Mac Pro refresh in June?

[zorinlynx]

Since thunderbolt is driven through the display port, can't they just put a video card with the current thunderbolt chipset in the existing machines?

Mac Pros have PCIE slots so theoretically you could add Thunderbolt support to any Mac pro once cards are available...

 

[scottsjack]

I can buy a dang top end iMac, put duct tape over the damn glossy display, and have a better computer for less money than the base MP. What? Yup.

I might BTO the 27" with 3.4GHz i7, 8GB SDRAM, upgrade to 2GB 6970 gpu. $2499. Duct tape, $3.50. 2 x TB.. who needs a mac pro? But my real issue is the tft lcd on the iMac. Not interested at all.

It just doesn't make any sense to me how Apple expects to sell another single Mac Pro with current specs to many people at all unless it's all about the expansion capabilities which are truly minor to me, especially with my own personal cloud data system, coming online by end of summer according to the keynote..

I would be willing to venture that if an iMac will work for you instead of a Mac Pro then either you don't appreciate the differences between the two or you don't really need a Mac Pro anyway. Really, they're totally difference concepts regardless of similar RAM or processors.

 

[xgman]

I might BTO the 27" with 3.4GHz i7, 8GB SDRAM, upgrade to 2GB 6970 gpu. $2499. Duct tape, $3.50. 2 x TB.. who needs a mac pro? But my real issue is the tft lcd on the iMac. Not interested at all.

"For the first time in Apple's history, the computer that had the best results in Macworld's series of tests is an iMac. Of course, it is not just any iMac, it is the 27" model with the optional 3.4 GHz Core i7 processor, which costs no less than $2,199. Its processor has 4 physical cores, 8 logical ones, and can reach a frequency of 3.8 GHz in Turbo mode. Its overall score is 298 while the Mac Pro 6 x 3.3 GHz scores 263.
In some tests, the Mac Pro running on 6 or 12 cores is still faster but those situations are getting pretty rare, extreme, and can only be reached with benching or professional softwares that most Mac users will never have.
It is clear that with such high level iMacs, the current Mac Pro line will probably see its sales numbers going down even more. It is true that the Mac Pro's main advantage is the fact that it is easily upgradable, but a Mac Pro that is really faster than this iMac costs twice as much, the choice is usually in favor of the iMac.

Apple will have to put a lot of efforts in its professional products it it, at least if the company decides to keep it. The problem is that for now Apple is booked by Intel as the foundry still has to launch the new Xeon E5 processors that Apple needs to upgrade the Mac Pro."

 

[derbothaus]

Tests are totally subjective and Macworld tests for your Grandmother's iphoto and itunes imports etc. 3.8GHz on single threads vs. 3.6GHz on single threads. It is only logical that the iMac wins. By those same testing methods the iMac wins over the 12 core Mac Pro's as well. But agree most people that don't like to tinker would be better served by an iMac right now. Just get everything you need when you buy it as removing the glass to upgrade components is a PITA.

 

[Torster]

Someone requested a quote today on a new 12-core. We checked inventory and one distributor was totally sold out, which I haven't seen before. The other only had 16 units on hand between 2.66 and 2.93. Availability at our Apple Store is parity with regular store at 2-4 business days.