What all these articles are is depressing. Not much optimism left. I wish Apple would just get it over with already.
Seriously guy, nobody has yet to even claim that they have inside knowledge of what Apple is up to ( except for possibly the guy with the friend using Galaxy). All of this crap that has been posted as rumor or even fact in some cases, is just that bull shit!! Nothing has come out of Apple from an even remotely reliable source indicating what or how the desktop line up will be restructured. So get over your depression as there is no reason for it.
Many of us here like to speculate on what a Mac Pro replacement will look like. You need to understand what that word "speculate" means, because it is again dramatically different than a rumor and again has no bearing on what Apple is actually doing. As to what Apple "MIGHT" actually be doing again it is all guess work but a rational person would have to say it is time for a major overhual of Apples entire desktop lineup.
In any event no matter what Apple does it isn't he end of he world. There is no need to jump off a bridge or do anything else rash.
You can say this, and you can say "going the way of the redesign" with equal weight to both arguments.
It's an interesting time. Apple better not blow it.
And both "discontinuation" and "update on the order of the last one" are 'blowing it'.
My suggestion and what I would buy is something with the high end iMac specs including the 3.4G i7 or highest i7 available. Then remove the display, subtract ~$600 and make it 1/2 the size of the current pro. That would be a nice machine for about $1500. I think the pro is not selling well because of its high price and boat anchor form factor.
For pros who really need Xeons, same price as the current pro, smaller, and lighter, and expandable of course.
Not meaning to be a smart arse, but the current iMacs (and I think "all" of the 21.5 and 27 inch versions) have got 4 RAM sockets. Thats how they get 16 GB (4x 4GB DIMMS).
Having said that, I fully agree with your point. I have a PowerMac G5, and an iMac simply isn't a good replacement. I love being able to upgrade the HDD's, add PCI cards, and Optical drives, without a fully disassembly!
Just a clarification on the Ram slots. The iMac only has two slots but 8GB DDR3 modules are now available (expensive) You can put 2 x 8GB in an iMac, or most of the i7 family of intel driven Macs
Apple is planning a significant update to Final Cut Pro X that will deliver a number of new features, including multichannel audio editing and dual viewers, when it debuts later this year.
This is directly from Apple as stated from an article from Sunday. They also will be supporting the RED camera. Footage from that alone needs huge amounts of storage and RAM for processing since they are supporting the RED format for direct editing.
If Apple is committed to improving and updating FCP X then coming out with the updates stated will need lots of storage space within a Mac Pro and Thunderbolt multi-drive external RAID for backup. The two go naturally together. Besides adding the newer and faster INTEL processors, who knows what else they have in mind with hardware and with Lion or Mountain Lion to work along with it. After all, 4TB drives are now available, too.
So, I can't believe that in any way they would be abandoning the Mac Pro but are going to enhance it. I got my 3.33ghz 6 core with an SSD in the second DVD bay for my boot and maxed out the drives. OWC did a great job with it and I will use them again when needed for the newer Mac Pro coming out.
I think one thing we can be sure of is that Apple will not release a version of FCP X that doesn't run satisfactorily on a MBP. Just because it would be faster if run in 32 gigs of RAM with a 12 core CPU, you can't use that rational to conclude a Mac Pro update is inevitable, especially the part about the extra drives since external using Thunderbolt is now just as fast as internal. I don't think Apple cares about HDMI capture or output which currently can only be done with an add in card on a Mac Pro.
I hope they are killing off the Mac Pro to focus on the most important products. Mac Pro is an unnecessary distraction that attracts very little business for Apple.
I agree with many others, in that Apple has more than enough cash to keep a Pro line, in whatever configuration, alive. Apple has spent years getting to this point, which has been possible largely due to the professional creative market. They should service that market with the respect it deserves. I believe Apple would have died long ago without them. I liken it to the camera industry. Most camera manufacturers make a fortune on myriad lines of point and shoot cameras for the consumer market; much like modern day Apple. However, they constantly refresh their pro lines with great pride, almost out of a duty to show off their muscle with their pro offerings, even though that segment of the market pales in comparison.
Of course, this is just my humble opinion. My heart says that Apple will support the professional community, but with a new configuration in order to show their pride and flex their muscle; my head on the other hand is very uncertain of its longevity.
Also, for what it is worth, I am somewhat angry at Apple for not providing some sort of insight to its intentions regarding the Pro line a long time ago. They have ignored its most loyal users for far too long by not providing some sort of direction or timeline, negative or otherwise.
