Mac Pro is back...

[Michael L]

Next up, the water fountain Mac Pro? maybe the Toaster Mac Pro?

Been there.
The 'Quicksilver' Mac Pro G4 design was based on a toaster-- it had two slots in the front to insert CDs, and they popped up when done.
The transparent "Bondi Blue" iMac G3 was based on looking into the pool of a fountain.

[Sampleconstruct]

I wouldn't mind if it looked like a hole puncher, nice to see some new hardware development.

[BONES]

Apple hasn't spec'd a Nvidia card in a macpro since 2009

And that's an excuse, is it?
[/quote]at least it's got proper industry standard slots again - so if you need quadro/tesla just stuff one in.[/quote]
And use what drivers? And why pay all that money and then have to fork out even more on proper graphics? It's like you're making excuses for Apple's stupidity.

Next up, the water fountain Mac Pro? maybe the Toaster Mac Pro?

Been there.
The 'Quicksilver' Mac Pro G4 design was based on a toaster-- it had two slots in the front to insert CDs, and they popped up when done.
The transparent "Bondi Blue" iMac G3 was based on looking into the pool of a fountain.

This one looks like it was inspired by some tacky, bolt together drinks trolley somebody picked up at Ikea for $19. (You can put wheels on it, you know.)

[tq]

Personally, I think it's great to see that they have an expandable high end option again.

Why? I don't understand why you'd care if it isn't going to be of benefit to you.

I didn't say that. Your over-interpreting here... My employer might get one, and I might go for a rev 2, when the prices come down and the rev 1 issues are ironed out. Also, the graphics card is pretty much a non-issue for me (and you could always put some in, given the expandability of the system).

[BONES]

The trouble is that you need to have drivers for anything you put in, you can't just plug it in and expect it to work, so I'd be surprised if the option was there to go with a different brand of graphics board, unless Apple grant nVidia access to macOS so they can write their own.

[tq]

Well, you could expand the old cheese grater Mac Pro with new graphic cards, and it worked without much issues... And in general: is this really new? Apple always limited the choices on purpose, even back then, to keep compatibility and system stability high. Some people see this as "control mania", but the philosophy of "one system with limited choices" has been there for a long time, even before they evolved into the huge company they are now. It's a conscious design/engineering decision on their side, and not just a tool to lock you into their eco system (granted: it is that, too!). Also, the prices were always higher, and people *always* do these pretty useless "I could build a much cheaper PC with the same power" discussions after a new Mac is released. Yawn.

However, their philosophy has the benefit of longevity and much lower maintenance issues. (And yes, I know that some people will claim that Apple is a nightmare too when something goes wrong, as system access is more difficult. However, I built PCs from individual components for a decade, so nothing could be further from the truth in my own experience... nobody brings me back the wasted weeks of moving jumpers, changing BIOS settings and finding out why graphics card A did not work with sound card B...)

Again, Apple made many dubious choices in the past - but I see this move as a pretty hopeful sign, as it shows that their commitment to the high end/desktop market is not dead yet. And yes, it's crazy expensive. But not as crazy as some earlier Macs (iMac Pro, anyone?).

[Passing Bye]

My only complaint goes into higher priced entry level base Mac Pro model or absence of entry level base models that existed before trash can, better thing to do is to give more affordable base and than leave more demanding users to spec it up how they want, in the end of the day, most demanding users aren't going to spec out entry level base anyways.

[h2ogun99]

The trouble is that you need to have drivers for anything you put in, you can't just plug it in and expect it to work, so I'd be surprised if the option was there to go with a different brand of graphics board, unless Apple grant nVidia access to macOS so they can write their own.

I have a Nvidia GTX 1070 installed in my 2010 Mac Pro (5,1) running flawlessly. Nvidia has been making Mac specific drivers for a good while now with regular-ish updates. Theses older Mac Pros (4,1 / 5,1) can run Mojave and beyond with new cards installed, breathing even more life into 9 year old machines. This 12-core Mac Pro is the best investment I've ever made on a computer. Yes, I paid 7k for it back in the day, but 9 years later I've yet to entertain getting a new machine. It is still a beast.

[agharta]

This is either good timing or very bad timing.

A) Apple are the first to use Intel’s 10nm CPUs in a high performance computer.
B) Apple are releasing a system using an Intel 14nm platform which is a 2nd or 3rd or is it 4th generation rehash of a platform that was supposed to be replaced by a 10nm one about 2 years ago.

The problem with B) is that when this is released in the fall it will be competing with the AMD Zen 2 based platforms which scale up to 64 cores per socket, support PCIe 4.0 and is fabricated with a leading edge 7nm process which means much better power efficiency.
As this is clearly tilted towards high end video work support for PCIe 4.0 will be useful for SSDs and future high end GPUs.
M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSDs have already been announced that give 5GBs.

So 28 cores, PCIe 3.0 and poor power efficiency versus 64 cores, PCIe 4.0 and good power efficiency.

[dayjob]

The trouble is that you need to have drivers for anything you put in, you can't just plug it in and expect it to work, so I'd be surprised if the option was there to go with a different brand of graphics board, unless Apple grant nVidia access to macOS so they can write their own.

I have a Nvidia GTX 1070 installed in my 2010 Mac Pro (5,1) running flawlessly. Nvidia has been making Mac specific drivers for a good while now with regular-ish updates. Theses older Mac Pros (4,1 / 5,1) can run Mojave and beyond with new cards installed, breathing even more life into 9 year old machines. This 12-core Mac Pro is the best investment I've ever made on a computer. Yes, I paid 7k for it back in the day, but 9 years later I've yet to entertain getting a new machine. It is still a beast.

i bought a 2010 12 core a year or so ago for under $2k. if i want to run mojave i'll have to throw in a new video card. apple support lists a few different models from nvidia as compatible so there's still life to be had in older mac pros. there's a few reliable sellers of older macs and some even offer 3 year warranty.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208898

i'm in no hurry to update to mojave. so long as apple logic supports 10.13.6 i won't complain.

i haven't looked in the state of hackintosh world in a while but looks like tony mac is going strong

https://www.tonymacx86.com

[aMUSEd]

That's a point I bet it at least needs High Sierra but I can't download it anymore I think

[sprnva]

That's a point I bet it at least needs High Sierra but I can't download it anymore I think

You can still download Sierra and High Sierra with the appstore links in these articles.

[Magnut]

"Apple" and "Pro". 2 words that don't fit together for a very long time. No go my sheeps and buy that 999$ pro stand

[standalone]

Wannabe professional computer



Clearly a fake, it has a 1TB SSD

[h2ogun99]

Wannabe professional computer

Clearly a fake, it has a 1TB SSD

HA! I think Apple dropped the ball in not allowing you to see all of the RGBs lights on the fans and graphics cards. At least they could have added a clear side panel. Nothing screams Pro like a pulsing rainbow of colors on your keyboard and mouse...hehehe.