Filed under: Desktops, Hardware, Apple Professional, Xserve, Apple, Mac Pro
New Mac Pros and Xserve
Well, as Nik posted a bit earlier this morning, the Apple Store is indeed down worldwide. As commenters in that post noted, Apple has updated the Mac Pro line before major trade shows before, and as commenter John pointed out, Apple has just updated the front page of Apple.com announcing upgrades to the Mac Pro and Xserve line. I think it's a pretty safe bet that these machines will be available as soon as the Apple Store comes back online.So what are the specs? For the Mac Pro the machines are now 8-core standard (!) running up to 3.2 Ghz each (and this is on the new 45 nanometer Quad-Core Xeon). "Fastest Mac ever" is a phrase bandied around a lot -- but in this case, it's absolutely true.
From the press release, the basic configuration ($2799 US) includes:
- two 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors with dual-independent 1600 MHz front side buses;
- 2GB of 800 MHz DDR2 ECC fully-buffered DIMM memory, expandable up to 32GB;
- ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT with 256MB of GDDR3 memory;
- 320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
- 16x SuperDrive™ with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
- two PCI Express 2.0 slots and two PCI Express slots;
- Bluetooth 2.0+EDR; and
- ships with Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse.
As for the Xserve, it now includes built-in accelerated graphics to drive up to a 23" Cinema Display and front facing USB 2.0 ports. It is also taking advantage of the new Intel 45 nanometer core technology.
The basic configuration ($2999 US) includes:
- a single 64-bit 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Xeon processor with 12MB of L2 cache and a 1600 Mhz front side bus;
- 2GB of 800 MHz DDR2 ECC FB-DIMM RAM, expandable up to 32GB;
- a single 80GB SATA Apple Drive Module;
- dual Gigabit Ethernet on-board;
- internal graphics;
- two FireWire® 800 and three USB 2.0 ports; and
- an unlimited client license for Mac OS X Server version 10.5 Leopard.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Josh said 9:33AM on 1-08-2008
Where's the Blu-ray Apple?
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quandmeme said 10:55AM on 1-08-2008
Exactly, don't buy it till next Tuesday, Steve wants to make the announcement.
Benny_A said 11:08AM on 1-08-2008
No blu-ray makes me a sad panda.
(story covered here: http://macenstein.com/default/archives/1022)
pangelav said 9:40AM on 1-08-2008
Everytime I click on the comments on the front page, it takes me to a full-page Perdue ad. And being forced to look at an ad against my will makes me angry. C'mon TUAW, you can do better than piss off your readers like this!
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Quix said 9:51AM on 1-08-2008
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT? ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT??? In a $2,800 machine???
Is Apple ever going to pull its head out about video processing? Sheesh, not even a $2,800 Mac is truly gaming-capable. Embarrassing to say the least.
Not that people buy Mac Pros for gaming, but if Apple uses the 2600 XT for its flagship computer line, there's little chance of getting anything decent in the consumer line. And that's depressing.
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OWRC said 10:18AM on 1-08-2008
For that money I'd expect an 8800GTX or Ultra, even a GTS or the option to have one.
The GT?
Not good enough for serious gamers.
puffin said 11:49AM on 1-08-2008
You're spot on with your comment Quix. It's a shame apple continues to provide powerful computers with subpar graphic boards.
Fernando Lins said 9:52AM on 1-08-2008
Where's the new case design? This is so old... come on!
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Mke said 9:52PM on 1-08-2008
Change the case design?
Why?
It works perfectly. A change will probably just mess something up.
They're rugged, huge (hugely upgradeable), and attractive.
Did you want them to add glass? This is a PRO Mac. Glass (very breakable) doesn't belong in a pro user environment.
Matt said 9:46AM on 1-08-2008
Dang, just emailed a tip in about this.
The new specs look nice though :)
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Ryan said 9:58AM on 1-08-2008
unlimited client licenses have been on xserves for as long as i can remember. I like the USB on the front, dislike that they got rid of the firewire on the front to do it.
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OWRC said 10:00AM on 1-08-2008
The Mac Pro is the one cog in Apple's machine that I just can't justify.
I have a Powerbook, Cinema Monitor, IPod 3g, Nano, Shuffle, iPhone, Mini, new keyboard, HiFi and probably a few more odds and ends but for my main workstation I have a hi spec PC, Core 2 Duo overclocked and running an 8800GTS dual booting into Vista and Leopard thanks to OSX86.
It cost me €1500. As the long list above illustrates I'm not shy of paying for Apple products and I seriously considered the Mac Pro but when I can build a machine that is as powerful if not more for half the price and is more easily and cheaply upgraded then even a fanboy draws the line.
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pentumforever said 10:11AM on 1-08-2008
I doubt that your PC is faster on CPU havy things since every Mac Pro is at least a Quad Core, the new ones are Octo Core by default.
Christina Warren said 10:12AM on 1-08-2008
I'm normally in full agreement in terms of the Mac Pro's pricing (and FWIW, I use Mac Pros almost exclusively at school, I think it's a great machine but unjustifiably overpriced for me to even consider at this juncture), but the pricing for the latest upgrade is actually pretty fair. The E5462 (the base-level processor) are $900 a piece (and that's if we're looking for deals, most places are higher than that) - so you're looking at $1800 for processors alone, before you even add your other components. $2800 might still be more than a build-it-yourself non-Mac model, especially considering the graphics card - but the premium is not nearly as great as it was with the last revision.
I still can't justify $3000 for a desktop right now, but if I could - I would certainly be looking Mac Pro - something I would not have said yesterday.
OWRC said 10:20AM on 1-08-2008
Agreed that these CPUs are fantastic but for gaming which is where I need the power on a home PC I'd hazard a guess that my cheap assed Hackintosh is on par if not faster given the higher end GPU.
Brian Flad said 12:26PM on 1-08-2008
Or for the really brave gamers... just add your own high-end video card for Boot Camp to use. Now there's a good reason for all those PCI-Express slots...
Quix said 10:01AM on 1-08-2008
Also, would it kill Apple to add more ports, particularly USB ports? It's sad to have that great big tower yet still need a USB hub (or add a 3rd party card that inevitably causes problems).
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Dave said 10:16AM on 1-08-2008
Re: case design - I think Apple has spent quite enough time and money on case design that we can give them a pass on their professional model cases, which unless there are functionality gripes about - are _just the cover for the important parts_.
Its not like anyone else is trying to grab their style anyway - are they? I know there are lots of fancy cases out there in "whitebox" land, are any Macish?
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carter said 10:14AM on 1-08-2008
Am I reading that press release right and there's a single-processor option on the Mac Pro now? Or has that always been there? I thought it was 2 processors on all.
A single processor might get me to bite on buying one, if the price is right.
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rezatayebij said 10:21AM on 1-08-2008
Wow... This makes my quad Mac Pro totally invisible!
Come on Quix! Who cares about gaming? Buy an Xbox 360.
All I want from a Mac Pro is faster photoshop and more reasonable render time in Maya.
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