Despite my rantings, I remain hopeful and very much a loyal user myself.
Like I said before. Just everybody take a chill pill. There will be a new Mac Pro because I just got a new one this week!
Actually I thought they would update it for NAB but that is not looking too likely. When the new Intel chips are widely available I would bet on their being an update. In my case I just could not keep waiting.
Even if a new one comes out tomorrow I will keep the one I bought. WHY? Because 5 or 6 years from now when I need a new one, I know there will be a far faster, cooler, bigger , better, mega high zoot 500mhz, 67.5 core Mac Uber Pro with 100 terabytes of DDR42 8855 EEC RAM and a Raidion 8989 graphics card capable of two bazillion triangles a nano second. Or you could get the iPad 9 that will run rings around it. If you need a new computer get one. There is ALWAYS something to wait for.
It's true that compared to iPads, iPhones and even iMacs, Mac Pros make up a very very small part of Apple's profits. However, it is some of the most ardent Apple supporters and developers that need and use Mac Pros on a day to day basis.
One possible upgrade would be to keep the same case rev the motherboard: new CPU, faster bus, thunderbolt connecter on the back. This is an attractive option, because it would take minimal effort on their part, keep sales chugging along, and keep users more or less happy.
What I would rather see is a re-think of the Mac Pro concept, with something like a mini-tower design. With thunderbolt you don't need as many drive-bays or slots. A package containing all the most advanced technologies in a smaller case, and fewer slots, would be very attractive. Especially if the price came down a bit.
Also it seems that the release of a New Mac Pro model, has mostly been held up, by the delay in the delivery of new processor cores from intel - This delay is not just affecting Apple, it's also affecting other suppliers too…
The new Intel Xeon, is now very late....
- It's currently running 6 months behind schedule... The new Xeon Chip was due for release in late 2011
I imagine a new Mac Pro will be 1/3 in size. Instead refering to Thunderbolt for expansion.
Good luck getting a Kona card to work that way, and having it share bandwidth with a 12TB RAID.
The "put everything on Thunderbolt sitting in a pile next to the machine" crowd doesn't seem to understand the realities of a professional production environment. Nor do they want to.
I imagine a new Mac Pro will be 1/3 in size. Instead refering to Thunderbolt for expansion.
Yes. At most about 1/3 the size. I think Apple should make the next Mac Pro as small as possible with a high-end 8-core CPU, 8 DIMM slots, one drive bay, and support for an SSD card (like the MacBook Air). Ports should include 2 Thunderbolt, 4 USB 2.0, and 2 Ethernet. Anyone who needs RAID can get an external RAID device. No need for internal PCI slots. That should make it possible to sell an entry-level configuration for $1499 with Apple's margins. It could be between the Mac Mini and the NeXTstation in size.
I hope they are killing off the Mac Pro to focus on the most important products. Mac Pro is an unnecessary distraction that attracts very little business for Apple.
You're absolutely right! Why make computers for professionals who want to create things and change the world? Better their time spent walking down the street with iPhones and iPads, tweeting and texting and banging into things. That's what the world needs more of these days.
I think Apple should cater exclusively to people like the one in the new commercial. You know, the one where the lady has to ask Siri if it's raining out cause she's too dopey to look out the window?
And I hope all future OSX updates are exclusively geared toward making my computer a 27 inch iPad.
Good luck getting a Kona card to work that way, and having it share bandwidth with a 12TB RAID.
The "put everything on Thunderbolt sitting in a pile next to the machine" crowd doesn't seem to understand the realities of a professional production environment. Nor do they want to.
The Kona 3 is now available in an external enclosure with Thunderbolt - it's called the IO XT. The processing and guts are exactly the same. The move to tapeless workflows means that more people will be tempted by AJA's $249 T-Tap. Nowadays, many Kona cards are only used to feed monitors. I rarely use tape decks in professional work these days.
Whilst there is a need for workstations in some areas of post production, increasingly, post shops are looking towards iMacs or similar (those that wish to stay on OSX) as they are more than capable of all editorial work required via FCP, Avid or PPro. You might like to look at the supported systems for the newly announced Smoke 2013. It's iMacs and Macbook Pros. Some companies have already moved on. Many others are actively looking at the lower cost and more-than-powerful-enough iMacs for most uses.
As far as the Kona IO XT sharing with a RAID array (I would hope more than 12Tb for pro use!) this is more than possible for the 2-port iMac, whether it be Fibre, 10-GigE or whatever via Thunderbolt adapters coming available now. Video cards require nowhere near the bandwith of graphics cards.
