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Is the current quad-core Mac Pro even worth buying?

G

geniusmac

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 22, 2012
12
0
Monterey, CA
Hello there, my simple question is: Is the quad-core Mac Pro even worth buying?
If the new Mac Pro has Thunderbolt, I really don't care. The peripherals are incredibly expensive and not worth it, in my opinion. What could be a huge update to the new Mac Pro?

// I already have a 27" Cinema Display and I'm not looking into an iMac. I want expandability.
 
I'd really say wait, there is nothing wrong with the QC Pro, but if you are the kind of person who would feel a little miffed after the refresh ( I know I would) then hang on....It REALLY can't be far off now.
 
geniusmac said:
Hello there, my simple question is: Is the quad-core Mac Pro even worth buying?
If the new Mac Pro has Thunderbolt, I really don't care. The peripherals are incredibly expensive and not worth it, in my opinion. What could be a huge update to the new Mac Pro?

// I already have a 27" Cinema Display and I'm not looking into an iMac. I want expandability.
Click to expand...

Here's my 2 cents.

NO. It's still a fast machine, but that hardware is quite old at this point. Too old for Apple to not have done some kind of major price drop on the Mac Pro. We're talking close to a year and a half old hardware... that is LOOOONG over due to be updated.

I wouldn't pay the same retail from a year and a half ago. And either an update or an EOL on the Mac Pro is just around the corner.

You cited expandability... which is a great feature. I just think Apple really needs to lay out some clue as to their plans for a pro market in both hardware and software
 
It is two years out of date! It clearly is not worth the asking price anymore. It is shameful Apple let the line stagnate for so long.
 
Macman45 said:
I'd really say wait, there is nothing wrong with the QC Pro, but if you are the kind of person who would feel a little miffed after the refresh ( I know I would) then hang on....It REALLY can't be far off now.
Click to expand...



You guys are all correct. Thanks for the info, I've been waiting patiently for a long time, now. I can't be the only one. >.< I'll just continue waiting... Hopefully they don't kill it.
 
As pricing for Apple computers rarely comes down, they are a "best value" on release day. With every passing day the price for performance ration becomes less favorable. I have a 2009 Quad core that is outperformed by the current iMacs. Expandability is the Mac Pro's only benefit, but if Thunderbolt ever gets widely adopted and the price comes down, it will make any future Mac Pro purchase a harder decision.
 
throAU said:
Its not apple.

There's been no real cpu/chipset replacement available.
Click to expand...

Yes and no. Since the mac pro was released intel did introduce new versions of the CPUs from the same family that is currently in the mac pro. New graphic cards have become available.

Apple could have done small refreshes to incorporate the CPUs, GPUs, SATA III and so forth in the last two years.

Some might argue that apple does not do that and wait until the new CPU family is available (sandy bridge Xeon), but they do. Look at the 2011 MBP. It was released in march 2011 with sandy bridge mobile CPUs. Then later in the year apple introduced new SB mobile CPUs that were just minor revisions with slight improvements. Apple revised the MBP near the end of 2011 with the newer CPUs. They could have done the same thing in 2011 for the Mac Pro.
 
The Quad core MacPro is one of the worst deals Apple has ever given to its customers, even on release day.

I hope this shame does not repeat with the release of the next generation Mac Pro.

Don't buy it.

Everybody's glued to the screen, waiting for news on the next generation Mac Pro, and the expectations are high.

Better not disappoint us, Apple.
 
Some might argue that apple does not do that and wait until the new CPU family is available (sandy bridge Xeon), but they do. Look at the 2011 MBP. It was released in march 2011 with sandy bridge mobile CPUs. Then later in the year apple introduced new SB mobile CPUs that were just minor revisions with slight improvements. Apple revised the MBP near the end of 2011 with the newer CPUs. They could have done the same thing in 2011 for the Mac Pro.*
Click to expand...

Yes. But you're comparing two entirely different things - consumer and prosumer/professional (and for the record, the MBP has never been what you would truly consider a "pro" notebook, despite the moniker).

Apple sells a heck of a lot more consumer machines (iMacs, MacBooks, Minis) than they do workstations. Inventory turnaround is much faster and profit margins are far more lucrative in the consumer market. They have a LOT more to compete with in the consumer channel, too. Thus, more frequent updates on the consumer models.

