Apple announces Nehalem-based Mac Pro
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted March 3rd 2009 8:38AM
posted March 3rd 2009 8:38AM
Mac Pro, $2,499:
- one 2.66 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 3500 series processor with 8MB of L3 cache;
- 3GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory, expandable up to 8GB;
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 graphics with 512MB of GDDR3 memory;
- 640GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive running at 7200 rpm
- 18x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
- Mini DisplayPort and DVI (dual-link) for video output (adapters sold separately);
- four PCI Express 2.0 slots;
- five USB 2.0 ports and four FireWire 800 ports;
- Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; and
- ships with Apple Keyboard with numerical keypad and Mighty Mouse.
Mac Pro, $3,299:
- two 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5500 series processors with 8MB of shared L3 cache;
- 6GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory, expandable up to 32GB;
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 graphics with 512MB of GDDR3 memory;
- 640GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive running at 7200 rpm
- 18x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
- Mini DisplayPort and DVI (dual-link) for video output (adapters sold separately);
- four PCI Express 2.0 slots;
- five USB 2.0 ports and four FireWire 800 ports;
- Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; and
- ships with Apple Keyboard with numerical keypad and Mighty Mouse.
Same as with everything you can get relatively cheap server motherboards and you can get expensive ones. $550 and you have yourself an Intel dual socket server grade motherboard which supports 32GB of memory. But you're right the motherboard & the CPUs are the only things that could be classified server grade in the new MacPRO, which is a shame really.
That said, you can build pretty much the same system for a lot less. It may not look so clean inside when you open up the case, but I rather have cables as to pay premium for invisible features.
Listen everyone, this is the mac pro! it is not for prosumers, these are smoking fast machines at a great price for pros, not for consumers. I'm also sure the price will decrease ov er the next few months because intel hasnt even released these processors yet!
If your a prosumer, then you dont need a mac pro with more than 8 gb of ram, and 8 core. There is a prosumer and a PRO model which pros that will run pro applications like Final Cut Studio 2 and CS4 Master, Shake 4 and etc.
If you dont run those then the base if fine for you and 8 gb of ram wont even get used!. Apple just wants to seperate the prosumer and pro models of this mac pro to give the pros more power for what they want and prosumers a cheaper solution!
Don't you remeber in 2007, it was a cheap quad core and these quad cores are insane, for the same price! it came with 1 gb of ram now you get 3, so apple did a great job on this update, the consumers are just outrages that apple has a computer starting at $3300 well compared to dell, not xps but the pro machine dell would be way over that with worse specs so apple is the way to go!
-Nick
nlensander@mactipspodcast.com
The case itself is a work of art, the fan is the quietest and coolest running in the market, Apple Care is head and shoulders above any PC company's tech support (especially if you don't know whether to yell at Dell or Microsoft for your problem), the hardware and software are designed for each other so they work perfectly together, Spaces and Expose are without match, and the software is fully secure without popping up alerts every time you plug something in.
Making your own computer is undoubtedly cheaper, but you have no support but Geek Squad, Microsoft SUCKS at making software, Vista's shortcomings just prove its inferiority.
You can buy a base Hyundai and put in your own GPS system, leather seats, and sound system real cheap, or you can spend a little extra and buy a perfectly tuned fully loaded BMW and live life hassle free in luxury. But you basement dwellers wouldn't know anything about that.
Hey guys,
What about Mac Pro on Intel Xeon W5580 = 3.2Ghz ? what happened to that model ? :)
I bought the 2 tier MacPro around september of 08 or so... Upgraded only the graphics card and then bought all the rest of the stuff (2TB HDD, 8GB RAM, 28" Sammy Screen) and roughly, the Apple price would have been around 6k for it, I squeezed in at around 3300. YES Its alot of money, YES, its not totally the Highest Tech out there, but honestly, this thing is a tank, it flies in all of the pro apps i use for my job, and I dont regret a dime. I use to build PC's and i loved them too. Building is the way to go, but you cant build a MacPro. You can only build an ugly case that is really loud because of all the power you have to run to it. Best thing about buying a MacPro vs Building... It runs perfectly.... 99.7% of the time.
One gripe... Love it how they cap off the RAM on the low end machine now... i had the lowish ender and i still can upgrade to max specs if i want, when i want. That is a stupid move on Apples part.
I'm on a dual 2.5 PPC G5 max'd on 8gb of RAM (you mac guys know how old this thing really is) with the "high end-graphics card"...and not so much as a hiccup in all the years I've had it! I know work is already planning on swapping out our current 2.8 Mac Pros much later in the year and while at home, I am missing out on all the intel-optimized apps but the programs I use for creative work are still going strong. I've been waiting to buy a new personal workstation since Adobe CS4 but the price is still a bit too high. I may even even just wait to buy it when CS5 comes out, especially if its 64bit. Most likely when Apple finishes their Carbon 64 efforts it'll be...reliable (I didn't say perfect)
Right now, with the economy being the way it is, I can only think of one reason why Apple would price their systems so high; Efficency. I think Apple has finally caught on how much these machines are worth to the creative market, because lets face it...sometimes I can't believe how much our clients pay for the amount of work I do. Not that I'm complaining.