Comments
What all these articles are is depressing. Not much optimism left. I wish Apple would just get it over with already.
Seriously guy, nobody has yet to even claim that they have inside knowledge of what Apple is up to ( except for possibly the guy with the friend using Galaxy). All of this crap that has been posted as rumor or even fact in some cases, is just that bull shit!! Nothing has come out of Apple from an even remotely reliable source indicating what or how the desktop line up will be restructured. So get over your depression as there is no reason for it.
Many of us here like to speculate on what a Mac Pro replacement will look like. You need to understand what that word "speculate" means, because it is again dramatically different than a rumor and again has no bearing on what Apple is actually doing. As to what Apple "MIGHT" actually be doing again it is all guess work but a rational person would have to say it is time for a major overhual of Apples entire desktop lineup.
In any event no matter what Apple does it isn't he end of he world. There is no need to jump off a bridge or do anything else rash.
You can say this, and you can say "going the way of the redesign" with equal weight to both arguments.
It's an interesting time. Apple better not blow it.
And both "discontinuation" and "update on the order of the last one" are 'blowing it'.
My suggestion and what I would buy is something with the high end iMac specs including the 3.4G i7 or highest i7 available. Then remove the display, subtract ~$600 and make it 1/2 the size of the current pro. That would be a nice machine for about $1500. I think the pro is not selling well because of its high price and boat anchor form factor.
For pros who really need Xeons, same price as the current pro, smaller, and lighter, and expandable of course.
Not meaning to be a smart arse, but the current iMacs (and I think "all" of the 21.5 and 27 inch versions) have got 4 RAM sockets. Thats how they get 16 GB (4x 4GB DIMMS).
Having said that, I fully agree with your point. I have a PowerMac G5, and an iMac simply isn't a good replacement. I love being able to upgrade the HDD's, add PCI cards, and Optical drives, without a fully disassembly!
Just a clarification on the Ram slots. The iMac only has two slots but 8GB DDR3 modules are now available (expensive) You can put 2 x 8GB in an iMac, or most of the i7 family of intel driven Macs
Peter Dudley
www.logictraining.co.uk
Just a clarification on the Ram slots. The iMac only has two slots?
No, they have four.
Apple is planning a significant update to Final Cut Pro X that will deliver a number of new features, including multichannel audio editing and dual viewers, when it debuts later this year.
This is directly from Apple as stated from an article from Sunday. They also will be supporting the RED camera. Footage from that alone needs huge amounts of storage and RAM for processing since they are supporting the RED format for direct editing.
If Apple is committed to improving and updating FCP X then coming out with the updates stated will need lots of storage space within a Mac Pro and Thunderbolt multi-drive external RAID for backup. The two go naturally together. Besides adding the newer and faster INTEL processors, who knows what else they have in mind with hardware and with Lion or Mountain Lion to work along with it. After all, 4TB drives are now available, too.
So, I can't believe that in any way they would be abandoning the Mac Pro but are going to enhance it. I got my 3.33ghz 6 core with an SSD in the second DVD bay for my boot and maxed out the drives. OWC did a great job with it and I will use them again when needed for the newer Mac Pro coming out.
I think one thing we can be sure of is that Apple will not release a version of FCP X that doesn't run satisfactorily on a MBP. Just because it would be faster if run in 32 gigs of RAM with a 12 core CPU, you can't use that rational to conclude a Mac Pro update is inevitable, especially the part about the extra drives since external using Thunderbolt is now just as fast as internal. I don't think Apple cares about HDMI capture or output which currently can only be done with an add in card on a Mac Pro.
I hope they are killing off the Mac Pro to focus on the most important products. Mac Pro is an unnecessary distraction that attracts very little business for Apple.
eksodos=troll. Don't waste your breath.
Of course, this is just my humble opinion. My heart says that Apple will support the professional community, but with a new configuration in order to show their pride and flex their muscle; my head on the other hand is very uncertain of its longevity.
Also, for what it is worth, I am somewhat angry at Apple for not providing some sort of insight to its intentions regarding the Pro line a long time ago. They have ignored its most loyal users for far too long by not providing some sort of direction or timeline, negative or otherwise.
Despite my rantings, I remain hopeful and very much a loyal user myself.
Actually I thought they would update it for NAB but that is not looking too likely. When the new Intel chips are widely available I would bet on their being an update. In my case I just could not keep waiting.
