MacPro - Incredible Engineering

[SMM]

As I am typing this, I am looking at the insides of my new MacPro 2.66, with the X1900 card in it. It is just one marvelous piece of engineering. I have felt that way about all of the Apple products I have purchased, but this is truly the 'crown jewel'.

People will often criticize Apple, saying their prices are too high. For the $2800 I spent on this machine, I feel like I am stealing. No other PC manufacturer shows the same level of craftsmanship that Apple does.

 

[miniConvert]

I think you'll find many here agree, as do I. When I opened mine up it took my breath away for a moment

 

[Mac-Addict]

When i get my 24" imac I wont really want to open it in fear of my breaking it.. but yeah apple puts care into there products rather then del who just push it together the cheapest way with the cheapest parts possible.. I love apple

 

[NATO]

As an Engineer, that's the first thing I thought when I bought my Power Mac G5, I was astounded by the attention to detail and the quality of finish and materials used. The Mac Pro is no different

 

[harveypooka]

As an Engineer, that's the first thing I thought when I bought my Power Mac G5, I was astounded by the attention to detail and the quality of finish and materials used. The Mac Pro is no different

I'm scared to open my iMac but it looks lovely from the outside!

 

[kered22]

I agree the MacPro is a fantastic piece of engeineering. The hard drive installation is so easy, simple and fantastic, you almost want to do it just to do it. LOL

The MDD G4s were nice, the G5 was nice too but rather cramped. MacPro? The only way Apple can make it easier is by not having any sleds or screws which they could very well do.

 

[EGT]

I haven't had the privilege of seeing the Mac Pro in the flesh yet but when I first set eyes on a G5, I nearly crapped myself. The most striking thing was the size of the beast! It's just huge.

Dying to have a look inside the Mac Pro and play about with the drive bays etc. I'm giving serious thought to getting one for Boot Camp/XP and running games and other Windows software that one needs every now and again. Which reminds me, does XP have to be install on the first drive or can you stick it on any of them and Boot up?

I'm glad Apple didn't change the case much with the Intel upgrade. It looks the part.

 

[bob5820]

When i get my 24" imac I wont really want to open it in fear of my breaking it.. but yeah apple puts care into there products rather then del who just push it together the cheapest way with the cheapest parts possible.. I love apple

I completely agree that the Mac Pro and Apples in general are a unique blend of engineering excelleance and artistic triumph. My last PC was built in a Lian Li cheese grater case that some what resembles the Apple PowerMac / Mac Pro case. At least thats what I though until I got the Mac Pro. They are night and day apart in terms of quality and design. I also equally enamored with OS -X.

<rant>I quoted Mac-Addict, and I may take some flack here , but I've got to disagree with the balnket statement about Dell being crap. Granted they are not in the same league as Apple. But not everyone is looking for an Apple or willing to pay what it takes to own one. My little 700X laptop has served me flawlessly for a year and a half now. I use a Dell desktop at work and any issues I've had with it seem to have more to do with Windows then Dell. </rant>

 

[Killyp]

I've seen inside the MacPro, and it is a fantastic machine!!!!!

 

[Fairly]

Apple Defects

Apple Defects. http://appledefects.com/. Your time will come, sucka.

 

[NATO]

Apple Defects. http://appledefects.com/. Your time will come, sucka.

And your relevant point is?

 

[FleurDuMal]

<rant>I quoted Mac-Addict, and I may take some flack here , but I've got to disagree with the balnket statement about Dell being crap. Granted they are not in the same league as Apple. But not everyone is looking for an Apple or willing to pay what it takes to own one. My little 700X laptop has served me flawlessly for a year and a half now. I use a Dell desktop at work and any issues I've had with it seem to have more to do with Windows then Dell. </rant>

I have to agree. If you're looking for cheap and cheerful, then Dell is the way to go. For my parents and friends that I can't convince that Windows is crap, then they may as well buy a Dell.

Think about it, if you're gonna run something as crap and inefficient as Windows, then there's no point in spending £1000's on a brilliantly designed machine - the softwares gonna kill it sooner or later anyway .

 

[SMM]

Apple Defects. http://appledefects.com/. Your time will come, sucka.

No, it will not. You see, I have already owned many Mac's, including two Powermacs. I have only had one issue ever. It was minor, and a quick call to Apple Care solved it in 15 minutes.

Those looking for great discounts on used and refurbished Macs are often disappointed to learn there are few killer deals out there. People can keep these machines running great and very useful, even when the technology curve has long passed by. You only have to look at the signatures on this website. You still see many G3's, eMacs, iBooks, etc. These folk are not just using these machines, in most cases they are being productive with them.

The reason is in the engineering and manufacturing quality control. After more years than I care to think about, I cannot recall a single manufacturer with this level of engineering, except high-end (5 figures) Workstations. An example might be Silicon Graphics back in the late '80's, early '90's.

 

[freakonguitar]

lol.....when i showed my dad the casing to the new macpro i got a few weeks ago and handed him the side panel to take a look inside he was astounded at the weight of the aluminum brushed alloy casing
it is like almost bullet proof! lol..not to mention that every little corner inside the thing looks as good as the outside. lol...but it isn't a wonder that it weighs 65lbs (as much as my guitar amp) that casing is thick..oh and one other amazing craftsmanship thing that i was stunned by is that on the side panel that comes off.....there are rubber seals on it!! of all things..they seal it tight....but have holes on the front kinda weird..

