Mac Pro ..... LONG term

[telequest]

I'm going to run into trouble at work in the next month or two as my machine has reached the end of it's support cycle (AppleCare) and IT doesn't typically like to have main production computers without instant support (hence how I lost my 2010 tower). ...

It really is insane that Apple hasn't updated the nMP for longer than the maximum 3-year AppleCare extended warranty. So if you wanted to get a new machine that IS covered by warranty, you'd have to buy the same machine again at the same price you paid for it over 3 years ago. Yeah, I know there are all kinds of excuses for the delay (Intel road map, whatever). But no speed bumps? No price cuts? In over 3 years?

Apple is clearly not invested in the MP. That's a strong message that we shouldn't be either.

 

[AidenShaw]

Yeah, I know there are all kinds of excuses for the delay (Intel road map, whatever).

The MP6,1 uses E5-x6xx v2 processors. The current processors that 'most every other vendor is using are E5-x6xx v4 processors.

Don't blame Intel for Apple's neglect of the pro market. Apple has skipped two generations of Intel processors.

Nvidia has vastly improved over the same time span. (ATI, not so much.)

 

[ownagetechgeek]

That's not really true. My Mac Pro 1,1 never gave me any serious problems. The only issues it has ever had were there from the beginning. In fact, I think it's a better machine than when I got it. I've loaded it up with RAM, upgraded to a decent graphics card and it runs like a top. The only block is not being able to upgrade it past El Capitan.

Sure, you haven't had problems because you've dropped significant money into it. My argument and point is that unless you wish to drop significant amounts of money into maintaining a nearly obsolete system you will experience problems. The reliability on a system such as the Mac Pro 1,1 is getting very low considering there's many components that are original, I wish you the best of luck but at the age of the system it's just asking for trouble.

 

[H2SO4]

The MP6,1 uses E5-x6xx v2 processors. The current processors that 'most every other vendor is using are E5-x6xx v4 processors.

Don't blame Intel for Apple's neglect of the pro market. Apple has skipped two generations of Intel processors.

Nvidia has vastly improved over the same time span. (ATI, not so much.)

To add to that. Apple have already produce their own desktop class processors and have been since about the A7 so have no need for any of that Intel tat.
s/

 

[Jayson A]

Sure, you haven't had problems because you've dropped significant money into it. My argument and point is that unless you wish to drop significant amounts of money into maintaining a nearly obsolete system you will experience problems. The reliability on a system such as the Mac Pro 1,1 is getting very low considering there's many components that are original, I wish you the best of luck but at the age of the system it's just asking for trouble.

That's the whole reason I bought the cheese grater Mac Pro. Instead of just buying a new computer when this one goes "obsolete", I just upgrade the individual components and keep it ticking along. My original 1,1 Mac Pro has a few quirks yes, but it's still better than most computers from that era. The Mac Pro 1,1 still has lots of life left in it.

 

[Yahooligan]

To add to that. Apple have already produce their own desktop class processors and have been since about the A7 so have no need for any of that Intel tat.
s/

"Desktop-class" not "Workstation-class." They aren't suitable for use in a Mac Pro. IMO, "desktop-class" refers more to the architecture of the chip than its performance. If you think the A9X will give an i7 a run for its money...nope.

The Apple A-series SoC are also ARM-compatible, not Intel x86, so Apple kinda does need Intel chips to run macOS and its apps. A switch from Intel to ARM would be like the switch from PPC to Intel. They could probably add an emulation layer in there, but that would waste CPU cycles.

I wouldn't expect to see the A-series SoCs showing up in laptops or desktops anytime soon.

 

[H2SO4]

"Desktop-class" not "Workstation-class." They aren't suitable for use in a Mac Pro. IMO, "desktop-class" refers more to the architecture of the chip than its performance. If you think the A9X will give an i7 a run for its money...nope.

The Apple A-series SoC are also ARM-compatible, not Intel x86, so Apple kinda does need Intel chips to run macOS and its apps. A switch from Intel to ARM would be like the switch from PPC to Intel. They could probably add an emulation layer in there, but that would waste CPU cycles.

I wouldn't expect to see the A-series SoCs showing up in laptops or desktops anytime soon.

You didn’t see the “/s” at the end of my post?

 

[shaunp]

I had a 2013 Mac Pro (6,1), 6-core with D700's and 64GB RAM. It was a nice little machine but after 3 years I ditched it an all my other Apple gear because of lack of upgrades and I couldn't see any future in the Mac platform. I decided to get some of my money back while I could.

