From Gruber's article: "The $2999 model goes from 4 Xeon CPU cores to 6, and from dual AMD G300 GPUs to dual G500 GPUs. The $3999 model goes from 6 CPU cores to 8, and from dual D500 GPUs to dual D800 GPUs. "
Does he have the GPU names wrong or does AI? Weren't they D300/D500/D700?
Similar look to current Mac Pro, but bigger as to accommodate GPUs with the higher standard of 250W per chip?
Same size as current Mac Pro, but with Apple's new GPU tech which will compete at a lower TDP.
If a larger chassis, Apple could use multiple SSD card slots (4x?( in the new Mac Pro. Prices will still be higher than any 3.5" HDD, but prices will drop by the time this is out and I think it's silly to assume that HDDs and SATA will ever find their way back Into new Macs.
Now that Apple has explained why they just couldn't add any upgraded component into this design due to thermal issues, is anyone going to apologize for repeatedly stating over the past 2+ years that all Apple had to to put in new chips?
If a larger chassis, Apple could use multiple SSD card slots (4x?( in the new Mac Pro. Prices will still be higher than any 3.5" HDD, but prices will drop by the time this is out and I think it's silly to assume that HDDs and SATA will ever find their way back Into new Macs.
I've noticed that stick SSDs from other vendors are slowly becoming more popular. I've even been reading about PCIe SSDs and others that use ports called M.2 or U.2 (I think). It's finally looking like storage read/write speeds aren't going to be a bottleneck anymore. Now if they could only make high capacity SSDs cheaper…
So technically not faster GPUs, just shifting the pricing tiers over so that the D300s become the D500s, the D500s become the D700s. Same GPUs, one price step lower.
From Gruber's article: "The $2999 model goes from 4 Xeon CPU cores to 6, and from dual AMD G300 GPUs to dual G500 GPUs. The $3999 model goes from 6 CPU cores to 8, and from dual D500 GPUs to dual D800 GPUs. "
Does he have the GPU names wrong or does AI? Weren't they D300/D500/D700?
Gruber had multiple mistakes there. G300/500 should be D, D800 should be D700. It's the same GPUs, the only thing shifting is the price tiers and the bottom D300 being out.
6-8 CORE CPU-CHECK
RAM - NOT 3000 MHZ - FAIL
USB C- TH3 - FAIL BIG TIME
GPU - NOT 16 GB-TOTAL FAIL
I remember the times when we Apple customers were presented with the highest grade possible tech.
With Apple telegraphing they are abandoning this form factor and the lame specs of the speed bump, who exactly would shell out the Dollars for this thing?
Apple needs to stop trying to reinvent the wheel with each new product release. The Workstation form factor is a necessity for some and a preference for others. For once, maybe Apple can conform to industry standards and design a Mac whose purpose is not as an object of art or industrial design- but as a form follows function tool that is versatile, maintainable over more than 24 months, user upgradeable and highly reliable.
A slightly smaller version of the Mac Pro Workstation with modern internals and connectivity would be just the ticket.
Similar look to current Mac Pro, but bigger as to accommodate GPUs with the higher standard of 250W per chip?
Same size as current Mac Pro, but with Apple's new GPU tech which will compete at a lower TDP.
If a larger chassis, Apple could use multiple SSD card slots (4x?( in the new Mac Pro. Prices will still be higher than any 3.5" HDD, but prices will drop by the time this is out and I think it's silly to assume that HDDs and SATA will ever find their way back Into new Macs.
I don't know how likely this option is, but I would like to see Apple build on the experience of their X-Serve form factor for a Mac Pro. Rack mountable, 1 or 2 RU, with internal RAID option, redundant PS, maybe at least one internal PCI card. Modular, but still tightly packaged...
Apple will incorporate Vega2 GPGPUs from AMD and those come out late Fall 2017. The successor to Ryzen will be out early 2018. Good timing. Apple will be moving away from Thunderbolt to avoid being handcuffed to Intel.
