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What would you do if apple discontinued the Mac Pro?
- Thread starter Fesco
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Im still waiting for Apple to release a Mac Pro Mini - the power of a MacPro in the size of a few stacked up Minis.
Doubt this will ever happen. Pros use iMacs according to Apple's way of things these days.
Doubt this will ever happen. Pros use iMacs according to Apple's way of things these days.
They tried that and failed, it was the G4 cube! But who's to say that they won't try again?
I think it would make more sense to differentiate the single-CPU and dual-CPU MacPros into separate categories, just like MacBook and MacBookPro.
Maybe call the single-CPU (for example) MacPlus and the dual-CPU MacPlusPro. The single socket could be a little smaller for visual distinction, too.
Maybe call the single-CPU (for example) MacPlus and the dual-CPU MacPlusPro. The single socket could be a little smaller for visual distinction, too.
I'd buy a big honking Mac Pro off of the refurb store. Something much bigger than I currently need, with the intention of keeping it running and current for 5 years. My 2008 Octo core MP is pushing 3 years, and has least 1 or 2 years of life in it.... at least.
At the end of the 5 years (or so) I'd be able to reassess the situation. Who knows what will be "current" by then. Maybe the low-end Mini will have evolved to be equivalent to our 12 MPs of today? It's possible.
By sticking with a MP for 5 years I'd have saved all the trouble of migrating to a new platform (and perhaps a new OS). By not moving to a PC I'd have saved the trouble (and cross-licensing fees) of moving to a new OS.
I don't see this hypothetical situation as being such a big deal.... at least for me. Buying 5 years time puts us into a whole new paradigm.
For what it's worth, I think we have at least one more release of a new MP based on today's MP form-factor. It'll have current CPUs, maxing at 12 or 16 cores. Lots of RAM potential. Mediocre GPU. And Thunderbolt baked in.... no more FW 400, and maybe no more FW 800 either. Plus, you will be able to add TB PCI cards. Consider this the transitional MP that will tide Apple over for a year or two while they rethink the desktop computer.
Imagine a modular system. You buy the CPU/RAM unit (looks sorta like a Mini) to suit your needs, and then all of the other parts just snap together using TB connectors - like Lego bricks. If you needed more HDD space you would just snap a HDD unit onto the top of the pile, and the integrated connectors would link it up... i.e. no cables. Other resources, that would normally be placed inside the MP case, would instead come into these modules that you just place on top of your existing modules, using the integrated TB connectors.
It could happen, eh?
At the end of the 5 years (or so) I'd be able to reassess the situation. Who knows what will be "current" by then. Maybe the low-end Mini will have evolved to be equivalent to our 12 MPs of today? It's possible.
By sticking with a MP for 5 years I'd have saved all the trouble of migrating to a new platform (and perhaps a new OS). By not moving to a PC I'd have saved the trouble (and cross-licensing fees) of moving to a new OS.
I don't see this hypothetical situation as being such a big deal.... at least for me. Buying 5 years time puts us into a whole new paradigm.
For what it's worth, I think we have at least one more release of a new MP based on today's MP form-factor. It'll have current CPUs, maxing at 12 or 16 cores. Lots of RAM potential. Mediocre GPU. And Thunderbolt baked in.... no more FW 400, and maybe no more FW 800 either. Plus, you will be able to add TB PCI cards. Consider this the transitional MP that will tide Apple over for a year or two while they rethink the desktop computer.
Imagine a modular system. You buy the CPU/RAM unit (looks sorta like a Mini) to suit your needs, and then all of the other parts just snap together using TB connectors - like Lego bricks. If you needed more HDD space you would just snap a HDD unit onto the top of the pile, and the integrated connectors would link it up... i.e. no cables. Other resources, that would normally be placed inside the MP case, would instead come into these modules that you just place on top of your existing modules, using the integrated TB connectors.
It could happen, eh?
After selling my 2008 Mac pro, decided the price of a new one from apple is just to much. Built my own, dual boot win7/ubuntu with a ATI 6950. Can do everything I did on the Mac pro. Allot cheaper too. But when ivy bridge gets released, would be nice seeing a quad or hex w/hyperthreading. These processors should be cool enough to put in a mini. Would get one real quick.
Didn't sound like you even needed a Mac if Win/ Ubuntu does everything you need. Why even entertain the higher Mac price tag if OS X is unnecessary?
This is one of the things I don't get regarding critizisms of the Mac Pro. Look at the pictures of users' Mac Pro installations elsewhere in this forum. Mine is like most of theirs.
For all practial purposes my Mac Pro has no size! It sits under the desk. If it were two inches wider, taller or deeper I wouldn't even notice. It's not like an iMac or mini that (for reasons that don't make sense to me) Apple wants to make even thinner and thinner.
If the Mac Pro was an inch or so taller and had a second row of SATA bays I would be even happier. As it is the Mac Pro case is just about perfect in both design and looks.
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One of the features I like is that you can put 4 hard-drives in it! the number of pci slots, hard-drives, and built in ports is why I want this puppy SO bad! I have suffered years with an iMac long enough changing firewire cables over and over and over...
but then, you have to realize that for my job I often lug around a bunch of speakers and amps so to me, a Mac Pro with its metal case is eye-candy! It looks strong enough to survive. Better yet, I'd like a flight case with wheels to put it in. that would be SICK! I could easily bolt the MP down to the case and make it more "secure". I sure hope the rumors of a rackmount MP are tru. That would be the ultimate. Just mount it in a road-ready shock-mount touring flight-case rack!!! YESSSS!!!!! now my mouth is watering!