So it'll be interesting to see what these new Mac Pros will be capable of. If I can get a significant amount of work done faster and boost my productivity to a level surpassing the price of these, then I'm game. I'll just have to put those coilovers on hold a bit longer.
MS fanboys can always buy OS-limited hardware that only runs windows, and spend hours upon hours installing software to stop viruses and then removing viruses and reinstalling the OS when the virus protection software fails. What a miserable existence!
When they get disgusted that can install Linux.
Meanwhile Mac fanboys will have Snow Leopard and GPU computing! Virus free and super productive!
Where is the High End Nvidia GT200 option for the MacPro?? I'd much rather have a an option for a GTX285 than a stripped down HD4870 with only 512M of Memory! ATI is way behind in Compute power and OpenCL performance.
Hopefully there will be a mid year refresh with a high end Nvidia card, and who knows maybe a BluRay drive!!!
Most interesting.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/03/04/benchmarks_of_2009_imacs_mac_minis_show_negligible_speed_ups.html
I'm trying to figure out how people are saying they can build this machine for $1000 dollars cheaper. It becomes easy when you are quoting a processor that is $700 dollars cheaper. This is using a processor that has not hit retail yet seing that it comes out on March 29, everywhere else or then Apple.
The one you all are quoting has 1x4.8 GT/s not the 2x6.4 GT/s in their machine. So if you account for that you have a 300 dollar savings. Wait you have to go buy an OS so Vista Ultimate for $140. Now you are down to 160 dollar savings. Now you have to have someone build your computer, even though you can do it yourself you have to account for it. So you are down to under 100 dollars.
So an Apple Mac Pro that will keep its value over years or a custom build that will lose its resale. That's is why Apple is Apple, they know what their ACTUAL customers want and they provide it.
I think 64bit CS4 on 64 bit windows is better period! Better selection of premium hardware memory Raid support High-End video cards. I use apple hardware and software. But I need my limbs more than barging rights.
You can build a fantastic system for around $1500 and run a god-awful OS on it, or run Linux on it. It will be stable, fast, but lacking in graphics design, photo, or video editing software. Or you can spend a fortune on a Mac Pro and get an awesome OS that has great software. One of two things needs to happen: Adobe needs to write their software for Linux or Apple needs to license OS X. Without either of these two things happening, we're screwed in some way.
I really think Adobe needs to make their apps available for Linux. That would be huge. I think there would be a huge migration to Linux based systems. And it would cause Apple to reevaluate their pricing structure on Macs. Because OS X would have a serious threat in the professional graphics and video editing world. And no I don't consider Windows a threat at all because its sucks so bad and is not Unix.
Children ! Enough with the PC v/s MAC comparison's and arguments already, why doesnt anybody here have the maturity to understand that this (believe it or not, like it or not) is a premium product with a premium price, ofcourse a custom built machine would be cheaper, hell custom built machines are cheaper then most dell's, hp's etc etc out there, thats the logic behind building your own machine, so if you dont like it or cant wrap your head around the product and its price, dont whine like a child, go do something more worthwhile, this isnt grade school where fan boys diss each other's stuff, last time i checked this was an educated forum for technology and gadgets, dont judge stuff with such a narrow mind. Jeez Engadget should come out with a version exclusive for PC vs MAC news and not allow comments on it, or moderate the comments for fan boy like posts.
Coming back to the point, no matter what it costs, these rigs are sweet, good job apple
Well the PC tower just made way for the MacPro last week.
I hated to see it go actually. He ran solid for 5 years 24/7, with a couple lightning strikes that sorta put an end to him, and an Apple laptop at the same time.
So the issue of getting a new system street rod was final on the MacPro for several reasons.
1. It can also run Windows.
So basically I get 2 systems in one.
At Skeezle from March 3rd 9:12am
i Agree i wouldn't think twice about spending $7000 on a computer. hell i spend $7400 on my new mac and 5grand on dual 30" cinema displays and $8000 on my last mac pro 6 months ago. so totaly over $18,000 for 2 computers in 6 months. Who cares about price when you make it back in the industry.
Matt From March 3rd, 2009 8:51am
when i ordered my new 2009 Mac Pro. the sales rep said he's placed orders for over 40 of these units him self in his regular shift. so obviously ppl are buying them. 40 form one sales rep is HUGE for one day of sales. imagine all their sales reps, plus retail stores over 3 weeks?? i think they can sell computers.
Philscbx From March 16th 2009 4:14am
So the issue of getting a new system street rod was final on the MacPro for several reasons. *for one reason really* 1. It can also run Windows. So basically I get 2 systems in one. and all the cool new technology intel puts out with the XEON NEHALAM processors not the i7's.
SO bascialy it is 2 systems in 1. you have 2 processors running windows at 2.93Ghz and 6 processors running Mac OSX at 2.93Ghz and have your ram split up. for me its 4gigs to Win7 and 8gigs to Mac OSX.
DarkPrince From March 14th, 8:48am
GOOOOOD WORK!!!! i totaly agree with you on that.
i've seen guys build a Ferrari Body and put a Fiaro Engine in it?? why? cause its cheaper and looks like a Ferrari; its still not a Ferrari.