OT: Apple to drop Mac Pro?

[Mark Dobson]

Well this rumor has been around for a while although it has never been stated this clearly before.

One reason MacPro sales might be down at the moment is that everybody (well me ) is waiting for a new model to be launched. One with Thunderbolt as well as faster processors.

People say the iMac and MacMini, both now with thunderbolt, are sufficient to serve the market.

I would really miss the MacPro. One of the biggest advantages for me are the quad drive bays let alone the processing speed.

My MacPro is 4 years old now and I need an upgrade so I’ll just have to keep my fingers crossed that this is indeed – just a rumor.

[Alan Okey]

The irony is that for years, Apple sold software that could not take full advantage of its hardware. If this rumor comes to pass, Apple will now lack the hardware to take full advantage of its software.

[Robert Bracken]

damn, damn, damn. I love me some Mac Pro. We use AJA cards for our MiniDV tapes. (We’re moving away from using them.)

This would make us change from Apple to PC for video editing. Whatever.

[Mark Bein]

Apple Folks will compile macosx on a hackintosh.

[Andrew Kimery]

I’ve read similar speculation that Apple might create a modular system based around a Mac Mini Pro that would act as a ‘brain’ and the user would upgrade externally instead of internally with Thunderbolt acting as the connective tissue. It’s not a bad idea, IMO, as long as the Mac Mini Pro still had the big CPUs, space for lots of RAM, and 4-6 discreet Thunderbolt ports. Local RAIDs, Fibre, broadcast I/O devices and even video cards could all be added externally via Thunderbolt. I’m not married to the typical desktop form factor so as long as the performance and expandability is there I’d be keen on seeing something different.

[Robert Bracken] “damn, damn, damn. I love me some Mac Pro. We use AJA cards for our MiniDV tapes. (We’re moving away from using them.)

This would make us change from Apple to PC for video editing. Whatever.”
There are a number of I/O options that don’t require PCI slots these days so why would Apple killing the Mac Pro line be a deal breaker?

Andrew

3.2GHz 8-core, FCP 6.0.4, 10.5.5
Blackmagic Multibridge Eclipse (6.8.1)

[Craig Seeman]

Thanks for saying this Andrew. I’ve said similar in numerous thread and not only does it make sense, I’d expect it and advocate for it.

A large Mac Mini shaped device that would be maybe 2 Rack Units.
6, 8, 12, 16 core models (or some subset).
2 PCie slots, 1 with GPU and the other for a 2nd GPU or legacy card.
SSD and a 2nd standard hard drive.
3 or 4 Thunderbolt ports for high speed storage, monitoring, video i/o, high speed communication to a “brain” computer which would be part of a server/san system.

It could have a lower price point entry with modular expansion based on your individual or facility needs.

I think the model would actually cause many to consider moving from PC to Mac. Keep in mind Apple’s goals these days seem to be drive down cost, maintain margins, increase mass sales.

Even facilities may find the modular workstation more cost effective than Desktop after desktop with PCIe cards which duplicate functions.

Thunderbolt Video I/O can move from machine to machine as needed. A central sever/san may be an ingest station in other cases.

One can remove your Thunderbolt RAID and take it home to your iMac for editing or to your MBP or MBA for editing on the go.

Will this be ideal for everyone, maybe not. Will it reach a broader user base, likely IMHO.

[Gary Huff]

I thought we were moving away from a “facility” and to some apartment with a MacBook Pro.

[Ian Bailey]

As a MacPro user I have some concerns, but I’ve always believed the next model would ship without an internal optical drive and with Thunderbolt ports instead of PCI slots. Here are a couple of interesting snippets I found online:

Mac Mini used for pro video editing: https://bit.ly/qKcvLg

REDcine running on a MacBook Pro with a RED Rocket card in a thunderbolt enclosure: https://bit.ly/rG0TTs

[Craig Seeman]

[Gary Huff] “I thought we were moving away from a “facility” and to some apartment with a MacBook Pro.”

And that what this allows. With Thunderbolt you can pull the major components and be completely mobile. Likewise one can walk into a facility and plug into a workstation. Bring your own computer.

Facility allows for the times when one needs group access. Otherwise one can be mobile. Media and Video I/O would be completely mobile.

This “MacMiniPro” itself could be moved much more easily than a MacPro could ever.

The purpose of a facility will change (it’s already changing but this will continue the change).
Facilities have the advantage when there needs to be group media access and real time collaboration or shared gear (like centralized I/O) but no longer required for independent work. The mobility of high speed Video I/O and storage and that they work on anything from MacMini or Air to whatever replaces the MacPro.

The MacMiniPro can be anything from tied to a rack to something one could bag and carry and every Thunderbolt device that’s attached to it can be moved independently as well as needed.

In short, it will be a major advantage over devices tied to PCIe slots in a dedicated desktop workstation.

The economic implications are significant.

[Neil Goodman]

This is cool, i actually wrote off the MacPro’s as soon as the 27inch i7 imac came out with thunderbolt. The only reason i see for the mac pros was to use capture cards but with thunderbolt theres not need, and the quad i7 imacs are screaming fast.

Faster than the 8 core MacPro im typing this on.

Neil Goodman: Editor of New Media Production – NBC/Universal