Such a mythical creature, this 7,1 you talk about!I'm not sure that the future is bright - there's a dark, ominous cloud on the horizon.
It's called "7.1".
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How will cMP support end?
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Expect that why??? Apple is years behind schedule getting a new Mac Pro out the door. Why would they allocating an ever expanding set of resources to work on improving a product two generations behind that one. Fewer resources means it will only be that much later.
There is a very narrow corner case where that happens. If Apple has largely squandered the last two years and the next Mac Pro will slide into 2020 then maybe they'll throw some "goodies" out to keep folks circling the airport a bit longer.
But besides completely screwing up ...... more enhancements largely just digs them a bigger hole over the long term. Folks who need more modern CPUs are going. These 2 generation back Mac Pro are still stuck with PCI-e 2.0 ( half the speed of modern equivalents.) and substantively narrower bandwidh ( two x4 physical slots share the same bandwidth. ) . Ancient device sockets . etc. etc.
GPUs cards and M.2 SSDs that folks can transfer over to a new machine isn't digging as big of a hole. Those all will generally uptick when more to a new system that isn't quite as handicapped.
In contrast, if Apple is on track to shipping a new Mac Pro in Q1-Q2 2019 then they are unlikely to need 1-2 more 'bobbles' in that time window to keep folks circling the airport waiting.
My bet (hope?) is that it'll be 1 year after 7,1 drops. From what I read, the 5,1 is still the workhorse inside Apple. So they too need time to move everyone off it (and Apple is a giant co, and every thing takes time in a giant co). And they can't just allocate all the new 7,1s they make to internal use, or they won't have anything to sell! I doubt 7,1 will see the light of day before WWDC, so my bet is that we'll get 10.15, and that's the last of it! So, till 2020, and then poof! lots of pumpkins on our hands.
I doubt apple would do that because Serial numbers and SMCs are subject to change.
(Plus the 2010 and 2012 MPs are literally identical save for a slight CPU clock speed bump)
also its worth mentioning user @bunnspecial owns a 2010 Mac Pro from just before the 2012 models came out, and it has a new format serial number
What are the differences between the old and new serial number format?
Again the expectation is rather misplaced since Apple said their next Mac Pro was targeted as as 2019 product. That's isn't quite vaporware. It isn't here but it isn't vaporware either.
The very real Mac Pro 2013 stopped all the significant Mac Pro 2010-2012 firmware feature updates all the while Apple considered it to be a viable product. That already happened and is a useful guideline for expectations. If Apple puts out s a new Mac Pro they are highly likely to enter the same mode that exhibited before.
Whistling in the dark hoping that the next Mac Pro doesn't come so Apple is somehow "forced" to do firmware updates is delusional. If Apple chose to completely give up on the Mac Pro class of product then that would be the end of the Mac Pro 2010-2012 period. Not just firmware feature bumps.
This is exactly the definition of vaporware. Osbourne said that something new was coming, and they still tanked.
It's vaporware until you can put your debit card down and FedEx drops it off at your door. Saying that it's coming next year doesn't make it realware - it's vaporware until next year when it ships.
I've been contemplating what to do for the past year or so. I have a 3,1 Mac Pro which works okay, but am starting to feel the removal official support since it stopped a few years ago. I'd like to stay with the Mac Pro (pre trash can) model because of the expandability, but worry about how long it will be supported. While prices for used Mac Pro 5,1 are reasonable (I've seen dual 6 or 4 cores for 600-700), I'm worried that in 1-3 years I'm going to be in the same boat again. That being said, a new Mac Pro when it comes out won't be cheap - I assuming it will be north of $3k.
What are people in similar situations doing?
What are people in similar situations doing?
My 3,1 just decided it no longer wished to recognise Mac OS X discs one morning. Spent a week trying to solve the issue didn't happen. The machine itself is fine, will load W7 and W10 no problem.
It'll cost more to send it in for repair than it is worth, so bought a Mini to tide me over until 'vapourware' turns into a reality. If it's a complete rip off then i'll go the Threadripper 2 build route.
It'll cost more to send it in for repair than it is worth, so bought a Mini to tide me over until 'vapourware' turns into a reality. If it's a complete rip off then i'll go the Threadripper 2 build route.
