindset compared to nVidia (which goes for raw power) AMD goes for computational and low energy. But no one can deny the nVidia 1080/1070 performance at such low wattages.

Anywho, my rambling doesn't help. Very disappointed in Apple and so are thousands of other professionals which rely on these machines on a daily basis.

Either spec or price is fine. None updated, Nah.

 

[dollystereo]

Either spec or price is fine. None updated, Nah.

If they halve the price I am ok. The base model should cost 1599.

 

[filmak]

I don't think it's direct proof that a new one will be on it's way or that the team who makes the MP even talks to the teams that use them for dev work, but to me it shows at least a strong internal need for a workstation.

I hope you 're right.
Alternatively, they may have this need, but they may also use hardware from other vendors, as they already use servers from other companies like HP etc...

 

[ITguy2016]

Thanks for the reply.

I had the ability to buy a brand new nMP for $3,000 with the 6 core d500 variant (I think the one in your signature) but didn't pull the trigger as I wanted to see if there is another way of doing this.

I do need a desktop but can't justify $3,000+ on 4 year old hardware and the iMac is out of the question as I need raw CPU power and a good GPU. For now my workhorse is an upper range 2014 rMBP.

If you're currently using an rMBP an iMac should be a considerable step up from that.

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

Highest end iMac will likely morph into Mac Pro with an external thunderbolt 3 tower for GPU and storage.

 

[filmak]

If you're currently using an rMBP an iMac should be a considerable step up from that.

Yes, but as I understand, he is in a transition period and he needs a system like his old beloved cMP, is the iMac the proper system for his needs?

I sold my beautiful 2010 cMP (2x3.46Ghz 12 core, Mac EFI 780GTX, 32GB RAM) a while ago because single threaded software like Photoshop were getting a little slow to my liking on the Westmere CPU....compared to my i7 Haswell MacBook Pro. Also tired of "customizing" a cMP. (If anyone has a successful Hackintosh pls pm me I'd love to know, I know this isn't the right place to ask but I'm looking for an "out").

BTW SDAVE what are your needs or your apps?

 

[SDAVE]

If you're currently using an rMBP an iMac should be a considerable step up from that.

The iMac 5k's AMD GPU is terrible, I've used many in different jobs and get heavy artifacting once the GPU starts to heat up and throttle. Just terrible.
[doublepost=1467203801][/doublepost]

Yes, but as I understand, he is in a transition period and he needs a system like his old beloved cMP, is the iMac the proper system for his needs?




BTW SDAVE what are your needs or your apps?

Almost all Adobe CC apps, also Cinema 4D and DaVinci Resolve.

 

[thefredelement]

I hope you 're right.
Alternatively, they may have this need, but they may also use hardware from other vendors, as they already use servers from other companies like HP etc...

Then they'd have to break their own rules and either make hacks or port cocoa & cocoa touch to linux, neither of which I think will ever happen. It just doesn't fee like the Apple way of things.

I think when the time is right (CPUs, GPUs, etc.) a new Mac Pro will be released. We've all been through these threads before but really, the same Xeon is still sold today and is still powerful (and not to mention $$). The GPU hardware is old but there hasn't really been a viable replacement, though from what I gather from other threads, there should be soon. (some workstation AMD something or other).

It sucks for all the people who like to tinker or want new stuff. In the Apple ecosystem though you will be hard pressed to find a computer that runs Apple pro software better.

I know I know, *real* pros need to be able to expand, they need Nvidia for app1, app2 and app3 and need oodles of internal expansion b/c internal HDDs are so much cheaper.. I think that's kind of the point though, Apple is not going to worry about a software vendor for app1, app2 and app3, they will promote the crap out of them when they use their latest tech & APIs though... I do think they put themselves in a tough spot with the switch to FCPX for video pros. They seemed to have abandon their workflow in the years following the release of FCPX.

In 10 years it will probably all be shaped a little differently anyway and we'll all be working on iPad Pro 9 .

 

[shaunp]

They need to keep making a workstation or else what will their own "Pro" employees in the new spaceship campus be using?

An iPad Pro of course, because you can do 'everything' with one of those

 

[SDAVE]

We've all been through these threads before

Yeah, but it was at the time when they hadn't redesigned the product in years

They should have at least had some spec bumps every year, ie up the RAM, more SSD space, more cores, for lower price. They basically left it at a price that is immorally high for no reason and a terrible business practice. The CPUs have dropped in price so have the PCIe SSDs and the GPUs.

 

[filmak]

The iMac 5k's AMD GPU is terrible, I've used many in different jobs and get heavy artifacting once the GPU starts to heat up and throttle. Just terrible.
[doublepost=1467203801][/doublepost]

Almost all Adobe CC apps, also Cinema 4D and DaVinci Resolve.

Thank you for taking the time.

Also don't forget the thermal limits of the iMac and the necessary throttling.
For sure, I'm not very comfortable with a sealed GPU running around 100° C.

 

[SDAVE]

Thank you for taking the time.

Also don't forget the thermal limits of the iMac and the necessary throttling.
For sure, I'm not very comfortable with a sealed GPU running around 100° C.

Also the iMac GPUs are mobile versions of the same GPU

I'm hoping with the release of Polaris and the 14nm FinFET architecture, they can put in a full desktop GPU. The throttling is also an issue on the Retina MacBook Pro, but the only one that doesn't have throttling issues is the nMP and cMP

 

[thefredelement]

Yeah, but it was at the time when they hadn't redesigned the product in years

They should have at least had some spec bumps every year, ie up the RAM, more SSD space, more cores, for lower price. They basically left it at a price that is immorally high for no reason and a terrible business practice. The CPUs have dropped in price so have the PCIe SSDs and the GPUs.

Yeah, I think that would have been a nice touch, I'm not sure how much the CPUs have come down but any type of savings would make it feel like "we're all in this together" versus what some people feel now.

Though, they couldn't have done it too soon and then at some point it may have been laughable to a certain crowd. It's hard to sympathize with the richest company in the world but keeping everyone happy in a niche market probably isn't going to happen.