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

[Sarah C.]

Pardon me for saying so, but I agree with the comment that Steve Jobs probably had a lot to do with this design. --It is more daring than current culture at Apple! It also does run the same lines as what they are doing with iPhone. Would I be daring to think different... that this machine is NOT designed/targeted for Red Users or pro post facilities? This is for the 30-60 million consumers with pocket and DSLR digital still and cine cameras that are capturing 8mp stills and above, 1080p and above. Also if Canon (with a 20+ million consumer DSLR market) is providing 4K cine, makes sense Apple has a hot glove for it. That culture wants art on their desk too. Red users are not left out, just gotta buy more pro-specific gear and plug it in.

Apple really did think out of the box on this one! Good for them. (wink)

 

[Eric Santiago]

Pardon me for saying so, but I agree with the comment that Steve Jobs probably had a lot to do with this design. --It is more daring than current culture at Apple! It also does run the some lines as what they are doing with iPhone. Would I be daring to think different... that this machine is NOT designed/targeted for Red Users or pro post facilities? This is for the 30-60 million consumers with pocket and DSLR digital still and cine cameras that are capturing 8mp stills and above, 1080p and above. Also if Canon (with a 20+ million consumer DSLR market) is providing 4K cine, makes sense Apple has a hot glove for it. That culture wants art on their desk too. Red users are not left out, just gotta buy more pro-specific gear and plug it in.

Apple really did think out of the box on this one! Good for them. (wink)

Agreed

 

[Mark Toia]

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?

Yep...
It's going to be a long old wait for people to make TB2 drives cases, TB2 Rocket X enclosures... Shit just takes for ever these days.
I'm just hoping I can cut RED R3D's live in 4k without worrying about any rendering until the end.
4K PRORES masters I can live with.

 

[Scott Crawley]

It is my understanding that Jony Ive is the guy most responsible for Apple product designs. Tip your hat to him. In as much as Jony Ive understood Jobs, and their goals were in synch, I would agree that Jobs' influence on Apple product design is alive and well.

Apple design always makes me smile even when I dislike it. (Damned puck mouse!)

Pardon me for saying so, but I agree with the comment that Steve Jobs probably had a lot to do with this design. --It is more daring than current culture at Apple! It also does run the some lines as what they are doing with iPhone. Would I be daring to think different... that this machine is NOT designed/targeted for Red Users or pro post facilities? This is for the 30-60 million consumers with pocket and DSLR digital still and cine cameras that are capturing 8mp stills and above, 1080p and above. Also if Canon (with a 20+ million consumer DSLR market) is providing 4K cine, makes sense Apple has a hot glove for it. That culture wants art on their desk too. Red users are not left out, just gotta buy more pro-specific gear and plug it in.

Apple really did think out of the box on this one! Good for them. (wink)

 

[Nick Pasquariello]

It is my understanding that Jony Ive is the guy most responsible for Apple product designs. Tip your hat to him. In as much as Jony Ive understood Jobs, and their goals were in synch, I would agree that Jobs' influence on Apple product design is alive and well.

Apple design always makes me smile even when I dislike it. (Damned puck mouse!)

Hey, those puck mouses are GREAT . . . as jokes. They still work. We had one kicking around my old office, and would plug it into a Mac Pro (and remove any other mouse or tablet) whenever we got a new editor, of a very well liked freelancer was coming back from being away for a while. Somehow the joke never got old.

 

[Stivan Widick]

I hope the fan's reversible so it can double as a smokeless ashtray.

 

[Terry VerHaar]

Among the myriad complaints and criticisms (surprise, surprise) are the power button in the back and no ports on the front, However, it seems to me that the whole cylinder rotates on the base which allows access to the button and the ports quite easily, Rotate i around to the front to turn it on or plug something in, the panel lights up to aid the visibility, then, when you have it all attached, you gently spin it around to hide the cables in the rear and you are good to go. Not ugly at all. And don't forget those Thunderbolt cables are thin, pliable little things, not massive SCSI cables or even stiff FW800.

Oh, and I think folks may be wrong about the time it will take to see TB2 peripherals. Just my opinion, of course.

 

[Bob Gundu]

Perhaps we will see the return of the power button on the keyboard again!

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Hey, those puck mouses are GREAT . . . as jokes. They still work. We had one kicking around my old office, and would plug it into a Mac Pro (and remove any other mouse or tablet) whenever we got a new editor, of a very well liked freelancer was coming back from being away for a while. Somehow the joke never got old.

Hehe... Apple hasn't made a good mouse since 1984. The Magic Mouse is a great concept, but it's an ergonomic nightmare. Give me Logitech or Wacom, otherwise I'll just stick to the frickin' keyboard.

 

[Peter Majtan]

Oh, and I think folks may be wrong about the time it will take to see TB2 peripherals. Just my opinion, of course.

I agree with Terry on this one. Apple will be pushing hard to have a full lineup of TB2 accessories ready in time for the launch. They already are... ;o)

:sifone: Peter

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

Among the myriad complaints and criticisms (surprise, surprise) are the power button in the back and no ports on the front, However, it seems to me that the whole cylinder rotates on the base which allows access to the button and the ports quite easily, Rotate i around to the front to turn it on or plug something in, the panel lights up to aid the visibility, then, when you have it all attached, you gently spin it around to hide the cables in the rear and you are good to go. Not ugly at all. And don't forget those Thunderbolt cables are thin, pliable little things, not massive SCSI cables or even stiff FW800.

