Filed under: Hardware, Retail, Apple, Mac Pro
Customizable Mac Pros available at Apple Retail Stores
Apple is trying out something new with the Mac Pro: one base configuration and endless configuration possibilities, including adding more RAM, hard drives and the like. Apple claims that this scheme gives people more flexibility than their old way of having three models to choose amongst.The first thought I had when I heard this was, 'Does that mean the Apple Retail Store will only have the one model and everything else will be special ordered?' It seems my worries were unfounded, as Todd at the Apple Blog found out that Apple Retail Stores will be able to configure your Mac Pro in any way you want.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dan said 10:42AM on 8-25-2006
I had the same experience today. I purchased one online and am waiting on it to arrive (Sept. 20th). I currently have a 1.8GHz iMac G5 and the difference was incredible. Granted, I never used one of the quad G5s, but the Mac Pro is fast… really fast. Some basic simple filters and processing in photoshop seemed pretty quick to considering it is not a native app. Overall I am happy to have purchased it and can’t wait for it to arrive.
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Jon said 10:42AM on 8-25-2006
I can imagine the wait times being long for BTO options.
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John from Buffalo said 11:23AM on 8-25-2006
If you choose ONE 160GB drive, and move to the 2.0ghz ... price drops to $2199, I believe. WITH academic discount at $200, you can have one of these for as little as $1999.00.
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John from Buffalo said 11:28AM on 8-25-2006
Mac Pro
Part Number: Z0D8
One 16x SuperDrive
Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse - U.S. English
1GB (2 x 512MB)
Two 2GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
Accessory kit
160GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
Mac OS X - U.S. English
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB (single-link DVI/dual-link DVI)
Estimated Ship: 2-4 business days
Delivered within 5 business days after shipping 1 $1,962.00 $1,962.00
stand corrected: $1962
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Heather said 12:22PM on 8-25-2006
Sure - but I already have a monitor, speakers, keyboard and mouse - why can't I delete the keyboard and mouse and save $50 - 80 - that "Mighty Mouse" isn't as good as my Razer Pro16 ...
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Leonard Nimrod said 12:53PM on 8-25-2006
Unfortunately, Heather, that would mean a redesign of the nifty Apple box and styraform which would cost too much so you have to buy the keyboard and mouse.
[RANT]
Apple really needs to have a lower-end desktop. One processor, 2 or 3 PCIe slots, 4 DIMM slots or have the price. Those 1.33GHz Xeons are super expensive. Apple could make a configurable Desktop for around $1000. Most apps can't even utilize the 2nd core, much less a 2nd processor... especially when it come sto gaming. I thnk only Quake can utilize all 4 cores giving an astoundign 450fps on Anandtech's tests.
The Mac Mini, may be Apple's cheapest computer, but it's by no means low-end. It utilizes a laptop HDD, CPU, motherboard... All things that cost more but don't increase performace.
[/RANT]
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Tony Barnhill said 1:58PM on 8-25-2006
#6 - it's called an iMac
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Leonard Nimrod said 2:09PM on 8-25-2006
#7 - The iMac is a nice machine but it's not very configurable. No additonal PCIe slots, no room for an additional HDD, no room for additonal graphics card (the iMac will run a VGA monitor), 2GB RAM max. Albeit, the iMac fits a greta niche of the average user who does not want to fiddle with their computer, but as it's been pointed out several time, their is a huge market of gamers who subsequently don't have a great deal of money to spend due in part to their excessive gaming (I kid!) who would love a CONFIGURABLE Apple desktop.
This move to Intel and the subsequent Dual Boot and Virtualization options has increased Apple's market share but their is still a large front of gamers who I think would convert if Apple had a less expensive Tower and an assiting hand with developers to port their games to OS X.
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cantdrive55 said 3:49PM on 8-25-2006
just called my local apple store in troy, michigan and they informed me the only thing they can do is install extra ram… if i want anything else, i have to order custom config. directly from apple… as i really want one of these but would like to make a few ordering tweaks, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated… apple.com is quoting me 3-4 weeks for delivery and that is simply too long…
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ZylogZ80 said 4:03PM on 8-25-2006
I purchased my Mac Pro at local Apple Store in NC. I wanted the 2ghz/160gb config, but they told me they only had the 2.66ghz models in-store, that other configs are only avail online. So, I guess you can customize the Mac Pro as much as you can any other Mac in-store. Namely, RAM can be changed, but not the proc.
I opted to spend the extra $500 and get the 2.66ghz model, so I could avoid the nail-biting wait for shipping.
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Mike said 9:14AM on 8-26-2006
This is nothing new. I think the article wasn't very clear to do any upgrades other than very basic ones at the store you have to order online. You are just buying from your local store online. All this does is gives you someone to walk you through the sale so the store gets credit for the sale. For example
http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/AppleStoreCustom?qprm=76256
takes you to the apple store for my local apple store.
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spil said 3:17PM on 8-26-2006
The only problem with telling them what you want at the stoe is they would have to remove the computer from the box, so it wouldnt be "factory fresh". It wouldn't take too long to do this, they wouold just have a few Mac Pros of each processer type in the back, and they'd just have you fillo out a form of RAM, video cards, BT, HDD, Airport, etc. While they are doing this, you could browse around the store.
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spil said 3:22PM on 8-26-2006
I mean "store"
I wish Tuaw had spell check, or the abilty to change your posts.
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