New Mac Pro? I’m waiting patiently

[Andrew Kimery]

He does w/regards to the current version of ThB (i.e. copper), but, honestly, if raw performance and max expandability truly were our utmost concerns I don’t think any creative pro would’ve stayed with Mac from the mid-to-late G4 era to day. Windows machines have had more slots, faster CPUs, a broader range of GPUs at better prices, more I/O options (USB 3, eSATA, HDMI), etc., yet people stuck w/Apple because, for lack of a better term, they preferred the way it feels. They, we, seem to tolerate quantifiable short comings in order to get something that’s not quantifiable.

Now that DaVinci is $999 how many of those new installs are going on pretty limited MacPros and how many are going on Linux machines with a handful of GPUs in the box? Or what about Assimilates Scratch? People kept asking for a Mac version even though it would have limitations that the Windows version would not and Assimilate finally gave the people what they wanted (a not quite as functional version for the Mac) and they people we happy.

Good enough + Apple Secret Sauce = it will sell, IMO. People will bitch and moan but they’ll still buy it and tweak their workflows to use it and life will go on.

Honestly, I figured Apple would give the MP another refresh or two before sending it off into the sunset.

-Andrew

2.9 GHz 8-core (4,1), FCP 7.0.3, 10.6.6
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (7.9.5)

[Paul Harrison]

I guess that while I understand 16 = 4 x 4 with regard to PCI lanes, I don’t know whether this is a big deal. The “gamer” community has settled on not caring about PCI bus speed for maxing out their frames per second in demanding video games. The question is really, “what are the bus requirements for NLE / VFX operations?” If the work done by CUDA or OpenCL routines deep in the heart of your post software is shuttling data back and forth from CPU to GPU at too high a rate, then 16-lane PCIe 2 or even PCIe 3 becomes critical and Thunderbolt becomes a bottleneck. But if the software is transferring chunks of work in units that don’t send so many gigabits of data per second back and forth, the TB strategy could still be a winner.

I also suspect that with SSDs replacing optical and moving-head disks in MBPs, Minis and iMacs, and with Ivy Bridge some thermal capacity becomes available to Apple to put heavier duty GPU’s in these smaller machines. Nvidia and AMD are also shrinking dies for their GPUs so we get more shaders per watt.

So, it may be that the MacPro is EOLed real soon now, and that the only people who would actually care are folk who have long since moved their graphics processing to huge farms of Linux-based specialty boxes and supercomputer clusters. Technology and Apple may truly be at this tipping point now in 2012.

[Shawn Marshall]

We, too, have $6000-$8000 ready to drop on a new Mac Pro with the new Xeon chips if Apple would just release them. That’s the equivalent of 12-16 iPads. Yes, that’s a drop in the bucket compared to all of Apple’s consumer gear, but I find it hard to believe that Apple can’t turn a profit selling Mac Pros. It wouldn’t be a huge profit compared to the consumer market, but it’s not like they’d be selling the Mac Pros for a loss.

And wouldn’t the guys who write code for Apple want to working on beefy desktop computers? Remember those stories about how various aspects of the Windows interface were designed on Macs? Wouldn’t it be sad/ironic if Apple programmers had to design and program on Wintel machines because Apple stopped making Mac Pros?

If you want to see new Mac Pros then let Apple know. I went to this site:

https://www.apple.com/feedback/macpro.html

and told them I’m ready to give Apple $6000-$8000 if they’d just update the Mac Pros. Maybe they read this feedback like they say, maybe they don’t. But it doesn’t hurt to try.

Shawn Marshall
Marshall Arts Motion Graphics

[Michael Gissing]

If people purchase hardware based on an OS rather than application software and hardware then it is time to move on. Apple has moved on and so should we. It is possible to bitch or praise any OS but once the software of choice is considered and the power, price and flexibility of hardware is factored in, then only FCPX users will be yearning for a MacPro which Apple is so unlikely to provide.

