MP 6,1 MacPro 6,1 purchase opportunity

[iAssimilated]

In the last year I purchased a 2013 Pro (12 core, 64GB RAM, D500s) for way more than the OP would be paying. I don't regret it one bit. The thing is a beast! Yes, the graphics cards are nothing compared to the Vega 56 in my eGPU attached to my 2018 mini, but I didn't get it for GPU intensive stuff. I got the 2013 Pro for the Xeon CPU and the ECC memory. Another big factor in my decision was the design, the 2013 Pro is (and will always be) a one of a kind classic.

Granted, the 2018 mini is my primary system, but the 2013 Pro could easily replace it if something were to happen to my mini.

As for the cable mess others are referring to, you are going to have that issue with every recent Mac mini Apple has made as well.

TB2 may not be the fastest thing on the block anymore, but it isn't slow either. TB2 speeds are faster than most USB 3.x speeds, so the only thing you are really missing out on is USB C / TB3 speeds.

 

[profcutter]

The only thing I would say about TB2 is not so much that the speed will be an impediment. It’s more that finding compatible peripherals may be a challenge. I know there is the TB2/TB3 adaptor, but try finding an enclosure that is TB2. I bought one a year ago, they’re now completely unavailable, at least as far as I‘ve seen. That’s the kind of problem I would warn about.

 

[TECK]

macos updates for next 4-5-6 years

Nobody knows this, Apple can pull the plug any time they like. I'm sticking with my cMP 5,1 and OpenCore until the new smaller Mac Pro is released next year. Even then, my 5,1 does everything I need in a superlative way. I make music with it.

 

[subi257]

Nobody knows this, Apple can pull the plug any time they like. I'm sticking with my cMP 5,1 and OpenCore until the new smaller Mac Pro is released next year. Even then, my 5,1 does everything I need in a superlative way. I make music with it.

Apple claims that they will support computers with OS upgrade for 5 years after they were last sold...so, technically they were last sold in 2019 so they should be supported till 2024....I would hope.

 

[TECK]

technically they wee last sold in 2019 so they should be supported till 2024

I did not know that, thank you for the useful information.

 

[yurc]

I had 6,1 in past but decided to dump it, and leaving only 5,1 because 6,1 was truly dead end once GPU fried.
I was using 6,1 because it was easily transported using backpack (yes I commute with my 6,1 that days). I am no longer commute so I sold my trash can.

Apple claims that they will support computers with OS upgrade for 5 years after they were last sold...so, technically they wee last sold in 2019 so they should be supported till 2024....I would hope.

Fairly correct, think 2012 Mac Pro. They virtually same with 2010 counterpart. It was lasting longer than expected and supported until 2018, peaked with major improvement in Mojave before it was EOL'd and replaced by 7,1.

 

[MarkC426]

Really bizarre seeing this on Apple UK refurb store today.
Since 2019 mp release, Apple havn't had trashcan macs for sale..... 🤪
Damn overpriced though.

 

[grouch]

I've had my 6,1 since 2013 and love everything about it aside from the non-upgradable GPU. It's quiet, small, very capable, and the only issue I've had was a stick of ram that went bad a few years ago.

Even though I love it, the others here are right - don't get one in 2021 for a desktop unless it's a really good deal. It's strong but the GPU weighs it down big time. Hopefully Apple doesn't abandon the concept of a mid/form factor "pro" device in the future but allows for a little more expandability.

 

[MisterAndrew]

Really bizarre seeing this on Apple UK refurb store today.
Since 2019 mp release, Apple havn't had trashcan macs for sale..... 🤪
Damn overpriced though.

View attachment 1780681

I never expected Apple to be selling the 6,1 in 2021. I had to look for myself. Yep, they’re there! You could have one with an AppleCare+ warranty that expires in 2024. It’ll be interesting to see if it supports macOS 12.

 

[DFP1989]

I broke down, got lucky and picked up a 6,1 last week. Even though I wouldn’t recommend to most, I’ve always wanted one.

A combination of a computer recycler with very good prices, plus an eBay discount code, made it worth a go to use as a server and backup machine.

Turned out the machine I bought was sold new in mid-2019! 6c/32GB/D500/512GB, totally original and the machine is in new condition.

Hooked it up to my 7,1 with a Thunderbolt cable for fast transfers between the two.

Considering it was sold new up till 2019, I would expect a few more major releases at least. It’s not like the hardware is much below other Intel Macs that are still being sold.

 

[AlexMaximus]

I broke down, got lucky and picked up a 6,1 last week. Even though I wouldn’t recommend to most, I’ve always wanted one.

A combination of a computer recycler with very good prices, plus an eBay discount code, made it worth a go to use as a server and backup machine.

Turned out the machine I bought was sold new in mid-2019! 6c/32GB/D500/512GB, totally original and the machine is in new condition.

Hooked it up to my 7,1 with a Thunderbolt cable for fast transfers between the two.

Considering it was sold new up till 2019, I would expect a few more major releases at least. It’s not like the hardware is much below other Intel Macs that are still being sold.

