What to do if the Mac Pro is discontinued ?

[tamvly]

OK, we should know in the next few months if there will be a new Mac Pro or if there won't. If there is, fine. If not, I'm starting to think about the alternatives:

1) I could keep my 2008 2x2.8 MP. Still a capable machine. It only has 8GB of memory and RAM for this machine is expensive. I guess I could upgrade the video card. It already has an SSD as a boot drive. But no TB or 6 Gb SATA or (dare I hope) USB3.

2) Build a Hackintosh. Ugh. A Hassle. Violation of copyrights. I don't like this idea.

3) Buy some form of an upgraded Mac Mini. Another ugh. I like everything in one box, please.

4) Buy the last of the 2010 1x2.8 MP and upgrade to a 3.2 hex core. Expensive. Or buy an Apple six core. I wonder if the 2010 would be set to end-of-life. I got a great deal on my current MP that way. I also wonder about the resale value of the MP 3,1 if the MP should be discontinued. Might not be too bad.

Other ideas? Please, don't mention the name iMac.

 

[xgman]

I'm pretty certain we have at least one more round of new MP's. After that I would imagine at least some higher end products that are placed somewhere between the current imac and the MP's. So impatience aside, I don't see this being a problem needing a solution anytime soon. A couple years forward, who knows.

 

[nanofrog]

Assuming there is no new MP ever...(2010 models = absolute last ever offered):

If you're existing machine is capable of doing what you need by just upgrading the GPU and perhaps add some memory (i.e. upgrades are cheaper than a 2010 SP Hex), then keep it as long as possible.

If not, get the 2010 MP if you're unwilling/unable to switch your software to Windows or Linux based.

This assumes you're not willing to deal with any potential issues with a Hackintosh approach (regardless copyright issues/stance on the matter).

In time however, you may not have the choice but to switch to another system and OS platform.

 

[sigmadog]

Where is it written that just because Apple upgrades their computers, we must also upgrade?

My plan if Apple introduces new Mac Pros: Keep my 2008 2x2.8 Quad. It's got 14GB RAM, an ATI 5770, and works fine. No upgrade needed.

My plan if Apple discontinues the Mac Pros: Keep my 2008 2x2.8 Quad. It's got 14GB RAM, an ATI 5770, and works fine. No upgrade needed.

The one thing I can do to improve my computing experience is to become more efficient with the software I currently own. It's not the hardware that slows me down.

 

[scottsjack]

I'd be sad for the loss of the Mac Pro but really happy that the at least weekly if not daily new threads on this forum whining, moaning, lamenting, fearing or speculating about the demise of the Mac Pro is finally over forever.

I mean really, is there nothing about a Mac Pro to talk about except for either its demise or using video cards not originally intended for Macs? Apparently not.

Mine is a great computer. I'd rather create content on its Windows 7 installation and view content using Lion. Since Macs appear to be headed toward being closed system machines built for purchasing OK-consumer quality content from Apple that works fine for me.

If Apple really wants to be in the "real computer" business they'll keep making Mac Pros. If their focus is really easily usable computing devices then I'll move on when my MP finally dies.

 

[tamvly]

Where is it written that just because Apple upgrades their computers, we must also upgrade?

My plan if Apple introduces new Mac Pros: Keep my 2008 2x2.8 Quad. It's got 14GB RAM, an ATI 5770, and works fine. No upgrade needed.

My plan if Apple discontinues the Mac Pros: Keep my 2008 2x2.8 Quad. It's got 14GB RAM, an ATI 5770, and works fine. No upgrade needed.

The one thing I can do to improve my computing experience is to become more efficient with the software I currently own. It's not the hardware that slows me down.

Ha! An excellent perspective.

 

[jTeeh]

[sorry wrong thread]

 

[tamvly]

In time however, you may not have the choice but to switch to another system and OS platform.

Ugh. Apple will eventually come up with something I feel I can buy. But sigmadog is right, the 2008 MP works just fine for now.

Interestingly, I am spending more time on my iPad than ever.

 

[goMac]

Depends what Apple's mobile offerings look like. My first instinct might be to buy the highest end Mac Pro Apple has, but I could always turn my existing Mac Pro into a network node. Graphics would be a problem though.

 

[tamvly]

I'd be sad for the loss of the Mac Pro but really happy that the at least weekly if not daily new threads on this forum whining, moaning, lamenting, fearing or speculating about the demise of the Mac Pro is finally over forever.

I hear you there ... OK, I admit to speculating. But I didn't moan or lament or express fear.

 

[nanofrog]

Ugh. Apple will eventually come up with something I feel I can buy.

Hopefully...

Assuming the rumors turn out to be true however (MP is EOL'ed, and no new product <headless desktop offered>), you might decide that a TB equipped iMac and/or a rack of Mini's aren't a viable solution to your needs.

