8 ms·

Apple announces redesigned Mac Pro

63 points by runesoerensen 7y ago

vermontdevil 7y ago
Looks like cheesegrater. Seriously the specs look fantastic. 3 streams at 8K or 12 at 4k among others
marricks 7y ago
Sounds like what a lot of devs wanted except the GPU cards look like they need to be Apple specific versions? Also no Nvidia support mentioned yet
- blihp 7y ago
  Nothing has really changed on those fronts. (i.e. I think they've always required Apple-specific versions of cards and nVidia support has been an issue for much of the past decade as the two companies effectively stopped working with each other)
  - roboyoshi 7y ago
    I remember the famous video where Linus said that Nvidia has been the single worst company he ever had to work with. I assume it's not just the linux kernel, but also companies like apple.
  - ac29 7y ago
    This new thing is a completely proprietary connector though, meaning you'll need Apple-specific cards, not re-flashed PC cards.
klodolph 7y ago
I noticed that they addressed one of the major problems with the old (2003) design... the handles. The old handles would cut into your hands when you picked the computer up.
_bxg1 7y ago
That whole segment was just pure computer-porn. I think that's what Apple needed to win back the confidence of Pro customers.
- roboyoshi 7y ago
  Agree. It's what I wanted from them all these years. And they finally delivered.
- danieldk 7y ago
  No NVIDIA, so no CUDA. (Of course, one can buy a card, but that was already possible with USB-C and an eGPU enclosure.) Is there a particular reason they stopped shipping Macs with NVIDIA?
  - _bxg1 7y ago
    I dunno, but the PCI slots will make it much easier to add your own
    - unicornfinder 7y ago
      Problem is there's no Mac drivers for the latest Nvidia GPUs. Bit of a problem that.
      - empyrical 7y ago
        I am hoping that now that there's a Mac with proper PCIe slots it might make more business sense for nVidia to make drivers for macOS. Previously, there were Thunderbolt eGPUs which could allow using nVidia GPUs with (non-Hackintoshed) macOS but it may not have brought in enough sales to justify the cost of developing.
      - _bxg1 7y ago
        Didn't realize that.
    - berbec 7y ago
humantiy 7y ago
The old cheesegrater look is back. Its almost like how the car companies bring back the old car with a redesigned look.
- gdubs 7y ago
  Coca-Cola “Classic” is the new Mac Pro to the trash can’s “New Coke”.
- vonseel 7y ago
  I was surprised that it ever went out. Even when the last Mac Pro was introduced the cheese grater look was a very nice looking machine.
n42 7y ago
base price of $11k to have an Apple display + desktop. wow. no thanks.
- secabeen 7y ago
  When you're paying a graphic artist $80k/yr in salary, is $3k a year for 4 years for this tool really that out of line?
  - OrangeMango 7y ago
    What else can you get for $3k per year? I was seriously thinking about revisiting the days of my old G5 cheesegrater, but once I saw the price... I just can't justify it. EDIT - I just thought about it some more. Apple is saying this is modular. If they support this thing for 5-10 years, allowing for upgrading the CPU, etc. Maybe it can pencil out. I want to know what socket that Xeon is, and if Intel will keep producing chips for a long time on that socket. If Moore's law is dead...
  - petepete 7y ago
    True, in cases like that it's an investment. But if I didn't _need_ macOS I'm not sure I'd go Mac Pro over a HP Z8 G4. If you're paying £11k for a workstation you might as well get one with 28 cores and 96GB of RAM.
    - mlevental 7y ago
      what exactly does someone need a mac like that for? what kind of software that only runs on mac os needs a computer like that?
      - petepete 7y ago
        Good question, and I don't know. There are some tools like Final Cut that won't work on Windows but most creative pro tools are cross platform. I didn't make it clear in my post above, but I was speculating. I definitely don't need macOS for anything. The only reason I have a MBP is for Capture One which won't run on Linux.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
runesoerensen 7y ago
Edit: Product page up now https://www.apple.com/mac-pro/ https://www.apple.com/mac-pro/ More details: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/06/apple-unveils-powerful-all-new-mac-pro-and-groundbreaking-pro-display-xdr/ https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/06/apple-unveils-powerfu...
Prefinem 7y ago
How can apple justify $1000 for a stand?
- favorited 7y ago
  They could have just charged an extra $1000 for it, but if you want to use a VESA mount you shouldn't have to absorb the cost of the stand.
  - spilk 7y ago
    Then you just have to absorb $199 for the VESA mount.
- dmix 7y ago
  You could hear the crowd gasp when they listed $999 for the stand.
  - erikpukinskis 7y ago
    In case anyone is wondering, this refers to the display stand. I guess you don’t pay the $999 if you already have a display arm.
kyoob 7y ago
Optional wheels!
vonseel 7y ago
Target user for $6000 computer??? Video editors? Recording studios?
- twoquestions 7y ago
  My thoughts exactly! Don't they have render farms for this sort of thing? What's the value of having all that power under your desk to get turned into so much slag with one beverage malfunction!
- erikpukinskis 7y ago
  Video, photo, and iOS developers. Plus anyone with a really high end designerly interior design.
syntaxing 7y ago
I never used a Mac Pro but I'm surprised how many people are having issues with the price tag... Is 6K a lot for what they are providing? Most of the workstations I use at work average around $6K for heavy loaded work. Some of the render machines can go up to $10K [1]. Is their pricing off because it's geared towards "Prosumers"? [1]https://www.boxx.com/systems https://www.boxx.com/systems
- ankushnarula 7y ago
  I think most of us recall the $1899 - $2499 Mac Pro entry point in the late 2000's and early 2010's. It's kind of a bummer - but you're correct that Pro performance has moved a bit up-market. Heck. The 8-core Xeon-W costs almost $3000 at retail.
- geezerjay 7y ago
  > Is 6K a lot for what they are providing? From other comments, 1k alone is for the display stand. So, yes.
ankushnarula 7y ago
It would have been a really pleasant (and highly unlikely) surprise if Apple also re-introduced the plain old "Mac" at $1499-$1999 using prosumer-grade SKUs and PCIe expandability. Think of it as a big brother to the Mac mini - and parallel to the iMac 27". It would sell better than all Mac Pros ever sold. Really a damn shame.

