Adapters will solve your core issues. External expansion solves the rest. Thunderbolt is there for a reason.
This.
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Anyone looking forward to the new Mac Pro?
- Thread starter Captain Kirk
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Adapters will solve your core issues. External expansion solves the rest. Thunderbolt is there for a reason.
This.
Skripka
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Adapters may or may not. ProTools is fussy enough that even basic/tangential OSX updates will break the DAW. I shouldn't need to worry about whether my $1000 DAW software, $2000 audio interface, and $2500 TrashCanATX machine will function via a $29 adapter...because Apple decided to bone workstation users and use a bizzarro TrashCanATX format case with no internal expansion card options....all in exchange for....wait what exactly are users getting out of this format change?
Some people so far report that Apple adapter works with their specific machine and audio interface...but I shouldn't have to worry about being a public professional beta tester.
The former part of your sentence betrays the latter.
Skripka
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Argumentative are we?
No it doesn't. Like I said. ProTools is fussy. Just because PT works over that adapter on one audio interface...does in no way mean it works with all of them. Adding a cable adapter is an extra failure point in a hardware/software system that is unstable to start with. And given how every OSX update breaks ProTools to start with (anyone with any real time with ProTools will attest to this)-that adapter my well cease working with the next OSX update....for no real apparent reason.
That is the nature of it. Feel free to continue to defend the not defensible.
The adapter in question has been out for months. It's the same FW800 chipset used in the Mac Mini. There is nothing different about it, except for the fact that you can see the cable by which it is connected to the motherboard/PCIe lane, instead of it being a ribbon cable inside the case. That's it. Everyone using the MBPr with FW800 peripherals (there are lots of us) has been "beta testing" this cable for you for months. The fact that you somehow feel you would be testing the peripheral by using it must mean you are still using your G5 tower, because who wants to "beta test" an Intel Mac?
Apple will never again make a machine with internal PCIe slots aside from the special ones used to interface with the SSD. These are the same tears shed over the removal of the internal floppy drive and the removal of the internal optical disc drive. Things are going to be ok.
Skripka
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Put it this way hoss. My last workplace, that did (and still does) 1000s of hours of live audio performace archiving every calendar year...still has a MacPro 2xWestwood Core2 for all the PT work dating from 2006 running. The amount of legacy hardware in the professional realm is huge. You probably don't know this, but bands and roadie troupes still are using MiniDisc. All those 1000s of hours of audio archiving? Still done on optical media because nothing is as long term stable yet as quality optical media. And yes, we cry over no more optical drives internally. Old workplace needs a new machine, and this will not be it-because it doesn't have any of the features you need in a workstation.
Things will indeed be okay...because people are going to stop buying Apple machines for real professional work. Because this machine is not designed for real professional workplace work. Not in the audio realm anyway.
ServerKing
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Im sorry but if I had that much to back up I would have the biggest drives possible and use optical as the second backup encase a drive failed and if I wanted a third option either flash or cloud based backup for everything just encase.....And I still dont see what is wrong with getting an external drive if needed.
ServerKing, what is wrong with having an internal drive *and* and external?
The argument here is not that the new MP is not a good machine, rather I see it as an argument of why loose features/options ?
They could have done the same setup, with internals in a bigger case with the same IO board.....then everyone would be happy. The "Pro" level often does not care about the physical size, rather they care about the actual power / ability of the machine. Most of those defending this I think are looking at it for the "pro-sumer" level, not the pro level which is where the Mac Pro typically is purchased......how many of you have a Mac Pro in your house? I look at this new one as Apple going for a new market, and rather forgetting, or not caring, about their previous one. The form factor says nearly as much...
The argument here is not that the new MP is not a good machine, rather I see it as an argument of why loose features/options ?
They could have done the same setup, with internals in a bigger case with the same IO board.....then everyone would be happy. The "Pro" level often does not care about the physical size, rather they care about the actual power / ability of the machine. Most of those defending this I think are looking at it for the "pro-sumer" level, not the pro level which is where the Mac Pro typically is purchased......how many of you have a Mac Pro in your house? I look at this new one as Apple going for a new market, and rather forgetting, or not caring, about their previous one. The form factor says nearly as much...
Skripka
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I feel like I'm having to explain things to my former boss who was a tool...who knew nothing about audio recording or archival long-term (50-100 year minimum) mass data storage or computers....and who loved telling me how to do my job despite all that.