View attachment 1781051

How lucky, a 2019 unit is super great. Don’t forget, There are always improvements during a product ‘s lifecycle that are not communicated. Most likely you have catchend the last possible pcb board revisions on most components. This means it will last. Great Design, great purchase.

 

[MarkC426]

If it wasn't for the Apple refurb overpricing, I would love one.
They look so nice.

For a little bit more on refurb store you can get an iMac Pro but with more ram/bigger ssd/better gpu/5k display/newer Xeon ......

 

[mikas]

I bought a 6,1 last year. I use it every day with my TV. It works good enough.

I thought I could possibly make it my main driver for remote covid-19 work period. I still could try that. With help of an eGPU (with TB2-TB3 trick). But I just don't trust this thing enough. There are quirks. Like memory. ECC errors might pop up without a reason. It might just loose some memory any time; 64GB-48GB at will. You can not find out the reason why that happens. And there have been some shutdowns and self bootings with no reasons whatsoever, and the shutdown causes which I can't find any good explanations for. Not with google or MR forum help, or not from any usefull other source otherwise professional.

I'll keep it, probably forever that is. But it's not that reliable a machine. To me at least it hasn't been.

Some other users might have a little bit more a different experiences with these. I have read the witnesses myself. So your mileage may vary, as they say so wisely.

They do look gorgeous though. I really do love the looks of it.

 

[th0masp]

How lucky, a 2019 unit is super great. Don’t forget, There are always improvements during a product ‘s lifecycle that are not communicated. Most likely you have catchend the last possible pcb board revisions on most components. This means it will last. Great Design, great purchase.

I have a mid-2018. Thought so too about hardware revisions but sadly it didn't last and needed a few trips to the repair shop after 6 months of daily use.
It's fine now and long been back in daily driver mode - but without warranty I would have been seriously up some creek or other with this machine.

 

[incumbent]

I am about ready to throw a trashcan6,1 out the front door into the street by the lip of it's beautiful cylindrical chassis. I'm going to have to replace it, I thought I could use it as a stop-gap between architecture but it has been a debacle that has easily cost me $2000 in time alone because every g-ddammned day the GPUs crash repeatedly and eventually you get a kernel panic.

Yesterday it rebooted 3 times, 2 of which while I was sitting across the room not even using it. Today I've had:

➜ ls -la /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/*2021-06-06-*gpuRestart | wc -l
20

It hasn't panic'ed yet today, but I'm quite certain it will. Run screaming away from the 2013 at all costs. I've got a lot of memory and a 2TB NVME in mine and I'll take it with me to my other place as my lab computer because it's easily the least offensive looking computer I own and my partner doesn't want me wheeling in a half rack on casters like I have at my other place 😂

 

[incumbent]

The only thing I would say about TB2 is not so much that the speed will be an impediment. It’s more that finding compatible peripherals may be a challenge. I know there is the TB2/TB3 adaptor, but try finding an enclosure that is TB2. I bought one a year ago, they’re now completely unavailable, at least as far as I‘ve seen. That’s the kind of problem I would warn about.

OWC shipped a lot of JBODs and RAID enclosures and Amazon Warehouse and eBay and even OWC themselves have them pretty regularly. I used a Thunderbolt 3 dock with my 2013 6,1 for a while but then it stopped working but the jokes on them because I have a CalDigit TB2 break-out box and it works great.

Apple's Thunderbolt 3 > Thunderbolt 2 adapter is good and works in both directions, but OWC tech told me the TB3 dock I have doesn't list a 2013 6,1 as a compatible system. I think a TB3 enclosure/JBOD would work fine with the adapter to a 2013 — Thunderbolt 2 cables are not plentiful in my house though, I found a couple of mini DisplayPort cables though! They don't work as Thunderbolt 2 cables in spite of their business end.

 

[profcutter]

OWC shipped a lot of JBODs and RAID enclosures and Amazon Warehouse and eBay and even OWC themselves have them pretty regularly. I used a Thunderbolt 3 dock with my 2013 6,1 for a while but then it stopped working but the jokes on them because I have a CalDigit TB2 break-out box and it works great.

Apple's Thunderbolt 3 > Thunderbolt 2 adapter is good and works in both directions, but OWC tech told me the TB3 dock I have doesn't list a 2013 6,1 as a compatible system. I think a TB3 enclosure/JBOD would work fine with the adapter to a 2013 — Thunderbolt 2 cables are not plentiful in my house though, I found a couple of mini DisplayPort cables though! They don't work as Thunderbolt 2 cables in spite of their business end.

The problem is still bus power. Remember that the adaptor doesn’t pass power. If you can find a TB2 enclosure, then good. A TB3 dock works, but again, the OP is deciding if they want to get a 6,1, it may be better to get something more modern.

 

[StrawberryX]

D500 at the least. 1TB internal.
Thunderbolt buy TB3 and take it to your next mac.

Put in the 8 core, 64 gigs, or maybe 128gigs.
Put in the 10 core or 12 core but limit to 64 gigs then.

