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The $25,000 Mac Pro Workstation (2013)
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Author:  Amnesia10 [ Tue Oct 29, 2013 9:46 am ]
Post subject:  The $25,000 Mac Pro Workstation (2013)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcxMRARm2ME
Author:  davrosG5 [ Tue Oct 29, 2013 10:10 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The $25,000 Mac Pro Workstation (2013)
It occurs to me that Apple will presumably be bringing out their own 4k thunderbolt 2 displays at some point. Current 4k displays have limitations due to the bandwidth available over existing HDMI and DisplayPort connections (I'm sure the Asus one in the that video requires 2 HDMI connections or does something funny with a single DP connections). Ultra HD will really require next gen HDMI or DP connectors (or Thunderbolt 2) before they can deliver the full resolution over a single channel.

Given the price currently being charged for 4k displays I expect Apples one to be eye-wateringly expensive.
Author:  jonbwfc [ Tue Oct 29, 2013 10:30 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The $25,000 Mac Pro Workstation (2013)
Maybe. It's certainly one of the few things you'd actually need thunderbolt 2 for. I suspect they'd continue to sell the 27" 2560x1440 displays as well though, 4K is overkill for a lot of things.
Author:  Amnesia10 [ Tue Oct 29, 2013 11:31 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The $25,000 Mac Pro Workstation (2013)
4k screens might be a small market but if they can make their margins why not. If they can create an easy solution for 4k film makers combined with a 4k version of their editing software and they could get a decent number of systems sold, plus there will be more than a few who will want the best system available.
Author:  davrosG5 [ Fri Dec 20, 2013 6:58 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The $25,000 Mac Pro Workstation (2013)
Oh well, now we know.

Apple is currently listing a Sharp 4K display that is connected via a Thunderbolt via a miniDP to Displayport connector.
You can only add one to the price of your maxed out Mac Pro but if you could add 3 the total price would be £18593 (which works out as just under $30500 at todays exchange rate (£1:$1.64 according to Google at time of writing). The same setup on the US Apple Store comes out at $20522 although that's presumably without sales tax (adding a UK equivalent 20% tax brings it up to $24626.40). I know the pound is riding relatively high at the moment but over $5000 of difference strikes as a bit excessive.

That's without adding any software or external storage. I assume you'd also need to factor in a desk big enough to accommodate 3 31.5" displays :shock:
Author:  jonbwfc [ Fri Dec 20, 2013 10:05 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The $25,000 Mac Pro Workstation (2013)
davrosG5 wrote:
Oh well, now we know.

Apple is currently listing a Sharp 4K display that is connected via a Thunderbolt via a miniDP to Displayport connector.

I do find it kind of odd they didn't take the opportunity to launch a new monitor range. The ones they sell are looking pretty long in the tooth..

davrosG5 wrote:
You can only add one to the price of your maxed out Mac Pro but if you could add 3 the total price would be £18593 (which works out as just under $30500 at todays exchange rate (£1:$1.64 according to Google at time of writing). The same setup on the US Apple Store comes out at $20522 although that's presumably without sales tax (adding a UK equivalent 20% tax brings it up to $24626.40). I know the pound is riding relatively high at the moment but over $5000 of difference strikes as a bit excessive.

US sales tax generally isn't anywhere near 20%. I think the average is about 8%. However, for one thing, aren't Apple making a big thing about them being manufactured in the US? In which case there's a significant extra transport overhead for getting one in the EU rather than US.

Either way, the general fact is the lower your sales volume, the more the US/EU price different tends to be apparent. And I don't think they're expecting to sell millions of them.

I did see a tweet though that someone specced up a Dell workstation as close to the 'basic' Mac pro model as they could and it came out $14 more expensive.
Author:  davrosG5 [ Fri Dec 20, 2013 11:51 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The $25,000 Mac Pro Workstation (2013)
jonbwfc wrote:
davrosG5 wrote:
Oh well, now we know.

Apple is currently listing a Sharp 4K display that is connected via a Thunderbolt via a miniDP to Displayport connector.

I do find it kind of odd they didn't take the opportunity to launch a new monitor range. The ones they sell are looking pretty long in the tooth..

davrosG5 wrote:
<snip>

US sales tax generally isn't anywhere near 20%. I think the average is about 8%. However, for one thing, aren't Apple making a big thing about them being manufactured in the US? In which case there's a significant extra transport overhead for getting one in the EU rather than US.

Either way, the general fact is the lower your sales volume, the more the US/EU price different tends to be apparent. And I don't think they're expecting to sell millions of them.

I did see a tweet though that someone specced up a Dell workstation as close to the 'basic' Mac pro model as they could and it came out $14 more expensive.


