Cool?
The Mac Pro has already been waiting 3+ damn years for the right parts with no indication that there are any right parts.
Not cool at all.
Dunno how you can be enthusiastic about a machine that doesn't even exist in the eyes of Mr. Cook.
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Mac Pro Rising
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The Mac Pro has already been waiting 3+ damn years for the right parts with no indication that there are any right parts.
Not cool at all.
Dunno how you can be enthusiastic about a machine that doesn't even exist in the eyes of Mr. Cook.
The truth is that Apple doesn't give a rat's a^s about "pro users".
The folks who are depending on knowing when or if the new platform will be coming.
It is the opposite of "Apple Care".
I call it "Apple Don't Care..." or ADC.
I'm no longer upset about it.
Why should they care about an infinitesimal slice of users that in many cases were the core of the early Mac adopters?
Loyalty is not a word in the Apple universe.
It is all about making money.
and kind of sad, because they have so much money.
Geeze, wouldn't you think they'd do a charity project for the mac pro folks?
Indeed. You can not really blame them. They are a business and just follow the money. It would be fair if they where a bit more open to their old core early mac adopters. But that said.. 'fair' isn't a populair word either in business.
I think, there will be nothing on the horizon. Sorry guys. People that still buy the nMP with the 2012 hardware inside and for premium price are:
A) Not educated about the product they are buying (stupid)
B) Desperate to stay with Apple / OSX even if they need to spend way to much on it. (scary)
C) Locked-in because of OSX only software. (feel sorry for them, because they know it)
There is good news too. For about 2500 euro you can buy a monster with everything inside, easily expendable and frequently hardware updates. The only difference is the OS. But you will survive and discover that there is more after Apple
I mean if there was a up to date choice between the formats.
If you could buy a 2016 trash can or a 2016 (with Thunderbolt etc etc) cheese grater, would you pick the trash can?
That said, nVidia just announced the GTX Titan X. Over 11 TFLOPs on a single card for approx. 1200$ Stick two of these in a Tube that can handle the thermals and I'm happy to pay the unreasonable prices Apple is asking.
B) Cost is relative to the amount of profit you make from it. If the money you make from it does not justify the cost, you may need to re-evaluate your business. As many people here explained they often spend much more on their software or other hardware and the Mac Pro is actually considered the nominal cost.
C) No one seems to have a problem being lock in with Nvidia. The question should not be why a vendor does not use Nvidia, but why are software vendors not supporting both major brands?
I have to add, my point of view is from a graphic design perspective.
B)
How much money you make a year is for me a silly reason to go for a expensive and very old Mac Pro. Everyone who goes for this old machine because he can afford it with the argument "i make so much so i don't care".. please do so. I dont mind. Apple laughs their pants off. And it will keeps the system up (pay to much and do that with a smile)
C)
Also a silly argument. You are not locked-in with Nvidia. You can buy a AMD if you like. But than you can not benefit from Cuda boosted processes. It a choice. Not that you have any choice with Apple machines, off-course.
In the end, you are want to finish your work today. Not in the future, not 2 weeks ago. Today, tomorrow, maybe next week. You want to do that with the best hardware setup from today. Not with hardware of 4 years ago. And if your software has Cuda, than go for a Nvidia. Why would you not want that? Only because your principles? Because you want to make a point to big vendors? Hell no, i dont care.. i want to do my work, fast as possible.
So for now, if you are working a lot with Adobe, you would really like to have a Nvidia card. Fast CPU with fast cores.. fast PCI SSD's and a lot of memory. Uhm... okey.. i have to buy a PC.
If your software is only designed for CUDA - you do not have choice. You are locked in.
You can use another piece of software, you aren't locked in. You just have to accept the fact that cuda is nvidia specific.
Choices... Are there any real choices? Only AMD and NVIDIA exists.
Anyway...
So if someone wants/needs to use CUDA the belief is that he/she is locked in?
Now that Apple is using only AMD aren't we locked in, in a similar way ?
Apple abandoned OpenCl why? because it was open?
they invented Metal, why? perhaps to lock us in... so OpenCL had to be sacrificed.
Anyway...
So if someone wants/needs to use CUDA the belief is that he/she is locked in?
Now that Apple is using only AMD aren't we locked in, in a similar way ?
Apple abandoned OpenCl why? because it was open?
they invented Metal, why? perhaps to lock us in... so OpenCL had to be sacrificed.
My take on it: Don't complain about limited hardware selection when you chose a technology that on the face of it locks you into certain hardware. That's like buying a gas car and complaining you can't use electric chargers with it.
If you bought software that only ran on Windows, you can't really fault Apple for that either. Apple is making the choice that they don't really want to support CUDA. You can complain all you want, but if you really want CUDA, might be best to move on if your software vendor won't change.
Metal is it's own mess. I agree that Metal isn't really the solution.
That's why we like the hybrid. nVidia and or AMD SSD's and or HD's Fast PCIe and or slow usb
Apple is the greedy company that wants to sell you the "gas car", own the oil fields, own the refineries, own the gas stations and manipulate oil prices!
I wouldn't call it as much as a benefit, but rather a software limitation for other graphic cards that can't use it.
Is it really boosted or does it only appear that way because AMD runs slower on features that only work on Nvidia?