3,1 is a joke now. Even the 4 core D300 6,1 is more a mac mini pro.
You can not upgrade the processors, or very expensive ( buying another 6,1 and swap processors ).

eGPU, unsure if you can use that on "M1 Mac Mini Pro, Super Imac, Mini Mac Pro 5299 dollar ...

Nice to have a good 6,1 for the nex 3 years, buy M1/2/x if It can do what you need.
Still 6,1 will be able to do "vintage/legacy stuff that might be important.

There are lot of pro vendors with TB2 enclosures, but I wouldn't buy It, just get the TB3 version.

I have 2 6.1's. Never had any problem with it. If graphic cards are used I spin the fans to the max or It could get very hot, damage your computer.
Thought D500 had less problems then D700 ...

Good luck

 

[MisterAndrew]

I am about ready to throw a trashcan6,1 out the front door into the street by the lip of it's beautiful cylindrical chassis. I'm going to have to replace it, I thought I could use it as a stop-gap between architecture but it has been a debacle that has easily cost me $2000 in time alone because every g-ddammned day the GPUs crash repeatedly and eventually you get a kernel panic.

Yesterday it rebooted 3 times, 2 of which while I was sitting across the room not even using it. Today I've had:

➜ ls -la /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/*2021-06-06-*gpuRestart | wc -l
20

It hasn't panic'ed yet today, but I'm quite certain it will. Run screaming away from the 2013 at all costs. I've got a lot of memory and a 2TB NVME in mine and I'll take it with me to my other place as my lab computer because it's easily the least offensive looking computer I own and my partner doesn't want me wheeling in a half rack on casters like I have at my other place 😂

Does it have D300 graphics? There seems to be a driver problem in Catalina and later for the Pitcairn GPU. Try Mojave and see if your problems disappear. My 6,1s with Tahiti GPUs (D500 & D700) have been 100% stable in Catalina and Big Sur.

 

[profcutter]

Odd, I haven’t been running it hard, but my 6,1 is my Big Sur test machine. D300 gpu’s, bottom of the line. No problems.

 

[yellowbunny]

Use mine with d300s every Day and never had a single problem…

 

[incumbent]

I can't roll back to Mojave @MisterAndrew on my 6,1 but I do have the D300 graphics and all the gpu crash logs and panics point a finger firmly at the driver for that GPU family.

I've had it crash GPUs and bounce even when nobody is logged in at console or remotely. My user account is more likely to result in failures than my admin account, I thought it was something specific to my environment until it finally crashed and paniced when I wasn't logged in.

It's cost me way too much money to troubleshoot that thing, I'd have been better off just buying a 7,1 but now I'm trying to hold out for an m-series Pro desktop. Earlier this week I had it panic three times. It's only been up for 1 day 9 hours and I'm running 11.4. Anecdotally there are people running eGPUs with 6,1s but it doesn't seem to make the problem go away.

I need a household automation server at my other place and it'll be fine for that. I will accept the occasional reboot for a container farm. There's a good chance I'll snap at any moment and just buy a fscking 7,1 off the refurb page. I'm tempted to get an iMac Pro just to be difficult.

 

[profcutter]

It sounds like either a corrupted OS install, or a buggy D300. The latter is not common, at least not like the D700s, but is certainly possible. Have you tried removing and reseating them? Maybe some dust got into the connectors? Otherwise it may be that something on one of the GPU cards may be flaking out.

 

[incumbent]

I don't want to discourage you from participating or anything but it can be either of the two GPUs in my trashcan6,1 that eventually work their way up to a kernel panic. e.g.yesterday's resets:

/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175249-1_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-2
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175249-1_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175257-3_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-2
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175257-3_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175306-2_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-2
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175306-2_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175306-4_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-2
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175306-4_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175317_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-2
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175317_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175324_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-2
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175324_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175327-1_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-2
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175327-1_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175327_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-2
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175327_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175351-1_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-2
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175351-1_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175351-2_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-2
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175351-2_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175352_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-2
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-175352_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-193148-1_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-2
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-193148-1_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-193148_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-2
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-193148_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-193207_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-2
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-193207_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-193209_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-2
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-193209_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-193211-1_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-2
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-193211-1_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-193219_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-2
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-193219_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-193249_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-2
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-193249_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-193259_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-2
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-193259_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-193319_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-2
/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/Kernel_2021-06-12-193319_DreamOn.gpuRestart:PCI Card: AMD FirePro D300, sppci_displaycontroller, Slot-1

I run with SIP disabled on this workstation presently but I'm not opposed to enabling SIP and re-installing Big Sur. I don't expect it to have any impact what-so-ever based on the available data I have, but I've wasted time on worse ideas so why not?

Once OpenZFS for macOS has a built package that runs on Monterey I will absolutely install as soon as I'm back at this house. I don't feel excited about a remote OS install to a developer release of the OS unless I'm at console.

@profcutter if you haven't seen the thread here about this, you may find some of it interesting: Mac Pro (Late 2013) GPU (Driver) Issues