I expect a new monitor range will follow in due course. I wonder if they are waiting for screens that aren't 2 pannels squashed together to create the 4k resolution (well, that's certainly how they have to be driven by current graphics cards anyway).

While the transport overhead from the US to the EU is most likely bigger than that from China to the EU due to sheer volume of traffic I find it hard to believe that it could be that much of a difference. It's not as if the new 'Pro is going to be terribly bulky to ship, certainly not compared to the previous Mac Pro of PowerMac G5.

Not terribly surprised about the price differential between the Mac Pro and similar speced Windows workstation.
Author:  davrosG5 [ Sat Dec 21, 2013 8:57 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The $25,000 Mac Pro Workstation (2013)
I notice that there's already and EFI update for the late 2013 MacPro. Worryingly on of the things it's meant to address is shutdown/restart issues.
You'd have thought they could have got that right out of the door at least.
Author:  ProfessorF [ Sat Dec 21, 2013 6:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The $25,000 Mac Pro Workstation (2013)
Actually, I'm impressed they've brought out the update for the 12 people who've got one! ;)
Author:  big_D [ Sat Dec 21, 2013 7:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The $25,000 Mac Pro Workstation (2013)
davrosG5 wrote:
[I expect a new monitor range wwill follow in due course. I wonder if they are waiting for screens that aren't 2 pannels squashed together to create the 4k resolution (well, that's certainly how they have to be driven by current graphics cards anyway).

While the transport overhead from the US to the EU is most likely bigger than that from China to the EU due to sheer volume of traffic I find it hard to believe that it could be that much of a difference. It's not as if the new 'Pro is going to be terribly bulky to ship, certainly not compared to the previous Mac Pro of PowerMac G5.

Not terribly surprised about the price differential between the Mac Pro and similar speced Windows workstation.

The old 30" panels also worked the same way. Dual-DVI. Later graphics card integrated the dual link DVI into one connector and one cable. Display port is capable of 4K, but the current generation HDMI is only designed for a maximum of 1920*1200. The next generation, currently in the development stage will support 4K.
Author:  Amnesia10 [ Sat Dec 21, 2013 10:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The $25,000 Mac Pro Workstation (2013)
ProfessorF wrote:
Actually, I'm impressed they've brought out the update for the 12 people who've got one! ;)

It was a clearly an issue during the run up to the launch so probably had this already planned. Plus if those 12 have maxxed out the spec then they might make it worthwhile fixing anything that might be troubling the buyers. :lol:
Author:  jonbwfc [ Wed Dec 25, 2013 8:21 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The $25,000 Mac Pro Workstation (2013)
DIY PC Site tries to build Mac Pro equivalent

They end up with a PC slightly better than a Mac Pro in some senses and slightly worse in others. The kicker? The top spec model is $2000 more than a mac pro and even the base model is $1000 more...
Author:  davrosG5 [ Wed Dec 25, 2013 11:54 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The $25,000 Mac Pro Workstation (2013)
jonbwfc wrote:
DIY PC Site tries to build Mac Pro equivalent

They end up with a PC slightly better than a Mac Pro in some senses and slightly worse in others. The kicker? The top spec model is $2000 more than a mac pro and even the base model is $1000 more...


I can't say I'm surprised tbh. Something the size of Apple is going to be able to get a fairly impressive volume discount even if they don't make that many of them compared to off the shelf consumer components.

I was trying to see what specing a similar Dell workstation would set you back but unless I've missed something they've removed virtually all the customisation options from the Precision workstation pages. I assume you can get access if you're a corporate or business customer but the options presented were fairly poor.
Broadberry were a better bet but the real sinker seems to be the dual graphics cards and they don't seem to have an option to spec a PCIe SSD on their workstation customisation pages.

However desirable it is though, I still think that anyone who genuinely needs that much processing and GPU power will ultimately be better going for a Windows based workstation for double the number of CPU cores and the ability to pack in up to 4 dual slot graphics cards.
Author:  Amnesia10 [ Thu Dec 26, 2013 12:34 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The $25,000 Mac Pro Workstation (2013)
jonbwfc wrote:
DIY PC Site tries to build Mac Pro equivalent

They end up with a PC slightly better than a Mac Pro in some senses and slightly worse in others. The kicker? The top spec model is $2000 more than a mac pro and even the base model is $1000 more...

I suspect that it is down to Apples buying power with these components. Though it looks like Apple care might be needed with the costs of replacing the parts as you cannot get third party replacements.
Author:  jonbwfc [ Fri Jan 03, 2014 11:37 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The $25,000 Mac Pro Workstation (2013)
Comprehensive Mac Pro review
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