I don't think Apple will discontinue the "Pro"
Apple is now heavily promoting their App Store, and is getting developers to target Mac OS X and iOS. Developers must develop on Macs in order to provide software to the Mac customer base, and using an iPad or iPhone for serious software development is a no-go. I suspect that Apple will refresh the Mac Pro with ThunderBolt and other interesting and exciting technologies.
I am also fascinated by Apple's announcement that they are using Mac OS X, as well as other UNIX systems in their new N.C. datacenter. If this is the case, then perhaps they have a new rack-mountable server system that is replacing the XServe? What kind of hardware are they running their Mac OS X servers on? I don't think it is a Mac Mini or an iPhone
Apple is now heavily promoting their App Store, and is getting developers to target Mac OS X and iOS. Developers must develop on Macs in order to provide software to the Mac customer base, and using an iPad or iPhone for serious software development is a no-go. I suspect that Apple will refresh the Mac Pro with ThunderBolt and other interesting and exciting technologies.
I am also fascinated by Apple's announcement that they are using Mac OS X, as well as other UNIX systems in their new N.C. datacenter. If this is the case, then perhaps they have a new rack-mountable server system that is replacing the XServe? What kind of hardware are they running their Mac OS X servers on? I don't think it is a Mac Mini or an iPhone
I believe OWC will install eSATA NOW!
An about to be superfluous service as the TB iMacs become the dominate deployed versions and TB external drives drop in price.
if the Lego's are PCI-e cards that happens now.
TB is just a different brand of lego's with different form factor. the problem with doing this "per module box" is that either each module has its own power supply or you need to overcapacity the power supplies and have to distribute power. Both tend to increase overall system costs.
someone may build a framework chasis that can plug a mini and "expansion" modules into over time but I'm not so sure Apple is going to buy that. The problem with TB is that it is bottlenecked. While 10Gps may sound fast it is much less than the aggregate PCI-e bandwidth on the current Mac Pro. If the updated Mac Pro goes PCI-e v3.0 (extremely likely) then it pales even more. Future TB implementation may speed up but PCI-e v3.0 already has. There is nothing to indicate it is now going to go stagnant on progress.
the "mini module" approach will work well for those users who really have no growing preformance needs. Relatively stagnant levels of workload bandwidth will slide back to less expensive machines over time.
Don't really need TB for this. Blade Server Chasis boxes have passive backbplanes that allow modules to be hooked in. However, that overall approach so far has not reduced server hardware costs.
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The only reason to make it smaller would be to make it rackmountable. I bet a lot of MacPro users would welcome that.
like this?
http://www.tenba.com/products/Trans...-wheels--Air-Case-for-Computer-Equipment.aspx
Do you have a source/link? To the best of my knowledge those are just generic servers running generic enterprise stuff.
I'd buy a nice much better value for money windows machine for the same money next time. (4-5 years)
By the looks of it the mac pro I just bought will probably be the last one given the direction apple is taking it's hardware/software (unless Jobs retires/dies and we get some return to normality or direction change with their desktop OS in the next 4-5 years.) It was always just easier to stay with OS X given all the software I have bought and how I have everything tweaked to my specifications but in a few years I might be more inclined to jump ship back to windows at last.
By the looks of it the mac pro I just bought will probably be the last one given the direction apple is taking it's hardware/software (unless Jobs retires/dies and we get some return to normality or direction change with their desktop OS in the next 4-5 years.) It was always just easier to stay with OS X given all the software I have bought and how I have everything tweaked to my specifications but in a few years I might be more inclined to jump ship back to windows at last.
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If Apple were to do it (and at this point it seems possible). I will continue using my MP 2.6 1,1 until it dies, probably home-build a PC for games.
OS X is nice but I'm not getting raped by Apple when I want to add another hard drive or upgrade my video card. This thing cost me a crapload of money and I definitely want to squeeze as much life out of it as possible. Switching to what will essentially amount to a door-stop in 2 years like a Mac Mini or iMac is not an option.
Currently at 7gb RAM, 13 hard drives (mostly eSata external), 6870 vid card, 3 monitors, SSD to boot.
OS X is nice but I'm not getting raped by Apple when I want to add another hard drive or upgrade my video card. This thing cost me a crapload of money and I definitely want to squeeze as much life out of it as possible. Switching to what will essentially amount to a door-stop in 2 years like a Mac Mini or iMac is not an option.
Currently at 7gb RAM, 13 hard drives (mostly eSata external), 6870 vid card, 3 monitors, SSD to boot.
I think you're reading a lot into my post that I didn't write. I'm not knocking the MacPro, or anyone who uses it.
But it seems to me it just isn't a priority for Apple any more. Apple seem to be moving away from vertical markets and into large-scale consumer devices; and the Mac Pro doesn't really fit. A high-end mini instead would mean Apple would have one type of expansion across its entire range - TB.
I'm not suggesting Apple replaces the Mac Pros with 2011 minis, but with a new mini-enclosure model with high-end CPU, RAM and bus; using TB as the expansion method. (However, as the poster below points out, TB might not be fast enough for certain peripherals, so it might not be an option for many users; fair enough).
Fair point. Perhaps future iterations of TB might make this possible, though latency could still be an issue. In any case, it's not happening any time soon.
if the Lego's are PCI-e cards that happens now.
the problem with doing this "per module box" is that either each module has its own power supply or you need to overcapacity the power supplies and have to distribute power. Both tend to increase overall system costs.
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My idea was that you could expand at will, without having to open up the box. On the one hand I believe Apple has shown that they don't want users to have any reason at all to open the case. On the other hand they've shown that in the case of the Mac Pros they do in fact trust their users to open the case, and have made adding cards/drives/RAM just about as easy as it can get.
Power: Sigh.... I have not answer for your well made points. I don't know how the power issue can be elegantly solved..... oh well, another great idea shot down in flames...