Curtains for the Mac Pro? (1 Viewer)

[Carlo_M]

Thanks for linking to Larry's column. It mirrors a lot of what I've been thinking/saying here. External RAID solutions for your data is really the way to go: plenty fast and data security to boot. Plus, if your main drive gets hosed, your project data is safe.

 

[Sam Posten]

Latest Geekbench:http://www.macrumors.com/2013/11/05/6-core-version-of-apples-new-mac-pro-appears-in-benchmarks/

 

[Sam Posten]

REQUIRED reading if you are considering the Mac Pro, he might actually talk you out of it!http://www.marco.org/2013/11/26/new-mac-pro-cpus

 

[Carlo_M]

Thanks Sam - in truth finances were already talking me out of it (the cost of an ACD and external RAID solution on top of the Mac Pro).

I was all ready to go in for a new iMac but the lack of Thunderbolt 2 (especially since it's on the new Macbook Pro Retina) was a deal breaker. Now there are these (Mac)rumors of a 4K panel for 2014. I'm hoping the next iteration of iMac will have TB2 and a 4K screen. I'll be 85% likely to buy the 2014 iMac if it has TB2, but a 4K panel would up that to 100%.

 

[Carlo_M]

And here comes the first 24" 4K monitor by Dell. Come on Apple, match this with your iMac 2014...
(actually we'd want true 4K 4096x2160, instead of 3840x2160)

 

[Sam Posten]

Yeah we have a thread on that in the PC section. Count me in for the 28" if it's half as good.

 

[Carlo_M]

Bought myself a little time until our hoped-for 4K iMac comes out.

Breathed new life into my 2010 Macbook Pro with one of these bad boys, 960GB version, enabled TRIM via terminal:

EDIT:
I took two videos - pre and post SSD install. I also let the SSD Spotlight indexer run to completion in order to make it a fair comparison. I timed it from the moment I pressed the power button and had it open to the desktop and launch the latest version of Chrome, and stopped the timer at the point where the preview icons in Chrome showed up. I wait until the preview icons show because that's really when my system has booted to the point where it's usable, not still loading a bunch of stuff in the background. The results:
750GB 7200RPM Seagate Momentus: 1 minute 45 seconds
960GB SSD Crucial M500: 28 seconds

Launching MS Word 2010, which used to take quite a while, probably 30 seconds, to load the various templates in the Chooser, now gets to the same point in under 10 seconds.

 

[Sam Posten]

Awesome! I actually thought your post was going to be about the BTO options pricing which leaked this AM:http://www.macrumors.com/2013/12/16/mac-pro-build-to-order-upgrade-pricing-revealed/

 

[Carlo_M]

Yeah I saw that, Sam. Just confirmed that the new MP+BTO is really out of my price range. I have to say, adding the SSD has given my 2010MBP a new lease on life. Whereas before I had a separate partition for my Logic program, because putting it on the main partition made it run slow, well now I have everything on one drive and it all runs extremely quick! And this is with the SATA II limitation of my model. I can't imagine how much faster SATA III--and the PCIe-based flash Apple uses (which is supposed to faster than SATA III)--must feel!

It's become clear to me that the main factor in my wanting to upgrade was caused by the slow HDD. My itch to upgrade has subsided a little bit, which is good given the holidays. But if Apple puts a 4K model on the 2014 iMac, I'll definitely upgrade.

Funny this morning I have a ritual of turning on the laptop early, splashing water on my face, then coming back to check email knowing I have to wait another minute before I can really get to checking my work email. It was a pleasant surprise to find my computer basically waiting for me, ready to go!

 

[Ted Todorov]

It's become clear to me that the main factor in my wanting to upgrade was caused by the slow HDD.

I can really see why Apple has gotten rid of HDDs in most of their product line - it makes such a colossal difference... My 2009 MacPro with a PCIe SSD is just a totally different machine. My one and only regret is that I didn't spring for the dual CPU version back then -- together with the SSD it would have given it a several more years of useful life. As is, I feel minimal desire for the new Mac Pros, (Of course having a 2013 rMBP helps a great deal in that regard).

 

[Carlo_M]

Agreed Ted, five or so years ago the consensus was that RAM was the biggest bang-for-buck improvement (and in many ways it's still very important). But with the advent of SSD, and its drive to affordability, SSD is the "new RAM". While $500 is a lot for a TB SSD, you can get some really good deals for less capacity ($300 for 500GB, under $200 for 256GB). Even if you can't get all of your data on a 256GB SSD, you can get your OS and programs on there: OSX, default Mac apps, MS Office, Adobe CC and Logic X (maybe minus some of the DL content) will fit in 256GB. And that will make a huge difference for any user currently on a traditional HDD (even if it's a 7200rpm or Raptor 10K rpm).

 

[Sam Posten]

Tomorrow!!!http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2013/12/18All-New-Mac-Pro-Available-Starting-Tomorrow.html

 

[Carlo_M]

Why do I have visions of Sam singing "Tomorrow"?

 

[Sam Posten]

Because that is EXACTLY what John Siracusa was doing when he posted that link and which I forwarded here.https://twitter.com/siracusa/status/413324673259429888

 

[Sam Posten]

Operators are standing by, call NOW!http://www.macrumors.com/2013/12/19/apples-redesigned-mac-pro-now-available-for-online-orders/

 

[Sam Posten]

Unboxination!http://www.macrumors.com/2013/12/19/first-mac-pro-unboxing-video-revealed/

 

[Nelson Au]

That looks heavy! I'll be checking out the build options now and see what makes sense if the pricing works out. Since they aren't shipping till February, I'll take my time.The black finish looks a lot more chrome like. That's nice!

 

[Carlo_M]

There's that word again. "Heavy." Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the Earth's gravitational pull?



On a serious note, it looks like availability has slipped into February.

 

[Nelson Au]

I was thinking of WKRP, the proprietor of a mortuary wanted a commercial and the WKRP staff commented the catalog book of offerings was heavy. He said in his business, they like heavy.

 

[Sam Posten]

It rolls nicely:http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/19/5227466/the-new-mac-pro-2013-hands-on