Following the 2010 MP launch, we've observed a handful of speed-bumped Westmere chips prior to E5 Sandy Bridge launch. My best guess there is that it didn't mean enough financially to Apple to roll out interim updates on comparatively slow-selling machines. Does it suck that Apple doesn't adjust their pricing to reflect this? Sure it does. And Apple has always sucked when it came to GPUs - going as far back as the G3 PowerMac days. But no fusing from us mere mortals will ever get Apple to change their ways. They do what they want.
 
CaptainChunk said:
Yes. But you're comparing two entirely different things - consumer and prosumer/professional (and for the record, the MBP has never been what you would truly consider a "pro" notebook, despite the moniker).

Apple sells a heck of a lot more consumer machines (iMacs, MacBooks, Minis) than they do workstations. Inventory turnaround is much faster and profit margins are far more lucrative in the consumer market. They have a LOT more to compete with in the consumer channel, too. Thus, more frequent updates on the consumer models.

Following the 2010 MP launch, we've observed a handful of speed-bumped Westmere chips prior to E5 Sandy Bridge launch. My best guess there is that it didn't mean enough financially to Apple to roll out interim updates on comparatively slow-selling machines. Does it suck that Apple doesn't adjust their pricing to reflect this? Sure it does. And Apple has always sucked when it came to GPUs - going as far back as the G3 PowerMac days. But no fusing from us mere mortals will ever get Apple to change their ways. They do what they want.
Click to expand...
I can't argue against your liberal use of facts, logic and common sense. To be honest, I have the same view, but I was just playing a bit of devil's advocate.
 
eawmp1 said:
As pricing for Apple computers rarely comes down, they are a "best value" on release day. With every passing day the price for performance ration becomes less favorable. I have a 2009 Quad core that is outperformed by the current iMacs. Expandability is the Mac Pro's only benefit, but if Thunderbolt ever gets widely adopted and the price comes down, it will make any future Mac Pro purchase a harder decision.
Click to expand...

Good point. I was planning on replacing my iMac ( July 2011 I7 3.4GHZ 16GB RAM 2GB VRAM) with a top end Pro, even had a buyer lined up who offered me pretty much what I paid for it....BUT, I phoned my Apple sales guy and he told me to wait..."Your iMac will out perform the low to mid-rnaged Pro's...DOn't buy one now" His words...Not exactly an admission that a refresh is very close but near enough for me. I'm now going to wait until next year to see...My iMac does all I ask of it, so no need to jump.
 
eawmp1 said:
Expandability is the Mac Pro's only benefit,
Click to expand...
Throw some demanding jobs at both machines, listen to the fans running wild on the iMac, fry an egg on its shell, watch it frantically swapping out to hd due to lack of Ram and then say that again...
 
Neodym said:
Throw some demanding jobs at both machines, listen to the fans running wild on the iMac, fry an egg on its shell, watch it frantically swapping out to hd due to lack of Ram and then say that again...
Click to expand...

I was of course speaking about the 2 year old Mac Pro versus a new iMac. Machines of the same release date are another issue. And I'm guessing the OP is not maxxing out either machine, he was asking about the expandability.
 
throAU said:
Its not apple.

There's been no real cpu/chipset replacement available.
Click to expand...

6-core and 8-core Sandy-Bridge based Xeons were released 2 months ago.

----------
Neodym said:
Throw some demanding jobs at both machines, listen to the fans running wild on the iMac, fry an egg on its shell, watch it frantically swapping out to hd due to lack of Ram and then say that again...
Click to expand...

The iMac will accept up to 32GB ram-- are you saying that's not enough for demanding jobs?
 
eawmp1 said:
I was of course speaking about the 2 year old Mac Pro versus a new iMac. Machines of the same release date are another issue.
Click to expand...
Even a 5 year old Mac Pro will stay cooler and much more quiet than the most recent iMac - simply due to its by magnitudes better thermal design. Just wanted to clarify there's more to compare than sheer computing power. As that way of thinking is not uncommon, i maybe wrongly assumed you were implying that as well - sorry if i misunderstood your intention!
 
CausticPuppy said:
The iMac will accept up to 32GB ram-- are you saying that's not enough for demanding jobs?
Click to expand...
I think it depends on what you call "demanding". According to some forum members here 32GB won't cut it for them when editing e.g. RED video footage or very high-resolution images.

