Mac Pro Nehalem is OUT!!
Finally! The new Mac Pro is out b4 the end March prediction. Hmm, price is even higher than the previous. I'm not sure how much improvement its gonna be thou. All I have seen so far is the new mini port (ok, there is provision for dual DVI..but no more FW400!!!)
Specs: Apple - Mac Pro - Tech Specs |
No Blu-ray drive in the updated Mac Pro! I guess that this also means no Blu-ray support in the upcoming Final Cut Studio update. Any thoughts?
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It actually comes with a FW800 connection but no FW400. You can buy a FW400 to 800 cable anywhere (in fact they normally come for free with a Western Digital portable hard drive)
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All things considered this is a lackluster "update". The new CPU may indeed process tasks faster but if you read on to Apple's own benchmarking of things like rendering times for HDV & ProRes it's literally just a tick faster. A 1.1x speed increase is supposed to be exciting news? That's not even humanly discernible much less usable.
Rather than break the bank for a new "Nehalem" you'd be better off buying a leftover 3.2Ghz machine and getting exactly the same performance. The deletion of FW400 was inevitable as more tapeless cameras come to the forefront (tape is *almost* a dead medium for new consumer cameras just as film is dead for consumer photography). And if I read between the lines correctly is seems that FW and USB are sharing the same data pipeline (still) requiring the installation of a separate FW card if you do a lot of FW-based work and don't want to interfere with the USB speeds. And no BR yet. Geez, don't get me started. The future's not looking great for BR authoring on an Apple, is it? OK Apple, you're great at giving us aesthetically gorgeous machines both inside and outside, how about putting in more *utility* into your machines like the PC makers have been doing for some time now. Gotta hand it to Apple: The one thing they do really, really well is bowl us over with glossy marketing. |
Yeah, I was in Korea the week b4 and spotted the Mac Pro at USD2000 for the basic 8 core model. Kinda regretted not buying it ..
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Yup, a pretty lackluster update IMHO. However, considering the current economic conditions, even if they come up with a show stopper, not sure that now is the time to intro.
The fact that there is no BR I think is also a sign of the times. A recent article I read shows that DVD sales are off by as much as 30% in some markets, and even though BR saw a 15% increase in penetration during 2008, that was not enough to help sales. One major studio saw a 74% drop in profits due to this. No... that was not a typo! Certainly my business model has undergone a change in the last 2 yrs. We saw a 30% decline in DVD Authoring just in 2008 alone. Look at Netflix, they are getting out of the plastics, and going full tilt on the concept of delivering an electronic file. With all of the licensing fees associated with BR, anyone except major studios, that is considering a "large run" in BR instantly backs down when they see the cost. On the consumer side of our business (wedding for the most part) the need for BR has also turned out to be a non issue, as many consumers are opting for media devices such as the Western Digital HD Media Player. All we have to do is provide the finished file, and way they go - happy as a lark! Quality HD, no costly BR disc, and excellent playback. As long as convenience such as this, is available, I think BR is on the way out before it really grabs hold. And last, but certainly not least, I'm sure many of you noticed Apple's marketing re: iLife '09. Not even a mention of iDVD (though it's still there). I think they are beginning to prime the consumer for the next step. |
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EDIT: Just read Boyd's post. Thanks. I was unaware of that. |
Well, I was all up for this thing coming out as soon as possible but why in the world did they not wait and release it with snow leopard? I'm bummed about the no blue ray burner as well.
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BR support
Correct me if I'm wrong... wouldn't BR support really be a function of the OS not the hardware... assuming you can drop a drive in with little effort??? If this is the case then snow leopard would be the gating item, not a new box.
But this does beg the question as to why they didn't hold the release of hardware for snow leopard when they could have brought out BR as well. Perhaps it a sign that snow leopard will not have BR support. Mark |
Hmm, would the base 2.66GHz $2,499 Mac Pro be worth the purchase for editing on FCS 2? I'll be on a very slim budget but I definitely need to upgrade to a desktop editing system from my current 2.2GHz MBP system. Perhaps this is a dumb question, but if it's pointless to transition maybe I'll look to invest the cash elsewhere...
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Andrew, I'm using a white iMac 2.16GHz with FCS 2 and the only issues I have are 1) render times on significant effects or comps; and 2) my installed graphics card (256MB) can't render some Motion templates in FCP due to project pixel dimensions. The new Mac Pro, even in it's basest form, will certainly be serviceable.
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Yeah, I'm trying not to give up on Apple's support Blu-Ray. Sure, this wave of Mac Pro's didn't have it, but I won't lose faith unless Snow Leopard and FCS3 don't include it either.
Who knows, if either Snow Leopard or FCS3 introduce Blu-Ray support, then they can add CTO options for Blu-Ray drives for the Mac Pro, no? |
I too was rather disappointed with the new updates. I'm surprised that Apple went back to having two models of the Mac Pro again.
