Anyone needing the fastest possible computer to put food on the table, and waiting for apple to MAYBE upgrade the Mac pro, could put themselves in jeopardy. iMac will not cut it, period. I can see pro's using apple platform moving over to windows or Linux. Apple needs to inform Mac pro users of up coming upgrades (if any) so serious professionals can plan for the future. Wouldn't be surprised IF a new Mac pro comes without a DVD drive, like the mini. Seeing more services like adobe and others offering to do those tasks normally done locally. Would also hate to see iOS on a Mac pro, but does seem to be headed that way, just by looking at ML on macs now. Guess time will tell.
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Mac Pro to be discontinued?
- Thread starter The Final Cut
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No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.No.No. No.
Except I don't want Windows and I don't want Hackintosh, so I am admittedly at Apple's mercy for now.
We simply don't know what is going to be in 2013. Possibly a hybrid of the iMac and Mac Pro, or iMac Pro. Again, purely speculative as to guess what Apple will do or decide on the fate of the Mac Pro, as we know it.
But, it does seem that if any new Mac Pro is coming in 2013, it may not look like what we all know the Mac Pro as a tower system.
But, it does seem that if any new Mac Pro is coming in 2013, it may not look like what we all know the Mac Pro as a tower system.
This is definitely one of those threads where we need out down arrows back. It's too antiseptic and lovey-dovey now.
The down arrows need to be directed at Apple, not apologists. The Facebook page wasn't enough either. What is needed is a core group of influential people to do surveys, gather data,and formulate coherent arguments in favor of the continuance of a professional workstation, a well laid out proposal that gives Apple sufficient reason to maintain the line. A meeting with Tim Cook and his senior man in the Mac division, along with a bean counter and a marketing type, should then be held to hash it out and get a firm answer, one way or the other. It can be done, but not on a message board.
What we need is for Apple to either s*** or get off the pot.
Professionals need real computers to do their work. And an iMac isn't good for that. Plus they cook their screens, which screws graphic artists. Ours couldn't show white after a year! It's all yellowed.
Mac Pros are the only option for professional computer users. Our studio has been waiting of new ones since the last incarnation. Frankly I'd be willing to make a hakintosh. Kinda would like to do it just so Apple wouldn't get our money.
Professionals need real computers to do their work. And an iMac isn't good for that. Plus they cook their screens, which screws graphic artists. Ours couldn't show white after a year! It's all yellowed.
Mac Pros are the only option for professional computer users. Our studio has been waiting of new ones since the last incarnation. Frankly I'd be willing to make a hakintosh. Kinda would like to do it just so Apple wouldn't get our money.
Guys, why are we even discussing this? Word Of Cook says we get a redesigned Mac Pro "later in 2013," end of subject. It's not the most satisfying timetable, but it is certainty, and right now that's more than we can say for the iMac and Mac Mini. It stands to reason both of the smaller desktops would continue, but it's not assured until we see it happen, and technically Apple has still made no explicit commitment to either one. They HAVE made an explicit statement on the Mac Pro. The only speculation left for the Pro is when and how awesome, not if.
There is absolutely no reason why a Sandy Bridge Mac Pro shouldn't be out right now. It has been over two years since good ol' Apple updated the Mac Pro. What makes you think that Apple is going to come out with a Mac Pro 3 years later? What is going to make the next Mac Pro so awesome that it has to wait until next year?
You know for certain that the Mac Pro is coming out next year? How?
I've read the emails. I read the email that supposedly came from Ted Cook to a customer named "Franz." "Anonymous" Apple executives have confirmed that the email is legit and the Mac Pro will be updated in 2013.
That really sounds like it is written in stone.
If the Mac Pro doesn't come out, who do you hold accountable? Who do you go up to and say "But you promised me"?
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The editorial in the back of this months Macworld Magazine suggests that Apple may be holding off on the hardware in order to separate OSX in to a "pro" hardware/OS and "consumer" hardware/OS (ios-ified) versions. Pure speculation, but I suppose it is as good as any, especially considering the odd way Apple has been handling (or not handling) desktops in general lately.
