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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Modular Mac Pro Design...

Yeah - suspect whatever they are planning is likely locked-in for hardware design at this point since this stuff needs to be tooled-up? Presumes release date in the next 12 mo or do tho. Not holding my breath.
Had mine apart the other day to replace a card. Damn that chassis is a real work of mechanical art... Curious to see what they do as an encore!
Thanks for the post.

Stu Aull
2010 12 Core MP
Alaska
 
Eeeew.... I'm all for modular, but that conception there is headed in the wrong direction.

The current Mac Pro tower is indeed a work of art, but we also have to recognize that it was conceived a decade ago! Time to move on...
 
I see a move toward smaller components closely co-located. 22nm chips that use less power, create less heat and operate at higher clock speeds using more optical busses. I imagine it will have a "brain" kind of like the Epic that is highly functional solo but can be easily expanded.

I'm thinking storage would be mostly flash and SSD on board with the Cloud as the big repository for mainstream users.

Thunderbolt to the mobo as primary IO,

3) PCIe3 slots, all 16x capable, all of which can support bus extender options as well as RAID cards, GPUs, etc to satisfy the pro market

3RU rack mountable case with ears that double as vertical stand supports, will also be able to mount via brackets to the newest Apple displays. I'm imagining a VESA stack option with the computer case sort of like a spacer between the VESA wall/desk bracket and the VESA mounting holes on the monitor. I would expect the monitor to also be able to operate without any other device besides a remote, though typically with a smartphone, pad, etc. I have no inside info but I expect a 4K iTV (iMac next gen?) panel that is a crossbreed of the iMac and a "dumb" computer or TV display. Wouldn't be surprised to see Apple replace VESA with their own über cool mounting designs but the concept is the same.

Fun to think about...

Cheers - #19
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
Eeeew.... I'm all for modular, but that conception there is headed in the wrong direction.

The current Mac Pro tower is indeed a work of art, but we also have to recognize that it was conceived a decade ago! Time to move on...
Click to expand...

Whilst the exterior of the mac pro hasn't changed since the G5 the interior has changed and been refined quite a bit.
 
Is anyone else excited for the possibility of a 10 gigabit ethernet thunderbolt adapter from apple?
 
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Craig W. Bickerstaff said:
Whilst the exterior of the mac pro hasn't changed since the G5 the interior has changed and been refined quite a bit.
Click to expand...

Refined to fit the Intel platform and minor revisions from there to accommodate each iteration since. However, it's still a dated approach and frankly, I feel it's stone-dead. Just like most of the PC industry at this point, who can't seem to find their way to innovate much beyond generic reference designs and 25+ year old form factors. OTOH, who can really blame them? The product cycle is so short that new motherboards and GPUs are obsolete by the time a manufacturer achieves retail penetration.

Alex Kiritz said:
Is anyone else excited for the possibility of a 10 gigabit ethernet thunderbolt adapter from apple?
Click to expand...

Possible, I suppose, but not highly likely. Intel developed Thunderbolt and also acquired Infiniband to address the whole 10GbE situation within the industry, where there's a stranglehold on patents and licensing, keeping the tech expensive and out of reach. Theoretically, it's possible for Apple to create a TB to 10GbE adapter, but I doubt we'll see it for under $350 with all the licensing requirements. That said, ATTO already has one, but it's not a small adapter at this point, but rather a TB to PCIe translator and their current PCIe to 10GbE interface inside a small box with an annoying fan. They also offer the same approach for TB to SAS RAID and a couple other interfaces. So the product already exists in one form and costs about $900. It's half the size of buying a Sonnet Echo box and still a bit smaller than a single-slot TB to PCIe unit from OWC or Magma, but too big to be generally portable and it requires external power.
 
I'm sorry.. What did I miss? When did APPLE get interested in the pro market again? I see new iPads, new iPhones, and some laptops.... Not a peep about pro hardware though.

I also see APPLE shares growing without any new PRO products.

I would think even if APPLE did come out with a new system, users would be very reluctant to jump in without some sort of promise that we'd never go down this road again.

I love RED like some love APPLE, but if RED ever left me high and dry for 3+ years and not a peep... I'd be shooting on another camera.

Jay
 
New Mac Pro has been promised by Tim Cook for 2013.

Why in the Slim Pickens would they author a power hungry 4K editing application and then never put the hardware out for it? That doesn't make any sense. We will see a new Mac Pro. And with this big of a break I'm thinking it'll be a "from the ground up" refresh.

Stoked!!
 
Ha...if that guy was trying to get into Jonny Ive's mind, he failed BIG!
 
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