How about a MacBook Pro with a SIM card, HDMI, SD, USB A and C? That'll be a perfect all around Pro device. You can make USB-C only MacBooks, but pros need to be flexible and not have to twiddle in their bags looking for dongles and external drives.
The USB-A part of your complaint is silly. If you have USB-A devices, you buy a $5 adaptor and stick it on the end of your USB-A cable and never think about it again. At least that's what I did. For example, I have a USB thumb drive on my keyboard; since I got my MacBook Pro it's become a USB-A thumb drive thanks to a tiny adaptor. Having legacy USB-A slots on brand new PowerBooks would be a mistake.
You seem to not understand the meaning of the word "legacy". Apple's latest iPhones, iPads, and their own headsets, ALL come in USB A. Professionals who have to work in many different environments, not just at their desk, need the flexibility.
Wish they had done it at WWDC so that we could have had a moment of comedy during the inevitable euphoric applause. My favorite such moment was when Swift dropped and the camera panned to reveal the stunned looks on the faces of the weary engineers sitting among cat calling, whistling posers (who are ironically the reason that Apple had to neuter the SDK like that). Anyway, it's more cost effective to upgrade the CPU on the aftermarket or go with a hackintosh until six months after their next model ships. Anyone want to buy some UltraFine bullshit from two months ago?
Dude, D700 & 8-core? $3,999? That's a (not great but) GOOD price! I was going to drop $3,000 for a D300 4-Core. Now I'll just get what I really wanted in the 1st place, didn't like 12-core...
With Apple telegraphing they are abandoning this form factor and the lame specs of the speed bump, who exactly would shell out the Dollars for this thing?
Apple needs to stop trying to reinvent the wheel with each new product release. The Workstation form factor is a necessity for some and a preference for others. For once, maybe Apple can conform to industry standards and design a Mac whose purpose is not as an object of art or industrial design- but as a form follows function tool that is versatile, maintainable over more than 24 months, user upgradeable and highly reliable.
A slightly smaller version of the Mac Pro Workstation with modern internals and connectivity would be just the ticket.
"For once", i think regarding the Mac Pro this was the first time Apple went crazy on design and sacrificed function. The Quadra 800 was introduced 1993 for $4,700 and the rectangular case would last for 20 years and was a lot more upgradeable than the current MacPro design.
Dude, D700 & 8-core? $3,999? That's a (not great but) GOOD price! I was going to drop $3,000 for a D300 4-Core. Now I'll just get what I really wanted in the 1st place, didn't like 12-core...
I didn't bother to check US pricing before the Apple site was updated, but in Canada the new 8 core version is $2,000 less than it was previously. That's a pretty significant price drop. Does anyone know what the previous US price was?
Similar look to current Mac Pro, but bigger as to accommodate GPUs with the higher standard of 250W per chip?
Same size as current Mac Pro, but with Apple's new GPU tech which will compete at a lower TDP.
If a larger chassis, Apple could use multiple SSD card slots (4x?( in the new Mac Pro. Prices will still be higher than any 3.5" HDD, but prices will drop by the time this is out and I think it's silly to assume that HDDs and SATA will ever find their way back Into new Macs.
This is Schiller's sure to be well rehearsed comments on the new Mac Pro:
“We’re working on it,” says Schiller. “We have a team working hard on it right now, and we want to architect it so that we can keep it fresh with regular improvements, and we’re committed to making it our highest-end, high-throughput desktop system, designed for our demanding pro customers.
“As part of doing a new Mac Pro — it is, by definition, a modular system — we will be doing a Pro display as well. Now you won’t see any of those products this year; we’re in the process of that. We think it’s really important to create something great for our pro customers who want a Mac Pro modular system, and that’ll take longer than this year to do.”
We better hope that by "modular", Schiller is thinking internally upgradeable, not modular external components that are connected together through TB3/USB cables.
