[Larry Towers]

Incontrovertible facts:

1-Thunderbolt 2 is only twice as fast as thunderbolt 1. Thunderbolt 1 is the equivalent of a single PCIe x4 slot, Thunderbolt 2 is twice as fast but does so combining the channels together, Thunderbolt 2 enables two 20Gbps bi-direction channels instead of two sets of 10Gbps channels. There’s NO OVERALL INCREASE IN BANDWIDTH. It is still bound to a PCIe 2.0 interface.
Big Whoop! Not nearly as fast as a SINGLE PCIe 3.0 x 16 slot.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/7049/intel-thunderbolt-2-everything-you-need-to-know

2-Intel doesn’t make a six port Thunderbolt controller. (Look it up)
https://ark.intel.com/products/series/67021
So there will likely be 3 dual port(4 channel) controllers to feed the Thunderbolt ports. This probably means bus arbitration issues when all ports are being used. (With NO on board connectivity this is a likely scenario) People dreaming of adding an expansion Chassis with Graphics cards are SOL.

As for the other items?

A real macpro would have used a standard form factor for graphics cards with a standard PCIe 3.0 x 16 slots for easy upgrades later.
8 memory slots.
A physical form factor that doesn’t demand to be placed ON a desktop where all the tangled mess of Thunderbolt cables will get in the way.

[Larry Towers]

The New Macpro looks great. TODAY. With no expansion running at anywhere near internal bus speeds it is not a longterm investment choice. Let’s hope they are cheap.

[Larry Towers]

You assume the stragglers won’t be running on something better

[Larry Towers]

Plenty of bandwidth? For what? Only the processor. ONLY 7% TOTAL bandwidth is available for ALL external devices.

20gbps vs 40GBps
That is not enough for a pro solution. The numbers look great until you realize they are comparing the top of the line new mac pro to the current entry level mac pro.

[Larry Towers]

This is seriously painful for me. We have a bunch of 2008 computers to replace. This will work for some. But it is not the computing powerhouse we needed it to be for the future. We can’t afford to upgrade computers every other year. This computer is only impressive today. With no expandability that runs at processor bus speed it is designed to be disposable. SO seriously disappointed.

[Larry Towers]

Currently
drive expansion– no
Graphics card expansion–No
ESata exaoansion no
Video card expansion i.e. aja etc–No
No

With this dumb configuration I will have to have additional cables To an expansion chassis and or cables to every device previously mentioned that would normally sit in the computer. At least doubling the number of cables for signal, not to mention powering all of these now outboard devices, not all of which will be powered by thunderbolt.

[Larry Towers]

Those of us that would like to purchased 24 cores would disagree. A core is not the direct equivalent of a processor.

[Larry Towers]

Exactly. Open CL is not as fast as Open GL, just faster and easier to code.
They got a good deal on AMD. Period. I have hasted all of AMDs offerings recently.

[Larry Towers]

Totally agree. Thunderbolt cables are an expensive ripoff.

[Larry Towers]

What is so incredible about starving peripherals of available bandwidth, forcing octopus expansion scenarios, increasing energy costs?