Apple's freshest Mac Pro, which was the first machine of any kind to ship with Intel's newest Nehalem-based Xeon processors, has been on the block for a few months now. By our estimation, that's plenty of time for the pros (and "prosumers," if you will) to get a good feel of their new workstation. Design wise, not a lot has changed in the machine, but we're anxious to know how you feel about the more subtle changes as well as the internal overhauling. Apple's charging a small fortune for this bad boy, so we fully expect you to be critical here. What's it missing? What should've been included? Are you still bitter that WiFi is a $50 option on a multi-thousand dollar machine? Sound off below!

When Apple's ever-so-slightly refreshed Nehalem-based Mac Pro showed up on our doorstep, we were understandably taken aback by the enclosure. Sure, it looks exactly like the previous Mac Pro externally, and only slightly more beautiful internally, but it's hard to deny the gorgeousness of this metallic wonder. That said, the so-called cheese grater design is one that's mighty familiar to Mac fans by now, so we'll spare you the details there. What you're probably wondering is whether or not this rig is really worth the steep asking price. At $2,499 for a single quad-core 2.66GHz rig and $3,299 for a twin quad-core 2.26GHz machine (which is our test system, by the way), neither option is particularly "affordable." And outside of the refreshed Intel Xeon processor, there aren't too many new hardware components to really convince you that an upgrade is a dire necessity. Follow us past the break to get a real-world perspective on the value proposition, and moreover, to get a better understanding of who exactly benefits most from a workstation of this magnitude.

Here she is, fresh off the Saturday Express. Apple's latest Mac Pro is said to be significantly more nimble and entirely easier to upgrade than its Penryn-based predecessor, and while it'll take us a few days yet to check out the former claim, we can already assure you that the second one is valid. Upon unboxing this beast (to be fair, it's not all that monstrous), we immediately dug within the cover to see what was up with Apple's new tray system. Rather than forcing users to squeeze their hands into unfathomably tight places just to pop in a new DIMM or add in a fresh 2TB hard drive, the engineers at Cupertino found a way to place all eight RAM slots on a removable tray, meaning that you can actually take that piece elsewhere and operate under better lighting. The tray was dead simple to remove and replace, and while it's a small inclusion, it's definitely an appreciated one. We'll be stressing this thing out and writing up a more thorough review soon, but for now, enjoy the snapshots / video below and after the break, respectively.

News is just breaking across the wires as we speak, but Apple has announced a new Nehalem based Mac Pro with a starting price of $2,499. The new systems feature either a single core 2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 3500, or a dual 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5500, start with 3GB of memory, a 640GB hard drive, and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 with 512MB of RAM. The PR claims the new systems will be available next week online and in stores, so warm up the credit cards. Full configurations after the break.

The flood of Apple hardware rumors just won't let up -- not only did commenters dig through those Airport Extreme and Time Capsule FCC filings and find evidence that the new models will indeed support simultaneous 5GHz and 2.4GHz operation, we've got iMac model numbers and leaked specs for Mac mini and Mac Pro, all of which are said to be arriving as soon as tomorrow. Of course, given the conservative / obvious nature of these updates, all of this information could be coming from some fanboy lair deep in a parents' basement somewhere and still sound plausible, but hey -- we'll find out soon enough, right? Here's what we know so far:

• The iMac will apparently come in an entry level MB147 20-inch model, as well as three 24-inch SKUs: MB148 "mass-market," MB149 "high-end," and MB420 "ultimate." All models will go to mini DisplayPort and feature Core 2 Duos up to 3.06GHz.
  
• The Mac mini will indeed feature five USB ports and that funky dual mini-DVI / mini DisplayPort configuration, but it's also apparently going to an NVIDIA chipset like the MacBooks and iMac. The base MB463 model will start with a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo, and there's also a "high-end" MB464 configuration.
• The Mac Pro will come in eight-core configurations from 3.0GHz to 3.6GHz and 16-core configurations in 3.6GHz and 4.0GHz flavors, and it sounds like it's going to be even funkier on the video tip -- our tipster says it has two regular DVI ports and a mini DisplayPort. Sure, okay. It's also apparently a bit lighter than the current model, at 35 pounds instead of 42.
  
• Tipster Tom noted that the Airport Extreme and Time Capsule FCC filings contain direct references to simultaneous 5GHz and 2.4GHz operation, so that's looking even more probable.

Obviously we'll let you know if all this stuff slips out with no fanfare tomorrow, but with PMA and CeBIT both going on right now, we think that March 24 date is more likely -- Apple does like to hog the attention, after all. Anyone else have any secrets to share? We're all ears.

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Lots of Apple rumors today following the weekend whispers of a March 24 desktop hardware event, and they fall neatly along the plausibility spectrum:

• First up, we'd say a bump of the Mac Pro to Intel's upcoming Nehalem-EP Xeon processors is looking quite likely -- famed OS X hacker netkas was poking around in a test build of OS X 10.5.7 and found support files for i7 chips lurking about, as well as drivers for ATI's Radeon 4000-series GPUs. If you're making a chart, this one's right up there with an NVIDIA-powered iMac refresh -- it's a pretty obvious move.
  