What was the Mac Pro like? It was very compact and very quiet. Performance was okay, but not amazing. I did however have storage and other stuff sprawled all over my desk because these things have no internal capacity. The reliability was fine, but it did have the odd glitch with my Dell 4K monitors where it wouldn't wake from sleep properly - a PC has no issue with the same monitors.

Would I buy another one? No. If you really, really must have a Mac then it's okay, probably on a par with a high-end iMac in operation (day to day stuff), but much quieter when pushed. There are much better options out there for the money that have better future proofing and will keep your office tidy.

 

[Yahooligan]

You didn’t see the “/s” at the end of my post?

Sorry, I don't spend time on reddit and haven't seen anyone else use "/s" to indicate sarcasm. Couple that with people seriously talking about what you mentioned sarcastically and it's easy to think you were being serious.

 

[H2SO4]

Sorry, I don't spend time on reddit and haven't seen anyone else use "/s" to indicate sarcasm. Couple that with people seriously talking about what you mentioned sarcastically and it's easy to think you were being serious.

No worries. I actually thought my post was so ridiculous that no one would take it seriously.

 

[Yahooligan]

No worries. I actually thought my post was so ridiculous that no one would take it seriously.

Get a load of this.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/15...m-a-series-chips-in-new-macs-within-1-2-years

 

[H2SO4]

Get a load of this.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/15...m-a-series-chips-in-new-macs-within-1-2-years

Yikes. Can’t see the sarcasm tag at the end of the article either. Good luck to them too though.
Though by that time I’ll probably be saying goodbye to the Mac OS as they’ve neglected the Mac, (= not met my needs), for a while now.

After a read I noticed this though;
…….level of performance somewhere between Intel's Atom and Core i3 lines within the next 1-2 years.
So no nnMP for a while.

 

[Yahooligan]

Yikes. Can’t see the sarcasm tag at the end of the article either. Good luck to them too though.
Though by that time I’ll probably be saying goodbye to the Mac OS as they’ve neglected the Mac, (= not met my needs), for a while now.

Well, that article I linked was from 2 years ago and it hasn't come to fruition yet, so it's certainly not a new line of thinking. I've read similar speculation from others here on MR as well. When you realize there are still people that think the world is flat then using A-series SoCs in desktops seems totally normal. haha

Here's hoping the Macs get some well-deserved updates soon.

 

[H2SO4]

Well, that article I linked was from 2 years ago and it hasn't come to fruition yet, so it's certainly not a new line of thinking. I've read similar speculation from others here on MR as well. When you realize there are still people that think the world is flat then using A-series SoCs in desktops seems totally normal. haha

Here's hoping the Macs get some well-deserved updates soon.

Yep. I agree. You got a lot of Macs there too bro.

 

[Yahooligan]

Yep. I agree. You got a lot of Macs there too bro.

Yeah, have a few in this house. nMP is my personal Mac, rMBP is for work and travels with me to the office, cMP is the wife's, and the Mini gets used by my daughter. So it's not like I have an addiction or anything. I just had a goal of getting rid of Windows in this house, it took some work and some "Surprise, here's a Mac for you to use" to get it done, but they see the light. My daughter loves it for drawing with the Wacom she has, she was ready to throw Windows out of the..well, window, when trying to get it to work right and find good software to use.

Now, if only I could get my mom, mother-in-law, and brother on Macs...then they could stop bugging me when they have problems. At least now I can sort of feign ignorance "What? I have no idea, I don't use Windows."

 

[Daniel Reed]

It really is insane that Apple hasn't updated the nMP for longer than the maximum 3-year AppleCare extended warranty. So if you wanted to get a new machine that IS covered by warranty, you'd have to buy the same machine again at the same price you paid for it over 3 years ago.

