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New Mac Pro?

F

fabiovirgi7

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 3, 2013
12
0
Birmingham, UK
My main computer is a Mac Pro tower, hooked up to a 30″ Apple monitor. From the outside, the machine looks exactly like one you could buy in the Apple Store today, but it’s actually six years old.

It feels fast enough, largely because I swapped in an SSD and upgraded my video card. I use it for most of my writing, plus the podcast and video work, and I haven’t felt any pressure to get a new machine.

But now that time has come: This rig isn't able to run Mountain Lion.

Six years is a long time for any computer. I’d happily replace it with a new one, except the ones they’re currently selling are so shamefully behind the curve.

Should I just keep running Lion? In this way I’d give up some of the new features, but most apps should continue to work. One challenge is that a lot of the new software we’re developing is aimed at Mountain Lion, so I’d have to do that work on my little MacBook Air. But I have to admit its puny graphics card wouldn’t be able to handle my big screen, and I’m not willing to give that up. Also, I’m running four hard drives in my tower, so I’d have to figure out an external solution for these.

Now what should I do? Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance. :)
 
If you are not on a time line:
a) Wait until the nMP's come out
b) See if there are "fire" sales of 2008-2010's
c) 2008's-2010's will run 10.9
d) Place all your HD's and things in your old/new $200 MP!:D
 
fabiovirgi7 said:
Six years is a long time for any computer. I’d happily replace it with a new one, except the ones they’re currently selling are so shamefully behind the curve.
Click to expand...

Who's behind the curve here? ;)

Seriously, why do you think the current ones are so shamefully behind the curve? And what other options do you consider on or ahead of the curve? Maybe you should consider those (but I'm not sure what those options might be) :confused:
 
OS6-OSX said:
If you are not on a time line:
a) Wait until the nMP's come out
b) See if there are "fire" sales of 2008-2010's
c) 2008's-2010's will run 10.9
d) Place all your HD's and things in your old/new $200 MP!:D
Click to expand...

Haha... Maybe I'm gonna take my friend's recent-edition MBP and buy him the Retina version.

It puts the hi-res screen in the hands of the graphics guy who actually needs it.
His MacBook is powerful enough to run my big monitor. (With a $99 adapter.)
I should be able to replace his hard drive with my tower’s SSD, so it’s a fairly painless transition.
 
fabiovirgi7 said:
My main computer is a Mac Pro tower, hooked up to a 30″ Apple monitor. From the outside, the machine looks exactly like one you could buy in the Apple Store today, but it’s actually six years old.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat. When OSX 10.8 came out and I found I could not upgrade I knew it was time to buy a new Mac Pro. I decided to wait till the 2013 version since it was already late 2012.

In my case I had begun noticing slow performance on some important apps so a performance boost is desired.

My biggest need is screen real-estate. I draw very large data models. Some can be 5' X 20'. The more pixels I have, the more of my model I can see at one time. I presently have two monitors an HP 3065 30" at 2560 X 1600 and an HP 2311 23" at 1920 X 1080. A 4K 40" to 50" monitor would be ideal for my needs. Smaller pixels, a retina display, aren't that important for my work. For this reason I see the nMP as my best choice. I also like to buy the most current technology so I can postpone the next upgrade as long as possible.
 
The new Mac Pro pricing at the excuse of a redesign is inflation in truth. If you're planning upgrading your pretty usable Mac Pros, you're contributing for the price increase.

The base 4-core nMP will cost as much as the 12-core 2012 MP which is way faster, almost touching the 12-core nMP (as we've seen in a recent MR post). Most people doesn't need that huge gpu performance. I think the new Mac Pro pricing is basically inflation. If there's people paying for it, they'll increase the price further in 2014.
 
brdeveloper said:
The new Mac Pro pricing at the excuse of a redesign is inflation in truth. If you're planning upgrading your pretty usable Mac Pros, you're contributing for the price increase.

The base 4-core nMP will cost as much as the 12-core 2012 MP which is way faster, almost touching the 12-core nMP (as we've seen in a recent MR post). Most people doesn't need that huge gpu performance. I think the new Mac Pro pricing is basically inflation. If there's people paying for it, they'll increase the price further in 2014.
Click to expand...

I don't know what the pricing is like in Brazil, but in North America, the new entry level model is $500 more than the outgoing Quad and comes with an SSD and an additional GPU which arguably justifies the increase.
 
VirtualRain said:
I don't know what the pricing is like in Brazil, but in North America, the new entry level model is $500 more than the outgoing Quad and comes with an SSD and an additional GPU which arguably justifies the increase.
Click to expand...

Only if you need the additional GPU and don't already have an SSD drive... or 4+ which you would need to buy an additional thunderbolt or usb3 enclosure for.
 
OS6-OSX said:
If you are not on a time line:
a) Wait until the nMP's come out
b) See if there are "fire" sales of 2008-2010's
c) 2008's-2010's will run 10.9
d) Place all your HD's and things in your old/new $200 MP!:D
Click to expand...

I so agree
I'm waiting for that too
 
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