The New Mac Pro

[Arthur]

The specs look amazing, but Apple have made it a lot smaller.

 

Source: Ars Technica / The Verge

 

Nearly a year after Tim Cook promised long-suffering Mac Pro users "something great" in 2013, Apple has finally announced a major update to its line of workstation computers. The new Mac Pro brings upgraded internal components, and it has also been redesigned for the first time since its introduction in 2006. Apple's Phil Schiller said that Apple wanted to do something a little bit different with the new box and design something that would last for years to come. He also announced that he was pleased with the result. "Can't innovate anymore, my ass!" he said in response to critics.

 

The new tower appears to come in a sleek, reflective cylindrical case that's looks absolutely tiny next to a current-gen Mac Pro—it's 1/8 the volume. The CPU, memory, and graphics are all built around a unified "thermal core," sounding a bit like the older Cube Mac. The box will feature up to 12-core Xeon CPUs and 1866MHz DDR-3 RAM. (The result is said to offer up to 2x the CPU performance available in previous Mac Pros.) It will also feature a PCIe-based flash drive, which Apple says will deliver 1.25Gbps reads and 1Gbps writes. The box will also include the updated Thunderbolt bus, Thunderbolt 2, and expansion is expected to be wholly external (unlike the older—and much, much larger—Mac Pro).

 

The cylindrical computer will also come standard with two workstation-class ATI FirePro GPUs, each with 384-bit memory busses and 528Gbps of memory bandwidth. The GPUs are said to be capable of driving three 4K displays at once.

 

Finally, in a nod to one well-loved feature of the older Mac Pro, the new model also features a handle on top. In this case, the handle isn't just for lugging the unit around; it can be used to spin the new Mac Pro, revealing the ports on the back of the unit. These include Gigabit ethernet, HDMI out, audio, four USB3 jacks, and six Firewire 2 ports (driven by three separate controllers). The chassis also contains a motion sensor so that when it's revolved, the ports are illuminated for easier access.

 

The Mac Pro last received a major update in August 2010. Its CPUs were given a very minor speed bump at last year's WWDC, but they kept the same chassis, CPU architecture, and GPUs. It will be assembled, as with many other new Macs, here in the USA and available later this year.

 

http://i.imgur.com/PGEVUJV.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/2LFzGbr.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/Ahu6ZTC.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/aDogYh1.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/rtqItfH.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/S4u2l4K.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/AbHUclQ.jpg http://i.imgur.com/XQ8vTHa.jpg http://i.imgur.com/oG0u9dF.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/6bsxDVn.jpg http://i.imgur.com/BxdMSV9.jpg http://i.imgur.com/qHfJXnA.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/FJxjiEH.jpg

Edited June 10, 2013 by Arthur

[SovietRussia]

Looks a bit like a kitchen bin, but the specs in it are mindblowing

[synaesthesia]

*facepalm* for me. Apple are going backwards, but like the should-even-exist consoles, as long as people will throw money at shiny things, they'll keep making shiny things.

[Arthur]

Looks a bit like a kitchen bin

A kitchen bin designed by Daft Punk. I wonder if it has a lid?

 

http://i.imgur.com/HYn2FQY.png http://i.imgur.com/dwQhUNA.png

Edited June 10, 2013 by Arthur

[Alkaline]

Well the specs are good, but it looks like a paper shredder.

[markcuk]

absolute rubbish how are we supposed to put our SAS,fibre pcie cards and work raids in that!! oh yeah we have to buy a thunderbolt expansion box

[localzuk]

absolute rubbish how are we supposed to put our SAS,fibre pcie cards and work raids in that!! oh yeah we have to buy a thunderbolt expansion box

 

Nothing wrong with that idea. Its just another expansion type - rather than internal, external. The speed isn't reduced by doing so either. I dunno, I like it - it brings a new design idea to what has become a somewhat boring market.

[Chris_]

And are Apple going to make some rackmount kit for this? Doesn't really look server room/rack friendly. Another hint that Apple no longer care for the enterprise.

[Arthur]

are Apple going to make some rackmount kit for this? Doesn't really look server room/rack friendly. Another hint that Apple no longer care for the enterprise.

Apple have left the rack-mount solution to enterprising third-parties.

 

Apple are going backwards

Think different Synaesthesia!

 

The new Mac Pro is what most desktop computers will end up like in the not too distant future - appliances with high-speed expansion ports. Apple are way ahead of HP and Dell who are simply content with sticking parts in a black plastic box and putting their badge on it.

