2013 Mac Pro Announced at WWDC

[Solidww]

Such an amazing new looking machine. It would have been nice to have internal expansion but alas Thunderbolt and USB3 are great as well.

If it will have Xeon processors then I am guessing it will use the X79 chipset. Which means we can get full function from X79 now in OSX. This is excellent news. I am keeping fingers crossed.

We all know it will start at about 2500 and go up from there. I wonder what kind of internal upgrades someone will be able to buy with the machine.

 

[Middleman]

Here's a video preview of the new Mac Pro from Engadget:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0KtILkzC-1g

Personally I think apart from looking fantastic, the specs on the machine more than do it justice - Apple is once more pushing the performance and design envelope of computing, and really giving users something to look forward to. Okay we lament the loss of conventional upgradability and storage space of old, but whose to say Apple won't do an 'Mac Pro super upgrade' for the Xserve market or Xraid for that matter? They could well add a stackable TB2 storage device much like what a Time Machine capsule has done with an Airport base in the past.

I also suspect with the inclusion of 4K editing now on the MP, that Apple will be using the new Mac Pro as a device to connect with their upcoming Apple TV - and with this, the new MP + Apple TV (probably Ultra HD) combo will be setting new standards in power computing and/or animation/3D/visual rendering/video editing. This would mean...Apple is changing their strategy from just offering iPads and Macbooks to the casual computing market and will be putting themselves back onto the power computing map! This would be good news for all certainly. And if reports are true they have been employing ex-AMD graphics chip designers for their iPhone chip designs - it is possible they are also working on better AMD graphics integration for the Mac Pro line...

 

[subaro0o]

Looks good, but I agree with most of the opinions that it doesn't really fit into the professional environment (video, audio, etc). It's more of a rich guys cool toy.

 

[nobodynose]

very fitting that it looks like a trash can. Tim cook seems to think he can turn things around at apple by latching onto steve jobs's worst quirks and taking them to the extreme. You just knew they were going to ruin the mac pro, and here it is. Really, this is probably worse than them just discontinuing the product. It isn't a professional grade machine, it's a stupid novelty box that they're hoping will generate "buzz" for the company by showing everyone in the industry how "innovative" and "vibrant" they still are, practical computing was a secondary concern during the process.

^ this.

 

[ascent]

The Future for Pro's desktop fact.....

 

[EDGERIDER]

so with a little bit of research here is what i believe to be the guts of the beast :

1 x E5-2600 V2 - 12 cores on LGA 2011

but.....

6 thunderbolt V2 =6 x Pcie 4x if not 8x Pcie lanes
2 GPU = 2 x Pcie 8x lanes or maybe even 2 x 16x Pcie lanes
2 Pcie SSD = at least 2 x 4x Pcie lanes

so basically unless all the TB share a maximum of "X" pcie lane, i dont see how do they get 80 Pcie lanes on a CPU that has only 40

I dont think the onboard GPU could be on anything else than two separate 16xPcie3 lanes, so it is already 32 lanes here.
the Pcie ssd have to be on at least 4xPcie3 lanes so it is another 8 lanes at least.

we are already at 40 lanes

each TB port needs at least a 4xPcie2 lanes if not 8X to match TB V2 specs ... time 6 , we are looking at least at 24 to 48 lanes here....

what LGA 2011 intel chipset / CPU couple have 68 to 80 pcie lane out there??????

so basicaly unless they go dual CPU, I dont see how they can do that without sharing the 40 lanes over the whole dam thing... in one word :
any thing plugged to the thunderbolt port, will have to share with the onboard GPU and SSD...

On the other end this is very interesting for US !!!!!!

please Mr Gygabyte all we need now is a twin LGA2011 socket MoBo under 500$ with :

8 x 1866 mhz memory slot
6 x 16x pcie 3 slot in 16X16X8X8X1X1
2 x thundetbolt V2 with 4K and Pcie 8x
6 x USB3
1 x DVI
1 x 10GbE
1 x 1GbE
10 x SATA 6g

that would be it.... lol

and for a good amount of cash we could buit a 24 core xeon Hackpro with stupidly fast SSD aray and twin Titan GPU that would burry any trash can out there...

 

[animalflynn]

I noticed that too! He did not look happy. If the Woz is skeptic that cannot be good at all. Screw whatever I may think, that guy is a true genius.

Overall I think the new design is awesome and a step forward, but I still don't like it. If anything it will force other companies to try something new and different? The fact that is assembled in the USA is a giant plus. Maybe even made possible by the simplified design. Computer cases will get a lot cooler looking that's for sure!

On the other hand Thunderbolt expansion chassis are EXPENSIVE. As in they cost as much or more than a computer does. This should change now though. In a year there should be more options for chasis.

We have come a long way from the beige box THANK GOD.

 

[liongun]

On the website it notices that you can add a pci expansion chassis! I think this is a beautiful and awesome design!

 

[trs96]

I've read many comments about the new MP looking like a trash can or ash tray but I highly doubt that those are what
inspired the Apple engineers to create the "iTube." The radical departure from the Mac Pro tower form factor may have
been imagined over a bottle of good French wine. Wasn't the new version of OS X codenamed Cabernet ?

If you look closely at this photo of a Japanese designed wine cooler sold by Le Noble of France, they may have a great
case for patent infringement. Doubt they've got the kind of cash that Samsung has to fight a multi country legal battle
costing billions of dollars.



Anyway, I don't see this as bad news for all of us using CustoMacs. It just means that we'll still be unable to afford a new MP
and all the pricey TB peripherals needed to connect hard drives etc. We should finally get better support for the functions
of the TB ports on GB and other compatible mobos. Even Crossfire and/or SLI gfx card setups may be possible in the near
future.We can always still find older G5 and Mac Pro cases to mod for that classic Apple form factor that looks really good
and is easily expandable and upgradeable.

As far as Tim Cook having anything to with this radical redesign, that is also highly unlikely. R&D and planning for this had
to start back as far as 2009 or 2010 when Steve was still the CEO. I'd imagine that he had some involvement in the design
of the cylinder shape of the MP as he always liked to come up with completely new concepts / designs that would get a lot
of attention for Apple and also create controversy. Look at the response to the "jelly bean" iMacs that came out in 1997.

To sum it all up, a completely new shape for the boxy rectangular desktop that has dominated PC design for over 30 years.
Eventually many other manufacturers of PCs and PC cases will try to imitate this even though Apple will sell more iPhones in
one day than Mac Pros in one or two years.

 

[Maryus3D]

For me it doesn't look like a trash can but is looks like R2-D2 w/o legs and weels.