Apple preps 27-inch LED Cinema Display, dodeca-core Mac Pro - Page 3

I was 'living the dream' the other day there... two 27" i5 iMacs connected via a Belkin miniDP-miniDP cable.

Extended display mode, 5120 x 1440, and the ability to switch the second iMac from display only to full-on iMac via the 'CMD-F2' keyboard shortcut. So I had one iMac which I was working on an a second iMac running Photoshop batch files in the background. They can both see each other in the Finder etc. etc.

It made me wonder whether having one big multi-core, multi-display machine (Mac Pro) was the future, or whether it was multiple multi-core machines, running separate tasks, with reconfigurable extended displays.

Either way it was like Apple Mac Porn!!!

I'm in, 27 is the perfect size for what I need, replacing a 24" Dell.

Blu-Ray is a GIANT bag of hurt!

Nobody except geek's ever multitask's, and the iPad is not made for geek's.

Windows is crapware to!

Apple is now a mobile devices company.

"So now I have the Googlephonic stereo with a Moon Rock needle it's OK for a car stereo, but I wouldn't want it in my house"

I like the right-to-the-edge black look on these mock-ups. If they could do that on the iMacs I'd be really happy.

That's not true, either.

I multitask on my iMac and MBP. For example, I may be ripping a DVD while surfing the web. Or rendering a movie while doing something else.

It's just that multitasking isn't needed for something like the iPad. Almost everything on the iPad is designed for constant user interaction. There are few things that would benefit from running in the background and those that would benefit are available (playing music while surfing the web, downloading email while playing a game, etc.

The problem is that the 'it won't multitask' whiners just don't get the purpose of the device. It's not a replacement for a full-blown computer. It's a portable content delivery device.

Haha. Somebody had to say it. I didn't think anyone would get that!

The dodecaphonic system with the moon-rock needle...

I'm in the same position. I would love a Mac Pro, but they are just too expensive for my needs, especially considering I don't need workstation-class hardware.

I'm looking to build a quad-core (Core i7 870 2.93ghz... it's Lynnfield but it's turbo boost is far higher than bloomfield) desktop (high-end ATI or Nvidia DX11, SSD, etc) that dualboots OSX and Windows 7. I've been out of the custom PC game for a long time, so I wanted to ask you what parts you are looking at and any advice you have.

One of the biggest problems I am having is finding a good case that is both aesthetically pleasing and offers good cable/drive management. Do you (or anyone else) know of anything that comes close to the Mac Pro case? Does anyone make a clone?

If you want a cinema display buy this upcoming 27" IPS one as this will be the last one before the MacPros and everything associated with it is discontinued in 2011.

i'd definitely need a bigger house!

This is my take on why the G5 was updated more frequently despite the slow progress with the CPU compared with the steady progress Intel makes:

During the G5 era Apple was desperate to release new stuff to show that the platform wasn't stagnating even when it was. They also had to make updates in order to differentiate the towers from the iMac that used the same CPU.

Today Apple enjoys more frequent updates from Intel, but makes fewer updates to their towers. Apple headquarters is driving the bus now and I think they'd like to be more like an auto maker that makes exactly one release per year and always at the same time of year.

You probably multitask and don't even know it.

Do you use time machine? If the answer is yes, think about it for a minute.

I think we'll be lucky to see this or a new iMac or Macbook Pro before the iPad launch.

Maybe late April or May?

June at the outside.

27 inch. Probably one thousand quid knowing Apple.

Entry 6 core. Probably 2k knowing Apple.

Total. An eye watering 3k.

Erm.

No.

Vs a 27 inch quad core iMac for less than half the price?

Er. No.

I may trade in my Core 2 duo iMac for the 27 inch model when rev 2 iMac comes out.

i7 3 gig-ish with better gpu. Amen to that.

Lemon Bon Bon.