 

Most PCs sold today still come with optical drives (the 2013 equivalent of the floppy disk!) and slow-spinning magnetic storage. None of the big OEMs would create something as innovative as the new Mac Pro.

Edited June 11, 2013 by Arthur

[synaesthesia]

/me bangs head on desk and leaves people to their shiny shinys.

[sparkeh]

Meh. Specs are good but I'm not impressed with the gimmickry. Typical Apple though.

 

Apple are way ahead of HP and Dell who are simply content with sticking parts in a black plastic box and putting their badge on it.

And HP and Dell will charge a hell of a lot less for it. I'll take the boring black box and have more money in my pocket please

[FishCustard]

Assuming you'd use this for a high-end OS X-based server, how the hell would you mount it in a rack?!

 

Even if you figure that one out, the positioning of the airflow and ports is hardly ideal...

[sparkeh]

Assuming you'd use this for a high-end OS X-based server, how the hell would you mount it in a rack?!

 

Even if you figure that one out, the positioning of the airflow and ports is hardly ideal...

Just get a shelf and lay it on its side and... oh wait...

[Quackers]

I personally would have released that as a Mac Pro Mini along side a new Mac Pro and see if the buyers take to it with the expansion all being done externally.

[sted]

would some front usb ports /power switch be too much to ask for so you dont have to keep groping round the back?

[north-ict]

would some front usb ports /power switch be too much to ask for so you dont have to keep groping round the back?

 

I have a feeling apple will bring out a 'revolutionary' turntable style base just for this purpose! On a side note it does look impressive.

[sted]

I have a feeling apple will bring out a 'revolutionary' turntable style base just for this purpose! On a side note it does look impressive.

 

specs sort of (lots of research let just shove an intel haswel and amd video card in it) design it reminds me of the old coke can hifi's you used to get just black

[Dos_Box]

It's a very nice looking (and specced) piece of kit. My only gripe is the lack of onboard expansion/upgrade options. That and the price will be guaranteed to be almost terrifying - I would like to be proven wrong here tho.

However I think this may be good in the fact that it will prompt the PC manufacturers to follow suite with similarly designed machines of their own at a far lower price, and looking at the reduction in size, yet increase in specs that Apple have come up with I have to doff my hat to them.

[Arthur]

Japanese magazine 'MacPeople' used a 3D printer to make their own 1:1 scale Mac Pro.

 

weekly.ascii.jp/elem/000/000/167/167080/

 

http://i.imgur.com/y9aroG7.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/dfGdn9U.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/AZ3mBXJ.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/t7aFhFe.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/RUe7m0T.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/Ya4eUYR.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/zRH0vl6.jpg

Edited September 4, 2013 by Arthur

[mac_shinobi]

It's a very nice looking (and specced) piece of kit. My only gripe is the lack of onboard expansion/upgrade options. That and the price will be guaranteed to be almost terrifying - I would like to be proven wrong here tho.

However I think this may be good in the fact that it will prompt the PC manufacturers to follow suite with similarly designed machines of their own at a far lower price, and looking at the reduction in size, yet increase in specs that Apple have come up with I have to doff my hat to them.

 

I thought that was the whole point. Any upgrades have to be done externally via ethernet or thunderbolt. Excluding ram and swapping a pcie ssd flash board if you want more storage

[Gerk]

The whole string of external devices we would need in our school programs makes these new machines un-usable for us ... not sure how it's going to work out but I know our school just bought several hundred top of the line Mac Pro towers to replace our older ones while we still can.

[synaesthesia]

It burns....

[localzuk]

Seems more details are available now, and most of it looks impressive. Only thing I'm kinda surprised at is the limited RAM. 64GB maximum in a workstation is pretty low.

 

I can understand why, due to the form-factor, but still. 64GB RAM for a machine which can run 3 4K screens. If the 'Pro buying' market (eg. video editors and the like) were to look at it, it won't be enough for them.

[mac_shinobi]

I have a feeling apple will bring out a 'revolutionary' turntable style base just for this purpose! On a side note it does look impressive.

 

Great idea - can use this along with thunderbolt connectors at the bottom almost like a cordless kettle to make them work in parallel etc

[scotyboy56]

Well I'm just glad to see that they have finally got some decent air vents, instead of the crap ones at the back, I have a 2011 MBP and it overheats like mad even on a desk in a air conditioned server room!! oh and apparently, according to Apple nothing is wrong with it......

 

Why the hell is there a HDMI socket on it now, that could easily have been used for something better like another USB socket or something!