[Andrew Richards]

[Aindreas Gallagher] “sooo the intended betrothed Xeon is sitting out there right now. And no MacPro coming out to dance”

HP isn’t going to have Z820s in customer’s hands prior to May, if the dates on their product pages are any indication. The CPUs are out there, you can buy them as parts, but the OEMs are only now almost shipping workstations built around them.

Best,
Andy

[Andrew Richards]

[Chris Harlan] “That’s what I thought, too. But the news is all over the place today about an Ivy Bridge Xeon release in June.”

Link?

Best,
Andy

[Andrew Richards]

Maybe the COW chewed up my href’d link. Here it is, in its unadulterated glory:

https://h71016.https://www7.hp.com/dstore/ctoBases.asp?oi=E9CED&BEID=19701&SBLID=&ProductLineId=534&FamilyId=3551&LowBaseId=&LowPrice=&familyviewgroup=3328&viewtype=Matrix

And just in case, unparsed:

https://h71016.www7.hp.com/dstore/ctoBases.asp?oi=E9CED&BEID=19701&SBLID=&ProductLineId=534&FamilyId=3551&LowBaseId=&LowPrice=&familyviewgroup=3328&viewtype=Matrix

Best,
Andy

EDIT: good grief, nothing will let the link paste properly. HP sucks at the Internet.

[Andrew Richards]

[Phil Hoppes] “Sandy Bridge 8 core Xenon CPU’s are already out. I can buy them today.”

Parts, yes. Complete system from HP, ships in May.

Best,
Andy

[Andrew Richards]

Isn’t their site a train wreck? You have to know how to finesse it to get to where you can configure a system. Here is a https://www7.hp.com/dstore/ctoBases.asp?oi=E9CED&BEID=19701&SBLID=&ProductLineId=534&FamilyId=3551&LowBaseId=&LowPrice=&familyviewgroup=3328&viewtype=Matrix“>link.

Best,
Andy

[Andrew Richards]

[Chris Harlan] “I thought we knew with Sandy Bridge, but this Ivy Bridge release is so close on the heels, that there might be a bit of hope.”

Sandy Bridge launched over a year ago. It is only the Sandy Bridge E5 Xeon lineup that launched last month. Intel ships their high-volume Core series chips much earlier than it does Xeons utilizing the same manufacturing process. Intel’s roadmap for the Xeon only has it getting the Ivy Bridge treatment in 2013.

Best,
Andy

[Andrew Richards]

[Aindreas Gallagher] “so is the short answer that we won’t know the fate of the Mac Pro until the Xeons come out right? Because that is the Mac Pro chip? Is it the thing that the Mac Pro is effectively delayed (if it isn’t cancelled) because the xeons are pretty late?”

There are a lot of variables. Apple could pivot on what a Mac Pro is, even what it is called. If we limit our speculation to what has thus far been true of all Mac Pro interations (Xeon CPUs, tower form factor made up chiefly of Intel parts), then we can safely say there will not be an Ivy Bridge Mac Pro in 2012. The new Xeons are Sandy Bridge, and they just launched last month (following considerable delays). The Sandy Bridge Xeons are officially known as the E5-2600 series, at least the variety that can be had in dual proc systems. E3-1200 series chips have been around since late 2011, but are limited to single-CPU deployment. The E5-2600 series is the successor to the E5500/E5600 series Xeons found in the 2010-present Mac Pro.

[Aindreas Gallagher] “And did someone say there would be no xeons in the channel until 3d quarter this year? Or have I got this all wrong..”

The E5-2600 series officially launched at the beginning of March, about six weeks ago. HP’s announced Z820 will use them, and if a new Mac Pro is to exist and follow convention, it will as well.

Best,
Andy

[Andrew Richards]

Desktop class CPUs now, reportedly the low power mobile variety is still en route. New iMacs seem like the most likely Mac destination, as they are the only Apple products presently using Intel’s desktop-class Core iX CPUs.

And lest anyone think there is Mac Pro connection here, there isn’t. Unless the successor to the Mac Pro we have today abandons Xeon chips, it won’t be built on Ivy Bridge CPUs. Dig this slide from Intel’s most recent public roadmap (screen-grabbed for posterity since Intel will swap out the PDF on the other end of that link some day).

Best,
Andy

EDIT: MacRumors thinks today’s crop would be suitable for 15″ and 17″ MacBook Pros. If there even is a new 17″…

[Andrew Richards]

[Jules bowman] “Sure, it is tax deductible but I’d still rather have £40 in my pocket in cold hard disposable cash. Plus the deductible is still only for the tax rate I pay rather than the tax man giving it all back to me.”

Well, yeah, we’d all rather have the cash. In the US, if you are incorporated, and depending on how you keep your books, you can “get it all back*”.

*DISCLAIMER: I am not a tax attorney or certified public accountant (or any kind of accountant), consult a qualified professional for actionable advice on tax matters. You will know who is a professional by the accounting software they use. 😉

Best,
Andy

[Andrew Richards]

All the tax talk on this thread had me thinking- Adobe has offered us a way to separate the pros from the amateurs. If you can write off the cost of your monthly Creative Cloud membership, you are a pro!

(Common practice in the US, not sure about our international friends’ tax codes.)

Best,
Andy