How will it end? Not with a bang, but with a lot of whimpering. ;-)
The question is very poorly stated. It ought to be, "When will the newest macOS no longer support cMP?"
As others have noted, security patches for an OS tend to stretch 2-3 years beyond the introduction of the next OS, so if support for cMP ends with Mojave, we're looking at 2-3 years more of "cMP support" after that. If cMP is still supported on 10.15.x, it's an even longer reprieve.
As others have noted, official Vintage/Obsolete status follows a strict clock that is unrelated to hardware or software viability. The only criterion is time from date of last manufacture. OS support is more variable, and is usually tied to the inability of the hardware to support features that Apple decides are essential in the newest OS. Since peripheral chipsets tend to be present in all Mac models of a given vintage, regardless of CPU model, "It's not personal, cMP."
A typical example is requiring that the Bluetooth, USB, or Wi-Fi chipset supports a particular revision level or protocol (Bluetooth 4, USB 2.0, etc.). There's not a simple, "All Macs made in 2012" cutoff because the product rollout schedule is somewhat ragged - there's no "12 months between new models" rule, as both Mini and nMP fans know all too well.
So, of the reasons proposed in the survey, here's my call:
Lack of AVX or other Intel instructions - seems the most likely possibility. AVX was introduced with 2011 Sandy Bridge processors. That would obsolete anything older than early-2011 MBPs, mid-2011 iMacs, Minis, and MBAs; early-2015 MBs, and late-2013 nMPs. In other words, lack of AVX would doom every cMP.
Lack of T1 / Apple In-House Co-Processor - really really unlikely, as requiring T1/T2 would obsolete all but the Touch Bar MBPs and iMac Pro. First, get a T1-equivalent into every new Mac model, then add at least five years. The cMP will likely lose macOS support long before 2024/2025, which I figure would be the earliest they'd pull the plug on non-T1/secure enclave models.
Switch to Apple In-House CPU's - really, really, really unlikely. Apple provided dual support (PowerPC and Intel) for Tiger and Leopard. Tiger 10.4 was released in April 2005 and continued to receive updates until September 2007 (10.4.11). Leopard was introduced in September 2007 and received its last update (10.5.8) in August 2009. Since the last PowerPC Macs were introduced in late 2005, that meant they were still getting new OS updates nearly four years after the first Intel Macs hit the street. Even if Apple switched to A-series processors in 2019 (highly unlikely, based on the lead-time developers need to make that kind of switch), it could be four more years before they stopped updating Intel-compatible versions of macOS. Again, with today's cMPs already on the cusp of non-support, this isn't going to be the straw that breaks this camel's back.
cMP's won't lose support because Apple uses them internally for development - They use them for development? Not compatibility testing, but new product development? You know this for a fact? It seems awfully unlikely, unless certain individuals have enough institutional power to resist the replacement of a beloved bit of hardware. They're certainly not going to be handing cMPs out to new hires. Considering corporate computer purchases are fully depreciated after four years, and Apple is not so poor that they need operate old hardware past its normal expiration date... No. Given a choice between nursing along old cMPs (including upgrading GPUs to support Mojave) and issuing a brand-new or refurbished iMac Pro, what do you think corporate IT wants to do?
Lack of iMessage / iCloud services - Huh? How old is the version of OS X running on your cMP? If you mean support for Animoji, Memoji, or whatever moji come next... what Mac supports any of them? Are they going to obsolete every Mac built before 2019? What iCloud service is likely to come along that demands so much of hardware that a cMP couldn't hack it? All I can think of, cloud-wise, is ratcheting up security protocol requirements for Wi-Fi. WPA3 was just introduced earlier this year. Afaik, no Mac supports it. I predict it'd be a minimum of 3-5 years before someone like Apple would shut off access to their ever-more-profitable cloud services to customers who have failed to upgrade BOTH their Macs and their routers (iOS devices are generally replaced on a shorter timeline, of course). Again, cMP is going to lose new-OS support much sooner than that.
Bottom line for me? I'd vote for None of the Above. If past history is any indicator of future performance, I expect it'll happen within the next couple of years, but the reason will be something completely different. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!
(Two Python catch-phrases in one paragraph? How dare I!)
The question is very poorly stated. It ought to be, "When will the newest macOS no longer support cMP?"
