How will the MacPro be introduced?

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014


The new MacPro is a big change.  Too big to be slipped in to the iOS event coming in September, IMO.  How do you think it will be introduced?


 




I see a full event focused primarily on pros.


 


 


- Mavericks - more detail


- MacPro 


     demos by some powerhouse apps that can really use the GPU and other goodies


- display revamp - adds TB and USB3, thinner like iMac, same resolution OK


     for Mac mini, MacPro and second display for those who want it and don't need 4K


- 4K display (with the added price)


- FCP new version (already announced at WWDC)


- Motion update


- Compressor update (finally with new UI)


- Aperture update


- Modo now an Apple app, available for $399 (in my dreams)


 


iWork would not need a MacPro, so though I think it needs an update, I don't see it at this event

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 80


    I see a silent update, put on the store either on its own or alongside the iMac, MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini.

  • Reply 2 of 80
    marvfoxmarvfox Posts: 2,275member


    Mac Mini will have no update at all. I know this for a fact.

     

  • Reply 3 of 80
    winterwinter Posts: 1,238member
    marvfox wrote: »
    Mac Mini will have no update at all. I know this for a fact.

     

    And the Easter Bunny is real. What is your source?
  • Reply 4 of 80
    mccrabmccrab Posts: 201member


    If it was an update of the existing form factor, a silent update and slipping it onto the store unnoticed might make sense.


     


    But given the preview we got a couple of months ago, and a number of unanswered questions (the specs etc), some kind of event would make sense.  Apple might want to explain the configs and then there's a question of whether Apple updates the displays and offers up a matching black keyboard, mouse and trackpad, not to mention TB2 external storage.  As a package, it would certainly be worth some airtime.  


     


    Maybe at the official release of Mavericks, with a lag 4-8 weeks until the units ship could work?

  • Reply 5 of 80
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    winter wrote: »
    And the Easter Bunny is real.

    The Easter Bunny is real, there's a video here of one frolicking in the wild (NSFW):



    I think the Mac Mini will get an update same as always because having a small headless server is a useful product. They could ditch it on the basis that the vast majority of people buy iMacs and laptops and the prices on them are low but I don't think they will. If they stick with the quad-i7, I expect prices to either increase $100 or they won't use Iris graphics and use this instead:

    http://ark.intel.com/products/75128/Intel-Core-i7-4800MQ-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_70-GHz

    The Minis tend to share processors with the laptops though. There seems to be a batch of Haswell mobile CPUs not out yet:

    http://www.anandtech.com/show/7021/introducing-the-dualcore-haswell-skus

    If the prices on those are more reasonable than the ULT chips for Ultrabooks, the Mini can maintain its entry price point. This suggests 4600 graphics in the Mini. Still faster than last year but only a very small amount.

    The Mac Pro has already been introduced and has had a graphics demo showing off the power but if they are going 4K IGZO displays (and I suspect they are), they'll want the Mac Pro and displays ready at the same time.

    If it comes in at a high price point, it'll have to be in addition to the standard model, something like 27" 1440p for $799 and 32" 4K for $1499.

    Intel will be launching all the tech on September 10th so if Apple doesn't do a silent update, they'll probably hold it all for an event in October.
  • Reply 6 of 80
    winterwinter Posts: 1,238member
    :lol: Marvin that was perfect. I don't know what you would have posted if I had said Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy but I am so glad I settled on the Easter Bunny. That really put a smile on my face. Also great video! I am a Kate Upton fan. ;)

    Also I completely forgot about those dual core Haswell models.

    How much of a jump would a dual core 4600 be over a dual core 3000?
  • Reply 7 of 80
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    winter wrote: »
    How much of a jump would a dual core 4600 be over a dual core 3000?

    The weird thing with Intel's naming is that the 4600 can end up faster than the 5000, even despite the fact the 5000 has twice the shader count. The TDP is a big factor. The Intel HD 5000 in the 2013 Air at 15W is not much faster than the HD 4000 at 17W in the 2012 model:

    http://www.anandtech.com/show/7072/intel-hd-5000-vs-hd-4000-vs-hd-4400

    The 4600 at 37W or so is above the 5000:

    http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-4600.86106.0.html
    http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-5000.91978.0.html
    http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-4000.69168.0.html
    http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-3000.37948.0.html

    If you look at say Bioshock Infinite on high, HD3000=9fps, HD4000=11fps, HD5000=16fps, HD4600=21fps.

