Dedicated Mac users and ardent Apple fans will have well and truly noted the announcement last June of a successor to the venerable Mac Pro tower. Now the new (2nd Generation) Mac Pro is available for order, with expected delivery in February.
The new Mac Pro is a radical departure on many levels. A very serious workstation built around an Intel Xeon processor, dual AMD graphics cards, PCIe-based flash storage, and Thunderbolt 2 connectivity, the entire complex machine is shoehorned into a sleek cylindrical case less than 10 inches tall and 7 inches in diameter…without question a tech design tour de force.
There are scores of articles and initial reviews of this just-released new machine (see links below). Interested parties will need to carefully consider order options and additional peripherals since there is no space inside for additional storage. Expect the market for external Thunderbolt accessories to expand rapidly, and you’ll need to factor in whatever you require into the overall acquisition cost.
Early reviews, and indeed Apple’s own advertising, seem to suggest a primary target for the new Mac Pro being video production. That doesn’t mean it won’t function well in executing Photoshop/Lightroom/Aperture programs, but it isn’t optimized for that purpose. And the cost will be quite high—especially if you start adding a lot of options and need considerable external fast storage. All this is hardly out of character with Apple as they’ve proven time and again to be quite willing to introduce new technology before the market has caught up, banking on the willingness of Apple fans to help make it happen eventually. And for many, the attendant aura is sufficient to make it all worthwhile.
Macworld review. 9to5Mac review. The Verge review. Apple Insider review.
C-Net review. Mac Performance Guide suggestions for ordering.