 

[Killyp]

lol.....when i showed my dad the casing to the new macpro i got a few weeks ago and handed him the side panel to take a look inside he was astounded at the weight of the aluminum brushed alloy casing
it is like almost bullet proof! lol..not to mention that every little corner inside the thing looks as good as the outside. lol...but it isn't a wonder that it weighs 65lbs (as much as my guitar amp) that casing is thick..oh and one other amazing craftsmanship thing that i was stunned by is that on the side panel that comes off.....there are rubber seals on it!! of all things..they seal it tight....but have holes on the front kinda weird..

I think it's mainly to stop vibrations, but I suppose they also want the best controlled airflow as possible...

 

[StephanDK]

I think it's mainly to stop vibrations, but I suppose they also want the best controlled airflow as possible...

Buying the MacPro and the joy of using the system has prompted me to start looking for a laptop from Apple aswell.

 

[seanf]

Which reminds me, does XP have to be install on the first drive or can you stick it on any of them and Boot up?

It can go on any

Sean

 

[studiox]

...

Not sure where moderators are here but they are at least not doing their job.

If someone feels to talk about PB's that don't work. Start a new thread, or use one existing one, (as im sure there are some as well).

On the Subject now. I have to agree. After looking inside my mac pro it's just taste Pro. They way they mount the XT1900, a simple thing but the mounting screws are just niiiiice. Never seen that in a normal PC before.

The same goes to the SATA drives. When i yesterday bought two news ones (2x320Gig SATA-II, 16M cache). I where walking trough my flat to find screws to mount them with, you know how it is in the PC world.. The right screws are never there...

But when i found 8 ones, took the bays out i found that these ALREADY had screws in there. ****.. hahaha. Felt a bit dumb there.

 

[THX1139]

When i get my 24" imac I wont really want to open it in fear of my breaking it.. but yeah apple puts care into there products rather then del who just push it together the cheapest way with the cheapest parts possible.. I love apple

Why is it that everytime there is a Macpro thread, an iMac user has to join the discussion to talk about their machines? Me too! Me too!

The iMac is a nice machine but it's a totally different design. Go start your own thread!

 

[daveporter]

I'm a design engineer and, therefore, am quite critical when I look at the design of just about anything. Design defects and/or plain design short-comings literally seem to jump out and drive me crazy thereafter.

I switched to Wintel PCs in 1995 when AutoCad no longer supported the Mac and went PC only. For many years prior to that I was a dedicated Mac user (From Lisa onwards).

When the new Mac Pro was released I saw several articles about it in the journals (InfoWorld, eWeek, etc.) and became quite interested. I then went to the Apple web site and took a good look at the specifications and product descriptions. What I learned made me even more interested. Written articles, specifications and specifications are only part of the story, however. So, I took a trip to our local Apple Store to get a hands-on look at the MP.

The staff was great to work with; they pointed me to a new MP and told me to take a look at whatever I wanted and that they would be happy to answer any questions. Well, don't ever tell an engineer to "look at whatever you want" unless your ready to have him/her take whatever it is apart. The first thing I did was take a look at the operation of the unit using standard Mac programs and software that was installed on the machine. That went very well. I found the unit to be quite snappy and well-behaved.

With the operation out of the way I shut the unit down and without any diagrams or instructions took the unit apart. I think that most everyone around thought that I was a company repair and service person.

Well, the bottom line is that I walked out the door with a brand new MP!

I have been using it with OSX and Windows XP for a couple of weeks now. I can sum up my experience like this: "This is the most powerful, best engineered, highest quality computer that I have ever owned or worked on!"

I have only one thing to pick about; it would have made the unit even more quiet if the unit would have included noise canceling grommets for the attachment screws on the hard drive sleds. The hard drives are the only sound that I notice from the unit under normal operation, and that is very, very low.

Apple, all I can say is WELL DONE! As one engineer to other engineers, you did a superb job!

Dave

 

[Abulia]

I have been using it with OSX and Windows XP for a couple of weeks now. I can sum up my experience like this: "This is the most powerful, best engineered, highest quality computer that I have ever owned or worked on!"

This is pretty much my stock answer when someone asks me why I bought an Apple or a Mac Pro.

I have only one thing to pick about; it would have made the unit even more quiet if the unit would have included noise canceling grommets for the attachment screws on the hard drive sleds. The hard drives are the only sound that I notice from the unit under normal operation, and that is very, very low.

How about some kind of rubber washer to cushion the drive from the sled? I was going to investigate some of these options as well. After addressing my X1900, my drives are really the only part of the Mac Pro that make any noise at all. (And damn little at that, now that I turned on AAM.)

 

[daveporter]

This is pretty much my stock answer when someone asks me why I bought an Apple or a Mac Pro.

How about some kind of rubber washer to cushion the drive from the sled? I was going to investigate some of these options as well. After addressing my X1900, my drives are really the only part of the Mac Pro that make any noise at all. (And damn little at that, now that I turned on AAM.)

Abulia,

That might work, however, some rubber materials really have very little vibration limiting ability when tightly compressed; which would have to happen here. I would think that a proper solution would be to extend the screws and insert a material grommet designed for noise limiting. I have not looked into it yet and really don't have the time to work out all the details. Hope fully Apple will pick this up and do it right and then see us a retro kit.

Dave