New Mac Pro Announced at WWDC! - It's OFFICIAL!

[Peter Majtan]

THE BAD:
- Proprietary everything means limited upgrades and options

This has always been the case with Apple, hardly a surprise. In return you get rock solid and reliable system that is fully interchangeable between the lineup. If your computer dies, you just hook up your backup HDD and boot it on any other Mac and it jut runs. This has been one of the main benefits of the closely controlled peripheral environment...

- Moving lots of things outside of the box means lots more things plugged in and wires hanging about

This is not unlike the RED philosophy with modular approach. Configure it as simple or as complex as you want. Key benefit - it is easy to share said peripherals between your TB-enabled macs (and PCs) - one of the key reasons for RR damage was the constant swapping between towers and portable enclosures. I agree - not everyone's cup of tea, but IMHO a year or two from now we will all wonder how did we manage before...

- Waiting many more months for this

We have been waiting for this for 5 years - what is another 3 months? I, for one, like the change in announcing future products, so I can plan my own cashflow and get ready. Until now the no.1 complain was that Apple never said anything about the future plans. This is OMHO one of the most significant positive changes for Apple...

THE UGLY:
- Not a single accessible PCI expansion slot

Actually you can have a whole bunch of PCIs slots via TB2 expansion chassis. I am really not aware of a card (other then GPUs) that will be limited by the TB2 architecture.
And here again - the housing of expensive cards in proper enclosures that can be swapped safely between workstations is a major plus and potential cost saving. Just ask the folks who were forced to buy new RR for $3K a pop - some of them even 2 or 3 times.

- Why is the power button around the back of this thing?

This is a personal preference. When I had a Mac Pro it would hardly ever get shut down (only if I was leaving for few days or more away). I would keep the Mac Pro on all the time and just put it to sleep (in the rare occasion it was not doing something). How often do you really power up and down? This is also not an issue if you keep it on the desk, as many will. Who knows - maybe there will be a power button on the keyboard, or display, or something. In any case this is hardly a deal-breaker...

- No damn ports on the front or top? What the hell...

Now this is the silliest argument. With TB connectivity all the Apple displays function as a hub and provide bunch of connections on each display. Non-Apple TB displays are bound to follow the suit. Beats running longer cable to the depths bellow your desk any day...

Times and again - I believe many folks here are rather harsh and seems to have made up their minds long before the MP was even announced...

:sifone: Peter

 

[Simon Dunne]

http://www.fireprographics.com/adobe/

Looks like Adobe knew this was coming and jumped in with AMD and their CL architecture

 

[Karim D. Ghantous]

A brain with modules. Sound familiar?

Never mind RED - Steve Jobs' vision for the first Mac was, unlike the Apple II, no slots, ports only. He was right, but in 1984 too far ahead of his time. I think that development of this new MP had Jobs' input for sure.

...I wonder how long it will be before the Star Wars R2 unit decal sets for the Mac Pro hit the market?

Daleks. Droids are fun, but Daleks are scary. Scary is cool. Ferraris are scary. Other scary things: F1 engines, Terminators, Cybermen, anything in Dr. Who, BOB in Twin Peaks.

Personally, I don't understand so many people here being so attached to cards.

Good point. As a poor analogy, it's like critics of the iPhone complaining that there's no stylus. Styli are actually useful, but to a niche user base. And contrary to some people's assumptions, that's what Apple never was: niche. Yes, they have a minority market share in PCs, but nobody puts together their own PC, they buy them from HP or whomever.

I was just joking with some friends in a post house last week that Apple has abandoned the pro market. Now it would appear that it's true.

No, they've stopped supporting niche markets.

After reading probably way too much about this new Mac Pro for one day, it seems like Apple will certainly change the entire market with this... one way or another. I'm just hoping they make the most of this.

Other companies copy Apple for a good reason: Apple knows where to go next. Yes, their boxes look good, but that's only part of it.

Having everything upgradable is a nice idea, but I've never found it that useful in real life... I've often found that by the time I need to upgrade a video card, I need to upgrade my processor as well - but the new processors use a different socket so I'd have to replace my motherboard. And then, to get the most of it I'd have to upgrade all my RAM. And that new GPU and new processor sucks more power down than the old ones so I need to replace the power supply...

Or I want to upgrade my GPU, but the new GPU needs the next version PCI-E port... Etc.

