Mac Pro 2019

[dowie]

Nice unit with CPU and GPU for compute workloads such as AI etc.

I think it probably has more utility for the creative types who want a high powered local apple machine. That isn't really required for AI, you can do all your programming on say a MacBook Pro but then use the cloud for any heavy lifting or indeed some local linux server which you might well build for much less since it doesn't require a particularly pricey CPU - it is mostly the GPU you're making use of.

Edit... just seen the specs... not to mention they're shipping them with AMD GPUs not NVIDIA so not much use in a lot of cases!

 

[NickK]

I think it probably has more utility for the creative types who want a high powered local apple machine. That isn't really required for AI, you can do all your programming on say a MacBook Pro but then use the cloud for any heavy lifting or indeed some local linux server which you might well build for much less since it doesn't require a particularly pricey CPU - it is mostly the GPU you're making use of.

Edit... just seen the specs... not to mention they're shipping them with AMD GPUs not NVIDIA so not much use in a lot of cases!

It depends on the cost and what’s in use in the cloud.

I wouldn’t sneer at the latest Radeon, although you don’t have nvidia’s CUDA it’s still as programmable.
I would take a Radeon over the nvidia equivalent due to the double precision speed.

It’s looking more like running a mini with eGPU at this rate!

 

[dowie]

It depends on the cost and what’s in use in the cloud.

I wouldn’t sneer at the latest Radeon, although you don’t have nvidia’s CUDA it’s still as programmable.
I would take a Radeon over the nvidia equivalent due to the double precision speed.

Doesn't have to be the cloud (plenty of options there though) can just as easily be some local servers etc.. too. Plenty of universities make high powered computing facilities available for example as do plenty of companies... the researchers themselves therefore don't need a particularly high specced machine locally but can just make use of a laptop - as you'll see at any number of tech companies or universities.

I'm not sneering at AMD, CUDA is a big factor here when you're taking about AI/ML thanks to the the various libraries people use. That isn't to say there is anything inherently inferior but rather it is a software issue, lots of stuff has been built using CUDA and so pretty much everyone uses NVIDIA GPUs. There are ongoing attempts to make stuff work with AMD GPUs so this could change in future.

 

[NickK]

I agree - and don’t make it easy with little investment from experience (I was a CTM registered researcher back in ~2006) and even lately the clFFT and implementation had some issues.

 

[Bluecube]

That’s completely missing the point. At this price point and targeted market, a 256Gb SSD is plain ridiculous. The bottom end Mac Pro should have at least a 512Gb SSD. An upgrade in any form should not be required.

 

[Feek]

Of course it should but this is Apple. Don't be surprised.

 

[easyrider]

lol

 

[Nevakonaza]

Won't take long for someone to make a vesa adapter for £25-50, it's inevitable, just need the right bits of metal made to the right shape.

So i take that back because in the Apple keynote video it does indeed show they will sell an optional Vesa mount,Im very surprised so you could actually not have to buy their overpriced stand.

 

[RyzenJunkie]

https://pasteboard.co/IiaAQil.jpg

 

[dowie]

That’s completely missing the point. At this price point and targeted market, a 256Gb SSD is plain ridiculous. The bottom end Mac Pro should have at least a 512Gb SSD. An upgrade in any form should not be required.

Then you specify one with a 512GB SSD, I doubt it would make much difference to the price in the grand scheme of things.

I’d suspect the people ordering these things are aware of their requirements and Apple isn’t forcing anyone to buy one with a 256 GB SSD, it is however available if that is all that is required, I’m not really sure what your point is here.

 

[Combat squirrel]

That’s completely missing the point. At this price point and targeted market, a 256Gb SSD is plain ridiculous. The bottom end Mac Pro should have at least a 512Gb SSD. An upgrade in any form should not be required.

Then you specify one with a 512GB SSD, I doubt it would make much difference to the price in the grand scheme of things.

I’d suspect the people ordering these things are aware of their requirements and Apple isn’t forcing anyone to buy one with a 256 GB SSD, it is however available if that is all that is required, I’m not really sure what your point is here.

