“When I first gazed upon the radically redesigned, supercharged Mac Pro at Apple’s WWDC last June, my reaction was immediate: ‘This is my next computer,'” Ted Landau writes for Macworld. “The promise of lightning-fast speed combined with the allure of its futuristic cylindrical design seemed irresistible.”
“As it turns out, resistance was all too possible. With additional information now available, I’m certain that I won’t be purchasing a Mac Pro next month or at any other time in the foreseeable future,” Landau writes. “Further, I’m confident that many—possibly most—owners of earlier Mac Pros will reach a similar conclusion.”
Landau writes, “What finally killed any inclination I had to buy a Mac Pro was the cost.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple’s Mac Pro is for professionals. If you balk at the Mac Pro prices, you’re likely an iMac (or Mac mini) user. Either way, you’re getting a top-notch personal computer with the world’s most advanced operating system.
Related articles:
Why Apple’s powerful new Mac Pro shows a real commitment to creative pros – November 27, 2013
3 reasons Apple’s powerful new Mac Pro is ultimate choice for video professionals – November 18, 2013
Apple’s Mac Pro: So what’s a D300, D500 and D700 anyway? – October 24, 2013
Apple’s new Mac Pro desktop powerhouse not aimed at consumer crowd – October 24, 2013
Apple: Making the all-new Mac Pro (with video) – October 23, 2013
Apple redefines pro computing with all-new Mac Pro starting at $2999 – October 22, 2013
Are they talking about the same Mac Pro that looks like those 1900s-era wax cylinders? What has gotten into the design team at Apple? First iOS 7, and now the Mac Pro: Edison Edition? They are right, this isn’t for the faint of heart…
Idiot. You’ve obviously never seen a wax cylinder.
Only the ones he digs out of his ears. He’s been slapped.
Stay with your retro Victorian computers. Do you have a degree in Industrial Design? No? So you didn’t get the message that design is not decoration. Form Follows Function.
What a maroon.
Moronic comment is all the response that deserves.
Go pound sand, you ignorant fool.
Are they talking about the same Mac Pro that looks like those 1900s-era wax cylinders?: Yes, and the Mac Pro also looks like a tube, a common form in nature from way way way before the 1900. Must be nostalgia or perhaps there are only so many shapes.
What has gotten into the design team at Apple? Can’t really say for sure but food would be one of my top guesses.
First iOS 7, and now the Mac Pro: Edison Edition? No, I don’t think that the Mac Pro runs on AC current, DC, so it would be the Westinghouse Edition. I don’t think Apple is up to being able to do the Tesla edition.
They are right, this isn’t for the faint of heart…
The Mac Pro has never been for the faint of heart, it’s been for the pure of heart, the clarity of mind, the peace of spirit the power to do your best and, from personal experience, it sure enhances the wetness of female genitalia and when that gets going, you want to make sure your hard on, uh, your heart’s on the best performance possible.
Floyd,
Really? Every diehard Winblows lover that I know and have read online have shit themselves over this new Mac Pro.
It looks like a waste paper basket…
Your anti-Apple rants belong in a waste paper basket…
Hey if you like the Mac Trash Can Pro then more power to you…
When I bought a 2005 Ford GT I was chastised by many because, in their words, I could have purchased a Corvette Z05 for about 1/3 the cost.
That was true, but the ‘vette was less than a 1/3 the car. I recently sold my GT for almost what I paid for it, and that was with 36,000 fun filled miles on it.
Best in Class form, fit, function and performance costs. If you have a ‘vette budget buy a ‘vette, it’s a really good car for the money.
But if you wanted the ultimate experience, with unprecedented resale value, you should have bought a Ford GT.
The same holds true for computers.
The price of the new MacPro is fine. The problem is the non-existing internal expandability.
Why is this a problem for you?
External expand ability for what these days?
Expandability for NVIDIA K40 processors, PCI Express x8 SSDs and 56G InfiniBand / 40G Ethernet network adapters.
