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The current MacPro was designed for one group of professionals: those using FinalCut Pro. Both the software and the dual video cards were tuned to each other, a

The current MacPro was designed for one group of professionals: those using FinalCut Pro. Both the software and the dual video cards were tuned to each other, and at the time were a killer combination, faster than any other setup for that workflow. The two mistakes Apple made (and is referencing there) were that 1) the GPU market would follow down the same path as CPU's were and going with dual (slightly slower) GPUs would win out over single high-temperature GPUs so they would have good replacements to choose from down the line, and 2) other software would adapt to the 2 GPU strategy and FinalCut Pro would be the leader on a new wave of software using GPUs through things like OpenCL. Neither of these turned out to be true. GPU makers pushed hard into making single-card monsters (and it has worked well), and very few software titles have figured out (or even publicly attempted to figure out) how to make things use the second GPU on the MacPros.

astrodust 9y ago
They also bet pretty heavily that the bandwidth of DisplayPort/Thunderbolt would make it possible to expand the capability of the machine through external modules. Not just hard-drives or displays, these were envisioned for external GPUs and more, that perhaps Thunderbolt might become as sensible a design decision as PCI-e. Ports are the new slots! That didn't work out. There are external GPUs today and they perform surprisingly well, but it's just not the same as having a card you can slot into your machine. The one thing that the Mac Pro was supposed to do well, it killed at though. Final Cut on that machine can chew through 4K video without issues. The problem is the people that want that machine want more than Final Cut.
hinkley 9y ago
This dance has been going on since the first days of PCI. We go back and forth between dual and single graphics cards every time we get the TPD down far enough that a single card can do something like 1.5x as much as the old cards without melting, because one card without all the data juggling can accomplish a lot more per clock.
jdietrich 9y ago
Setting aside the dual GPU issue, the Firepro GPUs in the current Mac Pro are just pathetically slow. The mobile GTX1060 will annihilate dual D700s in any reasonable benchmark suite. They were underwhelming in 2013 and they're downright embarrassing in 2017. A four pound ultrabook should not have better GPU performance than a $7000 "professional workstation". The Mac Pro chassis has more than enough thermal performance to cope with a pair of modern GPUs, but Apple have been utterly complacent about upgrades.

astrodust 9y ago

They also bet pretty heavily that the bandwidth of DisplayPort/Thunderbolt would make it possible to expand the capability of the machine through external modules. Not just hard-drives or displays, these were envisioned for external GPUs and more, that perhaps Thunderbolt might become as sensible a design decision as PCI-e. Ports are the new slots! That didn't work out. There are external GPUs today and they perform surprisingly well, but it's just not the same as having a card you can slot into your machine. The one thing that the Mac Pro was supposed to do well, it killed at though. Final Cut on that machine can chew through 4K video without issues. The problem is the people that want that machine want more than Final Cut.

hinkley 9y ago

This dance has been going on since the first days of PCI. We go back and forth between dual and single graphics cards every time we get the TPD down far enough that a single card can do something like 1.5x as much as the old cards without melting, because one card without all the data juggling can accomplish a lot more per clock.

jdietrich 9y ago

Setting aside the dual GPU issue, the Firepro GPUs in the current Mac Pro are just pathetically slow. The mobile GTX1060 will annihilate dual D700s in any reasonable benchmark suite. They were underwhelming in 2013 and they're downright embarrassing in 2017. A four pound ultrabook should not have better GPU performance than a $7000 "professional workstation". The Mac Pro chassis has more than enough thermal performance to cope with a pair of modern GPUs, but Apple have been utterly complacent about upgrades.