Now you can get half as many cores, and less RAM capacity for ... the same price as before? Granted they are newer processors, etc but I don't think I could justify purchasing one, maybe next year or two or whenever they get upgraded again. |
in order to make Blu Ray work this is the problem -
complicated licensing. although this maybe simplified, its still EXPENSIVE for use encryption. data on the bus and video card is encrypted. its a big part of why vista runs slow. would ANYONE want to slow the OS down just for Blu Ray ? especially if you never even use them ? of course not. it would be really bad for the OS so this is a decision not based on if it can be done technically ( yes it can ) but more legal issues and performance issues. FWIW, you can author in encore on a mac. don't see why something that doesn't have apple's name on it, everyone forgets about it. the machines are overpriced to be sure. I think sales numbers will let the know that one loud and clear. |
with the large (and growing) audio recording market that utilizes FW 400 audio interfaces, and also the (i would imagine) large amount of people already owning video cameras that use FW 400, i really don't understand the exclusion of a small, simple, and relatively cheap connection... you could daisy chain the interface/camera/hard drives on the FW 800, but things get really buggy (for my two pro tools interfaces anyway...) and it slows the speed.
if a buy a kabillion dollar 'PRO' computer, i would at least want to be able to hook up my 'PRO' gear, right out of the box. call me fussy. BR exclusion is bothersome also, but the idea of just handing over a little hard drive with the HD quality files to cleints is also intriguing... even kicking in that WD media player, at $104 with a little hard drive, $64?!, it's easy to build into costs... hmmmm. i'd pay that much personally to NOT transcode to DVD for many many hours... |
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As well, and please correct me if I'm wrong, I thought the BluRay licensing was in regard to the BD-Video, which could be addressed by adding the appropriate "tariff" to applications that allow BD-Video discs to be produced. Merely as a mass storage format, BD-R is attractive and I can't believe our hands are being tied. |
Does anyone know if the single processor Mac pro can be upgraded to a dual chip machine, including the ability to host more RAM as the current dual chip box can?
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2009 Mac Pro Detailed Pics
For those of you (like me) who are about to get one of these for FCP work here is engadgets first detailed take on it - including about 90 pictures of it. Enjoy....if that's possible whilst feeling the pain of the horrendous cost! (especially here in the UK!)
Apple Nehalem-based Mac Pro in-depth impressions |
Nehalem - any real world editing experiences to share?
As I await to get paid from one of my previous video jobs (in order to be able to buy one of these new Mac Pros!) I was wondering if any one who already has one of these Nehalem's has any real world video editing experiences to share regarding FCS2.
I'm almost certainly decided on a 2.66, 8 core with 12 GB RAM, 4870 Graphics card. I don't really see I can justify the extra £1000 or so for the 2.93 but at least in my head I can justify getting the 2.66 over the 2.26 (just don't tell my wife there is a lower model than 2.66, OK!). It will be driving two (already owned) Dell 2408WFP - and yes I've read of some headaches over the mini-display port/adapter nonsense on the Apple forums when trying to run two displays. What a stupid idea all that was...Apple really dropped the ball on that. I certainly want 8 core as I reckon 12-18 months from now FCS3 (or less, whenever it gets launched) and Snow Leopard (latest rumour/estimate Sept 09 launch) will then enable me to be take advantage of many cores (real and/or virtual) and lots more RAM than FCS2. If you like, I want to future proof this expensive piece of hardware as much as I can for my video work over the next 2-3 years. So you lucky ones that have a Nehalem, how's it running? |
Andy, MacRumors is "reporting" that the MacPro is expected to get another Nehalem processor, over 3GHz, "soon". In traditional Mac style, this SHOULD mean that the base model drops off and each processor slides down a notch into the previous "low water mark" pricing. PURELY SPECULATION, but if you don't need the Mac immediately, wait for the update and get the next faster processor for the same money you'd spend today. Apple is notoriously "bad" at releasing new processors in a line without fanfare so the computer you buy today may well be supplanted with a very short period of time, based on my (twice) experience of buying a new Mac only to have it replaced in the pricing structure within 2 weeks. Of course, if we are always waiting for "the next big thing" we'd never buy anything and never make any money editing video...
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Yes...I know exactly what you mean but I've postponed this Mac Pro purchase for 6 months now already and I just KNOW that as soon as I order it what you predict and your "2 week too early" experience will just happen to me!
I can probably wait another few weeks anyway (this client is, I'm told, a pretty slow payer and my next big project can be done again on my 2008 MBP/GRAID3 setup no sweat) but then I'm probably just going to have to see what the rumours are then and just "do it" (unless something looks imminent) and hopefully not look back too much. |
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Has anyone tryed the new GeForce285 on the new MacPro? Is it compatible, recommended, a better option?
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