Well, you're getting a pretty case.
Skripka
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I can easily imagine a band having one of these as their FOH DAW...and a piss drunk show-goer taking a piss in it.
wonderfield
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He didn't say anything about selling Mac Pros. What are you talking about?
UnknownSouljer
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delete... this is a waste of time.
Captain Kirk
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I think it's more a case of everyone's use case being different. Not everyone, like me, intends to do A/V with the Mac Pro. I love OS X and want to run it on a beefy, supported (i.e., no Hackintoshes) platform for VM hosting and desktop purposes.
Could I use an iMac? No, I like my existing monitor and it negates my KVM setup. Could I use a Mac Mini? Maybe, but its power capabilities only go so far. I'm looking for a desktop workstation, so a MBP seems kind of wasted, particularly with the battery issues...
Hey folks. So, I asked my boss if I could put up some pictures of my simulation and well...I can't. There's an NDA for god knows how long.
With regards to the last couple posts, I see thunderbolt as an expansion to the hardware your computer already comes with. I expect a PRO system to have room for several drives, be upgradeable, and have enough ports for me to EXPAND. Being a PRO system and being someone who needs PRO hardware, I have a need to UPGRADE as the job requires it. This means that I may need to go from having a lowly quad core to a high end 12 core. This means that I may need to go from have 2 graphic cards to having 4 graphic cards. Being a PRO user, I require LOW LATENCY, HIGH FIDELITY, and DURABILITY. Unfortunately, the new mac pro does not deliver on this for me.
With regards to the last couple posts, I see thunderbolt as an expansion to the hardware your computer already comes with. I expect a PRO system to have room for several drives, be upgradeable, and have enough ports for me to EXPAND. Being a PRO system and being someone who needs PRO hardware, I have a need to UPGRADE as the job requires it. This means that I may need to go from having a lowly quad core to a high end 12 core. This means that I may need to go from have 2 graphic cards to having 4 graphic cards. Being a PRO user, I require LOW LATENCY, HIGH FIDELITY, and DURABILITY. Unfortunately, the new mac pro does not deliver on this for me.
Captain Kirk
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This last bit makes no sense. Aside from the lack of internal expandability, all the things you're asking for here are being delivered with the Mac Pro.
If you want to do major upgrades, buy a new Mac Pro when a new generation arrives and sell the old one. As others have mentioned, Macs hold their resale value incredibly well.
What's with the caps anyways
?The last part was in reference to audio professionals. Latency is important for audio recording and bit perfect playback.
Fidelity is in reference to the frequency range and fineness in that range (ie something like 35.28451, etc.).
Durability is in reference to the machine's ability to withstand abuse from stupid users (every office has a couple of those).
The bold was just to get my point across by enunciating through screaming.
Fidelity is in reference to the frequency range and fineness in that range (ie something like 35.28451, etc.).
Durability is in reference to the machine's ability to withstand abuse from stupid users (every office has a couple of those).
The bold was just to get my point across by enunciating through screaming.
You've never used the machine.
And neither have you. That's my chief problem with the posts in this thread; somehow, people magically know all the properties of a computer they've never used. The complaints about Apple making it different from the previous device of the same name is particularly silly, given that Apple routinely does that with all their products. Eventually, it's either going to be radically changed (MacBook Air) or canceled in favor of something better (iPod Mini).
The release of the new Mac Pro won't invalidate your current setup. If you don't like the new Mac Pro or just don't want to figure out how to make it work for you, then keep what you currently use. It still works.
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jbltecnicspro
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Out of curiosity - what's your prediction as to what will happen with this particular Mac Pro? Do you think Apple will continue the form factor after this one?
Yeah, I think this form factor will stay around for a few years. There might be tweaks to the design, particularly the heatsink design (perhaps a slightly taller version to create more heatsink area). But I don't think Apple is going to drop this design quickly.
UnknownSouljer
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Apple tends to innovate then iterate.
They used the old Powerbook form factor for some time. Now we use Unibody MBP's, but people forget that those came out late 2008. The last Mac Pro's design was around since the G5 (although on the interior they changed a lot), whether this design lasts as long of course is debatable, but it will be here for at least 4 years I'd say unless there is a massive adverse reaction in the market (but I don't expect that to happen).