But its fine if your choice is Nvidia, but you are the one who mentioned lock-in.
No, there was no complaining, whatever choices we make, we have to live with them.
But this works both ways.
You can't say that NVIDIA locks you in, when Apple is doing exactly the same (in hardware and software).
It's not a valid point imho.
Who gives a **** anymore, seriously.
With the way Apple is steering its professional business with ******** items no one asked like the iPad Pro, in a few years, we'll end up seeing the ****ing iWatch as a flagship replacement for the Mac Pro.
With the way Apple is steering its professional business with ******** items no one asked like the iPad Pro, in a few years, we'll end up seeing the ****ing iWatch as a flagship replacement for the Mac Pro.
I absolutely love the idea of a fresh, new tower with 2016 parts. Dual socket support, PCI-e slots so I can keep the graphics fresh. Room for extra storage, be it M.2 or SATA. That would be amazing.
I like my nmp, but I won't be able to "freshen" it in five years time the way I would have done with a tower machine.
I'm not however going to spend 1000+ pounds on hardware from 2012 which apple is about to drop support for, just because it comes in a larger case. That is nuts. Anyone spending more than a grand on a machine which is four years old is frankly out of their mind.
Where does that leave me? Compromising and pissed off - like many of Apple's pro users. We dont bring in the same overall volume of revenue as the millions of iDevice users - and we should accept that means we're going to be handled with less care.
That doesn't however mean we should do nothing about it. Apple is unlikely to heed a "protest vote" whereby people stop buying Mac Pros, but that doesn't mean you can't improve your own position by making a better choice.
I'll use my nmp for as long as I can get out of it before the performance becomes a problem (or more likely until an out of warranty part failure makes it prohibitively expensive to repair)
Then I'll buy a new tower if one is available from Apple - or i'll move to PC (or perhaps even hackintosh)
I'll have to perform an assessment of whether or not my preference for OS X is worth doing either of the following:
I've done the former already, I won't do either of the above for my next purchase.
I like my nmp, but I won't be able to "freshen" it in five years time the way I would have done with a tower machine.
I'm not however going to spend 1000+ pounds on hardware from 2012 which apple is about to drop support for, just because it comes in a larger case. That is nuts. Anyone spending more than a grand on a machine which is four years old is frankly out of their mind.
Where does that leave me? Compromising and pissed off - like many of Apple's pro users. We dont bring in the same overall volume of revenue as the millions of iDevice users - and we should accept that means we're going to be handled with less care.
That doesn't however mean we should do nothing about it. Apple is unlikely to heed a "protest vote" whereby people stop buying Mac Pros, but that doesn't mean you can't improve your own position by making a better choice.
I'll use my nmp for as long as I can get out of it before the performance becomes a problem (or more likely until an out of warranty part failure makes it prohibitively expensive to repair)
Then I'll buy a new tower if one is available from Apple - or i'll move to PC (or perhaps even hackintosh)
I'll have to perform an assessment of whether or not my preference for OS X is worth doing either of the following:
- Buying an expensive non-upgradeable appliance
- Buying an ancient computer at the cost of a brand new, high performing PC
I've done the former already, I won't do either of the above for my next purchase.
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I agree. I don't think buying an overpriced system that is up to seven years old with no warranty makes good sense at all. For those who bought a their cMP it makes sense to do upgrades as the purchase price is sunk already. Personally I have a dual 3.2GHz 2008 Mac Pro 3,1 with GTX680 56GB RAM & 2x1TB Evo 950 in RAID0 on Capricorn Velocity PCIe card that I bought new eight years ago. a 4,1 or 5,1 isn't that much faster & if I really needed a new Mac Pro then £1500 would be better spent towards the cost of a nMP that would last me years but at present the 3,1 hasn't yet run out of steam for me.
If I had have bought a Mac Pro in 2012 when it came out (and I wish I had have) I never would have replaced it with an nmp, and would just keep putting fresh SSDs or graphics cards in it.
The way the second hand demand for those machines has pushed prices up though - there's just no way I would buy one now. They frequently go for around 1000 GBP, and to me thats insane for 2012 tech.
I have a friend who's still using a G5 powermac and swears by it.
The nmp would be great if it just had some more expandability, and the ability to buy at least some industry standard parts. The non standard connector on the SSD for example is completely unnecessary from a technical perspective, and is just there to lock-in and raise prices.
The Pro is one area where Apple's drive towards disposible appliances should not be taking place.
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No, there was no complaining, whatever choices we make, we have to live with them.
But this works both ways.
You can't say that NVIDIA locks you in, when Apple is doing exactly the same (in hardware and software).
It's not a valid point imho.
Me and GoMac only pointed to Nvidia when someone else said Apple locks you in. I'm not sure why your pointing back to Apple again.
I agree, 1000+ pounds for a 4 year old computer is crazy. But crazy is relative because the other choice is 2500+ pounds for a 3 year old computer.
I believe that's a big part of why old Mac Pros are still commanding such a high price. This may all change in September.
In any case, I've come to the same conclusion as you. I love OS X, but it's not great enough to buy hardware that I don't like.
https://imgflip.com/i/17zl7l?merp=1469555402.1381