Devices that can be easily inserted into Linux servers. High performance computing equipment that I need for my application.
Gary, that’s more of an ultra fast server you might find in a super computer cluster you’re describing there, targeted at big data and science and listening in on phone calls across the planet and mining bitcoins (heh) as opposed to Photoshop and After Effects. If I needed that kind of power, I’d definitely go with a custom built LINUX box.
Most designers and animators (“pros”) seldom upgrade their machines, outside of adding RAM and hard drive space, and with Thunderbolt 2 they will be able to add a crap load of very fast storage. They can add PCI Express if they want.
mmmmmm no.
40G Ethernet??? WHY?
You toss around acronyms without a clue as to what use you would put them to. At the risk of repeating what Theolenous Mac just said, the Mac Pro is NOT a super computer. It is a Pro machine for a small group or a single person use. It is not a computer built to run your Hadron Collider. Actually, come to think of it maybe it might be able to that too. It is 1/7th of a supercomputer of 1999.
The Gigabit Ethernet on the “Mac Pro” was standardized by the IEEE almost 15 years ago!
You guys don’t get out much do you…
We use 56G InfiniBand adapters in $2000 Linux desktops to do real networking and we use NVIDIA CUDA for applications.
Most companies wouldn’t have the cabling installations to do InfiniBand, but they would have Ethernet networks. And for the type work, Gigabit Ethernet between the MacPro and the local data server wouldn’t be a bottleneck. This machine is well suited for 20 Gbit/sec Thunderbolt 2 externals for local work in smaller shared work groups where storing/sharing an edited file over Gigabit Ethernet would work fine.
If I needed the power the cost would not be an issue.
Its gorgeous.
My car analogy is this – you can spend less and get a point A to point B car but if you want a Ferrari you’ll be paying for it.
And loving it!
It’s more like a Honda Civic will get you from point A to point B for about $25K, but if you need to take an RV with you, or a load of firewood, or if point B is on the other side of an icy mountain, then you’ll pay the $60K for a 4WD, diesel V8, GMC Sierra pickup truck.
I don’t think your analogy is quite right. If you’re equating the new Mac Pro to the V8 Hemi Pickup, well, the truck has a bed that can carry a ton of “peripherals”, and the Pro can’t. While the Pro might be equated to a Ferrari, it would need a trailer hitch and an 8-foot trailer to carry it’s essentials.
Like a 5th she’ll camper
“She’ll” should have been “wheel”
A modern Mac Mini or iMac is more powerful than the high-end Mac Pro’s of 4-5 years ago and a high-end quad core model probably more powerful than 2-3 years ago. Still might fall a little short in the graphics dept.
A Mac Mini or an iMac is not a Mac Pro. Even a four or five-year old Mac Pro. They are different animals. Not designed for the same things in life. Expandability and upgradability was a hallmark of Mac Pros. Looks as though that has changed. But it’s still what professionals will be using going forward. Whether or not we are crazy about them. We’re professionals, we’ll deal with it. I’m making plans for some new ones now. After the first of the year I’ll make it happen. What? I’m going to use a Dell?
Any pro who whines about this cheap offering or cannot afford it, ain’t a pro.
Considering the cost of the internals and size of the market I thought it quite reasonable a price actually.
The funny part is that he’d never notice the difference between a pro and a mini based on his utilization.
I’m getting several. But I want to be able to render 3D graphics and animation quickly. Save high end uses such as that, a pro is way overkill.
Ted obviously is not a pro user. I salivated at the beast quite longingly until I did the math and determined that an iMac might be more bang for my buck.
Folks, does your bathroom get hot and humid after a shower? Fogged up mirrors that you have to wipe clear with your towel?
Folks, all that is history now. Apple is making a one time offer of a Mac Pro and a bathroom extractor fan all rolled into one. Yes! When your Mac Pro is not doing duty rendering videos, simply remove it from your table and shove it through the ready made hole in your bathroom wall and voila! a bathroom extractor fan!
