Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

How Much Longer Can They Do This?

derbothaus said:
The people still buying Mac Pro's are business and professionals that also enjoy the benefits of NOT being on 10.7. Any new stuff will force you into Lion. 10.6 is far superior for enterprise interaction as everything continues to work well. A few day's ago I just got a few more. Because they were needed for Final Cut 7 and XSAN. People know they are old tech but they are not slow by any means. And also depends on what bracket you buy at. These were 12-core 2.93's. No one is buying the lowly 2.8 quad unless they are swapping out the proc.
Click to expand...

I need the new Mac Pro for 3D modeling, and animation. I want better GPU's than the 5870 for viewport speed, and the most cores I can get. I'm going to hold off till just after WWDC, but if there is no refresh by then, I'm going to have to jump ship, and go to Windows, because the iMac just won't cut it.
 
Last edited:
I would love to have seen some of your comments back in the day of the mythical PowerBook G5. This isn't anything new Apple is doing. Anyone who is whining hasn't used macs for more than a few years.
 
WRP said:
I would love to have seen some of your comments back in the day of the mythical PowerBook G5. This isn't anything new Apple is doing. Anyone who is whining hasn't used macs for more than a few years.
Click to expand...

I have used Macs since 1984, and they have never waited this long for a refresh. Seems like Apple has basically abandoned the Mac Pro. I see absolutely no reason to think otherwise. All news coming out is iOS based period! I'm hoping beyond hope they do refresh, but deep down I'm preparing myself for the great Windows switchover. Crap!
 
Seems to me Apple is just letting the MP die by not updating it. One day, they'll announce it's been discontinued due to "lack of sales" or some other crap like that, when clearly the lack of sales were caused by the lack of updates.
 
Cassie said:
Seems to me Apple is just letting the MP die by not updating it. One day, they'll announce it's been discontinued due to "lack of sales" or some other crap like that, when clearly the lack of sales were caused by the lack of updates.
Click to expand...

I really believe this is how it's going down. What a shame, I configured a maxed out HP 820 workstation a couple weeks ago for $7325.00. This is what I'll get come mid June.
 
tony3d said:
I really believe this is how it's going down. What a shame, I configured a maxed out HP 820 workstation a couple weeks ago for $7325.00. This is what I'll get come mid June.
Click to expand...

Taking it a step further, I think Apple may possibly be heading down the path of discontinuing Macs, period. Not in the near future I wouldn't think, but give it 5, 10 years tops. The desktops go first, First the MP, then maybe the iMac or mini. After that, I would fear the MBP would be next to go, finally ending with the Air.
I really hope I'm wrong, but Apple has not given me much, if any hope in the last year or two. Like you said, everything these days is all about iOS, which I do not have the slightest interest in.

OS X may be around in one form or another for a long time to come, but I'm starting to see the end of the road for real Macs even at this point in time.
 
tony3d said:
I have used Macs since 1984, and they have never waited this long for a refresh.
Click to expand...

Yes they have.

See: Pretty much every Mac Pro.

If the Mac Pro was dead they'd kill it. No advantage to letting it linger if they have to keep dedicating resources to it.
 
derbothaus said:
The people still buying Mac Pro's are business and professionals that also enjoy the benefits of NOT being on 10.7. Any new stuff will force you into Lion. 10.6 is far superior for enterprise interaction as everything continues to work well. A few day's ago I just got a few more. Because they were needed for Final Cut 7 and XSAN. People know they are old tech but they are not slow by any means. And also depends on what bracket you buy at. These were 12-core 2.93's. No one is buying the lowly 2.8 quad unless they are swapping out the proc.
Click to expand...

That also applies to most other operating systems. Most are not going to upgrade their buisness computers to the latest and greatest due to drivers, compatibility issues, applications not supported. They are often are several versions behind just for this reason.
 
tony3d said:
I want better GPU's than the 5870...
Click to expand...