This, these machines are work stations, apple specced the lowest spec to simply be almost a barebones case - your better thinking of it as a barebones case then you add in what you want, the 5k only really gets you to the table, it doesnt mean you have anything to play with! lol - it only contains enough to make it run at the absolute minimum - thats how enterprise works, anyone buying this seriously will add top end processors, 64-128gb ram minimum, and 2-4TB hard drive minimum, at the lowest end they will edit/render off the local hard drive but more likely have their own multi TB TB3 drive arrays that max out a 40gbps line easy and cost several times the amount of the mac pro

 

[Energize]

I don't get the point of the releasing versions of the pro with such low specifications, it's below consumer grade level and doesn't fit the demographic at all. You don't see this with other enterprise products because it doesn't make economic sense to go to through the design and testing process with hardware no client will buy.

I did have to laugh when I saw the press announcement and the audience gasping and laughing at the $1000 monitor stand as the presenter paused and stuttered past it. Penny pinching like not including a monitor stand at a $5000 level is so embarrassing.

Don't see it having any 3.5" drive bays, if you want more storage you'll be able to add more NVMe either directly to the PCI-E slots, maybe a couple of 2.5" U.2 bays (low chance) or M.2 drives directly to the main board or using a 2-4 way PCI-E adapter card.

If you need spinning rust directly attached in large quantities you have TB3 or 10GBe to a NAS or SAN, what more so you need?

10Gb/s is pretty slow for storage you're directly working off in the enterprise world tbf. Even 2x consumer SATA III drives would be bottlenecked by that.

 

[Emlyn_Dewar]

I think the base cost is high for what is offered, but you can easy spec similar/lower, from competitors.
I see a lot of people deciding the use case for other people on this machine, but Apple aren't stupid. They love money, and they're going to have done enough market research for what the base spec should be.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

So true, it’s not just that, I mean just look at the thing. If you are a swish production company courting clients, what do you think is going to look better on the desks of your employees?

Mac Pro or a black box from Dell?

Presentation is very important these days.

 

[a1ex2001]

I think the base cost is high for what is offered, but you can easy spec similar/lower, from competitors.
I see a lot of people deciding the use case for other people on this machine, but Apple aren't stupid. They love money, and they're going to have done enough market research for what the base spec should be.

The base spec as always will be just below what is required so you need to cough up for some juicy over priced upgrades! It is the apple way and it has served them well with no real sign of decline.

 

[Emlyn_Dewar]

Mac Pro or a black box from Dell?

Presentation is very important these days.

I really think the box looks terrible. I'd far rather see an office of Dell Precisions.
Edit: Looks only, and definitely just an imo.

 

[V F]

Interesting view, even thinking back to my G5 days.

 

[Energize]

So true, it’s not just that, I mean just look at the thing. If you are a swish production company courting clients, what do you think is going to look better on the desks of your employees?

Mac Pro or a black box from Dell?

Presentation is very important these days.

I worked in the IT department for a digital marketing/web design agency where presentation was indeed important, we had account managers that met with clients and showed them round certain select parts of the office that had been done up to wow them. However no way would it have made business sense to replace all the back end production workstations with $6,000 Mac's in order to create a further show for clients. Even if the boss had wanted to make the whole businesses look sexy it would have been a case of buying souped up towers which arguably look nicer than the Mac Pro for a couple of hundred a piece, that would never have happened though because you don't want clients in rooms were commercially sensitive work is being done.

A lot of people seem to think Apple know what they are doing but I think the fact they are reverting from the trash can design and going back to the traditional case style speaks for itself, they make mistakes. And there have been huge issues with thermal throttling of Apple products like the iMac Pro and Macbook Pro which just demonstrates ineptitude by the designers and lack of adequate testing in general by the company.

 

[Somnambulist]

 

[V F]

I worked in the IT department for a digital marketing/web design agency where presentation was indeed important, we had account managers that met with clients and showed them round certain select parts of the office that had been done up to wow them. However no way would it have made business sense to replace all the back end production workstations with $6,000 Mac's in order to create a further show for clients. Even if the boss had wanted to make the whole businesses look sexy it would have been a case of buying souped up towers which arguably look nicer than the Mac Pro for a couple of hundred a piece, that would never have happened though because you don't want clients in rooms were commercially sensitive work is being done.

A lot of people seem to think Apple know what they are doing but I think the fact they are reverting from the trash can design and going back to the traditional case style speaks for itself, they make mistakes. And there have been huge issues with thermal throttling of Apple products like the iMac Pro and Macbook Pro which just demonstrates ineptitude by the designers and lack of adequate testing in general by the company.

Like the Cube days?