Check out the cooler master atcs 840 (also comes in silver) and the Corsair Obsidian 800d Case both are huge cases plenty of room for anything. and both very slick looking

If you don't want to spend a fortune, like something that looks a bit more subdued and is prepared for silence out the box then the Fractal Design R2 might be the one: http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=...gory=2&prod=33

It comes pre-lined with a thick, heavy bitumen sound-deadening material on the inside, silicone mounts for fans & drives and a foam-lined soundproofed front door, along with two good quality 120mm fans. Less than half the price of the two cases mentioned to boot.

I've just built a Core i5-based hackintosh using one of these and it's almost totally inaudible, orders of magnitude quieter than any Mac Pro. Have a look here for more info and pics of the build: http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=879




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If you were going to make a case for a hackintosh being "orders of magnitude cheaper" per Ghz than a Mac Pro I'd give you that, but to say it's "orders of magnitude quieter" than a Mac Pro you'll have to back that statement up. What testing have you done.

Anecdotally, my HP Media Smart home server is the only noisy 'PC' I've owned in several years. I never once herd my Mac Pro. It's designed to run quietly. Have you ever owned or used a Mac Pro?


You can find many of these comments from a simple Google search.

I briefly owned a 2008 Mac Pro, there are two of mixed vintage in the house I share and a friend does pro video on a cluster of Nehalem machines which I've examined (and admired) thoroughly as preparation for building cost-effective hackintoshes without cutting corners.

Having experience with audio, I can say with a modicum of confidence that as quiet systems go (and the Nehalem Mac Pros are very quiet for an off-the-shelf machine), the system I built is orders of magnitude quieter, at a guess by around 10-15dB at a distance of 30cm from the side of the case.

The problems with the Apple machines are: a relative crapload of fans (one in each CPU heatsink, two at each end of the CPU chamber, one in the expansion card chamber, one in the PSU and another if you've got a reasonably powerful graphics card), no sound-deadening case lining and fairly rigid hard drive mounts. The fans are also PWM-controlled variable-speed, ramping up (and I've heard them get pretty loud) if things get toasty.

The system I built has a grand total of two high-quality 120mm fans, permanently under-volted to spin at a constant rate of 500rpm, which is difficult to discern even with your ear next to the fan naked. They will never spin any faster regardless of CPU load. The whole case is also lined with thick, dense bitumen based material, adding substantial mass to the case panels and absorbing any high frequency bearing noise from the fans and hard drive. By far the loudest thing in the whole machine is the single hard drive, and it becomes inaudible if you move your head further than a foot from the rear of the case.

Temperatures are not an issue, with all cores loaded overnight in a room at 25C, the max CPU temp is around 55C.

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Okay, that is sufficient for me, plus I went to your link looking at the more detailed data. Welcome to the forum.

Nice case. Looks like no resellers in the US though.

It's worse (for apple) than that:
I have in excess of 10k free cash to spend this spring due to an exceptional yearly bonus. My wife has a couple of grand that she set aside for a new mac as well. We have the money, we're willing to spend it, to spend it on apple's most expensive hardware and to pay in cash.

However, we're not going to spend all that money on last year's model at last year's prices.

I am ready for the MBP updates already

I've been waiting since FALSE rumor of March 18th release came out. I wonder if this rumor still holds water. I can find no mention of the Mac Pro update anywhere. It seems that there is little interest in a new Mac Pro.

I think "dual hexa-core" sounds better than dodeca-core.

What i would like to see is a new apple tv with iphone os4 and full HD playback

So, netflix, hulu, abc, web browsing, news ipad apps, games,....
Now that would be interesting

And to top it off, ipodtouch or iphone or ipad used has multi-touch remotes to drive the apps on the tv or play games. That would blow logitech harmony remotes out of the water

So some of you say 30 is overkill... for somethings, sure. But why is Apple upgrading the size of the 24" to 27" and not upgrading the 30" at all? or are they? 32" at 16:9 3k? crazy, but that would be awesome.

