So, was it worth the wait?

[phaedarus]

The long awaited update for the Mac Pro is finally in.

It looks like Apple incorporated many of the most wanted features, including updated graphics card options. The only exception, of course, being a lower price for the base models (but at least no significant jump in pricing).

So, was it worth the wait?

 

[maflynn]

For people looking to get the latest, its worth it.

 

[Vylen]

For people who don't even own a Mac Pro yet...

Yes

 

[Topper]

I have a feeling that some people looking for a 6-core Mac Pro will be disappointed.

Oops, my bad, looks like there is a 6-core

 

[Tronic]

Interested in a dual 6 core 2.66 once they hit the refurb store.

 

[mism]

"So, was it worth the wait?"

Can I answer that when we know when they're shipping (in the UK) and exactly what they'll cost

 

[G4er?]

Still waiting. I was honestly hoping Apple would surprise us and come out with an mid level computer between the mini and the Pro. They either should have made the new mini bigger or one model of the new Pro smaller. Apparently wanting just enough space for two hard drives, one optical drive and a replaceable graphics card is asking too much.

 

[RubbishBBspeed]

Personally I'll wait and see, because it's taken sooooooooo looooooooong to arrive. My purchase order authorisation has lapsed and now it will have to go through a review. With the 27" display being lower resolution than the 30' It's going to be difficult to justify the expense..... £8,000 just went pufffff.

 

[opera57]

Probably, I think a 6 core would be a good compromise from getting the octo-core, with better performance than the quad!

 

[telequest]

I have a feeling that some people looking for a 6-core Mac Pro will be disappointed.

Oops, my bad, looks like there is a 6-core

I'm wondering how much the 6-core will cost vs. the 8-core ... and how to balance choosing between them. 8-core has double the RAM slots. 6-core will support faster memory (1333 vs 1066). Overall speed of 6 at 3.33 vs 8 at 2.4? Basic math implies they might be similar (multiplying clock speed x cores), 19.98 vs 19.2 respectively, but not sure if that's a fair guide of likely performance. Seems like the 6-core option would have the edge – too bad it will have just 4 RAM slots.

Real world need will be to run Final Cut Studio and Adobe CS5 Production Premium apps.

Advice?

 

[mism]

I'm wondering how much the 6-core will cost vs. the 8-core ...

Real world need will be to run Final Cut Studio and Adobe CS5 Production Premium apps.

Advice?

I'm considering returning my new (now old) 8 x 2.26 for a 6 core. Similar total GHz for rendering but much faster when using apps like Photoshop which use just two cores. I imagine it will feel faster for many smaller tasks too. The RAM is the killer. I put 4 x 2Gb in mine knowing how easy it would be to add to it. That wouldn't be the case with the 6 core.

 

[therocket]

But no USB 3.0

 

[maflynn]

I don't get why apple hasn't done this. Many of the ASUS and Gigabyte MBs have USB 3.0 ports. Perhaps its something to do with intel since they stated they'll not have a usb 3.0 motherboard for a while.

 

[telebox]

puaaa....what a stupid update...
almost 2 years to get THE SAME machine with just a pair added of CPU options and a decent GPU ??


what to say...ridiculous :-(

 

[jetjaguar]

i guess ill be waiting until sandy bridge

 

[RebootD]

I thought today would make me regret my 2009 Quad purchase and I was wrong. Now if I can just get my hands on that 5870 and not have it cost $600...

 

[Inconsequential]

I don't get why apple hasn't done this. Many of the ASUS and Gigabyte MBs have USB 3.0 ports. Perhaps its something to do with intel since they stated they'll not have a usb 3.0 motherboard for a while.

This.

It still uses the X58 chipset which means... no USB 3.

I'll make the point now for people:

UNTIL INTEL make a workstation/server chipset which supports USB3 the Mac Pro WILL NOT get USB 3/Light-peak.

Quite simple, really.

 

[slughead]

It's actually pretty funny from a sadistic perspective:

- still only 4 HDs, even with SDD
- no USB 3
- no FW 1600
- no BluRay (though that we really saw coming)
- no price drop, even a little

Hooray for 500 day speedbumps.

Don't get me wrong, 12 cores is something... if you have $5000...

Apple's not even trying. They put 15 minutes into updating the EFI into a standard Intel Mobo and charge exorbitant fees for it.

 

[silby101]

http://www.apple.com/ca/macpro/features/storage.html

Choose solid-state for ultimate performance.

New to the Mac Pro is the option to add up to four 512GB solid-state drives — or any combination of solid-state and hard drives.2 Solid-state drives have no moving parts and are capable of accessing data at speeds up to 230MB per second, which is up to twice the speed of hard drives. The result? Incredible performance on a range of data-intensive tasks, including up to 2x faster ProRes video encoding using solid-state drives compared with hard drives.3

1. 1TB = 1 trillion bytes; actual formatted capacity less.
2. Solid-state drives are not compatible with the Mac Pro RAID Card in either RAID or Enhanced JBOD mode.
3. SSD PERFORMANCE DISCLAIMER.

I'm most disappointed in no SATA 6 Gbit/s. What is the point of promoting the option for four SSD if the SATA is the bottleneck? I just read (in the small print) that they aren't compatible with the RAID Card, so if you want to try to get around that bottleneck you can't. Their third disclaimer is literally "SSD PERFORMANCE DISCLAIMER"? (Only on the Canada site, as the US site shows the actual disclaimer)

 

[Cynicalone]

New graphics card options are always good.

 

[oilfighter]

I find myself not impressed with the update.

I thought I'd see some bigger spec change, or at least a drop in price.

 

[J the Ninja]

I was hoping for a lower price on the bottom end machine, being a student on a budget who needs a new workstation...but....*sigh* I can't stand working in Windows, and there is no Photoshop for Linux (GIMP makes me want to stab people) and an investment in FCP isn't something you toss lightly when you're 20....so I think I will be buying the new quad, with an extra 1TB drive and 8GiB of RAM from whoever will sell them cheapest.

...although, $2500 includes a decent GPU now. Before I was looking at $2700 to add the 4870, so I guess it was dropped in a way.

 

[cube]

What "most wanted features"??

- No USB 3.0
- No FireWire 3200
- No SATA 6 Gbps
- No SAS
- No eSATA ports
- No Blu Ray

 

[highres]

If the new Mac Pros meet your needs then yes, if not no.

 

[VirtualRain]

This is exactly what I was expecting... New Drop-in processors and new GPUs at largely previous pricing resulting in slightly improved value.

I'm sure their SSD BTO pricing will redefine ridiculous.