RAM and storage is really all I upgrade between getting new machines so the level of upgradibility of the new Mac Pro doesn't bother me much...

QFT. The notions that PCs are 'upgradable' and 'open' are pretty much like any People's Democratic Republic or Holy Roman Empire. You can use the same camera kit for 50 years. But computers are not like cameras at all.

You want to have fun building computers? Buy a Raspberry Pi. My brother has one and they're cool if you know what you're doing. But if you want a practical and well designed workstation, buy a Mac Pro.

 

[Tom Lowe]

Just why all of the $@%*ing proprietary nonsense? ....

Because Apple.

 

[Gabor D.]

I'm wondering (I'm not into tech stuff...) whether there will be new Apple Cinema Displays which are updated for this Mac Pro? With TB 2, or anything... So is it safe to buy Cinema Display now, or let's wait out?

 

[Mike 'Fireman' Ross]

I'm wondering (I'm not into tech stuff...) whether there will be new Apple Cinema Displays which are updated for this Mac Pro? With TB 2, or anything... So is it safe to buy Cinema Display now, or let's wait out?

Wait. See the discovery of 5K wallpaper in OSX.

They're not about to release a Mac Pro that can drive 3 4K displays, and not have any 4K displays to drive...

Of course, if you NEED something now, buy it now.

Mike

 

[Peter Majtan]

I'm wondering (I'm not into tech stuff...) whether there will be new Apple Cinema Displays which are updated for this Mac Pro? With TB 2, or anything... So is it safe to buy Cinema Display now, or let's wait out?

It goes without saying that the new displays will be at least 4K and TB2. And they will be in time for the Mac Pro to ship - otherwise it simply makes no sense...

:sifone: Peter

EDIT: The "fireman" beat me to it... ;o)

 

[Peter Majtan]

Come to think about it a bit more - this could be great news. There is no way Apple will release the new displays priced higher then the iMacs - no matter what the resolution. In fact - I expect the iMacs to have the same resolution (4K+). So that means sub $2K for 4K+ TB2 display that also acts as TB peripheral hub with camera and speakers...

:sifone: Peter

 

[Sam Allam]

Originally Posted by Mike Garrick
So whilst all the heavy Tech hitters are on this thread , some basic questions from a none tech type
1) Will this beast handle 6k ?



I would imagine so. It gains a 15% increase in power per watt as well as a 15% boost in memory throughput over the dual Xeon E5-2600 series as used in the HP Z820 at this time and an aggregate 30% increase of the same nature with more than a 55% increase in memory throughput over the prior generation of dual Xeon platform -- as used in the 2010 thru current Mac Pro and HP Z800. All those systems handle 4K with ease and 5K in a respectable manner. Do I expect this thing to play 6K in real time? Heck no, but I bet it chews through 6K a lot better than the "monster" 8-core Mac Pro did with 4K on its release back in early '08.


2) Can It handle "Smoke' ...smoothly ?


I guess we'll have to see, but I'm not much of a Smoke guy, so don't even want to speculate...


3) Can Da Vinci 10 run on it


Resolve 10 runs great on current systems and not bad at all with ATI GPUs. I bet It will make a great little Resolve system and nicely portable or mountable on a DIT or location cart too.


4) Can it handle 4K natively (as we know it, not some apple variety )?


My current workstations handle most flavors of 4K just fine, including R3D native. If this system doesn't chew through 4K with ease, I'm sending it back as defective.


5) Where does this leave Redrocket ?


In an external box.

...thank you, thank you. I'll be here all night, folks.


6) Do i need additional hardware to run external monitoring


We don't know that yet. But You have lots of ports that can connect a device like the BMD UltraStudio if needed. It also has TB2 and HDMI ports that support 4K resolution.... I would say it's more of a question of software vs. hardware.


7) How much more performance does this system offer compared to fully spec'd Retina or even I Mac's


It has significantly more compute power than the current iMac or MBP systems. We should see updated versions of both of those in the coming months too. But it's not an apples to apples comparison.... or is it? haha... OK, anyway, a lot of this depends on how the software uses the system. Software written to make use of the additional CPU cores will benefit from this system far more than something that only scales between two CPUs, for example. The impending iMac update that will bring quad-core i7 CPUs with the same memory throughput and Thunderbolt 2 and all that will be comparable in performance for apps that can't scale to use all those extra CPU cores. Or for users who don't need to run several demanding apps at once...