Folk! You gotta love Apple’s ingenuity. Who would have thought that for the price of ONLY $5,000 you can now have an extractor fan for your bathroom! Cheap at twice the price!
@ Hot & humid — well bud, good attempt at being funny but got to tell ya… you need help! heres a little link I know you’ll get a lot out of
http://howtobefunnybook.com
THIS GUY IS WRONG – 3 pro users and myself are looking forward to buying one of these babies!!! Yes we have been saving! I do this every 5 years or so and this time I’m way over due!
Back in 2009, the iMacs or MacMini were not so powerful. Now they can handle more low end work that the old MacPro was needed for.
MacBookPros are also speed demons. With the right peripheral set up they could easily replace many Mac Pro activities and have the added flexibility of movability.
Memory or disk space has always been an issue with Macs. At least with the Pro you can add a second SSD although it might cost a bit.
My point is that the writer can easily use another type of Mac that is better suited for his needs. The new Pro is clearly slated for the high end user.
He’s still thinking of the old big cheap towers that were thrown together by box assemblers. They made them big because they didn’t want to put the time, money, and effort to miniaturizing what sat on your desk.
Besides, many of their customers thought big must mean pro.
I have to admit the new Mac Pro has a very unusual design and I can’t wait to see the reviews about it. They’d have to design server racks like honeycombs which are supposedly very efficient on space. I wonder if Apple has any intention of using them in their own data centers. I sure hope this new Mac Pro isn’t a monumental flop just because it isn’t a rectangular box design.
They certainly won’t use it in the data-centers.
They buy seven-figure sums of flash PCIe-cards from FusionIO for their HP servers.
Most of their software (including the whole WebObjects stack) has been ported to Linux a long time ago.
There’s no need for a MacServer other than the 25 USD (or what it costs) App in the App-store.
I wanted to buy one, too. But I also did the math (or rather, Apple did it for me). I wouldn’t want to spend so much money just for the entry-level system. And the 6-core variant would be insane to buy for someone who’s not doing any professional work with it.
In addition, this thing screams “4K display”. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Apple branded 4K displays pop up along side it at the launch (or closely after) – and I can only imagine what they are going to cost.
So, for me it will most likely be an i7 Mini with FusionDrive, maxed out RAM and a TB display, to which I can add a 2nd one at some point.
Proud Mac Mini owner here!
It’s a great machine for someone with a monitor already and doesn’t need the power of a Mac Pro. A LOT of power for the price!
If this thing is designed to edit 4K video then its cost will be insignificant compared to the cost of producing the 4K footage in the first place.
My private rule No. I for any Apple Hardware / Software is:
I NEVER EVER BUY 1ST GENERATION OF NEW PRODUCTS. PERIOD.
I will wait for 12-24 months and read all reviews and tests.
If 1st Gen Cylinder Mac Pro is OK, I’ll buy it with pricecut when 2nd Gen comes to the market. If 1st is faulty I’ll save my asss and money buying 2nd Generation. Time and patience means big money.
For now I’ll beef up my 2010 quadcore Mac Pro 5.1 with processor transplant to 6 core, 48 GB of RAM and Nvidia GTX 680 video card – all for 999 $
I know this is a machine for serious professionals. I have had Mac Professional models at my job since the early 90’s. Didn’t truly need one, more of a prosumer. But like the author I liked the internal expandability. I spent about 4500 on my last one in 2006. Was waiting for the update but probably looking at over 5000 to make it possible. This is more than I am willing to spend. So I will be an iMac customer in the future. Which is fine I’m not whining this is just a machine for only true professionals, it will limit sales to only them. This machine loses the prosumer market, not sure if that was important anyway.
The current iMac lineup is pretty kickass for the price. Most Winblows users don’t realize how affordable they are for what you get – or affordable period!
In 1988, I paid $3300 for a Mac SE. in today’s dollars, that’s $6,514.81. I upgraded the RAM right away at $35/MB, so that brought it up to about $6720 in today’s dollars. So for $3K for the base new MacPro doesn’t sound bad to me at all. And in 1988, the SE wasn’t the top of the Apple models. The Mac IIx was $7769. In today’s dollars that’s $15,337.44.