Well... the nMP got a stealth upgrade somewhere between late 2015 and early 2016
I've done full teardowns and performance "restorations" for several nMPs

1. The SSD is 150% faster then the 1TB option the nMP was released with when it shipped in early 2014
2. The D700s are about 10% faster
3. Still uses the same awful thermal paste
4. most of the logic boards were revised

Apple announced the nMP too soon.
It should have been released as an "Early 2014" model (when it actually started to ship)

AND, the revised version should have been listed as a "Late 2015" nMP w/ the following:

1. Announced the SSD was much faster!
2. Dropped the horrid D300 option altogether
3. Dropped the beyond sto000pid 12GB RAM option
4. Revised the listing of the video cards to D510 and D710
5. Offered/upgraded to the better 4/6/8/10-core Ivy Bridge CPU options Intel released after the "early 2014" nMP started shipping
6. Raised the base 6-core model to start with the previously not offered(newer) 8-core Ivy Bridge option
7. Flipped the fan over to blow air down - exactly as RED did w/ their cameras! Hot air DOES NOT rise very fast at all unless it is super heated!!!!! AND blowing air at a hotpoint DOES WORK BETTER then pulling air away from it - I've tested w/ laser temp guns.
8. Used better thermal compounds!
9. Increased the base fan speed to 1K RPMs (still very quiet) AND ramp quicker to maintain turbos - FFS anyone maxing the 12-core is most likely not doing sound senitive work! Plus many prefer cans while mixing and playback on speakers later for confirmation.
10. Reduced the price of BTO CPU options - especially the 12-core, should be no more then a $1K BTO option from the base 8-core model, and $3K from the 4-core model (still leaves plenty of margin)

's marketing & product management teams just flat out suck - do they even have a user retention strategy?!

 

[Daniel Reed]

1. Announced the SSD was much faster!
2. Dropped the horrid D300 option altogether
3. Dropped the beyond sto000pid 12GB RAM option
4. Revised the listing of the video cards to D510 and D710
5. Offered/upgraded to the better 4/6/8/10-core Ivy Bridge CPU options Intel released after the "early 2014" nMP started shipping
6. Raised the base 6-core model to start with the previously not offered(newer) 8-core Ivy Bridge option
7. Flipped the fan over to blow air down - exactly as RED did w/ their cameras! Hot air DOES NOT rise very fast at all unless it is super heated!!!!! AND blowing air at a hotpoint DOES WORK BETTER then pulling air away from it - I've tested w/ laser temp guns.
8. Used better thermal compounds!
9. Increased the base fan speed to 1K RPMs (still very quiet) AND ramp quicker to maintain turbos - FFS anyone maxing the 12-core is most likely not doing sound senitive work! Plus many prefer cans while mixing and playback on speakers later for confirmation.
10. Reduced the price of BTO CPU options - especially the 12-core, should be no more then a $1K BTO option from the base 8-core model, and $3K from the 4-core model (still leaves plenty of margin)

's marketing & product management teams just flat out suck - do they even have a user retention strategy?!

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...anded-pro-displays-coming-after-2017.2040211/

Good Job Apple! Its almost like someone read my post!
Maybe all the emails to Mr Cook got them going in the right direction.

...still, no mention in their marketing about how much faster the SSD is now

 

[ownagetechgeek]

That's the whole reason I bought the cheese grater Mac Pro. Instead of just buying a new computer when this one goes "obsolete", I just upgrade the individual components and keep it ticking along. My original 1,1 Mac Pro has a few quirks yes, but it's still better than most computers from that era. The Mac Pro 1,1 still has lots of life left in it.

Better than many of the computers of the era. While it's a pretty good value, I cannot and surely you cannot recommend continuing using something like this for a long term usage. Even though Moore's law has slowed down, the cost of a newer system is pretty good in the price per unit of performance scale. You're getting 2.5-3X the speed of a decked Mac Pro 1,1 with a Mac Pro 5,1 12 Core. I'd wager for practical professional usage the Mac Pro 1,1 is essentially dead. For a long term usage the only really recommendable Mac is the 4,1 and 5,1, while realistically a Hackintosh at a similar price point would beat it.

 

[Jayson A]

Better than many of the computers of the era. While it's a pretty good value, I cannot and surely you cannot recommend continuing using something like this for a long term usage. Even though Moore's law has slowed down, the cost of a newer system is pretty good in the price per unit of performance scale. You're getting 2.5-3X the speed of a decked Mac Pro 1,1 with a Mac Pro 5,1 12 Core. I'd wager for practical professional usage the Mac Pro 1,1 is essentially dead. For a long term usage the only really recommendable Mac is the 4,1 and 5,1, while realistically a Hackintosh at a similar price point would beat it.

I just broke down and bought a 5,1

 

[ownagetechgeek]

I just broke down and bought a 5,1

Ouch. I will still admit for basic editing and photos a 1,1 is fine. Hope it lasts for you.