• Second, new entries for the Airport Extreme and Time Capsule have popped up in the FCC, and while the listed dimensions are exactly the same as the current editions, there are no model numbers and something internal has to have changed enough to raise ol' Sammy's brows. That could be as simple as a new radio hardware supplier or bigger drives, but if we were placing bets, we'd say both units are getting updated for simultaneous 5GHz and 2.4GHz operation -- Apple's really high on 5GHz for laptops and Apple TV, but the iPhone and iPod touch are 2.4GHz-only. Let's call this one even odds, shall we?
• Lastly, a new picture of that improbable five USB port Mac mini has surfaced, this time purporting to show the outside of the box. Considering the Photoshop wars the last image of this thing set off, we'd say this is the least likely candidate for a Philly Schills reveal, but then again, Apple's been pretty leaky lately.

That's everything we know -- anyone else have something to share with the group?

Read - Ars Technica on the Mac Pro
Read - New Airport Extreme FCC listing
Read - New Time Capsule FCC listing
Read - One More Thing Mac mini image [Via TUAW]

While we patiently wait to see what Apple has in store with its traditional Black Friday sale, MacMall and Best Buy have already kicked the sale into gear. Better yet, MacRumors has created a handy summary chart that links you directly to the best possible deal. With no hardware updates expected through the end of the year and Apple's own Black Friday discounts typically falling between meager and stingy (and discounts being a rarity in general), this is likely your best-bet opportunity to hop on the switcher wagon or step up to a new unibody MacBook. Just click that read link to get started.

When we first laid eyes upon the slick box pictured above, we were struck with an eerie feeling of déjà vu. Now, it all makes sense. After receiving an all-but-completely-dead MacBook, one particular modder decided to rip the motherboard out, break out the soldering iron, throw in a few replacement parts and shove everything into a Macally G-S350SUA aluminum hard drive enclosure. Wanna know why? Because he had a peek at this -- a Mac Pro Mini mod that popped up here in March. Talk about taking inspiration and improving upon it.

[Via Hack-A-Day]

[Via the Guardian]

If there's one thing we've learned over years (aside from the fact that Segway users will always be looked at strangely), it's that Best Buy's inventory systems are famous for turning us on to forthcoming wares. Just this year, strange part numbers in its stock system have correctly predicted the arrival of new MacBook Pros, the Nikon D90 and an unlocked US 3G Touch Diamond. Now, we're feasting our eyes upon the latest snippet from Future Shop's (Best Buy's Canadian sibling) inventory system, which shows a half dozen new Mac placeholders for French and English language machines. Unfortunately, "Apple Mac" is about as vague as it gets, but we wouldn't be shocked one iota to see new MBPs surface in the near future. C'mon stock system -- don't let us down.

As your never-ending quest to find peripherals specifically made to match beautifully with your PowerMac G5 / Mac Pro continues, we've one that'll surely shoot right to the top of your must-have list. Nervian's CardReader Pro slips just under the front handle of your tower, providing (almost) integrated card reader functionality without putting a damper on your rig's style. Better still, the USB 2.0 unit supports 52 different flavors of flash memory, ensuring that just about every card you toss in there will mount in short order. There's no word on how costly this will be when it ships in October, but those definitely interested can nab 15% off by signing up for details at the outfit's website.

[Thanks, choco]

Well what do you know, ZDNet's German bureau has apparently released a functioning overclocking tool (ZDNet Clock) for Mac Pros and Xserves. Vater Steve doesn't look kindly upon such things, but with a little luck (and a lot of cooling) you might be able to eke out a few hundred extra MHz from your aluminum clad box without tipping off any Geniuses the next time you bring it in for repair. Unfortunately, for the time being it only appears to work on newer Pros and Xserves -- not laptops or iMacs -- running the latest release of Leopard.

[Via Computerworld]

Hey Mac users, tired of looking longingly at that PC-lovin' ATI Radeon HD 3870? AMD has teased you long enough, and at long last, the Mac & PC Edition has arrived. This card is optimized for use within Apple's Mac Pro systems and includes 512MB of GDDR4 RAM, 320 stream processors, PCI Express 2.0 support and twin dual-link DVI ports for treating that pair of 30-inch Cinema HD displays like they ought to be treated. Check the read link for the full list of specifications, and get set to drop $129 when this one lands later this month.

[Via TUAW, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Owners of first-generation Mac Pros, rejoice. Unless you already laid down the cash for one of those upgrade kits meant only for early 2008 machines, that is. For the rest of you, Apple has delivered a new NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT upgrade kit built specifically for your machine. As expected, the card itself looks the same -- twin dual-link DVI ports, 512MB of dedicated GDDR3 RAM, etc. -- but the Apple store now carries two distinct products to distinguish between the card compatible with early 2008 rigs and the Mac Pros before it. If you've managed to hold off buying a new machine this long, you can order yourself an all new graphics card right now for $279.

[Via MacRumors]