Advertisement: The new Mac Pro. Now with up to 12 cores of processing power. From $2499. Fast, free shipping.
“This 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon here is the entry-level release, but for those who need even more power, there [are] also Mac Pros featuring two 2.4GHz Quad-Core (£2800) or two 2.66GHz Six-Core Xeon (£4000),” Osborne reports. “All can be custom-configured if you buy from the Apple Online Store.”
Osborne reports, “The graphics have received a welcome boost too. The Mac Pro’s new ATI Radeon HD 5770 is up to five times faster than the standard graphics cards offered by the previous Mac Pro generation, and even outperforms its speediest configure-to-order option… All in all, the new Mac Pro is an excellent machine. Fast, configurable and attractive, it’s everything a Mac should be.”
Read more in the full review here.
I used to lust after the top of the line Mac gear, now, notsomuch.
The high end iMac is more than I need now. I have one but I could get away with less. Hell, I do 60% of my thing on an iPad.
@ Al
I came to that realization when I bought my Quicksilver dual 800 G4. I had it for several years and never really upgraded it or used the PCI slots. Not to mention the noise… Happily Mac Pros are silent, but when I looked at how much I spent on that tower, I figured I could buy a new iMac more frequently, get the advantages of faster bus speeds and a new monitor to boot.
picked up a custom config 2 x 2.93Ghz machine a few weeks ago. I’m not happy spending the big bucks but am VERY happy with the machines performance. I’m doing more 3d illustration and getting the fastest machine possible is still a must for this line of work. Looking forward to this mac lasting a few years before my next upgrade.
-m.
Wow, feedback from ChrissyOne. Made my day.
I’ve always lusted after the High-End gear, but couldn’t ever justify it. My 3 year old 2.33 MBP C2D is still clunking along. And it still out performs those junky PC lappys you can buy today for what my MBP is worth.
I am always in pursuit of the top-end gear. As a 3D Motion Graphics Designer, I need every ounce of processing power and RAM I can possible get my hands on. Presently I have a 2008 MacPro 8-Core, and have a 2010 on order.
Personally, my dream setup would be the top-end 12-core with at least 32GB of RAM, 1 512 SSD for the boot drive, 3 2TB internal storage drives, and 2 27″ Core i7 iMacs that would serve as my screens, and as incognito render farm client machines.
My brand spankin’ new Mac Pro with the 3.33GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon (Westmere) CPU (the high end single-processor unit) arrives today! I do some desultory video work, authoring DVDs for friends and reprocessing video (mainly fan-subtitled Japanese animation in obscure formats) into stuff useable for real work, as well as Unix-based software development. So, yes, this monster will be more than I need, but I am wedded to the idea of being able to insert a new drive or expansion card when I want. This is the first new desktop I’ve bought since my 2001 Quicksilver dual 800 G4 (just like Chrissy). But in my case I used all the expansion slots, mainly because I always ended up wanting more firewire slots, or USB2 (which the original model didn’t include). I have no doubt that in a few years some new super-snazztacular data interface will be invented and every new peripheral device will start using it, and I’ll just be able to add a card to allow me to utilize the new tech. Also, with 1 empty optical drive bay, when and if Apple issues a Blu-Ray drive, or some other new optical drive gewgaw, I can just pop it in. So hopefully I should be well set for my next decade of desktop computing!
Plus, after this, the universe will go back to its normal order, where I have a more powerful Mac than all my friends for whom I do tech support! (Which isn’t the case now, and it’s deeply upsetting!!)
I love my Mac Pro, but am getting ready to repurpose it as a headless unit. I ordered a Mac mini (no laughs) that will take over the primary desktop role once it is set up (it arrived @ lunchtime and is running a backup image to configure). With Apple’s distributed processing, I can offload to or remote desktop the Pro forbheavy lifting and use the world’s most power efficient desktop as my daily driver. The Pro pulls over 100 Watts at idle and the mini less than 10.
I understand that the Mac Pro is the ONLY computer of choice for the big movie producers. How about CAD now. Not just AutoCAD that is now crawling back to the Mac users. I MEAN ALL OF IT! I should be able to dream it, design it, set up the CNC for it and how about even cutting it on the CNC equipment with Apple computers and iOS devices!!!
STEVE, WHY IS THIS INDUSTRY BEING LEFT IN THE MICROSOFT WINDOWS CAMP! TAKE THIS MARKET NOW!!!
Always had top of the line towers… Until the quad core iMac came on board. I do less 3D rendering than I used to… And the iMac is still fine for the occasional project.
Able to upgrade more frequently now… Love it.
For those who need power… GO FOR IT !
How come there hasn’t been a proper test/review with the 12core seup as of yet, say? And why do they always insist on the lowend graphic card in these tests?
All the MacPro lines, including the MBP’s, will shortly become “for specialized use only” and sales will falter.
It’s because most people don’t need that sort of horsepower anymore since 3D gaming has gone to consoles.
Why burn a disk when SD cards will be cheap and plentiful?
Why collect and burn movies when renting is so much more affordable and less hassle?
Why bother learning how to program, use the command line or specialized software when you got Apple and the App Store taking care of you?
Naw! All you need is a simple finger pointing device, a iPad.
Dumb down and be happy!
@ Bizzarro
I’ve developed an iPhone interface that does away with all this simplicity. It has only 3 buttons:
0, 1, and Compile.
Happy?
@ Bizzarro,
“Dumb down and be happy!”
Looks like you’ve succeeded in the first part there, Chuckles.