Mac Pro??

[Craig Seeman]

[Tom Sefton] “Is there any way to get thunderbolt to work with a post 2009 mac pro?”

To address this specifically… no.
Intel has said the Thunderbolt controller must be on the motherboard.

To me, the most interesting aspect of what’s coming will be how they handle the GPU.
All Thunderbolt computers to date have the GPU on the motherboard. Keep in mind that Thunderbolt is also the display out.

[Sohrab Sandhu]

[Craig Seeman] “Change the buy date to 2013 it probably will be.”

This is just plain speculation. There is no substance to it. And anyways 3 years is a long long time to bring out something new.

Its funny how you chide the doubters when they interpret Apple’s silence on Macpro but when it comes to defending them you let your Imagination take a free ride.

[Craig Seeman] “And the MacPro you buy in 2013 might be replaced in 2015 with optical Thunderbolt for example”

My clients pay me for what i have, not for something i might have 2 years down the line.

Sohrab

FCS 3 & Adobe PPro
AJA Kona Lhi, Mac Pro 2 X 2.66 Ghz Quad Core
Flanders Scientific LM-1760W

“The creative person wants to be a know-it-all. He wants to know about all kinds of things: ancient history, nineteenth-century mathematics, current manufacturing techniques, flower arranging, and hog futures. Because he never knows when these ideas might come together to form a new idea. It may happen six minutes later or six months, or six years down the road. But he has faith that it will happen.” — Carl Ally

[Steve Connor]

It’s NOT speculation Apple PR have stated there IS a new MacPro coming this year

Steve Connor
‘It’s just my opinion, with an occasional fact thrown in for good measure”

[Craig Seeman]

[Sohrab Sandhu] “This is just plain speculation”

Not speculation. Apple will be coming out with a new MacPro this year.

[Sohrab Sandhu] “My clients pay me for what i have, not for something i might have 2 years down the line.”

For that reason one might want to update hardware frequently if it impacts productivity. It’s perfectly reasonable to update to a current computer every two years given the pace of advancement in processors and now, connectivity.

[Marcus Moore]

Not in that particular case. But while I have no interest in building my own machine, it’s certainly ANY consumer’s responsibility to be an informed shopper. You don’t upgrade if there’s no measurable advantage. I upgrade when I see the need. Sometimes that’s 2 years, sometimes 3.

In 2012 we found out that there will be a Pro update in 2013. So it’s up to the each person to decide if they want to wait and hold onto their current machine or not.

In my own case, when the 2013 MacPro comes out, AND I decide that it has sufficient advantages to merit a switch from my 2011 iMac, then that would be my first MacPro since I retired my G5 Quad in 2009.

[Tom Sefton]

For the same spec as the current top of the range iMac, I built a PC for £1500 less. It can be upgraded with additional GPU’s, more RAM, larger SSD’s for boot disks and have 3 SATA HDD’s for RAID storage. With a 30″ HP monitor alongside it, it was still £500 less. We can afford to upgrade our editing machines every year if we want, but it doesn’t mean it would be a good idea – I’d prefer to buy more lenses : )

I do love our Macbook Pro laptops though – they are some of the best machines we have.

[Steve Connor]

So why your original question then Tom?

Steve Connor
‘It’s just my opinion, with an occasional fact thrown in for good measure”

[Tom Sefton]

We got the Blackmagic Camera before Christmas. It’s far easier to use with Mac than PC at the moment, and with work stacking up, I’m trying to buy a more powerful Mac (than the 2 Retina MBP’s we have) for rendering and for DaVinci Resolve. We’ve also invested in some great external RAID storage drives that have thunderbolt, and I want to be able to shoot in the field, transfer to the RAID devices via thunderbolt, and then have these dropped off at the studio for editing and grading, while more shooting takes place.

It’s convoluted, I know, but after how BRILLIANT the MBP’s are, and how impressed we are with thunderbolt, I was hoping things might be the same with the big Mac Pro! We’ll wait for the new Mac Pro – I don’t think that the iMac will cut it for DaVinci in the long hop, and although we could afford it, I don’t think its prudent to spend £2500+ on something we can’t upgrade.

[Steve Connor]

I have the same issue, we have a BMD camera as well, we were going to get a top spec iMac, which is actually certified with Resolve, but now I think we’ll wait for the new MacPro. BTW how are you liking the camera?

Steve Connor
‘It’s just my opinion, with an occasional fact thrown in for good measure”

[Clint Wardlow]

[Marcus Moore] “In my own case, when the 2013 MacPro comes out, AND I decide that it has sufficient advantages to merit a switch from my 2011 iMac, then that would be my first MacPro since I retired my G5 Quad in 2009.”

I think for a lot of us, what Apple releases as a MacPro will decide if we stay with Apple at all. Since migrating to Adobe Cloud, if the new MacPro is underwhelming I no longer feel the need to stick with OSX as my main platform.

If it is totally cool, it’s Apple time. I like FCPX for quick and dirty cuts (but not enough to keep onboard with Apple if they screw the pooch on the MacPro). I use the Adobe Suite much more often. And I have to admit I am finding it a bit tiring trying to second guess what direction Apple is headed — but that’s just me.

I’ll still keep my 27in imac around (forever locked in Snow Leopard).