    It looks like the HD4600 that may appear in the Mini would be 50-100% faster than the HD4000 in the old one.
  • Reply 8 of 80
    winterwinter Posts: 1,238member
    Marvin wrote: »
    It looks like the HD4600 that may appear in the Mini would be 50-100% faster than the HD4000 in the old one.

    Wow! I'm interested. I was worried about price increases if they went with the Iris 5100 but it seems as though the HD4600 is a decent improvement over the HD4000 which would mean it's an even bigger improvement over my 2011 mini. Still I will hold off in case of bugs with Mavericks.
  • Reply 9 of 80
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    The new MacPro is a big change.  Too big to be slipped in to the iOS event coming in September, IMO.  How do you think it will be introduced?
    In a perfect world it would be introduced with the following:
    [*] BEER
    [*] STRIPPERS
    [*]ROCK & ROLL



    I see a full event focused primarily on pros.
    I see an event where it gets 50% of the time with the rest reserved for the iPhone.
    - Mavericks - more detail
    - MacPro 
         demos by some powerhouse apps that can really use the GPU and other goodies
    It wouldn't be a event without demos.
    - display revamp - adds TB and USB3, thinner like iMac, same resolution OK
         for Mac mini, MacPro and second display for those who want it and don't need 4K
    - 4K display (with the added price)
    I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the display is a hold up with respect to the Mac Pro release. A 4K++ display will be very important with respect to sales of the new Mac Pro.
    - FCP new version (already announced at WWDC)
    - Motion update
    - Compressor update (finally with new UI)
    - Aperture update
    - Modo now an Apple app, available for $399 (in my dreams)

    iWork would not need a MacPro, so though I think it needs an update, I don't see it at this event
    It is interesting that you even bring up iWork here. IWork does need that update, really bad actually, as such it might come with Mavericks. In other words it is more of a Mavericks update than something linked to the Mac Pro.
  • Reply 10 of 80
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post


    [*] BEER


     


    Poured out of an empty Mac Pro case.






    [*] STRIPPERS



     


    Doing an unboxing of the Mac Pro to sultry saxophone music.






    [*]ROCK & ROLL 



     


    Being edited and effects applied to it live, courtesy a new Mac Pro.

  • Reply 11 of 80
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Bergermeister View Post




    - Modo now an Apple app, available for $399 (in my dreams)


     



     


    Considering the foundry absorbed luxology, I wouldn't count on it.

  • Reply 12 of 80

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by hmm View Post


     


    Considering the foundry absorbed luxology, I wouldn't count on it.



     


     


    As I said, in my dreams.


     


    image

  • Reply 13 of 80
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    winter wrote: »
    :lol: Marvin that was perfect. I don't know what you would have posted if I had said Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy but I am so glad I settled on the Easter Bunny. That really put a smile on my face. Also great video! I am a Kate Upton fan. ;)

    Also I completely forgot about those dual core Haswell models.

    After seeing that video, who cares about tech ¿

    Thanks Marvin! And LOL at the first comment.
  • Reply 14 of 80
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    With a bang

    [VIDEO]youtube.com/watch?v=VIpvsrTnD1w[/VIDEO]
  • Reply 15 of 80
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Bergermeister View Post


     


     


    As I said, in my dreams.


     


    image





    Out of curiosity, was it due to Apple's tendency to lower barriers of entry when it comes to software through low minimum hardware requirements and pricing? They aren't generally known for extremely regular updates when it comes to "pro apps". My experience with Modo is very very limited. I tried it a couple years ago. The renderer seemed a bit limiting with the standard shader package. I didn't examine the API to see how extendable it was, so I can't comment there. At the time it lacked any kind of stack or history function, including with curves. The poly modeling toolset was pretty nice though. Its drawing method options were pretty nice, although some kind of zenith depth function to the viewport would have been nice to help identify location without having to look at coordinates. I remember it being difficult to specifically tell when the viewport was inverted. That version also crashed quite a bit, and at the time examining luxology's forums had people with maxed out mac pros (2009-2010 variety) who still complained about program stability. Any idea if those issues are still present? I'm weird in that renderman compliant renderers still tend to be my favorite due as they'll run on practically anything, and displacement takes very little memory. Out of curiosity, do you plan to run Modo on the new Mac Pro?