That is really a testimony of the dramatic decline in purchasing power of the US Dollar.
Inflation does hurt
For $2999 before tax, you get a quad core processor, 12GB of memory, 256GB hard drive space, no keyboard, no mouse, and no screen (obviously). You then need to purchase an external box, probably Thunderbolt-2 and some SSD’s drives for some usable storage. Oh, you also get two graphics cards even if you have only ever needed one.
As the owner of nearly every tower Apple has manufactured I’m the very definition of the semi-pro Mac user… I am shocked. I vowed never to own an iMac so I will have to wait until I am rich enough for this one.
This is basically a render box for the .01% of people on the planet that need fast graphics at any cost. Some of the Apple executives must be dating the graphics people who just want faster renders, so they can hit the gym 15 minutes sooner.
Stop and think everyone. The price is high but you get high quality product that is made entirely in the USA. Enough said we keep the dollars in the USA . All the workers are taxed by the IRS. They are documented by the ICE. They are supervised by Cupertino. I prefer to spend my money on made in the USA products.
It’s assembled in Texas from parts made mostly in Asia, not entirely made in the USA
I’m buying (2) day one fully pimped out. Plus extended warranty in case its not ready for primetime:)
http://www.apple.com/mac-pro/video/#assembly
Made in USA is no selling point for me. Or for anyone living outside of the US.
It is for us. Given the choice to not support sweatshop labor and environmental disaster, we’ll take the high road.
It’s December… where is my MacPro?
Hah! The next version of the MacPro will be shaped like a dildo so all the Apple fanboyz will finally use the hardware for their dreams come true!
Enjoy suckers! I’ll be running my Linux box with twice the power and 1/3 the price! Supermicro MoBo and off the shelf parts.
Morons!
You load up a reputable PC manufacturer with ALL the same stuff that’s in the Mac Pro, and the cost will not only be not 1/3, it will be roughly the same price. It’s the common delusion amongst PC trolls
Delusional you say? Ok, so when I get to pick and choose my MoBo, memory, video and PS? And I get expansion slots to do with as I please? Yes! I can choose what cards I want in there!
Like custom I/O cards, like D/A samplers and anything I please. Because I can choose! I am not locked in by Apple. My machine, my choice! My Money!
I love how the fanboyz in here are giving 1001 excuses for the closed system the new MacPro is.
You want a Infiniband card? Oh no, you don’t really want that!
You want a different Video card? OMG what’s wrong with you!
On and on, blah, blah, blah!!!
A million excuses for a bad design! Yeah, I said it! the new MacPro is a BAD design!
Just because it doesn’t meet your specific need doesn’t make it a bad design. Apple has a target audience. It’s not the build-your-own crowd for sure. If I wanted to build a rack mounted server with InfiniBand, it would be the wrong choice. If I wanted a powerful processing unit that could run OS X and professional video and graphics intensive
apps in small to medium sized work groups connected to networked storage, it would be at or near the top of the list. Few companies have direct connections to InfiniBand, so Ethernet is fine what it’s designed for. As for future upgrades of the graphics cards, since the ones they chose are powerful, they will get the user through years of use before needing an upgrade. It’ll be interesting to see if the 3rd party suppliers design upgrades. That’ll depend solely on how many of these sell.
I am sorry dude but this is what I hear from you (correct me if I’m wrong):
“I love Apple so much that I’ll settle for a closed system, pay top dollar and won’t complain either”.
Just so we understand each other, I own 2 MacPro’s and I love them!
I have paid $$$$ for them and I can pick and choose my peripherals as I see fit. I’ve spent over $25,000.00 for my 2 systems: Each with a triple 30″ display maxed out memory and top video cards.
Now, Apple is asking me to pay top $$$$ AND delegate my upgrade options? Hey wait a damn minute!!! I’ll pay the price but don’t tell me what to put in my system! I will decide! My Money!
