2013 Mac Pro Announced at WWDC

[aaron97]

The new design of the Mac Pro is absolutely ASTONISHING!!! The build, the power, the, the, the... everything. But there is one more thing ... thad budders me badly. I'v been working in CGi industry for many years. As a pro artist I need (and not just me) one special requirement from a computer in general and that is nvidia GPU.

Premiere mostly uses CUDA, After Effects is CUDA, Nuke (there is no compositing software like nuke right now) is CUDA, iray in 3D Max, Catia, Bunkspeed and Cinema 4D is CUDA, RTT DeltaGen is CUDA, Octane Render is CUDA, Arion Render is CUDA, 3D Coat have CUDA Voxel Sculpting, Maya, 3D Max and Softimage uses Physx, etc.

There is one software that uses both CUDA and OpenCL and that is Vray. Well OpenCL version of Vray works terryble bad on GCN architecture (because AMD is so good in OpenCL...). It crashes when you load a bit more complex scene and the performance is not that good. Also on OpenCL it takes longer to load scenes in vram than CUDA.

I don't believe in synthetic benchmarks like luxrender and other OpenCL crap stuff. Believe me absolutely nobody uses Luxrender and other useless OpenCL benches in production. So some good results with AMD GPUs on those useless apps are totally irrelevant. On real world 3D pro apps nvidia is far more better.

Kepler is a better architecture for GPGPU also better geometric power inside 3D OpenGL and DirectX viewports for DCC and CAD apps, better drivers, better frame rates and frame times, better technologies like TXAA, 3D stereo, v-sync, 4k rez, ECC mens, larger software support, more energy efficient and so on.

Mainly the new Mac Pro is build more for Final Cut Pro & Motion and there OpenCL standards which is way too little in both CGI and mechanical/industrial CAD industries.

PS: Seriously do you really need dual GPU for Final Cut?

Tooooo bad... really too bad . The new Mac Pro could be a great success if it also have nvidia Quadro option.

I wonder if you'd be able to buy an external gpu that runs off the thunderbolt bus, I'm sure it's very possible because thunderbolt is similar to PCIe. That way you can get CUDA acceleration.

 

[gorg]

Wow. I need to start saving...

I am not pretending I am a prophet but that's something I expected (and hoped for) for a NG Mac Pro.

 

[paulfitz82]

Don't know quite what to make of this yet. I was most concerned by Woz's lack of reaction and almost poker face (perhaps hiding disappointment) when the reveal came in the Keynote and the camera zoomed on him. Things like that are very telling. Wasn't there a big riff between Woz and Jobs about eliminating the expansion ports that the Apple II had and the Mac only had ports? Perhaps my memory is failing me.

I still prefer expansion, since it's easier for us hackers to change components. I'll stick with my Optiplex 755 that I got for $59 with it's 9400GT card I got for $15 and it's 3.17 Core 2 Duo I got for $30. I can upgrade it to a Quad Core for maybe $90. I can buy a nice used Mercedes with the money I will save on this obelisk.

And more tech savvy, please correct me, but are the current Mac Pros Dual 6 core hyperthreaded for an effective 24 core machine? Will this essentially be a step backward in performance?

I'm going to hack an old HP Dual Xeon box next. Total out of pocket will be under $350. I try to overcome the "good, fast, cheap; pick two" scenarios of the graphics world.

 

[Maryus3D]

Well CubiX announced a GPU Expander via TH for iMac and MacBook Pro, but it will cost around 1000 $ or euros (box only) + the GPU. It's pointless... even if you have a Cubix or something like that with high end Quadro, you'll have 2 unused expensive FirePros there .

 

[Rakuun]

So the only color this thing comes in is black? I'd prefer the brushed aluminum look of the current Mac Pro.

 

[Adrian B]

At last, a Mac Pro that moves technology into the 21 century. PCI Express based flash storage, four channel 1866Mhz Memory, Thunderbolt 2 for expansion and a smaller smart form factor. Apple have changed the game again. Delighted as the big boxes have long since had there day.

Everyone laughed when Apple started putting USB 1.1 on computers, along came USB 2 shortly afterwards and just look at the number of USB 2 devices that have been around for years. Thunderbolt will be different however as the speeds are higher but it creates a two way data path that can be used for multiple devices. This will change things big time. If we get V3 as an optical version then things will get even more interesting.

We have been building computers in the same way for over quarter of a century. Intel and Apple have signalled an opening of development in this new technology that manufactures will relish.

 

[qaesar]

Sorry guys, but i am disappointed...

No x16 PCIe expansion slots, and TB is a dumb bottleneck (PCIe x2). For direct access to Ultrafast internal cards SSDs/RAID/4K-SDI/RED for MultilayerEXR 4K/3D, a no-go.
No Dual CPUs (Which have btw better server-grade mainboard chipsets)..
No GPU upgrade... GPUs get pretty fast out of date... The 4096 Cores will be at least 2 Years later old when the REAL 4K RAW production starts..
No Nvidia (CUDA) alternative to AMD > internal ? (remains to be seen...)
No rackable case... LOL, and no i dont care how "small" that trashcan case is. Its for WORK (Pro), not shiny plastic show-off.
No internal dual 10GBE ? TB to 10GBE ? Why, oh God why ?

Conclusion ? It's an iMac Pro X...

So, my conclusion:
Long live the Hackintosh ;-) Where i can answer ALL of the above with a clear YES. Hell, even in a 4 GPU / 24 Core configuration ...

 

[Boxer7]

Anyone know what type of LGA will use new Mac Pro ?

I have only understood PRO will use XEON up 12 cores, but LGA????

 

[gorg]

I think it's great. Yet, most lame attendees were interested in iOS 7.

It's something between Mac Mini Pro and Mac Pro Mini ;-) Apple Cube was a great machine that was ahead of its time. Too expensive and not upgradable enough to be PowerMac replacement under your desk, incredibly beautiful and quiet to be a pro desktop/workstation on your desk. Most people burried it and it was a sales failure. Many people later were killing each other to buy one in eBay the following years.

I would take AMD+OpenCL over Nvidia+Cuda anytime for GPU programming. I love the pci-e ssd speed but I hate Apple prices and I am going to miss my 4 Samsung SSDs in my watercooled hackintosh. I don't care much about HDD storage, it's been on external the last few years and Thunderbolt is not bad speed-wise.

While my ultimum workstation system would be a 24core (more if AMD was not banned) hackintosh and several meters of fiber optic DisplayPort cables ( ) I will keep an eye on Mac Pro (I might not have another option if I go 4K).

 

[Midphase]

2. The target market here is the professional user. The kind of user who needs this kind of power is not going to bat an eye at spending $4-6K on a computer when they are heavily invested in auxiliary equipment that costs much more than their computer. Cost is clearly not the issue.

I really would love to know who this mythical "professional user" for whom costs is not the issue you're talking about is? Do you live in the real world or do you like to imagine a fantasy land populated by people with money burning holes in their pockets?

ILM, Rhythm & Hues, Digital Domain, and many other high end graphics companies are very much concerned about cost. When you're updating 200+ desks, believe me cost is very much an issue. Most of these outfits are using server grade Dell and HP machines for two primary reasons...power and cost.

The Mac Pro (really a Mac Cylinder) that Apple introduced today seems geared primarily toward exhibitionists who have more money than common sense and need something for their office that matches the Maserati in their garage.

I have no problem with Apple making a product designed to look spectacular on someone's desk, I thought the Cube was a really cool looking machine well ahead of its time. But to call this a "Mac Pro" seems like a kick in the pants to everything that professionals need in much the same way that FCP X was.