And if we compare the respective models, the MacPro always had a much higher max. Ram limit than the comparable iMac. The 32GB Ram the current iMac can offer for example were already possible on the very first MP from 2006, when the 2006 iMac allowed a maximum of 3GB (4GB installed) only! The current MP takes 96GB easily (128GB installed), which still can make a difference to the max. Ram on the iMac.

Admitted - the iMac has evolved massively and for the majority of home users it probably offers sufficient memory and computing power. But _IF_ you tax it (e.g. by converting movies or ambitious gaming) even with the most recent iMac you have to pay with disturbingly noisy fans and a cooking computer, simply due to the anorectic design. Not to mention the chance of running into other problems with high loads on the machine (e.g. look in the iMac forums for the "dirty screen problem" that seems to be connected to burned-in dirt/dust from the immense heat present in the system).
 
CaptainChunk said:
-snip profit margins are far more lucrative in the consumer market.
Click to expand...

Not trying to be pedantic here, but margins are almost always higher on higher end equipment. Now, if you're talking net profit numbers, sure. But the margins are necesarily low on consumer product because of the competition. Because Apple figured out the key to high volume sales in consumer markets, even relatively low margins equate to big money. That said, Apple does really well margin-wise in the consumer market comparatively speaking.

I would argue that the Mac Pro has simply left the company focus because of volume of sales and lack of enough customer voices being heard. They hear from iPhone and iPad users all the time because of the volume of users. Without volume of sales/users, the Mac Pro squeaky wheel can never be very loud. Ergo, any refresh can wait.

It's a sticky wicket for them, though. If they do decide to ditch Mac Pro, they will most certainly lose cache with the hollywood crowd not to mention the vast majority of good-sized post houses.

I, for one, am already looking into converting our shop to PC. It won't be a small move. We have 80TB of XSAN space, 12 editing stations and tens of thousands of dollars worth of software. If we do go this way, it'll be in no small part related to Apple's decision with regard to the Mac Pro. But truth is, that'll be little consolation at this point since they ditched Final Cut Server, Xserve RAID and Xserve. Those moves hinted at their desire to get out of the pro/enterprise market. They seem to be more focused on the independent market - which is fine and understandable. I just wish they'd come out and say so.
 
With new Intel processors just out, it would seem to make sense to just wait a few more months if you can to see what Apple does. Everyone expects them to upgrade the platform and it would not be unreasonable to expect the new processors, a new GPU and Thunderbolt.

On the other hand, I have a four year old MacPro and it still does what I want it to and the expandability and flexibility to accommodate newer add-ons. Is it the perfect machine? No, but then none ever are.

Bottom line, Apple products work and if you buy now or later, you'll get a strong stable machine.
 
LorenK said:
Bottom line, Apple products work and if you buy now or later, you'll get a strong stable machine.
Click to expand...

Which is why I had no reservations in buying a Mid-2010 Apple refurbished Quad-core Mac Pro. It even came with 6GB of RAM (was expecting 3GB based on site description).
 
eawmp1 said:
As pricing for Apple computers rarely comes down, they are a "best value" on release day. With every passing day the price for performance ration becomes less favorable. I have a 2009 Quad core that is outperformed by the current iMacs. Expandability is the Mac Pro's only benefit, but if Thunderbolt ever gets widely adopted and the price comes down, it will make any future Mac Pro purchase a harder decision.
Click to expand...

Why future purchase? The Mac Pro will always be a faster box when comparing same gen procs. You just have to run 1 cycle behind the consumer based chips.
My Mac is still faster than iMac 2012 i7 and it is 2 years old. Foresight be damned right?
 
I'd answer the OP's question with a simple no. With current iMac offerings, you should only look to a Mac Pro if you plan on getting the 6 core and up.
 
It's an individual decision. I bought a quad this past January. I immediately bought a 180 gb SSD and gave it 10 gb of ram. The upgrades took 5 minutes each. The thing flies. I regret nothing. Don't like the imac, or its glossy screen. I use it for music listening and creation, but mainly for business collaboration/meetings, driving a 40'' screen. You might want to wait for the refresh. I couldn't wait for business reasons.
 
The Mac Pro in its current state is probably one of the most overpriced computers, if not THE most over priced computer on the market.

It wouldn't be such a terrible deal if they would refresh the friggen thing, with new hardware.

With the Current state the Mac Pro is in, you'd be much better off buying one of these

http://raincomputers.com/products/venturi/
 
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