I bought my Octo Nehalem in late 2009 and am unimpressed that I will not get at least four years out of it before it becomes a boat anchor. Apple’s overpriced hardware and lack of up to date graphics cards means I would be crazy to run AVID/ Adobe/da Vinci on anything other than a WIN screamer that I can build myself for a fraction of the price and update cheaply often.

[Shane Ross]

Think the MacPro is overpriced. Look at the HP Z800, that is the one rated for Avid MC, Scratch… It starts at $3000. With a pathetic amount of RAM, and ho hum graphics card.

Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def

[Michael Gissing]

With Mac there is not much choice and they are all overpriced for the features and performance. HP make expensive boxes but I have the choice of buying parts and building my own for much less. Graphics cards are much cheaper for WIN machines and RAM is now cheap as chips.

So yes I still think a fully featured MacPro is overpriced, even if you can find the odd overpriced PC off the shelf.

[Helmut Kobler]

I think the fact that there’s been no new Mac Pro announced (even though new Xeons are available) AND there are rumors of matte-screen iMacs on the way cast a lot of doubt on the chances for a new Mac Pro.

Personally, I can’t believe Apple would be so stupid. One more Mac Pro with Thunderbolt would go a long way to appeasing long-time customers, and keep media professionals in the Apple camp. But Apple seems to be in such a hurry to dump the machine, just like it was in such a hurry to dump Final Cut Studio.

——————-
Documentary Camera in Los Angeles
http://www.lacameraman.com

[Nick Ring]

I’m not doubting your sources, but I’m not yet ready to believe it. I would not be surprised if the MacPro is EOLed, but Apple comes out with a redesigned/rejiggered box, maybe along the lines of NewMP:MacMini like FCPX:iMovie or NewMP:MP as FCPX:FCP7. We’ll be disappointed in it, but there’ll be more going on there than people initially give it credit for.

[Shawn Marshall]

I submit that “overpriced” is in the eye of the beholder. My 2008 eight-core Mac Pro is the heart of our small business, and we’ve been able to bill many hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past four years, almost all of that flowing through that workstation. So, to me, spending $6000 for a rock-solid workstation is well worth the price.

That said, OS X is more important to me than the hardware. If Apple doesn’t want to make Mac Pros then they should license OS X to other hardware makers.

I just don’t like working in Windows. I have to fire up Windows 7 (via VMWare Fusion) to run Polytrans for CAD conversion, and I find it somewhat unintuitive. I don’t like that Win 7 has to download updates practically every week. Yes, if the only way to upgrade my hardware is to switch to Windows, we’ll do it, and I’ll eventually get used to Windows. But I never would have imagined it would come to this, that Apple would abandon the pros.

As an Apple user I’d always root for them when they were the underdog, like they were part of my family. To say that I’m now conflicted regarding their success would be an understatement.

Shawn Marshall
Marshall Arts Motion Graphics

[Andrew Richards]

[Helmut Kobler] “I think the fact that there’s been no new Mac Pro announced (even though new Xeons are available) AND there are rumors of matte-screen iMacs on the way cast a lot of doubt on the chances for a new Mac Pro. “

When was the last time Apple announced a new Mac ahead of its ship date? Macs are “announced” the same day they ship. And I put “announced” in quotes because all they will do is update the website, maybe even with a homepage badge to link to them. Oh, and refresh the brick and mortar store stocks and displays (what’s left of them).

Macs don’t get press events (or even press releases) anymore.

[Helmut Kobler] “One more Mac Pro with Thunderbolt would go a long way to appeasing long-time customers, and keep media professionals in the Apple camp.”

One more would be as bad as no more. Either build a chassis for the next several years or scuttle it. One more is not a commitment, one more is dead Mac walking.

[Helmut Kobler] “But Apple seems to be in such a hurry to dump the machine, just like it was in such a hurry to dump Final Cut Studio.”

If they were in a hurry, we’d already know for certain about an EOL. Seems to me they are taking their good sweet excruciating time.

Best,
Andy