I'm somewhat of a crazy geek when it all boils down to it. I'm refusing to buy any new iMac until they put a retina 4K+ screen on it. And I would like to use that 4K/ retina iMac as not only its own system, but as a monitor attached to a new Mac Pro. Sorry, going off on a tangent there.


And finally as off right now I'm going to steal Phils "Lava lamp" idea. This is exactly the sort of 3rd party add on that will sell in huge numbers because it is perfect for us creative types who wear black skivvies whilst editing, enhancing the positive aura of the edit suite.


I'm going to rebuild my desk as an X-Wing fighter. I think we all know where the Mac Pro would sit...​

- Jeff Kilgroe
- Applied Visual Technologies, LLC | RojoMojo
- EPIC-M Package Available! Over 1TB SSD media, RPP's & more.

List of all current RED software tools.


finally!!

 

[Nick Pasquariello]

Everyone keeps talking about the compromises that the new Mac Pro forces everyone to make. Without acknowledging the compromises that the old Mac Pro forced everyone to make. It's just, you got used to those.

For example, 2 PCIe slots are 16x, and they are right next to each other. Want a GPU and a Rocket? You have to put the Rocket right on top of the GPU, with the GPU fan blowing hot air right onto the Rocket. That's not exactly healthy for the card. Want 2 GPUs and a Rocket? Well, move the Rocket to a 4x slot and limit it's performance, because the GPUs need both 16x slots and now one of them is getting hot air blown on it. Need an eSATA or SAS connection? Or USB 3.0? Then you need a PCIe card. Compared to Thunderbolt that allows for a hub or a dongle for any of those.

The fact of the matter is, even high end PC's make you make the same kinds of choices. The only exception is if you buy high, high end pre-configured turn-key solutions that are set up exactly as they should be for a specific purpose and platform. Thing is, the Mac Pro hasn't made those suddenly evaporate. They're still here, and will continue to be here.

Not liking the new Mac Pro is fine. But getting mad at Apple for being Apple is like getting mad at a dog for barking at the mailman. You may not like that your dog does that, but you didn't have to get a dog in the first place.

 

[Scott Crawley]

Come to think about it a bit more - this could be great news. There is no way Apple will release the new displays priced higher then the iMacs - no matter what the resolution. In fact - I expect the iMacs to have the same resolution (4K+). So that means sub $2K for 4K+ TB2 display that also acts as TB peripheral hub with camera and speakers...

:sifone: Peter

Veering OT to speculate:

Watching them use AirPlay and Apple TV to bring the desktop into the living room combined with 4K monitor support, the iMac form factor and old rumors of an Apple 4k television... Suddenly you have the Apple Television. It's a 4k iMac with Bluetooth peripherals and it could arrive within 12-18 months.

 

[David Cole]

I'm not loving the Dyson canister look, but, building the machine on TOP of a heat-sink at it's core is a pretty good idea. It's SO much better than welding individual heat-sinks on top of all the high-heat components on the board. Very innovative.

 

[Scott Crawley]

Not liking the new Mac Pro is fine. But getting mad at Apple for being Apple is like getting mad at a dog for barking at the mailman. You may not like that your dog does that, but you didn't have to get a dog in the first place.

:iagree:

Many of us have a love/hate relationship with change. Think Different.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

No, no, don't go away Jeff! We need you, man!

You know I can't quit you guys...

Anyway, that's enough Kool-Aid for now. I'll whip up another batch when it comes time to order that polished aluminum phallus of a system.

 

[Gabor D.]

You know I can't quit you guys...

Anyway, that's enough Kool-Aid for now. I'll whip up another batch when it comes time to order that polished aluminum phallus of a system.

Hey Jeff!
I sent you a PM. I would thank if you would take a look at it if you have the time!
Thanks

 

[Eric Z]

Here are some interesting findings, which some of you guys may have overlooked:

 

[Matt Gottshalk]

 

[Mark Phelan]

I'm thinking this is going to be a nifty dry ice holder on top.

 

[Daniel Crooks]

 

[Jean Déraps]

Thunderbolt 2 is a nice concept, but what if it takes as long as Thunderbolt 1 (i.e 2 years) to get some decent TB2 peripherals ? For sound insulation purposes I put my Mac in a cabinet behind me which would require a 12-15 ft cable.... I know someday I'll be able to house my Mac at my neighbours with a 100ft optical TB cable...but what about today?