63 points by runesoerensen 7y ago

Looks like cheesegrater. Seriously the specs look fantastic. 3 streams at 8K or 12 at 4k among others

Sounds like what a lot of devs wanted except the GPU cards look like they need to be Apple specific versions? Also no Nvidia support mentioned yet

blihp 7y ago
Nothing has really changed on those fronts. (i.e. I think they've always required Apple-specific versions of cards and nVidia support has been an issue for much of the past decade as the two companies effectively stopped working with each other)
- roboyoshi 7y ago
  I remember the famous video where Linus said that Nvidia has been the single worst company he ever had to work with. I assume it's not just the linux kernel, but also companies like apple.
- ac29 7y ago
  This new thing is a completely proprietary connector though, meaning you'll need Apple-specific cards, not re-flashed PC cards.

klodolph 7y ago

I noticed that they addressed one of the major problems with the old (2003) design... the handles. The old handles would cut into your hands when you picked the computer up.

_bxg1 7y ago

That whole segment was just pure computer-porn. I think that's what Apple needed to win back the confidence of Pro customers.

roboyoshi 7y ago
Agree. It's what I wanted from them all these years. And they finally delivered.
danieldk 7y ago
No NVIDIA, so no CUDA. (Of course, one can buy a card, but that was already possible with USB-C and an eGPU enclosure.) Is there a particular reason they stopped shipping Macs with NVIDIA?
- _bxg1 7y ago
  I dunno, but the PCI slots will make it much easier to add your own
  - unicornfinder 7y ago
    Problem is there's no Mac drivers for the latest Nvidia GPUs. Bit of a problem that.
    - empyrical 7y ago
      I am hoping that now that there's a Mac with proper PCIe slots it might make more business sense for nVidia to make drivers for macOS. Previously, there were Thunderbolt eGPUs which could allow using nVidia GPUs with (non-Hackintoshed) macOS but it may not have brought in enough sales to justify the cost of developing.
    - _bxg1 7y ago
      Didn't realize that.
  - berbec 7y ago

humantiy 7y ago

The old cheesegrater look is back. Its almost like how the car companies bring back the old car with a redesigned look.

