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Mac Pro gets half-assed “update”

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Re: Mac Pro gets half-assed “update”

#131

Post by akeefer »

robomartin wrote: post #98

This illustrates the issue I highlighted in another thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4097141 The fact that Apple keeps hardware and, increasingly, software, so tightly controlled leads to a situation like that of this "new" Mac Pro. If the Apple hardware ecosystem were open like that of Windows you'd have major companies all over the world evolving the platform in wonderful ways. Performance would go up an…

Apple is what it is because they tightly control the end-to-end user experience, from the hardware to the software. You can't maintain that and open up the hardware ecosystem; it's an either/or choice. So far, their choice has worked out really, really well for them, so why should they mess with that?

I'm sure you're aware of Apple's fairly disastrous entry into the world of Mac clones back in the day. What you're arguing now is essentially the same theory back then: clones would benefit them by increasing the marketshare for their OS. Instead, clones just cannibalized Apple's own sales and diluted their brand with a bunch of crappy knock-offs. I'm not sure why anyone would expect it to play out differently now.

Sure, it might be in your interest as a consumer to have choice in hardware, but I don't see how it's in Apple's interest to do so. They seem to be doing pretty well precisely because of the choices they've made to lock things down, not in spite of them.

Re: Mac Pro gets half-assed “update”

#133

Post by glesica »

cbsmith wrote: post #102
icegreentea wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really doubt you can get the same performance out of a MacBook Pro. Professional media software (audio or video) takes a -lot- of power. Trying to run through a big multi-track synth setup would probably bring a MBP to it's knees. I mean for one thing, despite all the awesomeness that is Ivy-Bridge, I still do not think that Intel can cram in the same level of performance into a 35W chip that use to go into a 90W p…

> I really doubt you can get the same performance out of a MacBook Pro. Professional media software (audio or video) takes a -lot- of power. Trying to run through a big multi-track synth setup would probably bring a MBP to it's knees. With audio, it is seriously child's play. Compression is about as CPU intensive as you can get with audio outside of voice recognition, and it just isn't there. Video is mostly offloade…

Moore's Law doesn't apply to this situation because you aren't comparing CPUs designed for the same market and purpose. A low-power laptop CPU might very well be a year or more behind its desktop brethren.

Re: Mac Pro gets half-assed “update”

#134

Post by gallerytungsten »

blueprint wrote: post #31
forrestthewoods wrote: post #29

Our sound guy is PISSED at the lack of update. Seriously, incredibly pissed. I've honestly never seen him this angry before. He'd been counting down the days till WWDC and a long overdue update. There are three major pieces of software he uses on his Mac that he swears by. It sounds like they have all just released or are about to release Windows versions. I'm beginning to wonder if this is a trend? Apple is clearly…

To confirm, what kind of professionals are you talking about for whom a new Macbook Pro isn't going to be fast enough?

All of the above. Audio, video, 3D. Any pro level design. Even print design.

Having a Mac Pro with lots of storage and big monitors when you're working on a 300 page book with 300GB of photos is much less annoying than poking along with a laptop.

It's not just the speed, it's also the usability. Eg, a comfortable trackball and a nicer keyboard. Sure, you can add those to a laptop, but then you have a kludge.

Re: Mac Pro gets half-assed “update”

#135

Post by tedunangst »

Osiris wrote: post #80
petercooper wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take the Dell Precision T5500. Google it (to get the crazy long Dell configuration page URL) and you can configure it with dual six-core Xeons, for example.

Thanks, I learned something today. Oh, and the Dell is less than half the price of the Mac Pro.

A quad core Dell is half the price of a 12-core Mac. Once you put the same CPU, RAM, and hard drive in the Dell, the difference is about $200. It's cheaper, but not that much cheaper. The bulk of a Mac Pro's cost is really just passing along Intel's price for Xeon processors.

Re: Mac Pro gets half-assed “update”

#136

Post by MBlume »

justindocanto wrote: post #94

If I used your logic last year when they did soft bumps to the MacBook Pro after not having a major upgrade since 2010, I would've been shitting my pants thinking they would be dropping the MacBook Pro and only going consumer... which, as we learned today, is not the case. The Mac Pro is a necessary part of their line for professionals and aren't going anywhere. My guess is next upgrade will be a big overhaul. It wil…

You and OP have made clear, concrete, differing predictions about the future, predictions which can be checked within the next 6-12 months. This is epistemically virtuous -- congratulations! If you want to be even more epistemically virtuous, you could arrange a bet. How much would you be willing to bet that there will be a new Mac Pro within the next year?

Re: Mac Pro gets half-assed “update”

#137

Post by MBlume »

gdubs wrote: post #63

A souped-up iMac and some sort of thunderbolt 'bay' for expansion cards would serve the pro market, one would think. A large-scale touch display would be on the wish-list as well. That's my complete guess as to where they might be headed. I can't really imagine that Apple is unaware of how important the pro market is to their image, if not the bottom line. Consider the strong ties with Pixar – they must get constant…

Perhaps you should actually bet with OP then!

Re: Mac Pro gets half-assed “update”

#138

Post by cageface »

robomartin wrote: post #98

This illustrates the issue I highlighted in another thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4097141 The fact that Apple keeps hardware and, increasingly, software, so tightly controlled leads to a situation like that of this "new" Mac Pro. If the Apple hardware ecosystem were open like that of Windows you'd have major companies all over the world evolving the platform in wonderful ways. Performance would go up an…

The crowning irony is that it looks like the digital creative set is going to be pushed into the arms of Microsoft, for so long the subject of their scorn. If you want a fast digital workstation now Windows is your only reasonable option.

Re: Mac Pro gets half-assed “update”

#139

Post by MetaCosm »

sneak wrote: post #122
MetaCosm wrote: post #88

Has it come to the point that the only way to build a serious Mac rig is a high end hackintosh? I had high hopes as I need a very serious rig for work related stuff, I put off doing soe RMA and other nonsense waiting for this thing... and ... this is it? Speaking of which, has anyone built a monster hackintosh?

I was thinking about it, but then I just bit the bullet and got the top iMac, ordered 4GB with it, then ripped out the 2x2GB from Apple and put in 4x8GB. It's acceptable, though sometimes when I am churning data I wish I had more than 8 threads. Having to deal with opening up one's computer and also occasionally losing a half a day to tracking down proper kexts is not my idea of cost savings. (I'm not afraid of it, i…

My current rig is a last gen Mac Pro 12 core with 128GB of memory from OWC and 4x2TB in raid.

I was hoping to upgrade to a box that could support more memory (the 128GB is already over the official spec, but well tested) ... but just meh. I am disappointed.

But, it gets me off my butt to research how to build out a decent hackintosh.

Re: Mac Pro gets half-assed “update”

#140

Post by tedunangst »

ktizo wrote: post #76
Osiris wrote: post #59

I'm curious, why is it not possible to buy pre-configured, off-the-shelf dual or quad CPU PC systems? I know that you can get dual CPU server motherboards and build your own system, but as far as I know no one sells a pre-built desktop system that looks anything like the Mac Pro (spec-wise). EDIT : Looks like I was mistaken. You can get high-end PC workstations.

It is perfectly possible. You buy them from companies that supply the professional CAD market and it is relatively easy to find 32 core, dual processor, twin graphics card systems for less than $5000.

I think you mean 12-core. Who's selling 16-core CPUs? Also worth pointing out that the Mac Pro is one such system as you just described.
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