Mike Wuerthele

mariowinco said:

macsean3 said:

I suppose seeing the price tag for non-Apple-installed RAM is what bugs people when they reach for their mouse to increase the RAM prior to purchase.  Is this RAM they install more expensive because it has to be formatted differently from the manufacturer in order to accommodate the Mac assembly process for their drives?  Is the memory in a smaller footprint than, say, RAM chips for the 2018 Mac mini?  I get the whole thing about paying for stability up front, but it always seems I'm getting gouged for it.  Getting nicked is expected; it's the gouging that leaves a bad taste.

If I understand properly, ram is now packed into chip, and essentially apple is deactivating the silicon you do not pay for

Fidonet127 said:

I think we will look back at this article as a very sad misprint. I can't find where video cards will not be supported.

Finally, Mac Pro brings PCI expansion to Apple silicon. It features six open expansion slots that support gen 4, which is two times faster than before. So users can customize Mac Pro with essential cards, including audio and video I/O, networking, and storage.

Right there in the keynote, Apple says the new Mac Pro will support video card for input and output. 

Listed Tech specs for the Mac Pro.

Expansion
Six full-length PCI Express gen 4 slots
Two x16 slots
Four x8 slots
One half-length x4 PCI Express gen 3 slot with Apple I/O card installed

300W auxiliary power available:
Two 6-pin connectors delivering 75W of power each
One 8-pin connector delivering 150W of power

So you have two x16 slots that can support video cards. Granted the AUX power is only 300W total.

Again the same Aux power cables that are used on the 2019 Mac Pro are also compatible with the 2023 Mac Pro.

The Belkin AUX Power Cable Kit for Mac Pro provides a set of common AUX power cables for graphics cards and other AUX-powered PCI Express devices that enable connection to the 6‑pin and 8-pin AUX power receptacles in Mac Pro.

Enables PCI Express devices requiring AUX power to be connected inside Mac Pro Provides cables needed to power typical graphics cards and AUX power PCI Express cards

The articles premise is most of the target market is missed by the new Mac Pro. Based upon what? Even without video cards, the expansion is highly wanted and useful. Just having internal storage is highly useful, because it is much faster than external storage.

blastdoor said:

Mike Wuerthele said:

keithw said:

Could you explain the statement "The reasons why for this are complex. It's not just about drivers -- Apple has decided that it didn't need a way for the Apple Silicon processor to talk to an external graphics card, at all, under any circumstances."?  If my 6-year-old Intel iMac Pro can talk to a graphics card over Thunderbolt 3, why can't an Apple Silicon-based Mac do the same?  I think it IS about drivers, and the fact that Apple doesn't want to work with either AMD or nVidia ever again.

Sure. To make a long and complex story simple, Intel chips on-die have the ability to address external graphics processors, like PCI-E ones. With that, all you need is a software driver.

Apple Silicon does not. All video work must be done on-die.

GPUs can be used for purposes other than driving a monitor. Could a GPU used solely for computation be a possibility?

keithw said:

Could you explain the statement "The reasons why for this are complex. It's not just about drivers -- Apple has decided that it didn't need a way for the Apple Silicon processor to talk to an external graphics card, at all, under any circumstances."?  If my 6-year-old Intel iMac Pro can talk to a graphics card over Thunderbolt 3, why can't an Apple Silicon-based Mac do the same?  I think it IS about drivers, and the fact that Apple doesn't want to work with either AMD or nVidia ever again.

ravnorodom said:

hexclock said:

Bringing back fast passes and meal plans at the parks might be a good start. 

Disney is getting greedy. Only high end hotel gets fast pass. The most outrageous one is Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser hotel: $5000/stay. They have to jack up theme park prices to make up the streaming department which is not making money at all. Good luck on the upcoming Max from HBO. Choices of streaming are totally and overly saturated markets these days.