So do I. For everything. I'd be very happy with a GTX670, 680 thank you. Even a 7950 at a decent price would suffice.

----------
linuxcooldude said:
That also applies to most other operating systems. Most are not going to upgrade their buisness computers to the latest and greatest due to drivers, compatibility issues, applications not supported. They are often are several versions behind just for this reason.
Click to expand...

Of course. Was just pointing out some people are still buying them. Doom and gloom aside. 2010 Mac Pro's still get work done and still run OS 10.6. The single most beneficial thing to extend the life would be a fast Nvidia option. Most (not all, of course) but most users are still not CPU bound. Maybe data but I doubt it.
 
tony3d said:
I need the new Mac Pro for 3D modeling, and animation. I want better GPU's than the 5870 for viewport speed, and the most cores I can get. I'm going to hold off till just after WWDC, but if there is no refresh by then, I'm going to have to jump ship, and go to Windows, because the iMac just won't cut it.
Click to expand...

Assuming it's another AMD card, this is the best you're going to see. NVidia cards seem to be getting closer to plug and play, but if you're looking for something tested/certified by whatever software developer, they won't test on non standard (as in not available through Apple retail) configurations under OSX. Of course Apple could go with something cheaper. This is more expensive than the prior generation, and in either case your real viewport speed will be dependent on a stable driver whether under Windows or OSX, so it's worth looking into before buying.

Cassie said:
Seems to me Apple is just letting the MP die by not updating it. One day, they'll announce it's been discontinued due to "lack of sales" or some other crap like that, when clearly the lack of sales were caused by the lack of updates.
Click to expand...

Well you should be aware of the cpu thing. As for gpus, my comparison doesn't reference the 6XXX series. If you look at the anandtech review it's comparing the 5870 with the newest available from AMD. Really it's just been slow since 2009-2010, and every mac pro generation, people expect it to be the last. The bloggers feed that because it generates hits.

Cassie said:
Taking it a step further, I think Apple may possibly be heading down the path of discontinuing Macs, period. Not in the near future I wouldn't think, but give it 5, 10 years tops. The desktops go first, First the MP, then maybe the iMac or mini. After that, I would fear the MBP would be next to go, finally ending with the Air.
I really hope I'm wrong, but Apple has not given me much, if any hope in the last year or two. Like you said, everything these days is all about iOS, which I do not have the slightest interest in.

OS X may be around in one form or another for a long time to come, but I'm starting to see the end of the road for real Macs even at this point in time.
Click to expand...

Another "writing on the wall" post. The way I see this, it's far out enough that it doesn't really influence my purchases for the current year. In 10 years, I can go through three generations of machines or so. If they do stop making Macs, I'll buy something else. I can almost guarantee that if this happens, the software developers will come up with some kind of migration path for those that hold OSX licenses to go to Windows or Linux assuming cross platform software. I've successfully avoided using any expensive software that is unique to Apple beyond the built in charge for the use of their OS.
 
tony3d said:
I have used Macs since 1984, and they have never waited this long for a refresh. Seems like Apple has basically abandoned the Mac Pro. I see absolutely no reason to think otherwise. All news coming out is iOS based period! I'm hoping beyond hope they do refresh, but deep down I'm preparing myself for the great Windows switchover. Crap!
Click to expand...

Oh, you mean like the last revision? Us smart people don't count 2009 because it was a joke update. Performance for dollar 2008 blew 2009 out of the water. Between the 2008 and 2010 offerings it was 699 days. See, do you want a joke update every year or do you want a real update very soon?

They aren't waiting just for the **** of it. They are waiting for a GOOD Xeon upgrade. Forget everything else. Tell me ohh masterful one, show me the lineup of procs you would suggest and the pricepoints based on current Apple models that could happen a few months ago. I don't want to hear about thunderbolt, I don't want to hear about graphics cards, what procs should be in these systems that Apple is just ripping us off on?
 
Last edited:
goMac said:
Yes they have.

See: Pretty much every Mac Pro.

