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Mac Pro

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Re: Mac Pro

#311

Post by sneak »

Shivetya wrote: post #225
mojuba wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Curiously, my first association was "jet engine", was amused to learn that to many it's a trash can. Am I the only one whose breath was taken away by this new design? Power desktop seriously revisited for the first time since the 80's, anyone?

nah, dyson fans have used similar bases for years. I kid, I kid. Honestly though I do not care for an integrated "pro" machine. This is form over function. Fail a component and its off to the shop. Combined with, if I want to upgrade them I need to replace the unit. If they are going to integrate everything then they need to drop the price. Integration implies lower costs as having all the support needed to drive use…

> Fail a component and its off to the shop.

Oh, so it's exactly like the laptop, tablet, and phone you have now. Gotcha.

Re: Mac Pro

#312

Post by noonespecial »

The thing I really like about my old Mac Pro is that I could crack it open and stick a couple old graphics cards in there and go crazy with media. I had 5 screens including a TV and a Wacom digitizer connected to mine.

This is a total miss for me.

Re: Mac Pro

#313

Post by jlarocco »

ansimionescu wrote: post #71

I love watching people moan about this yet unreleased product. I think the new Mac Pro episode will resemble the iPad one - lots of "ohemgee it's like just a bigger ipod, lol, how stupid do they think we are, kthx?" reactions, when in fact this product will probably push a new paradigm shift in the way workstations are built i.e. moving away from the plastic pieces of shit ubiquitously sold now. Seriously, I dare you…

Workstations are not gaming PCs or consumer desktop systems.

Gaming PCs and consumer level desktops may be "plastic pieces of shit," but the workstations I've used are always solid - both hardware and software.

The ones I have used have the build quality of a rack server, but in a desktop system. They typically use Xeon processors, ECC memory, etc.

Re: Mac Pro

#314

Post by glenra »

angersock wrote: post #284
sinnerswing wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone made fun of the i"Pad" 3 years ago. Now everyone owns one.

Everyone in the Valley, maybe. I don't think that statement is true for the rest of America, or much outside of the US.

"everyone" might be an exaggeration but the adoption curve for iPad is ramping up a lot faster than for the iPhone. Apple has sold over 100 million iPads so far.

Re: Mac Pro

#316

Post by dvanduzer »

untog wrote: post #280
tailrecursion wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. Apple has used the geometry of the device to assist more with cooling, and shares the heat sink among components, and uses one large slow fan. This kind of thing really pushes my buttons. It's 10" high, which is unexpectedly compact. It seems like the designers have chosen a shape to maximize use of space. I'm sure it isn't the only way to go but it's a wonderful next step. Again Apple has shown us what we w…

It's 10" high, which is unexpectedly compact. But at what cost? Everyone likes to bash big box PCs but the fact is that every single component of one can be swapped out for another. Something tells me that won't be the case for the Mac Pro, and when all it's going to do is sit under my desk, I can afford to have it be a little less compact.

They've collapsed the IDE / SCSI / PCI / AGP / etc buses with Thunderbolt.

That custom PC swappable component issue mattered when the only game in town for hermetically sealed boxes was USB (or Firewire).

And even then, this chassis looks like it'd be quite easy to upgrade the internals[0].

[0] http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2013/06/newmacpro.jpg

Re: Mac Pro

#317

Post by anthonyb »

morsch wrote: post #308
anthonyb wrote: post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that they have the fan backwards - suck air up from the floor... along with all of the dust and crap. Unless you're supposed to have this on your desk to show it off. I suppose that wouldn't be unusual...

The air being heated naturally flows upwards, so blowing downwards in such a design is a very bad idea. Ideally (and for it to be truly a relevant design), the whole thing is silent at the very least while idle, using very little if any fan and relying on convection to do most of the cooling.

So how many cubic feet per minute will convection cause in this case? 1? 10? Fans will move a hundred cfm or more without much noise.

Both of my recent hardware failures have been caused by dust accumulating in heatsinks, so having something which contributes to that is also a "very bad idea". Especially since the air passes through a relatively confined space which you can't regularly clear out.

Re: Mac Pro

#318

Post by vacri »

inthewind wrote: post #254
vacri wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Come on. If you're getting a customised PC, the items have to interoperate, but you gain flexibility. The Mac Pro customises... how? You're comparing apples and oranges. Besides, while the new design has some interesting features (well... one plus a different look), it's not like you could have built an 'all-in-one' with your dad 20 years ago. Stop with the hyperbole.

In 1981 I built an all in one with my Dad: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zx81 (Or rather he built it and I played the games.)

There is no video screen on a ZX81, so it's not really the same as what we call an 'all-in-one' these days.

Re: Mac Pro

#319

Post by dsego »

sinnerswing wrote: post #167
mojuba wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Curiously, my first association was "jet engine", was amused to learn that to many it's a trash can. Am I the only one whose breath was taken away by this new design? Power desktop seriously revisited for the first time since the 80's, anyone?

Everyone made fun of the i"Pad" 3 years ago. Now everyone owns one.

everyone made fun of the g4 cube... and they still do.

Re: Mac Pro

#320

Post by michaelwww »

rickmode wrote: post #292
sliverstorm wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is form over function. Exactly why I'm not taking it seriously. What does form do for a power desktop? Nothing. I put my desktop under my desk. I can't see it. I have to stoop to reach the power button. I'm not going to say there's absolutely no use for form in any desktop, but IMO it's practically the number one least important feature of a power desktop/workhorse.

To me this looks like an example of Apple's craftsmanship in depth where quality and elegance can be seen at multiple levels, from the case to the internal hardware to the OS and its APIs. Certainly one can find flaws, but compared to a typical Windows machine Apple has more craftsmanship (in my opinion). Windows exhibits more of the "just get it done" utilitarian idea.

It amazes me that people are willing to pay twice as much for the fluff. I'm not convinced Apple Mac OS is twice as good as any other OS.
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