  • Reply 16 of 80


    My suggestion was a bit of a casual dreamy jest.


     


    I just discovered Modo and liked it and had no crashes on my iMac.  Like Cinema 4D better but the price to include character rigging is astronomical (you have to pay for tons of material that I would never use).  Will try the 1 month Modo trial soon and then wait for a sale to buy (40% off, usually).  That brings it down to $900.  How I miss my academic discounts!


     


    Would love to get a MacPro, decked out.  Would also love to get some nice software.  Both without breaking the bank account.


     


    I don't do anything too complicated.  Currently I work with characters and simple concepts in 2d (Animate, ToonBoom Studio, AnimeStudio Pro).  Would love to stretch into 3D.  One odd thing about 3D apps is the limited audio they have.  I am used to having several tracks per project (one for each character, lip-synced, one for BGM and several for sound effects).  Modo only supports one file to play at a time...


     


    In the mean time, I am enjoying learning the ropes of 3D with Cheetah3D (very inexpensive) and Poser Pro 2014, but without audio Cheetah won't hold me for long. 

  • Reply 17 of 80
    conrailconrail Posts: 489member


    I thought it had already been introduced.   Other than the price and the specific model numbers for the processor and graphics cards, pretty much every detail has been released.  No event is necessary.   There are already detailed demos of this machine in operation.  FCP X will be a point upgrade mainly to accommodate the new graphics cards.  New versions of Motion, Aperture, etc. will get as much fanfare as the new version of Logic.  

  • Reply 18 of 80
    hmmhmm Posts: 3,405member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Bergermeister View Post


    My suggestion was a bit of a casual dreamy jest.


     


    I just discovered Modo and liked it and had no crashes on my iMac.  Like Cinema 4D better but the price to include character rigging is astronomical (you have to pay for tons of material that I would never use).  Will try the 1 month Modo trial soon and then wait for a sale to buy (40% off, usually).  That brings it down to $900.  How I miss my academic discounts!


     


    Would love to get a MacPro, decked out.  Would also love to get some nice software.  Both without breaking the bank account.


     


    I don't do anything too complicated.  Currently I work with characters and simple concepts in 2d (Animate, ToonBoom Studio, AnimeStudio Pro).  Would love to stretch into 3D.  One odd thing about 3D apps is the limited audio they have.  I am used to having several tracks per project (one for each character, lip-synced, one for BGM and several for sound effects).  Modo only supports one file to play at a time...


     


    In the mean time, I am enjoying learning the ropes of 3D with Cheetah3D (very inexpensive) and Poser Pro 2014, but without audio Cheetah won't hold me for long. 





    Like I said it was a long time ago when I tried it. These things do evolve. I found the experience a bit polarizing in that I would really like one thing and hate another. If it's for personal use and you're on a strict budget, why not try something like Blender? The downside is once again the renderer. Assuming you don't want something extremely math heavy with some amount of code involved, that can be a sticking point with 3d packages. If it's for personal use, you could always grab a student version of the autodesk stuff, even if you aren't a student. Unless they changed something, they do not care if it's for personal/learning use, definitely nothing commercial. I know some artists have used such options for personal projects on their home computers. I mentioned that because if you're not big on heavy scripting, you can find a lot of rigging tools for those applications available online, often free or open source. You're going to find that basic FK/IK solvers and methods of joint layout leave a lot to be desired.


     


    I forgot to tie that into the mac pro. The thing is that not all of those applications will benefit much from OpenCL. Most have large amounts of old code and a lot of things that can't be effectively implemented in that manner. For example most renderers that do leverage any kind of GPGPU functionality tend to hit specific limits on the number of shading nodes that can be addressed and the amount of texture data that can be processed. They won't work for the largest scenes. 3d paint apps can display more with smooth results if a lot of gpu memory is available. 3d apps in general can maintain better framerates with high levels of tessellated data. I'm not sure how many of them benefit from multi-gpu functionality on OSX or how many will in the near future.

  • Reply 19 of 80


    As some of this might get away from the MacPro, I started a 3D app discussion here:


     


    http://forums.appleinsider.com/t/159219/3d-apps-2013

  • Reply 20 of 80

    The rumor today on AI is that Maverick will be available in late October.  That's about the right time frame for the new Mac Pro, so hopefully price and availability will be announced then too.

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