killroy

blastdoor said:

rob53 said:

mikethemartian said:

So if there is an upgrade to the ProRes algorithm can the Media Engine code be reconfigured as you would be able to do with an FPGA or is it locked in?

I’m wondering if a new Mac Pro might have a socketed, replaceable SoC. This way Apple could release new SoCs with updated hardware in case firmware updates aren’t available. 

That's a really interesting idea. It seems they really could do that. The socket wouldn't even need a crazy number of pins, because RAM is on the SOC. The pins are only for PCIe. There would be much rejoicing if they were to do that. And it makes sense for them to do it, business wise, because they're the ones making the SOC (so they'd be the ones making money off the upgrades, not Intel). 

fordee said:

AppleInsider said:

Speaking of user-upgradeable, the Mac Pro's main draw is the fact that it can be configured with additional PCI Express or MPX Module cards. The Mac Studio, like other M-series Macs, doesn't support this level of modularity.

And while this is true, I don't believe that it is much of an advantage. I wonder how many people who bought a Mac Pro have plugged anything into them apart from a video card. I would expect very few.
Most people add to their machines through usb-c and Thunderbolt these days, and that is plenty fast enough for most use cases. Bus modularity is pretty much a thing of the past. Most manufacturers aren't going to invest the time to make peripherals that use a bus over a usb-c or Thunderbolt port. And they especially aren't going to make MPX modules with such a small market.

blastdoor said:

M1 Mac Studio outperforms the Mac Pro in most cases

I suspect this statement might be true, but I'd like to see more evidence before reaching that conclusion. 

The multicore geekbench scores are very impressive, to be sure. And I'm not a Geekbench hater, I think it's useful. 

But I'd like to see some comparisons using a broader range of professional software. 

The thing I most look forward to is more evidence of the benefits of the unified memory architecture. Apple says there's a big advantage, and their argument makes sense, but I'd like to see it demonstrated in more real world software. 

lkrupp said:

Err, ah, what was Intel babbling about catching up to and outperforming the M1?