gdubs 7y ago
Coca-Cola “Classic” is the new Mac Pro to the trash can’s “New Coke”.
vonseel 7y ago
I was surprised that it ever went out. Even when the last Mac Pro was introduced the cheese grater look was a very nice looking machine.

n42 7y ago

base price of $11k to have an Apple display + desktop. wow. no thanks.

secabeen 7y ago
When you're paying a graphic artist $80k/yr in salary, is $3k a year for 4 years for this tool really that out of line?
- OrangeMango 7y ago
  What else can you get for $3k per year? I was seriously thinking about revisiting the days of my old G5 cheesegrater, but once I saw the price... I just can't justify it. EDIT - I just thought about it some more. Apple is saying this is modular. If they support this thing for 5-10 years, allowing for upgrading the CPU, etc. Maybe it can pencil out. I want to know what socket that Xeon is, and if Intel will keep producing chips for a long time on that socket. If Moore's law is dead...
- petepete 7y ago
  True, in cases like that it's an investment. But if I didn't _need_ macOS I'm not sure I'd go Mac Pro over a HP Z8 G4. If you're paying £11k for a workstation you might as well get one with 28 cores and 96GB of RAM.
  - mlevental 7y ago
    what exactly does someone need a mac like that for? what kind of software that only runs on mac os needs a computer like that?
    - petepete 7y ago
      Good question, and I don't know. There are some tools like Final Cut that won't work on Windows but most creative pro tools are cross platform. I didn't make it clear in my post above, but I was speculating. I definitely don't need macOS for anything. The only reason I have a MBP is for Capture One which won't run on Linux.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

runesoerensen 7y ago

Edit: Product page up now https://www.apple.com/mac-pro/ https://www.apple.com/mac-pro/ More details: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/06/apple-unveils-powerful-all-new-mac-pro-and-groundbreaking-pro-display-xdr/ https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/06/apple-unveils-powerfu...

Prefinem 7y ago

How can apple justify $1000 for a stand?

favorited 7y ago
They could have just charged an extra $1000 for it, but if you want to use a VESA mount you shouldn't have to absorb the cost of the stand.
- spilk 7y ago
  Then you just have to absorb $199 for the VESA mount.
dmix 7y ago
You could hear the crowd gasp when they listed $999 for the stand.
- erikpukinskis 7y ago
  In case anyone is wondering, this refers to the display stand. I guess you don’t pay the $999 if you already have a display arm.

kyoob 7y ago

Optional wheels!

vonseel 7y ago

Target user for $6000 computer??? Video editors? Recording studios?

twoquestions 7y ago
My thoughts exactly! Don't they have render farms for this sort of thing? What's the value of having all that power under your desk to get turned into so much slag with one beverage malfunction!
erikpukinskis 7y ago
Video, photo, and iOS developers. Plus anyone with a really high end designerly interior design.

syntaxing 7y ago

I never used a Mac Pro but I'm surprised how many people are having issues with the price tag... Is 6K a lot for what they are providing? Most of the workstations I use at work average around $6K for heavy loaded work. Some of the render machines can go up to $10K [1]. Is their pricing off because it's geared towards "Prosumers"? [1]https://www.boxx.com/systems https://www.boxx.com/systems

ankushnarula 7y ago
I think most of us recall the $1899 - $2499 Mac Pro entry point in the late 2000's and early 2010's. It's kind of a bummer - but you're correct that Pro performance has moved a bit up-market. Heck. The 8-core Xeon-W costs almost $3000 at retail.
geezerjay 7y ago
> Is 6K a lot for what they are providing? From other comments, 1k alone is for the display stand. So, yes.

ankushnarula 7y ago

It would have been a really pleasant (and highly unlikely) surprise if Apple also re-introduced the plain old "Mac" at $1499-$1999 using prosumer-grade SKUs and PCIe expandability. Think of it as a big brother to the Mac mini - and parallel to the iMac 27". It would sell better than all Mac Pros ever sold. Really a damn shame.