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Ahh, the good days of Apple are back. And, by "good days," I mean, when your Mac was more expensive than your "hungry artist" car and you had to keep it for more than 10 years to make the investment worth it.
That's right, ladies and gentlemen, as you've probably already heard, the Mac Pro tower is back. The famous cheese grater, Mac desktop computer 2003-2006, in all its splendor.
(Do you remember the Mac Pro 1st generation? The Powermac G5? Have you left Apple since then or are you stuck with them? Leave a comment below!)
Of course, you'll have to shell out at least $ 5,999 for a streamlined setup, not to mention their new 32 "6K XDR (HDR) 32" display, (4999 USD) … or the most controversial item of all: the 999 USD stand for this display!
So, if you have a lot more money to spend, how crazy can this thing go? Here is the potential configuration:
Mac Pro 2019 Specifications
- Xeon processor up to 28 cores (56 threads)
(2.5 GHz, Turbo Boost up to 4.4 GHz) - Up to 1.5 TB of RAM (12 DIMM slots)
- Expansion: 8 PCI-E slots
Okay, it's a lot of room for "things", in fact, it's twice as much as the previous Mac Pro tour. You can currently use up to 4TB of SSD storage, and that will consume only two slots!
Mac Pro Graphics
The graphics of the new Mac Pro deserve their own category in the datasheet. In simple terms, the specifications are insane, just like their added prices will be foolish.
There is a new Mac Pro extension module, (MPX Module), presented as "the most powerful graphics card in the world". It can handle up to 4 Radeon Pro Vega II GPUs. (56 teraflops, 128 GB HBM2)
There is the "afterburning"Accelerator card, which improves the performance of ProRes video, allowing to create up to 3 streams of 8K or 12 streams of RAW 4K video.
In simple terms, it's not your average "Youtuber Famous" workstation or "Director of Wedding Photography". This machine is designed for a totally different level of professional video production. One where jobs pay five or six digits, not three or four.
Finally, there are a handful of ports Thunderbolt, USB3, DisplayPort and Ethernet (but not tons).
Oh, and the thing weighs about 40 pounds and has a power supply of 1.4 kilowatts. Since we are celebrating like in 2003, I'll say it: Yowza!
What you get for $ 5,999
By the way, all these "crazy" specifications will cost much more than the "from" price. The configuration page is not even available yet (note below if you find it!) And this machine will not be available until autumn 2019.
So, what do you get for the base price of $ 6,000 only? You get an 8-core processor, a "simple" RAM and a single hard drive, dares to say unfortunate by today's standards, 256 GB for SSD. (It's not even enough space to work on a single 30-second TV commercial in 4K RAW, is not it?)
But here's the thing: remember, you're back in the good old days; That means you can go to Newegg or go to your local Fry's Electronics, and buy 1 TB SSDs for a few hundred dollars, or 10 terabyte hard drives or whatever you want. RAM, graphics, … everything is interchangeable. And storage / RAM becomes cheaper every year.
What is Apple doing with the Mac Pro 2019?
Before the dark days of soldered RAM, hard drives and other components (I still use a MacBook Pro 2012 in part for this reason), the Mac Pro and even its laptop equivalent were extremely customizable. Many of my "photographer friends" have told me how powerful their 2006 Mac Pro Tower was in 2010, even 2016, when their computer had reached its 10th birthday.
When a computer lasts so long and it continues to run smoothly and deliver reliable performance, it's really beautiful, that it's about your long-term professional spending budget term or your daily stress level.
Let's be honest, the "trash" of Mac Pro has been a flop. Its unconventional design has made it far from being as scalable as its predecessor and Apple has itself neglected it for years.
The Mac Pro 2019 tower is, quite simply, a strong statement "We're back!" From Apple. Price tag and everything.
Is Apple out of touch? Maybe not.
The hardware is impressive, yes, and the outer shell is downright sexy. However, the price immediately puts everything out of reach of most artists.
The general consensus on the internet seems to be that Apple is too late to redeem itself, and the $ 999 display stand in particular is only a slap for anyone who thought they could plunge back into the Apple sphere without reservation. .
Honestly, though? Even if you're a full-time professional photographer or videographer, even if you shoot thousands of raw 40- to 50-megapixel files, or edit a 4K video, this computer is always overworked for you. The display is probably excessive, too.
What Apple has been offering is very similar to what Canon offered in its flagship 1Ds DSL DSLR worth $ 8,000: a professional workhorse that only a few really need and a status symbol that only a few non-professionals will be able to afford it.
If you can not afford it and still love the Mac operating system, that's what an iMac or MacBook Pro is for. Or, if you are not obsessed with operating systems, building a PC with similar high-end specifications (including graphics and 6K HDR display) will still cost you a small fortune.
Why does everyone lose their sh * t, then?
Most people on the Internet like to criticize things they can not get. If money really was not an object, you would drive a sophisticated sports car that can travel 200 km / h, even if you're not a Nascar winner. You have a huge house, even if you only have one or two children. And you would not buy this computer, even if all you were doing was playing with your GoPro 4K footage or your 45-megapixel landscape shots of your recent trip to Patagonia.
Of course, if you are an active professional in an industry where this type of IT specification is really needed, you are also investing in good quality computer hardware. If you're working with a RAW / HDR 8K and / or 4K RAW video (and you're getting a good salary to do it), then spending $ 10 to $ 20,000 on a computer system is probably a good long-term investment for businesses . Hope for a good long term investment. This brings us to our last point of discussion, the quality control of Apple in recent years. (Uh-oh!)
What Apple needs to focus on from now on
Unfortunately, asking bitter buying fans to spend $ 6,000 (or $ 12,000 if you also want the XDR screen and its support) remains a very daring demand, given the general trend of Apple's quality products these last years. We have a long track record of Apples quality control, or lack of it, and frankly, we'd be downright stupid to throw Apple back into the money right now.
So here's what Apple really needs to focus on with this new, very expensive machine: Prove they're not just back in the game with regard to exterior visuals and the evolving user factor that we missed so much. First, they must demonstrate that they are committed to providing professional quality control and customer support. Because, if the experience of the user is not smooth, the price will be high.
Even if this computer is something that the masses will never be able to afford, it is still the new reference that Apple will be judged in the eyes of the public, and the eye of serious photographers and videographers who dream at least to own such a machine. , even if all they really have need is a MacBook Pro or a decently specified iMac.
So what do you think? Is Apple completely offline or is it an exciting new chapter in its proud lineup of beautiful and impressive computers?
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