At this point, only time will tell...

But IMO, the MP's days aren't too much longer (performance wise, I expect it to make it through the LGA2011 socket parts, then vanish as it currently exists). This isn't to say they won't continue with an SP only product, but no more DP systems, and perhaps stop using Xeons, as creative users don't actually require ECC memory. But there's no way to know if another product will be released as a replacement or not, or if they'll just try and adapt the iMac or Mini (i.e. cluster/farm) to take over for MP users.

Whatever happens however, use your current system as long as possible before making any decisions, which should be at least a couple of years yet.

 

[ActionableMango]

I'd be sad for the loss of the Mac Pro but really happy that the at least weekly if not daily new threads on this forum whining, moaning, lamenting, fearing or speculating about the demise of the Mac Pro is finally over forever.

Are you kidding? They would be replaced by daily threads complaining about the loss of the Mac Pro and daily "I told you so" threads.

 

[jonnymo5]

I would build a cloud of Mac Mini's and charge people a reasonable rate to connect to it. I think if Apple discontinues it they may offer some virtualization or cloud alternative.

If those fail; Ubuntu for a workhorse and a shiny iMac for the desk.

 

[milbournosphere]

If they took away the Mac Pro, I'd keep my current 2010 model, as it will get the job done for some time to come. After that though, it'll probably be back to dual-booting Windows and Ubuntu on a self-built rig. I've owned an iMac before, and quickly remembered the value of buying an expandable machine. It looked great on my desk, but I wouldn't buy another one.

 

[nanofrog]

I would build a cloud of Mac Mini's and charge people a reasonable rate to connect to it. I think if Apple discontinues it they may offer some virtualization or cloud alternative.

There are issues with this though, particularly:

1. ISP bandwidth available at both ends, particularly the user (i.e may only have access to 6.0Mb/s DSL for example, when something much faster would be needed; what is, is expensive and only available in limited markets).
2. Security, particularly in regard to Intellectual Property (applicable to business clients far more than consumer users).

This isn't to say it's impossible, but it will be a hard sell over security issues, even if the available ISP bandwidth issues can be dealt with (right location and plenty of funds at current rate plans).

 

[tamvly]

I would build a cloud of Mac Mini's and charge people a reasonable rate to connect to it. I think if Apple discontinues it they may offer some virtualization or cloud alternative.

Well, sorry, but this violates my "one box" and "local storage" rules that I have for my personal data.

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Are you kidding? They would be replaced by daily threads complaining about the loss of the Mac Pro and daily "I told you so" threads.

Yup, there is no shortage of these.

 

[jonnymo5]

Well, sorry, but this violates my "one box" and "local storage" rules that I have for my personal data.

----------



Yup, there is no shortage of these.

Sorry I didn't realize I was solving your problem. Get a Dell workstation.

 

[goMac]

I would build a cloud of Mac Mini's and charge people a reasonable rate to connect to it. I think if Apple discontinues it they may offer some virtualization or cloud alternative.

How exactly would that work? Being able to connect to a Mac Mini doesn't exactly solve the problem of needing 8 cores to run an app, unless you're going to write a bunch of cloud based apps.

Are you kidding? They would be replaced by daily threads complaining about the loss of the Mac Pro and daily "I told you so" threads.

They'd also be replaced by "Here is my new tower Mac idea!" threads.

 

[LeandrodaFL]

Apple will offer a Pro solution, just wait and see

 

[Bwa]

There was a time when "everyone" was convinced the Mini was toast, before the 2010 redesign came out.

 

[zephonic]

The last 2 months I've been using Ubuntu 11.04 on a little Asus laptop I had lying around.

For everyday computing it's just fine. Sometimes something utilizes Quicktime or Silverlight and it won't work on Linux, but for the most part it's really, really great. In many ways it works better then WinVista64, which came pre-installed on the machine.

No MacPro for me would mean a bespoke PC workstation with Win7 for my pro-apps and Ubuntu for everything else. Until the devs finally port their stuff to Linux, that is.

 

[JesterJJZ]

Apple will offer a Pro solution, just wait and see

The MacPro X?

 

[santa]

nothing to do but wait and see

I'm just chilling, waiting. My MacPro 1.1 is long in the tooth and I'm waiting to see what happens. If the MacPro is over, I'll be moving to a Win tower and be done with it but I'm still hopeful. I want/need a tower to work on with reasonable internal storage/throughput.

 

[goMac]

There was a time when "everyone" was convinced the Mini was toast, before the 2010 redesign came out.

Right, and the source was the same: AppleInsider. So they've gotten it very wrong before.

 

[gglockner]

If the Mac Pro is discontinued, I expect that Apple will release a high-end iMac - like one with a 6-core processor. That would be a good solution for some, not so good for others.