I don’t want to hear no BS about iMAC either.
I pay, I choose! My choice, my money! The new MacPro = No Choice!
From me you heard “I love Apple so much that I’ll settle for a closed system, pay top dollar and won’t complain either” based on what? All I said was that for what it was designed to do, it looks like it’s a good choice, and that it wasn’t a good choice for you. True, because it’s so new, the available Thunderbolt 2 peripheral choices are limited. But Apple gives you choices of processor, RAM and internal storage configurations. And there’s nothing closed about being able to run Mac OS, Windows, and Linux on it. True, you won’t get InfiniBand at 2x the Thunderbolt 2 speed, but for the bulk of users that Apple is targeting that’s a non issue. If you really need it and don’t need any Mac apps to run, then by all means buy the PC.
I also said that it is still up in the air whether 3rd party suppliers will design graphics card upgrades for it. It’s designed for external expansion. Let’s of people think that’s just terrible. You can get up to a TB of internal Flash storage, and at least by the picture, it looks like it’s user upgradeable, as does the RAM, and the graphics cards if anyone ever makes them. The ones that are available now should be good for years. Besides the TB2, it comes with GB Ethernet, USB3, HDMI, giving a lot of open flexibility, just outside the box where you can add up to 36 external TB2 peripherals. As for the custom I/O cards you mention, that’s all TBD. Apple put the external capability for suppliers to design whatever they feel they can make money on. If nobody ever designs TB2 compatible A/D converters and other PCIe compatible, then one would be out of luck right. Apple’s thinking is if there’s enough customers for any of that kind of thing, the 3rd parties will come up with the Thunderbolt 2 to PCIe racks but the bus would be limited to 20 GB/sec instead of 40, which would cover probably 99.99% of the user needs for that kind of I/O. Do I love everything Apple does? Hell no, there’s plenty of areas they need improvement on. But IMHO, this design looks like a very good one for what it’s intended to do.
Hey man, everything you said sounds beautiful,except for one thing: If I buy this machine, then I am waiting for everyone to catch up with the new internal connector, etc, etc. How much you wanna bet that any peripheral, that goes inside this round case, will cost a fortune.
All I am saying is this: We don’t need a new standard. PCI Express worked perfectly fine. The new version is also insane!
The internal drive bays were perfect. Also, I don’t want to spread all my stuff all over my desk, I was perfectly happy with all the stuff inside a single box.
I don’t want to re-purchase all new peripherals just to have them work with thunderbolt. I was ok with the way it was.
Look, Apple wants to make a new toy to show they are cool? Ok, go for it. Just leave my MacPro alone.
How is that too much to ask? I am a loyal Apple user and someone who has spent a small fortune on their hardware/software. Now, I am looking at End Of Life of my hardware. Am I pissed? YOU BET!
Linux, all the way. Enough is enough!
I certainly agree that the transition to an external system of expansion is different and painful for quite a few users. I guess we’ll have to wait for a few years to see if this concept takes of or relegates this model to the status of a museum piece. It’s definitely got a list of pluses and minuses. It reminds me a little bit of what happened with the Cube model design except that the Cube wasn’t a high end machine like this one. If the peripheral costs don’t come down for the new one, it’ll be a real loser. If they do come down, it may become the forerunner of a new class of machines. There’s a few PC OEMs making Thunderbolt capable PC motherboards. It’s not clear to me though if that market will help enough to drive down the prices. This new Mac Pro is a major investment for the small houses and users. S the jury will be out for a while on this model.
the MacDailyNews take hit the name on the head when they say you’re getting a top-notch “personal computer.” That’s what the new Mac Pro. an Elite PC. The Mac Pro of old was a “workstation.” Different users have different needs, but Apple is for sure alienating a portion of its customers who bought a Mac Pro because of the ability to add “internal” expansion quickly, cheaply and easily. I would love to have a Mac Pro for my design business, but I think it a poor choice as a server platform or an AV editing station. For most professionals, it’s fine. For others, they now have to shop elsewhere.