Even if a new one comes out tomorrow I will keep the one I bought. WHY? Because 5 or 6 years from now when I need a new one, I know there will be a far faster, cooler, bigger , better, mega high zoot 500mhz, 67.5 core Mac Uber Pro with 100 terabytes of DDR42 8855 EEC RAM and a Raidion 8989 graphics card capable of two bazillion triangles a nano second. Or you could get the iPad 9 that will run rings around it. If you need a new computer get one. There is ALWAYS something to wait for.
No, they have four.
No they have 8 RAM Slots…
One possible upgrade would be to keep the same case rev the motherboard: new CPU, faster bus, thunderbolt connecter on the back. This is an attractive option, because it would take minimal effort on their part, keep sales chugging along, and keep users more or less happy.
What I would rather see is a re-think of the Mac Pro concept, with something like a mini-tower design. With thunderbolt you don't need as many drive-bays or slots. A package containing all the most advanced technologies in a smaller case, and fewer slots, would be very attractive. Especially if the price came down a bit.
No they have 8 RAM Slots?
No, they have four.
The new Intel Xeon, is now very late....
- It's currently running 6 months behind schedule... The new Xeon Chip was due for release in late 2011
– It's now looking like July 2012...
http://www.macrumors.com/2011/10/21/...st-early-2012/
http://www.pcworld.com/article/23998...arly_2012.html
No, they have four.
Yea… but the original artical was talking about Mac Pro's - which do have 8 memory slots…
Yea? but the original artical was talking about Mac Pro's - which do have 8 memory slots?
But our conversation is about the iMac. Which has four.
Notice also that the Mac Pro also has four RAM slots. It has eight when you get dual processors.
And what percent of Apple users actually need that much computer.
I do for video compression and codec work. The more cores the better.
I imagine a new Mac Pro will be 1/3 in size. Instead refering to Thunderbolt for expansion.
Good luck getting a Kona card to work that way, and having it share bandwidth with a 12TB RAID.
The "put everything on Thunderbolt sitting in a pile next to the machine" crowd doesn't seem to understand the realities of a professional production environment. Nor do they want to.
I imagine a new Mac Pro will be 1/3 in size. Instead refering to Thunderbolt for expansion.
Yes. At most about 1/3 the size. I think Apple should make the next Mac Pro as small as possible with a high-end 8-core CPU, 8 DIMM slots, one drive bay, and support for an SSD card (like the MacBook Air). Ports should include 2 Thunderbolt, 4 USB 2.0, and 2 Ethernet. Anyone who needs RAID can get an external RAID device. No need for internal PCI slots. That should make it possible to sell an entry-level configuration for $1499 with Apple's margins. It could be between the Mac Mini and the NeXTstation in size.
I hope they are killing off the Mac Pro to focus on the most important products. Mac Pro is an unnecessary distraction that attracts very little business for Apple.
You're absolutely right! Why make computers for professionals who want to create things and change the world? Better their time spent walking down the street with iPhones and iPads, tweeting and texting and banging into things. That's what the world needs more of these days.
I think Apple should cater exclusively to people like the one in the new commercial. You know, the one where the lady has to ask Siri if it's raining out cause she's too dopey to look out the window?
And I hope all future OSX updates are exclusively geared toward making my computer a 27 inch iPad.
Good luck getting a Kona card to work that way, and having it share bandwidth with a 12TB RAID.
The "put everything on Thunderbolt sitting in a pile next to the machine" crowd doesn't seem to understand the realities of a professional production environment. Nor do they want to.
The Kona 3 is now available in an external enclosure with Thunderbolt - it's called the IO XT. The processing and guts are exactly the same. The move to tapeless workflows means that more people will be tempted by AJA's $249 T-Tap. Nowadays, many Kona cards are only used to feed monitors. I rarely use tape decks in professional work these days.
Whilst there is a need for workstations in some areas of post production, increasingly, post shops are looking towards iMacs or similar (those that wish to stay on OSX) as they are more than capable of all editorial work required via FCP, Avid or PPro. You might like to look at the supported systems for the newly announced Smoke 2013. It's iMacs and Macbook Pros. Some companies have already moved on. Many others are actively looking at the lower cost and more-than-powerful-enough iMacs for most uses.
As far as the Kona IO XT sharing with a RAID array (I would hope more than 12Tb for pro use!) this is more than possible for the 2-port iMac, whether it be Fibre, 10-GigE or whatever via Thunderbolt adapters coming available now. Video cards require nowhere near the bandwith of graphics cards.