$3,000? Might be awesome for you, but NOT me.

A lot of people have no problem using a 30" monitor. These are for work related type stuff, not necessarily home consumer use. If one does real work (stuff that makes money), a 30" monitor would be great. Even 2.

Think 4K

Think major league ass reaming for the bank account that wants one.

Heck, I'd expect the entry price of the Mac Pro to go up another £500. It isn't grounded in reality.

But hey, neither is Apple's entry pricing on a 'quad' chip. £2K. Ka-CHING!

Won't stop me lusting for one...as soon as they get over their iPhone/iPad fixation.

Looks towards June for a Mac Pro launch. Well, I guess I can hope.

Lemon Bon Bon.

Walked past an old PowerMac G4 the other day and it made me realise how big the Mac Pro case really is. I wonder how many people actually use all four hard-drive bays, or all four PCI slots, or both optical drive bays. I mean, the Mac Pro is basically just a server in tower form. Even the Virginia Tech cluster used Mac Pros instead of the XServe originally. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy it exists for those people that need it, but I want a smaller option.

If Apple can somehow find a niche between the iPhone and an iBook, I wonder why they can't or won't see the gaping chasm of a niche in their headless Macs between the underpowered and crippled Mac Mini and the reasonably powerful (and expensive) behemoth that is the Mac Pro.

Obviously that's where they want the iMac to sit, but there are plenty of people opposed to buying all-in-ones. I'd rather not have performance limited by having to squeeze internals into an ever slimming design that will put the noise of the fans necessary to cope with that concentrated heat on your desk and in your face. I think I'm also turned off as an ex owner of the original iMac G5, which was extremely loud with an annoying whine that was almost impossible to bear. Computers date much more quickly than displays so it also makes sense from an environmental perspective to keep the two separated.

At the same time, I can't justify the expense and sheer size of the Mac Pro, that is difficult to store and creates an eyesore in an otherwise minamilst aesthetic Apple tries to encourage. I know the people needing true power aren't concerned about the size of a box, but that's why I feel like I'm the perfect candidate for a mini-headless tower Mac or something more powerful than a mini at least anyway.

PS. As we move towards flash storage, which is faster and supposedly more reliable than magnetic media (though this is debated), I wonder if Apple will consider revising the Mac Pro to reduce the size needed for full-sized magnetic hard drives. This would at least free up a significant amount of internal space. If I had the money for a Mac Pro, I'd at least want the performance benefits of a flash drive for the OS at least!

I use 2 30" 2560 X 1600 displays & do not believe they are overkill for my work. My first 30" display is an Apple unit. It has had a couple of dimmer areas on the screen ever since the warranty ran out. For that reason I waited for Apple to come out with a new LCD display of equal or larger size. But as we know they did not do that. Then the 27" iMac with its 16 X 9 screen size meant that a proper for me 30" Apple replacement display would not be in the works. At this time I decided to purchase the higher rated but lower cost HP 30" display. It works great, displays great & has 3 built-in DL connectors. That means that I can very easily connect my old PPC PowerBook to it. Then with a $100 or so adapter I'll be able to connect it to my soon to be received 17" I7 Intel MacBook Pro.

A 16 X 9 screen will keep Apple permanently out of any new purchases by me. I got a 16 X 9 47" display that needs those extra 10% pixels that is on my 28" ViewSonic. The 47" display is for customer viewing of our work. The 28" model could be easily changed to a new 30" display. But will anyone come up with good enough reasons for me to change?

I really wanted someone to come out with a 3840 X 2400 display. But that maybe wishful thinking with what is coming out. I always want more on my display. The because I deal with text & numbers life wont be getting any better anytime soon it looks like.

Just remember, 15" displays are overkill for some. While multiple 30"+ displays is still not enough. We can not judge someone else's needs by our own.

GEEZ! Where are the new Mac Pros? 45 days from the article was weeks ago.

Even if I count days only by M-F, 45 days is two days from now.