New Mac Pro

GreigH, we are all fellow users on here and not Apple employees so we don't know anymore than the rest of the public. At the last Apple gig in SF, Tim Cook supposedly made a comment about somethng in the works for the Mac Pro...but no further details. The high-end user community keeps asking what is going on. Just nothing we know beyond what everyone else knows...anxiuosly waiting to hear.

What do you have now?

What kind of specs are you looking for?

$1800 buys a 4-core 2.8 that can be easily upgraded to 6-core 3.4GHZ

Ask Intel when the next Xeon is out, and realize that there are even better chips and DDR4 right after that around the corner too.

Maybe another August like they have done for 2006 and 2010.

Usually Intel shows off its next new processors in the fall, which have made it in 6 months later like in 2008 and 2009.

So use Google and look up Intel Roadmap for Xeon.

Buy what you need when you need it rather than waiting. Let's assume it needs a couple OS update patches, a shakedown cruise and search for driver bugs and for software and hardware to play catch-up... anytime there is new design.

I have an early 2011 MBP with the i7 processor and it works great...for higher end stuff also have an iMac 21.5" with the high-end i7 I special ordered last fall. That machine is terrific...ordered 16 GB ram from OWC at the same time and as soon as I setup the iMac, swaped out the ram for 16 GB...quit a machine. Also have three of OWCs 2 TB external hard drives for Time Machine backups and cloned copies of the internal drives and extra storage space.

So, the iMac is a powerhouse, the only one you can change the memory in, though, is the 27" for the latest models.

$1800 for that 2.8 4 core, $620 for the 3.33 6 core plus owc 4x8GB RAM (there is 48GB RAM option for work with lots of large files), and then do the storage stuff = "sweet spot" and performance is excellent. upgrade the gpu later too if when you want. andno worry about heat and cooling, unlike the imac and laptops.

Nobody but internal Apple employees know when the new MP will be released and they are not allowed to post on here.

"Early spring" is what was quoted, not March. Spring isn't until the 20th.

If your job depends on upgrading to a new computer, upgrade. Otherwise just wait.

If you're truly a professional, an iMac will not be reliable enough for your work (they run very hot).

OM617.952 wrote:

... If you're truly a professional, an iMac will not be reliable enough for your work (they run very hot).

Of course, this is utter nonsense.

This is not true...my daughter is a true professional, the Senior Art Director for a large New York City advertising company. She uses an iMac 27" highest processor sold, 32 GB memory with an Apple 30" display attached to get almost 5' of display. She drives it hard all day never letting up and the machine never has missed a beat.

Of course, this is utter nonsense.

Then you are not a professional, but a "prosumer".

OM617.952 wrote:

Then you are not a professional, but a "prosumer".

Nonsense and a non-sequitur.

If you intend to be helpful I suggest you familiarize yourself with iMacs before gratuitously asserting preposterous statements.

Its a statement of fact.

The iMac is a consumer product, not a professional product.

That is the entire reason the MacPro uses high grade parts instead of the iMac's laptop parts.

OM617.952 wrote:

Its a statement of fact.

It is an opinion. Learn the difference before making unsubstantiated claims such as this:

OM617.952 wrote:

... If you're truly a professional, an iMac will not be reliable enough for your work (they run very hot).

iMacs are used by millions of professionals in countless different applications, their reliability is documented to lead the industry by a comfortable margin, and to claim "they run very hot" is simply not defensible.

we know they don't have the same cooling as a Mac Pro. Or that they use i5's mostly. And that any laptop with closed case run hot and poor cooling. But post some Hardware Monitor temps, it captures a timeline for you. And it does not have the huge fans or the upgrade options - if you outgrow or want more you hacve to trade up.

No one is arguing your points...the disagreeable point that was made was that a "true professional" would not use an iMac. There are numerous professionals that I know personally who DO use iMacs...very high-end iMacs, but iMacs nonetheless. And are quite successful with them. And they have massive raid storage attached so internal storage is not an issue.

That said, there are applications where a Mac Pro would be more useful, where you may want more on-board storage, even higher-end graphics, more memory. One has to choose the appropriate tool for the application. But a blanket statement that a true professional cannot use an iMac is just plain a false statement.