Internal 3.5 drives in next Mac Pro?

[Loa]

Just curious what you people think. Is Apple going to be generous for people who need lots of storage (like video editing) or are they going to push for slimness or smallness and force those drives to external enclosures?

 

[Juicy Box]

It is sad to say, but I wouldn't be surprised if the new Mac Pro doesn't have have any 3.5" drives.

I think it should come with a minimum of 2 or more, but I have a feeling that the Apple might push SSDs only. And who knows, maybe they might not be user replaceable.

 

[InuNacho]

Knowing Apple, somewhere between none and zero.

 

[AidenShaw]

Just curious what you people think. Is Apple going to be generous for people who need lots of storage (like video editing) or are they going to push for slimness or smallness and force those drives to external enclosures?

You missed the option: "Trick question, there won't be another Mac Pro"!

 

[MarkJames68]

3.5” internal drives are unnecessary. If 2 NVMe drives can be mounted, have an actual pcie x3 slot for a GPU and still have nothing soldered down I will be happy enough. Wouldn’t care if it’s a cylinder, cube or whatever.

For spinning drives provide enough USB and Thunderbolt connections and I’ll drop it in a dock.

 

[AidenShaw]

3.5” internal drives are unnecessary. If 2 NVMe drives can be mounted, have an actual pcie x3 slot for a GPU and still have nothing soldered down I will be happy enough. Wouldn’t care if it’s a cylinder, cube or whatever.

For spinning drives provide enough USB and Thunderbolt connections and I’ll drop it in a dock.

I hope that Apple is talking to people who have a different set of requirements.

And a PCIe x3 slot for a GPU would be even slower than T-Bolt.

 

[MarkJames68]

I hope that Apple is talking to people who have a different set of requirements.

And a PCIe x3 slot for a GPU would be even slower than T-Bolt.

I should have typed PCIe 3.0 x16, hopefully that is better. Apologies if this offended. Actually, the 4.0 spec is now available so that’s what should be used.

I also hope Apple is talking with a wide set of people. I’m only one customer.

 

[Chancha]

It probably won't even have a single internal SATA port for 2.5", let alone space and slot for 3.5".

 

[Loa]

I hope that Apple is talking to people who have a different set of requirements.

I echo that sentiment. Anyone doing video editing will require a lot of storage, as will a lot of other fields and types of work. SSDs don't even come close to matching the price per TB of big HDD. I certainly hope that the new Mac Pro will have very fast SSDs, but if that's all it has, Apple will once again have painted themselves into a stupid corner. The reaction to the current Mac Pro is the proof that most people don't want stacks of external boxes plugged into their macs.

 

[Razzerman]

Being modular, you'd like to think you could have the option of 4 or more - maybe even 8!

 

[grad]

The reaction to the current Mac Pro is the proof that most people don't want stacks of external boxes plugged into their macs.

The reaction to the current Mac Pro is the proof that most people are wrong, as they were with the G4 Cube

 

[CWallace]

I echo that sentiment. Anyone doing video editing will require a lot of storage, as will a lot of other fields and types of work. SSDs don't even come close to matching the price per TB of big HDD. I certainly hope that the new Mac Pro will have very fast SSDs, but if that's all it has, Apple will once again have painted themselves into a stupid corner. The reaction to the current Mac Pro is the proof that most people don't want stacks of external boxes plugged into their macs.

I would think video editing would be one of the last fields that would want to limit themselves to the 16/20GB of software RAID 1 capacity of the 2009-2012 models (and that assumes those machines can handle 8TB/10TB HDDs). I would expect them desiring scores of TB in hardware-accelerated RAID 5/6/10 via NAS or TB3 direct-attached storage.

 

[ActionableMango]

I would think video editing would be one of the last fields that would want to limit themselves to the 16/20GB of software RAID 1 capacity of the 2009-2012 models (and that assumes those machines can handle 8TB/10TB HDDs). I would expect them desiring scores of TB in hardware-accelerated RAID 5/6/10 via NAS or TB3 direct-attached storage.

A computer with internal bays can also have external expansion, so there is no limit like you suggest; instead there is additional flexibility and options as compared to the nMP.

 

[CWallace]

A computer with internal bays can also have external expansion, so there is no limit like you suggest; instead there is additional flexibility and options as compared to the nMP.

True, but the statement I was replying to was "The reaction to the current Mac Pro is the proof that most people don't want stacks of external boxes plugged into their macs." So that means "most people" want internal storage only (per the poster), which is (effectively) limited to four bays in the 2009-2012 Mac Pro (six if you used the optical bays via adapters).

 

[Joe The Dragon]

It is sad to say, but I wouldn't be surprised if the new Mac Pro doesn't have have any 3.5" drives.

I think it should come with a minimum of 2 or more, but I have a feeling that the Apple might push SSDs only. And who knows, maybe they might not be user replaceable.

apple only m.2 slots that don't take m.2 ssds

 

[ActionableMango]

apple only m.2 slots that don't take m.2 ssds

I doubt there will just be a single Apple blade slot--that's what we have right now. This is what Schiller said about the next Mac Pro:

...we’ve asked the team to go and re-architect and design something great for the future that those Mac Pro customers who want more expandability, more upgradability in the future. It’ll meet more of those needs.​

His words don't necessarily mean there will be 3.5" drive bays, but going from a blade slot to a blade slot isn't more of anything. "Customers who want more expandability, more upgradability" are going to want something more than a single Apple blade slot.