If the Mac Pro was dead they'd kill it. No advantage to letting it linger if they have to keep dedicating resources to it.
Click to expand...

No they haven't! They have never taken nearly to years to refresh the Mac Pro.! You have to count 2009, it was a refresh! Tell me I'm not talking to a fan boy here.
 
WRP said:
I would love to have seen some of your comments back in the day of the mythical PowerBook G5. This isn't anything new Apple is doing. Anyone who is whining hasn't used macs for more than a few years.
Click to expand...
Mythical Powerbook G5?
 
tony3d said:
No they haven't! They have never taken nearly to years to refresh the Mac Pro.! You have to count 2009, it was a refresh! Tell me I'm not talking to a fan boy here.
Click to expand...

Huh? There were no new Xeons in 2011. I was thinking they'd update too, but when they didn't it certainly wasn't a ZOMG WHAT ARE THEY DOING THE WORLD IS ENDING moment. There weren't any new Intel processors to use.

The 2011 gap exactly matches the Xeon 2011 gap.

Besides, when new Xeons have shipped it has always taken a month or two. We're right on schedule.
 
goMac said:
Huh? There were no new Xeons in 2011. I was thinking they'd update too, but when they didn't it certainly wasn't a ZOMG WHAT ARE THEY DOING THE WORLD IS ENDING moment. There weren't any new Intel processors to use.

The 2011 gap exactly matches the Xeon 2011 gap.

Besides, when new Xeons have shipped it has always taken a month or two. We're right on schedule.
Click to expand...

Which would have been a perfect time to give it Thunderbolt, USB3.0, and change the form factor if that is indeed their intent.
 
WRP said:
Obviously you didn't use macs and certainly didn't visit this site back then. Thanks for making my point for me.
Click to expand...

What point? Oh, you mean the point when Apple refreshed the Mac Pro, but actually didn't refresh. Yah ok, I get it now. Give me a break!
 
tony3d said:
Which would have been a perfect time to give it Thunderbolt, USB3.0, and change the form factor if that is indeed their intent.
Click to expand...

Apple has made it clear that they aren't going to use USB 3, I believe. And Thunderbolt on the Mac Pro isn't really interesting, imo, until Intel rolls out the Fibre Optic version. The expansion slots available on a Mac Pro basically duplicate most of the functionality that TB brings to iMacs and laptops.

However... Intel is promising FO TB soon ... I forget how soon. Then it'll be interesting to see what Apple does with it.
 
snberk103 said:
Apple has made it clear that they aren't going to use USB 3, I believe. And Thunderbolt on the Mac Pro isn't really interesting, imo, until Intel rolls out the Fibre Optic version. The expansion slots available on a Mac Pro basically duplicate most of the functionality that TB brings to iMacs and laptops.

However... Intel is promising FO TB soon ... I forget how soon. Then it'll be interesting to see what Apple does with it.
Click to expand...

Yes, fiber optics would make sense in the Mac Pro.
 
tony3d said:
Which would have been a perfect time to give it Thunderbolt, USB3.0, and change the form factor if that is indeed their intent.
Click to expand...

#1 - Who cares about the form factor? It sits under my desk, I don't care what it looks like.
#2+3 - I use esata and raid cards (like most pros). I'm not going to update, sell my mac pro for a loss to spend the same amount of money on peripherals that I don't care about. Sure, when the new XEONs come out and they add those things, cool. But until then who gives a rats ass?
 
They can do this because there is no alternative on the market. Need a powerhouse expandable desktop running OS X? Mac Pro it is!

If Dell did this, we'd just get an HP, Lenovo, etc.

Apple, sadly, has a monopoly on the OS X market which means they get to dictate the prices.
 
tony3d said:
Which would have been a perfect time to give it Thunderbolt, USB3.0, and change the form factor if that is indeed their intent.
Click to expand...

I think its been brought up before but Intel has to add support for USB3 in its Xeon chipset for this to happen? Which it does not currently.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back