Oh, and I think folks may be wrong about the time it will take to see TB2 peripherals. Just my opinion, of course.

Terry is paying attention, I see.

TB2 won't take very long. Intel has already begun shipping Falcon Ridge (Thunderbolt components) to OEMs. TB2 equipped systems won't ship until later this year in the form of the Mac Pro and updated iMac. Intel will be equipping their upcoming motherboards with TB2 ports, everything from their SFF consumer boards on up to workstation and server offerings. You can bet everyone else will have it too. The unfortunate side of it is the TB2 approval process. Licensing is cheap and approval process is easy. However it's strict and becoming more strict with TB2 as many early TB peripherals were crap when it came to things like utilizing bus power.

USB3 is still going to be the dominant industry connector for some time due to the very relaxed standards and no approval process, still plenty good for most purposes.

Supposedly the upcoming USB 4.0 changes that though. It's going to ditch backward compatibility with USB 1.x and will require certification for all 100W and "SuperSpeed" peripherals. About damn time, IMO. That's the worst thing about USB3.0 is inconsistent compatibility and performance amongst devices.

 

[Scott Crawley]

I agree with Terry on this one. Apple will be pushing hard to have a full lineup of TB2 accessories ready in time for the launch. They already are... ;o)

:sifone: Peter

Wouldn't that be a pleasant suprise? I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

you know what wouldn't be a bad connector is the style used for my power supply to my 17" MBP. that thing latches onto my laptop from halfway across the room and it stays in pretty well. :-

 

[Terry VerHaar]

Hehe... Apple hasn't made a good mouse since 1984. The Magic Mouse is a great concept, but it's an ergonomic nightmare. Give me Logitech or Wacom, otherwise I'll just stick to the frickin' keyboard.

I LOVE my Magic Mouse(s)!!

 

[Richard Luke]

Alex 4D Posted on his site saying that Graphics cards in this new macpro are swappable. They are bespoke and a new form factor. Ram / GPU and the Main drive are all updatable.

http://alex4d.wordpress.com/

 

[Rob Anderson]

Among the myriad complaints and criticisms (surprise, surprise) are the power button in the back and no ports on the front, However, it seems to me that the whole cylinder rotates on the base which allows access to the button and the ports quite easily, Rotate i around to the front to turn it on or plug something in, the panel lights up to aid the visibility, then, when you have it all attached, you gently spin it around to hide the cables in the rear and you are good to go. Not ugly at all. And don't forget those Thunderbolt cables are thin, pliable little things, not massive SCSI cables or even stiff FW800..

Yes, I watched the same 5 minute presentation you and Jeff did. Plug a bunch of stuff into this and then 'gently spin it around'. Let me know how that works out for you.

 

[Peter Proniewicz-Brooks]

Yes, I watched the same 5 minute presentation you and Jeff did. Plug a bunch of stuff into this and then 'gently spin it around'. Let me know how that works out for you.

Well there are two easy, and blindingly obvious solutions, Hubs (which I always preferred to front slots anyway) or spend a tiny amount on some cable ties (or a bit more on a designed cable management system) and just leave the cables plugged in at the back.

There are plenty of problems with the T2 approach here (and other things) that port location is almost meaningless.

Hell a quick look suggests that if it bothers you and you've put the tiny little thing in a place where its inaccessible, then just put it in backwards........

 

[Gavin Greenwalt]

However it's strict and becoming more strict with TB2 as many early TB peripherals were crap when it came to things like utilizing bus power.

Do you know if they're still demanding OSX compatibility with all TB accessories? I know of at least one company that really wants to release a TB accessory but since they don't have OSX drivers they can't sell it.

 

[Mark Phelan]

Well there are two easy, and blindingly obvious solutions, Hubs (which I always preferred to front slots anyway) or spend a tiny amount on some cable ties (or a bit more on a designed cable management system) and just leave the cables plugged in at the back.

There are plenty of problems with the T2 approach here (and other things) that port location is almost meaningless.

Hell a quick look suggests that if it bothers you and you've put the tiny little thing in a place where its inaccessible, then just put it in backwards........

Good point. Exactly where on a circle is front and back?

 

[Nick Pasquariello]

Terry is paying attention, I see.

TB2 won't take very long. Intel has already begun shipping Falcon Ridge (Thunderbolt components) to OEMs. TB2 equipped systems won't ship until later this year in the form of the Mac Pro and updated iMac. Intel will be equipping their upcoming motherboards with TB2 ports, everything from their SFF consumer boards on up to workstation and server offerings. You can bet everyone else will have it too. The unfortunate side of it is the TB2 approval process. Licensing is cheap and approval process is easy. However it's strict and becoming more strict with TB2 as many early TB peripherals were crap when it came to things like utilizing bus power.

I figure, since they didn't mention MacBook Pros yesterday, that an update is, minimum 1 month out, more likely 3-4 months out. Think they'll have TB2 in there? This Mid-2010 MBP is long in the tooth, but I've been waiting on "the next version" for about 3 months now. I'll be getting it either way, but damn will I be happy to wait a few more months if it's got TB2 installed.