As others have noted, security patches for an OS tend to stretch 2-3 years beyond the introduction of the next OS, so if support for cMP ends with Mojave, we're looking at 2-3 years more of "cMP support" after that. If cMP is still supported on 10.15.x, it's an even longer reprieve.
As others have noted, official Vintage/Obsolete status follows a strict clock that is unrelated to hardware or software viability. The only criterion is time from date of last manufacture. OS support is more variable, and is usually tied to the inability of the hardware to support features that Apple decides are essential in the newest OS. Since peripheral chipsets tend to be present in all Mac models of a given vintage, regardless of CPU model, "It's not personal, cMP."
A typical example is requiring that the Bluetooth, USB, or Wi-Fi chipset supports a particular revision level or protocol (Bluetooth 4, USB 2.0, etc.). There's not a simple, "All Macs made in 2012" cutoff because the product rollout schedule is somewhat ragged - there's no "12 months between new models" rule, as both Mini and nMP fans know all too well.
So, of the reasons proposed in the survey, here's my call:
Lack of AVX or other Intel instructions - seems the most likely possibility. AVX was introduced with 2011 Sandy Bridge processors. That would obsolete anything older than early-2011 MBPs, mid-2011 iMacs, Minis, and MBAs; early-2015 MBs, and late-2013 nMPs. In other words, lack of AVX would doom every cMP.
Lack of T1 / Apple In-House Co-Processor - really really unlikely, as requiring T1/T2 would obsolete all but the Touch Bar MBPs and iMac Pro. First, get a T1-equivalent into every new Mac model, then add at least five years. The cMP will likely lose macOS support long before 2024/2025, which I figure would be the earliest they'd pull the plug on non-T1/secure enclave models.
Switch to Apple In-House CPU's - really, really, really unlikely. Apple provided dual support (PowerPC and Intel) for Tiger and Leopard. Tiger 10.4 was released in April 2005 and continued to receive updates until September 2007 (10.4.11). Leopard was introduced in September 2007 and received its last update (10.5.8) in August 2009. Since the last PowerPC Macs were introduced in late 2005, that meant they were still getting new OS updates nearly four years after the first Intel Macs hit the street. Even if Apple switched to A-series processors in 2019 (highly unlikely, based on the lead-time developers need to make that kind of switch), it could be four more years before they stopped updating Intel-compatible versions of macOS. Again, with today's cMPs already on the cusp of non-support, this isn't going to be the straw that breaks this camel's back.
cMP's won't lose support because Apple uses them internally for development - They use them for development? Not compatibility testing, but new product development? You know this for a fact? It seems awfully unlikely, unless certain individuals have enough institutional power to resist the replacement of a beloved bit of hardware. They're certainly not going to be handing cMPs out to new hires. Considering corporate computer purchases are fully depreciated after four years, and Apple is not so poor that they need operate old hardware past its normal expiration date... No. Given a choice between nursing along old cMPs (including upgrading GPUs to support Mojave) and issuing a brand-new or refurbished iMac Pro, what do you think corporate IT wants to do?
Lack of iMessage / iCloud services - Huh? How old is the version of OS X running on your cMP? If you mean support for Animoji, Memoji, or whatever moji come next... what Mac supports any of them? Are they going to obsolete every Mac built before 2019? What iCloud service is likely to come along that demands so much of hardware that a cMP couldn't hack it? All I can think of, cloud-wise, is ratcheting up security protocol requirements for Wi-Fi. WPA3 was just introduced earlier this year. Afaik, no Mac supports it. I predict it'd be a minimum of 3-5 years before someone like Apple would shut off access to their ever-more-profitable cloud services to customers who have failed to upgrade BOTH their Macs and their routers (iOS devices are generally replaced on a shorter timeline, of course). Again, cMP is going to lose new-OS support much sooner than that.
Bottom line for me? I'd vote for None of the Above. If past history is any indicator of future performance, I expect it'll happen within the next couple of years, but the reason will be something completely different. Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!
(Two Python catch-phrases in one paragraph? How dare I!)
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HP Z series. I just purchased a Z440 to complement my Z620.
Amen, been using Z series at work for a bit over a year now - just got one for my personal use (alongside 6,1). If my Hackintosh experiment goes well, I'm definitely snagging a 420 or 620 for the casa (also Hackintosh).