Here, or on another forum, I recently posted the same thought...that Apple needed a pro version of OS X, rather than dumbing it down for everyone. Also, for what it's worth, I've spoken to a few people who MIGHT have been given some idea of what is coming, or it may just be them speculating even though they aren't supposed to do that. The consensus seems to be that the next Mac Pro will not be "traditional," whatever that may mean. I hope they don't expect us to daisy chain a bunch of modular components with Thunderbolt cables. In fact, I wouldn't want the case changed at all, except for the addition of removable/washable dust filters. Maybe free up the second optical bay for something else would be a good idea too.
Although modular at first doesn't sound interesting, after a few days thinking about it, if it's well setup and integrated, it might be quite cool. I guess we will have to wait and see what's on their labs to really find out, but modular could be interesting for several uses, especially if you travel a lot from studio to studio and you know what you will find there.
My intent was to say that I have the minimal requirements currently, to get my project off the ground. I need to ramp up in the future. Intended path is amd 7970 (not M) then hope for 16 cores later.
Cheap 17" Gateway monitor, not very fragile, easy to transport. If that fails, I have an MBP and VNC.
Absolutely Can Not Have CPU or GPU Throttling. I see it on my MBP when doing demos (at lower than MP resolution).
I wouldn't forget to bring multiple layers of big baggies.
That might be nice in a few years.
Lots and lots of floating point.
Volkswagen still find it to their advantage to make Bentleys....
Some of you may remember when the majority of expansion for Macs/PC's was external in the form of high speed SCSI drives. It didn't matter what you couldn't put inside the computer since the external stuff was faster anyway (we used lots of SCSI PLI drives, 40MB discs). Well, it looks like tech has come full circle again utilizing thunderbolt as one user linked us already:
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/echoexpresschassis.html
Some say the desktop machine is all but dead. I disagree, but I'm more directly talking to the point of Apple possibly discontinuing the Mac Pro, and what that means for the company and its user base. If I could have an iMac, or a MacBook Pro with thunderbolt, and super high speed peripherals to use at home when I'm "docked", I don't think it would be that bad to lose the expandable towers.
Edit: Now, let me clarify some things. I use my Macs to make money doing webdesign. I don't need a Mac Pro for this, but a large screen sure is nice, so I have a 27 inch viewsonic hooked up to the Pro. I also have an older 2008 15 inch MacBook Pro. So, you can see I don't have much use for hardcore graphics, except when it comes to my gaming and flight sims. If an iMac or MBP could outperform my current setup, then I'd consider going that route. I'm finding myself more and more wishing I had *one* very fast laptop and high speed peripherals to come home to, hook up to a large screen, and have the best of both worlds.
To those of you who are more familiar with thunderbolt expansion chassis than I, what kind of options do we currently have for running full size "enthusiast" video cards, such as the 5870 that I currently have in my Mac Pro?
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I can kind of see why pros that use their machines for hardcore tasks are impatient. They have an awful lot invested in software for the Mac OS, and don't necessarily want to switch. I hear them saying that if they are going to have to go another route, they'd like to know. Just my thoughts.
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In your opinion, do you think an iMac with high speed TP peripherals would cut it after they've evolved a bit?
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/echoexpresschassis.html
Some say the desktop machine is all but dead. I disagree, but I'm more directly talking to the point of Apple possibly discontinuing the Mac Pro, and what that means for the company and its user base. If I could have an iMac, or a MacBook Pro with thunderbolt, and super high speed peripherals to use at home when I'm "docked", I don't think it would be that bad to lose the expandable towers.
Edit: Now, let me clarify some things. I use my Macs to make money doing webdesign. I don't need a Mac Pro for this, but a large screen sure is nice, so I have a 27 inch viewsonic hooked up to the Pro. I also have an older 2008 15 inch MacBook Pro. So, you can see I don't have much use for hardcore graphics, except when it comes to my gaming and flight sims. If an iMac or MBP could outperform my current setup, then I'd consider going that route. I'm finding myself more and more wishing I had *one* very fast laptop and high speed peripherals to come home to, hook up to a large screen, and have the best of both worlds.
To those of you who are more familiar with thunderbolt expansion chassis than I, what kind of options do we currently have for running full size "enthusiast" video cards, such as the 5870 that I currently have in my Mac Pro?