If they want to do highest end, highest throughput desktop system, that should mean a 2 socket Xeon system, minimum of 8 RAM slots, minimum of 3 PCIe slots. Multiple SSD card slots are immaterial as the new Mac Pro should support Optane storage through PCIe. If you want a lot of flash storage, you can put it all on a PCIe card and call it a day.
The Apple twist is usually in producing the smallest, quietest, most well arranged machine that can fit these components. No loose cabling. High quality chassis. etc.
Now that Apple has explained why they just couldn't add any upgraded component into this design due to thermal issues, is anyone going to apologize for repeatedly stating over the past 2+ years that all Apple had to to put in new chips?
That swings for GPU, but there are chips (E5-v4) that Apple could be using for the Mac Pro that meet its TDP and would require only fairly standard changes to the socket.
Now that Apple has explained why they just couldn't add any upgraded component into this design due to thermal issues, is anyone going to apologize for repeatedly stating over the past 2+ years that all Apple had to to put in new chips?
That swings for GPU, but there are chips (E5-v4) that Apple could be using for the Mac Pro that meet its TDP and would require only fairly standard changes to the socket.
Sure, but that's still a socket change and I can't imagine going through the R&D—comparatively easy and inexpensive as it might be—for a small bump in CPU performance when it's already such a low volume seller and without an upgrade to the GPUs.
I certainly wouldn't have greenly that operation, but I certainly would've tried to work with Intel, AMD, and Nvidia to see what they could offer to move this design forward at least one generation without having to start from scratch (which I assume they did, but sales were too low to warrant any real investment from any party). I also wouldn't have allowed this Mac Pro to launch unless I thought that there was a long upgrade path for the case and chassis design (which I assume they also thought was going to be possible as the industry had mostly moved toward lower TDP and power consumption of components). I certainly can't imagine that they didn't have future plans.
PS: Is this Mac Pro now more of a flop than the Cube? I think it might be.
Comments
Does he have the GPU names wrong or does AI? Weren't they D300/D500/D700?
Professionals who have to work in many different environments, not just at their desk, need the flexibility.
I didn't bother to check US pricing before the Apple site was updated, but in Canada the new 8 core version is $2,000 less than it was previously. That's a pretty significant price drop. Does anyone know what the previous US price was?
This is Schiller's sure to be well rehearsed comments on the new Mac Pro:
“We’re working on it,” says Schiller. “We have a team working hard on it right now, and we want to architect it so that we can keep it fresh with regular improvements, and we’re committed to making it our highest-end, high-throughput desktop system, designed for our demanding pro customers.
“As part of doing a new Mac Pro — it is, by definition, a modular system — we will be doing a Pro display as well. Now you won’t see any of those products this year; we’re in the process of that. We think it’s really important to create something great for our pro customers who want a Mac Pro modular system, and that’ll take longer than this year to do.”
We better hope that by "modular", Schiller is thinking internally upgradeable, not modular external components that are connected together through TB3/USB cables.
If they want to do highest end, highest throughput desktop system, that should mean a 2 socket Xeon system, minimum of 8 RAM slots, minimum of 3 PCIe slots. Multiple SSD card slots are immaterial as the new Mac Pro should support Optane storage through PCIe. If you want a lot of flash storage, you can put it all on a PCIe card and call it a day.
The Apple twist is usually in producing the smallest, quietest, most well arranged machine that can fit these components. No loose cabling. High quality chassis. etc.
I certainly wouldn't have greenly that operation, but I certainly would've tried to work with Intel, AMD, and Nvidia to see what they could offer to move this design forward at least one generation without having to start from scratch (which I assume they did, but sales were too low to warrant any real investment from any party). I also wouldn't have allowed this Mac Pro to launch unless I thought that there was a long upgrade path for the case and chassis design (which I assume they also thought was going to be possible as the industry had mostly moved toward lower TDP and power consumption of components). I certainly can't imagine that they didn't have future plans.
PS: Is this Mac Pro now more of a flop than the Cube? I think it might be.