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Wanting to get a nMP soon. when is the 7,1 coming out?
- Thread starter Korican100
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if that's the case, I fear some planned obsolescence.
I just hope there is a third party solution
I don't believe this will ever happen unless Apple decides to share/open the design which, considering it's Apple, must be lock down by a mountain of patents and legal NDA.
A 3rd party would have to create a brand new compatible board design to even have a chance of bringing it to market. And it is a small market...
I really don't think Apple would mind, and I think the laws on the books would protect anyone who'd want to design a replacement board... I just don't see anyone wanting to design a replacement board.
If anyone is going to make new boards it's going to be Apple. And I don't think that's out of the question. It's not worth redesigning the physical interface to stop people.
yes but if they design them, will they offer them for sale individually, or only include them in new model mac pros?
They might offer them for install individually, but at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter, as the new GPUs will be available as repair and salvage parts individually.
I believe Apple would mind, if it has an impact on their revenue. This is particulary true if the 3rd party sell them cheaper than what Apple ask for them. Apple doesn't want to share all that much...
But in the end, since there are so few 3rd party beside OWC targeting internal component for the Apple computers I don't see this happening.
And it's nearly a year after their SSD upgrade announcement with no product 3rd party upgrades aren't looking very likely.
Or a connector compatible to the one that plugs into each AMD card of the 6,1 going to a flexible PCIe 16x cable which 3m already make perhaps...
Dremel external dual GPU time
I agree, predictability is a huge component of buying equipment for a professional environment. As much as I like Apple I have a feeling they're going to drop the ball on this. Riding to high after the redesign.
Or a connector compatible to the one that plugs into each AMD card of the 6,1 going to a flexible PCIe 16x cable which 3m already make perhaps...
Dremel external dual GPU time
A Frankentosh monster!
A Frankentosh monster!
Feasible - I am surprised no-one has tested the pinouts of those GPU cable connectors to see if they are stock PCIe or not. I have used the 3M cables before and they work pretty good but you can't bunch the flat cables up easily.
All we need is a dremel or angle grinder and a test subject
Feasible - I am surprised no-one has tested the pinouts of those GPU cable connectors to see if they are stock PCIe or not. I have used the 3M cables before and they work pretty good but you can't bunch the flat cables up easily.
All we need is a dremel or angle grinder and a test subject
Just don't use the brain from someone named A.B. Normal (Young Frankenstein movie joke)
If Apple did mind, they could have cut the SSD upgrades from the Mac Pro and soldered the RAM. They also didn't have to make the cards removable at all.
And I don't see OWC making a GPU either.
If the GPUs for the next Mac Pro are the same form factor, they'll be available for upgrading an older Mac Pro with. The only question becomes if Apple will sell them directly as an upgrade, which I think there is a decent chance of. Not 100%, but I could see Apple doing in store upgrades to keep pro users happy. They could even do on site upgrades with all the new AppleCare programs they announced.
It would really keep people happy and chugging along with their systems.
Apple would be extremely smart offering people that upgrade option.
Exactly. Of course if they just updated the current model with modern, available components, everyone would win.
And yet Apple still ships and has shipped many upgradable Macs.
They aren't stupid. They know if they push users too much that new system will have a Dell or HP logo on it instead of an Apple one.
I have learned a valuable lesson, don't argue with this guy.
At least on things like this. When 10.8 DP1 shipped with a 32Bit kernel, he knew that was the end of it, before anyone else on this board. So either lives in Cupertino and has a good pair of binoculars, or connected to someone, etc.
I would be willing to bet that something along these lines will happen. And since the Radeon X8000 kext contains a personality with 6 mDP, I'd guess that they have either tested a Hawaii GPU, or will be releasing one soon.
Sadly, there is no other way this will happen. You can't design and build "a board", you'd have to make 2. And since the PCIE SSD is on one of them, you'd have to run lines for that.
Of course, a GTX980 in a TB chassis might be fun.....
people forget that Apple is not just a consumer electronics company. In nearly every company of any worth the creative departments are fitted out with Mac Pros or iMacs. The operations and tech services guys will often have Macs as well.
Yeah, it's maddening to budget for purchases from a company that refuses to release roadmaps of any type. But we make do.
Apple would be stupid to push around the business customers the way they do consumers. Businesses, even Apple fans like me, aren't going to buy new Mac Pro's just because a newer incremental model is out. DDR4? Xeon V3? Those are nice, but we will sit on our current Macs for 3 years minumum, just like we do with our HP Z series and Dell T series.
(though I usually find a use to keep old Macs around)
I am a former 2d graphics artist, with main emphasize in graphic design for print. Now i recalibrated my career and i do mostly 3d graphics because of print decline. In this field Apple was always behind Windows. There are a LOT of missing plugins(no Mac version) and apps(3ds max for example). Situation improved a lot though since switch to intel. We now have Maya and Houdini running native on OSX and Cinema 4D has grown very-very nice and powerful. Also Modo is not bad and there are few other apps on Mac. A much-much better situation then before, software wise. Hardware?? Errr, video cards are everything in this field. I think though you underestimate the OpenCL. In Blender Cycles for example you can render using as many video cards you have(amd and openCL included) AND Arnold is coming to AMD firepro gpu's. This is huge, since Arnold is pretty much whipping out VRAY. So i will not say that amd is a bad move, but a very good one. For the first time we have pro graphic cards out of the box. What is wrong is that Apple is still a closed ecosystem, so i can't for example change my graphics card when they are upgraded. I am ok to pay more for an Apple workstation BUT i want two thinks: predictability and the possibility to upgrade the video card. So far both are in the air. Bottom line i am on the same situation as you: i wait for the second revision to see if i go full linux(with a Windows virtual box) or remain with Apple.
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Yeap, pretty much my guess. But let's wait and see.
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It's not incremental changes, video RAM has more then doubled with new releases. I upgrade whenever there is a huge boost on hardware like this video one. This is because i need every bit of power for my 3d business. For my 2d, yea i keep everything as long as it's running. Even a power mac G4 can do most of 2d tasks(apart from video) without any major issues. Lots of businesses have already dropped Apple from creative departments. The huge price increases in EU along with 'no upgrades' move made decision makers(you know, bean counters) drop Apple.
Quite true!
Over here in Ireland even with a up to a 12% discount, it's still cheaper to buy a Mac in the UK, and then it's still cheaper in the USA by a good margin.
I do like my Mac Pro, it's a solid machine ,but I do want something which shows where they're going.
They have everything they need to release a new MP December, but if they don't have anything by mid next year it's time to start looking elsewhere for my workstation needs.
Yea, in all EU prices are very high for macs. In Romania the base macpro is 4300USD, waaaaay too much. I don't know why there are so many taxes for IT and why there is such a huge expense to bring something from US. If i purchase from US the transportation alongside with taxes will bring the price close to that. In the end it hurts Apple by reducing sales, so i think they should do something about it....
The price you see on US store do not include local taxes(which US citizen do pay when they make a purchase).
In Europe the price already include VAT, if you esclude this tax you'll get more similar price.
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