Apple's powerful, cylindrical Mac Pro will start at $2,999

[Yoinkerman]

this

 

Looks like a trash can

[jrfox87]

I think considering these are using high quality, server class parts in them and that they are targeted at professionals, these things are priced pretty well. I've heard some pros comment about how much easier these things will be to transport to different jobs and such as well.

[ajoy39]

I think considering these are using high quality, server class parts in them and that they are targeted at professionals, these things are priced pretty well. I've heard some pros comment about how much easier these things will be to transport to different jobs and such as well.

thats exactly who they're for haha, and xeons and ecc arent just for servers, cad and video rendering benefit s well

[alchemist11]

I find the $2999 price aggressive, but fair. It's only a measly $300-500 more than an equal Windows machine that I could buy from Dell (checked their web-site before writing this). However, there is nothing even comparable with Thunderbolt 2, the main proponent of this machine. USB 3 is still 4x slower than it. So, looking into the future, it is worth paying the extra $300-500 quid for it. Thunderbolt 2 is the reason it is priced with that extra premium.

 

In addition, I understand why the PC gaming community on this forum find it expensive, but workstation products even on the Windows side are not cheap. As a person in the construction and engineering industry, I don't find the price expensive at all. Just as little aggressive as I mentioned. I'd be okay with adding a bit more RAM and a better workstation-grade video card to match the RAM upgrade. Other than that, it would fit my needs for at least five years (I'm hoping the new Mac Pro will compel Autodesk to natively support OS X for their most used products).

 

That said, the reason why there is no option (at least as far as we know) to manually upgrade the hardware as the PC gaming community like to do is frankly because in the professional and educational industry, most upgrade the entire computer than individual components. I have not heard of a single scenario where Dell or HP have upgraded individual parts for their clients in these industry. Yes, it is cheaper to do individual parts, but is not convenient or fast and time is extremely valuable in these industry. We're not talking about a couple of computers, but several to hundreds. Plus, I haven't even touched on cleaning the dust out of these machines (traditional Windows machines used for the education and professional industry) had we gone with individual part route. This is why I find external upgrading or cloud-based a better option.

 

P.S. This product is not marketed for the majority of LTT forum users. Try to look at it the cake from the outside before eating the centre.

[Yoinkerman]

I get the professional thing.  I do.  There is definite value there.  But even as a professional thing it's underpowered as hell for its price, and uglier than the roadkill gopher I saw today.

Someone who really needs to crunch video wouldn't, or at least shouldn't, get one of these(base model).  Especially if they are using it to bring home the bacon.  And if they're looking at the big ones, their money is really better spent elsewhere.

[totjup5]

Super expensive, poor OS, and it is going to run hot as hell... no thanks apple.

[ajoy39]

I get the professional thing.  I do.  There is definite value there.  But even as a professional thing it's underpowered as hell for its price, and uglier than the roadkill gopher I saw today.

Someone who really needs to crunch video wouldn't, or at least shouldn't, get one of these(base model).  Especially if they are using it to bring home the bacon.  And if they're looking at the big ones, their money is really better spent elsewhere.

2 firepros 12 gb of ecc ramd and a xeon is underpowered?

[Feveredbike]

Now, I don't know how much the D300 cards costs, but 3000 dollars for the basic model sounds like too much:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU:  Intel Core i7-4820K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($304.99 @ Amazon)

CPU Cooler:  Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.99 @ Microcenter)

Motherboard:  MSI X79MA-GD45 Micro ATX LGA2011 Motherboard  ($179.99 @ Newegg)

Memory:  Patriot Viper 3 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory  ($89.68 @ NCIX US)

Storage:  Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($174.99 @ NCIX US)

Case:  BitFenix Merc Alpha (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($49.97 @ Outlet PC)

Power Supply:  Corsair Builder 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply  ($31.00 @ Newegg)

Total: $860.61

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

 

My guess is that the D300 cards will cost ~500 each so that's 1140 dollar for the small case which will probably overheat, and the Apple tax. Not worth it if you ask me.

Your comparison really does not fit the specs of the mac pro. It still won't total to $2,999 but you're a few hundred off.

[Yoinkerman]

For $3k yeah I expect at least a six core.

 

2 firepros 12 gb of ecc ramd and a xeon is underpowered?

[Feveredbike]

Actually not that horrible of a price considering the dual fire pros and a hexa core xeon. way better value than the last mac pro.

You are the most sane person that I have come across in an LTT forum Apple thread. I appreciate you.

[Giggitygoebbels]

I expected apple to shove 8 Xeon E7-8890v2 15 core 2.8GHz and 4 sli Titan ultra in that trash can...

