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New Mac Pro

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161–170 of 731 posts

Re: New Mac Pro

#161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 1987 Mac II released at $5,498, $12,125 adjusted for inflation. Granted, that included a monitor. IMO these things are designed for companies like Pixar, Disney, and aerospace, the "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" world.

This is in the context of Apple increasing its prices to ludicrous levels across its product lines though (look at the iPhones!). I'm sure it's great for short-term profitability, but I think they'll come to regret this.

They have been a premium company for decades.

So not sure why you think they will suddenly change.

Re: New Mac Pro

#162
people complaining about the price and comparing hardware specs tend to forget that the price incorporates running the world's best operating system with a visual ui. although hardware spec's might not always be too impressive, it needs to be considered that the macos can actually max these out as it's purpose-built for the hardware it runs on which is not the case for most of the windows/linux systems.

and no, i'm not an apple fanboi, but think that the products are pretty solid.

Re: New Mac Pro

#164
post #14

I think they took the name cheese grater too literally, it actually looks like one now.

This vent is uncharacteristically ugly for an Apple product. I have a hard time believing that this sphere pattern is really optimal for performance. Maybe optimal for minimizing the number of machine operations required to produce it... Those holes are just comically large.

Re: New Mac Pro

#165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, if the baseline for the Pro market was made up of people who could afford the last version, then one can make the argument that Apple is the one that has redefined "Pro".

It seems evident that Apple views the "pro" market as movie studios, large corporations, and media entities that need serious computing power. On HN "pro" is three guys at a co-working space using coupons to buy coffee. It's these people who will complain the loudest about the new Mac Pro.

>> It seems evident that Apple views the "pro" market as movie studios, large corporations, and media entities that need serious computing power.

If Apple is going to price out people who had purchased Mac Pros in the past (the lowest point of entry for the new model is -double- the price of the lowest late 2013 model), I don't really have a problem with that group complaining about the price.

For that particular group, this new Mac Pro wasn't worth the long wait at all.

Re: New Mac Pro

#166

I know being expandable is important here but I am stunned by the fact that an iMac Pro actually comes with better SSD and Video Card for less money and you get a screen to boot! 256g SSD is shameful, I don't care what they were thinking. No Nvidia support mentioned so I know a few that just wrote it off for that oversight alone. They will probably hold out just to be sure but that was the hope for them and others. W…

Yeah the pricing for the base model is insane. You can get a more powerful PC with 4x the storage for half the price.

And you're right about Nvidia. I also stream on Twitch, was hoping I might be able to get one of these to replace my current PC. Without Nvidia there's no way.

Re: New Mac Pro

#167
I know we all said that we preferred the cheese grater to the trash can, but I don't think anyone meant it that literally.

Re: New Mac Pro

#168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only apple could manage to call a bent piece of metal pipe a "space frame". Or every architect and engineer in the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_frame

So... > In architecture and structural engineering, a space frame or space structure (3D truss) is a rigid, lightweight, truss-like structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometric pattern. Space frames can be used to span large areas with few interior supports. Like the truss, a space frame is strong because of the inherent rigidity of the triangle; I don't see any triangles here.. All the examples on t…

From what pics I've seen, it looks the circles are arranged in a triangular pattern. So there are your triangles. (One of my most eye opening realizations when I was in engineering school was that just because something does not superficially look like something else, doesn't mean they're not functionally similar. My particular realization was with four bar linkages, which is another fun structure to know about.)

Also, it looks like there's at least two layers, so it very well could be a 3D structure and not just a flat panel.

So, all in all, I'd say it probably counts as a space frame, though I'm not part of the Space Frame Police, so who knows.

Re: New Mac Pro

#169
post #105
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 3D modelers want NVIDIA cards, not Radeon, as NVIDIA supports CUDA What do 3D modelers use CUDA for? I know it gets used for machine learning, but I'm not familiar with what else.

I've heard that CUDA can help decrease render times on Adobe Premiere Pro and several other programs. I'm guessing that includes 3D modeling software like Fusion 360 or something to help with various molding and simulation features.

Not F360 that I'm aware of, but for 3D, 3DS Max, C4D, and Maya both support GPU-based rendering using CUDA, which can be a big performance boost. On the video side, Premiere Pro, Vegas, and AVID tend to have better support for CUDA as well. However, AMD support has been catching up in the last couple years.

Re: New Mac Pro

#170

Complaining only signals that you are not the market they’re targeting. This is for Hollywood media makers, high end studios, etc. This was never to be a mass market item.

How many Hollywood media makers are there? As an Apple shareholder should I be excited to learn that they made a specialty computer for this demographic?

There are a lot of Youtube stars who would jump at a Mac Pro if it meant they can turn around videos quicker. Time is definitely money in their industry as well.

Point is that "professional" is a lot broader than just a few big enterprises.

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