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I can kind of see why pros that use their machines for hardcore tasks are impatient. They have an awful lot invested in software for the Mac OS, and don't necessarily want to switch. I hear them saying that if they are going to have to go another route, they'd like to know. Just my thoughts.
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In your opinion, do you think an iMac with high speed TP peripherals would cut it after they've evolved a bit?
Well, I just decided enough is enough and made a call to the right person in the right place to get it from the horse's mouth. I did not get a single detail more than what has already floated around in the media, BUT, and it's a big BUT, I did get complete reassurance that Apple remembers the segment of users who got them started, and helped them survive (Pros), and they have NO intention of forgetting us. They ARE working on a new professional machine and DO plan to try to get it out next year and they say it WILL be "really great."
Their response to the recent uproar, typically tightlipped, was legitimate. The intent was to reassure us, yet not show their cards to the competition. Now that I've heard it directly, instead of from the media (if their lips are moving they are either exaggerating, lying, or just plain wrong), I can live with it for now, max out the upgrades made possible by 10.8, and look forward to a nice surprise next year (I hope).
Their response to the recent uproar, typically tightlipped, was legitimate. The intent was to reassure us, yet not show their cards to the competition. Now that I've heard it directly, instead of from the media (if their lips are moving they are either exaggerating, lying, or just plain wrong), I can live with it for now, max out the upgrades made possible by 10.8, and look forward to a nice surprise next year (I hope).
Tim Cook said the new MP is coming and that's that...
If Apple were going to discontinue the Mac Pro, they would have done it by now, and said so. Tim Cook made an extremely rare concession and said that it is coming next year. It could be a calendar or fiscal next year.
And that's that. Not worth discussing.
I think what is worth discussing is why it is taking so long. They could have upgraded the components in the aluminum tower rather easily.
Someone else posted that this is reminiscent of when they switched from IBM G5 to Intel. The infamous day that hell froze over. The same eerie silence.
So I think it is reasonable to conclude that whatever is coming will not be an upgrade. It's going to be a new design.
And before anyone cheers, it might be prudent to realize that it probably will make the existing Mac Pro obsolete. And then the posts will be OMG what have they done to me.
(Disclosure, I am a G5 owner, still use it, and still remember the day that hell froze over).
If Apple were going to discontinue the Mac Pro, they would have done it by now, and said so. Tim Cook made an extremely rare concession and said that it is coming next year. It could be a calendar or fiscal next year.
And that's that. Not worth discussing.
I think what is worth discussing is why it is taking so long. They could have upgraded the components in the aluminum tower rather easily.
Someone else posted that this is reminiscent of when they switched from IBM G5 to Intel. The infamous day that hell froze over. The same eerie silence.
So I think it is reasonable to conclude that whatever is coming will not be an upgrade. It's going to be a new design.
And before anyone cheers, it might be prudent to realize that it probably will make the existing Mac Pro obsolete. And then the posts will be OMG what have they done to me.
(Disclosure, I am a G5 owner, still use it, and still remember the day that hell froze over).
I a not quite sure that technology delivers what we consumers need, but for sure marketing people make us believe that we need what thecnology delivers.
the filesystem is an example: are we 100%'sure that back in '80s we did really need folders? now Apple is slowly racing a generation of users that will never need the filesystem. Call it iOSification. Back in late '80s-early '90s, when I got my first Mac, coming from a PC with DOS, I created 4 folders in the documents folder and I gave them the name of the applications: Word, Excel, FileMaker, Paint. So basically what is happening now on the iPad: each appication has its own list of files... Of course then I learnt how to properly create folders and how to store documents, but now marketing people are telling me that the way to go is the one I used 20 years ago...
another example? Apple said "too much wires, all in one is the solution" and now? thunderbolt: you have a tiny thing on your desk and a whole bunch of wires under the desk.
gesture, is another thing: I tought that nothing could have ever beaten the trackball (Apple never explored this) and now my Kensington expert mouse no longer works with the cougar, so I have to buy the trackpad and get used to a device which is off set for a desktop use.
...
Ben
Another person that doesn't make money from Final Cut Pro claiming it isn't a pro tool.
You're right. After the uproar in the pro vid user group forums across the Web when FCX was initially released, I went with Vegas Pro again. And I am quite happy with the 150 bucks or more per finished second it makes for me, thank you very much.