[Kuzma]

tbh I'd actually like to see how well this performs

[Stonep11]

It probably runs very hot. There are so many things wrong with this work computer. Eg. not enough RAM, not enough storage, Quadcore Xeon, FirePro's and the cooling is probably going to be terrible. To do editing on a machine you will need more than 12GB more like 64Gb and for storage you will need a few TB especially when you are using 4K. Quad core Xeon won't cut it knower days, they should have gone for an 8 core. And FirePro's are not as good as Quadros. Titans are better than FirePro's. I have no idea though what the D300 line is because there is noting on the web about them. Even AMD doesn't list them on their website. And the cooling will be quite bad just looking at the case and the way they have cooled the FirePro's. If anyone ever needs to do editing or anything like that they will be better off building it themselves. 

It can support up to 64GB of RAM I think that 12 is just the base model.  Storage is all going to HAVE to be dealt with by Thunderbolt 2, so I hope there are some good solutions available.  I think this Xeon is also just the base model.  I agree about the D300, I couldn't find any info about them.

[James_AJ]

Funny thing is, 99% of people who commented on this thread don't even need this, not even remotely - hence the reason to talk sh*t about it

[ajoy39]

For $3k yeah I expect at least a six core.

The 4 core Xeon in this series is $300, plus 12 GB of ECC Ram is at least $400, The fire pros would probably be at leas $600 each at retail, $1900 before we add in the motherboard, which is completely custom, the PCIe SSD, which is the first of it's form factor, the case and cooling unit, and then the markup because they need to turn a profit, subtract some because of discounts they get for buying in bulk. I'd say they're making no more than $500 per unit on these things on the low end which isn't much more than a standard boutique builder on this level of a system. 

[Stonep11]

Probably not top of the line.

The MacBook Pro is very common for teenagers and college and the BASE price is like 1299$

[Lyons]

I feel embarrassed there are people like this on the forums when I read the thread. You know nothing about professional work, and nothing about design and engineering. Just ridiculous. Stick to stuff you know, like anime and Minecraft.

[HDZx]

"We have never been shameless about stealing great ideas." - Steve Jobs

 

 

[EricX2]

Behold the future of computers in sci-fi tv shows and movies... or the past since it looks like any number of droids that "you actually were looking for".

 

I cant wait to see other companies copying it though. I'd like to build a computer that looks like this, especially if it's near silent like this thing.

[Stonep11]

Ok I was actually interested in seeing the Mac Pro develop, but I looked at the power they were listing in their Tech Specs and I am really unimpressed.  The "D700" they advertise has the same specs as a 7970 (see link).  I couldn't find exactly which CPUs they were referring to, but I linked to the product lineup.  I find it interesting that they advertise 16GB dims, as those haven't really come out yet (If I am wrong let me know), so that is cool.  As for the cooling and case design, time will tell.  Xeon E5s can be expensive on Amazon, but I can't really directly compare.  Either way, I am disappointed by the MacPro.  Basically CrossFire 7970s with double the VRAM and a super expensive Xeon Processor are all you would be getting at even the Ultimate config.  Xeons are nothing new in workstations, neither is 64GB of ECC RAM, it is however, the first time I have seen 16GB dims and 1866MHz ECC RAM.  The GPUs are weak, especially in a software environment that utilizes GPU processing more and more every day.  You would be better off making an LGA2011 build with dual Titans (or 780s if you don't need the VRAM).  That way you could also upgrade in the future.

 

http://www.apple.com/mac-pro/specs/

http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/7000/7970/Pages/radeon-7970.aspx#3

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processor-comparison/compare-intel-processors.html?select=server

[Kirihuna]

The MacBook Pro is very common for teenagers and college and the BASE price is like 1299$

Do you honestly think they have a MBP that is equivalent to $2,999?

[Stonep11]

Do you honestly think they have a MBP that is equivalent to $2,999?

I don't think the original reference was saying they all were getting 3000 dollar machines, just that they were over paying for Mac products, to which I would agree, as a normal college use case of web browsing and light Office work does not need anything near a 1300 dollar machine, let alone anything higher than that.  You can get through college with a 350$ Surface RT doing pretty much all the work you could need and it comes with Office.

[CoffeeBlack]

I don't think the original reference was saying they all were getting 3000 dollar machines, just that they were over paying for Mac products, to which I would agree, as a normal college use case of web browsing and light Office work does not need anything near a 1300 dollar machine, let alone anything higher than that.  You can get through college with a 350$ Surface RT doing pretty much all the work you could need and it comes with Office.

If you don't get your MBP, you can't go type in Starbucks for everyone to see you be smart tho...

[Stonep11]

If you don't get your MBP, you can't go type in Starbucks for everyone to see you be smart tho...

Dammit I forgot about the Starbucks factor...

[xentric]

I already have a trash can full of old hardware LOL