I've got an expanding video division. There aint much a Mac Pro can do that a high end iMac can't, as confirmed by an experiment I initiated about a year and a half ago now. The one advantage the Pro has over everything else, given how we use it, is slots for extra video cards and internal storage. But why would you need video cards if you can daisy chain Cinema Displays together via Thunderbolt? And what's the point of internal storage when the machine's on a gigabit network? Put a RAID in the machine for working projects, as we do, and store on a SAN across the network. Or connect a 16TB external RAID to the Thunderbolt chain. FC7 is not multi-core optimized anyway, so 12-core machines really don't give you any appreciable advantage over any other processor.
The same is true in my design division. We upgraded from G5s to prior generation x86 pros. Yes there were dramatic speed increases (though not really all that dramatic given how advanced the G5s already were) but … seems like we're throwing a lot of money and hardware at a problem that could be solved with cheaper kit.
I don't want to say the handwriting is on the wall, but all the pieces are there for Apple to pull the plug if it wants. Can't see what of value will have been lost. As Peter said, thin is in. If Apple can put a G4 in a cube with no fan, I'm pretty sure it could do the same with an i7.
Trucks.
---
Jerry Blackmon <
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Engraving Support: Mac Specialist
Senior Systems Administrator, OITO
"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change. The realist adjusts the sails." -- William Arthur Ward
From: "Link, Peter R." <email@hidden<
mailto:email@hidden>>
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2011 11:22:16 -0400
To: "IT2 Stuart Blake Tener, USNR" <email@hidden<
mailto:email@hidden>>
Cc: Mac Federal <email@hidden<
mailto:email@hidden>>
Subject: Re: [Fed-Talk] OS on new hardware?
Stuart,
Interesting comments. I just read a comment on the Macworld site about Final Cut Pro 10.0.1:
“The professional [editor] is critical to Apple, and it’s a customer we don’t want to lose,” said Richard Townhill, Apple’s director of pro video product marketing, in a conversation with Macworld.
I guess Apple sees the professional market differently than the enterprise market. I totally understand the requirement for configurability in the professional video market and that's something that has been lacking (except for RAM and disks) in all Apple products except for the Mac Pro. I hope Apple continues to build a professional Mac but after seeing the XServe and XServe RAID disappear, I can't say the word "never" to anything Apple has done. I would like to see a study on how much configuration is actually done on a Mac Pro; how many slots are filled (disks and PCI cards), etc. This would help myself and others understand whether Apple could produce a half-height Mac Pro for the professional and enterprise user. Why a half-height? Because a fully-loaded Mac Pro requires a OSHA permit to lift it (not really kidding, Apple specs the 8-core at 41 lbs).
On Sep 20, 2011, at 7:53 AM, IT2 Stuart Blake Tener, USNR wrote:
ALCON,
My understanding is (from someone whom had a similar experience) is
that you can either go the redemption code route or schedule a genius
appointment and request that the bar performs a full and complete
install for you.
However, what I also heard was that the Apple Care folks will ship out
a USB device with Lion thereupon in certain instances. This maybe just
such a qualifying instance, though I'd suspect a redemption code would
be requisite for the appointment of the MacOS Lion "server upgrade"
via the App Store.
Regarding the "Mac Pro" (which someone seemed to confused with a
Macbook Pro in earlier chatter on the list), will likely not go the
way of the Xserve. The reason is that from my experiences living in
Beverly Hills for a number of years is that the Mac Pro is used
extensively in the video editing market and most video editing
facilities in California have no issue writing a cheque for huge Mac
Pro instantiations for such purposes. Lest we not forget the footprint
of research users that use these machines.
Lastly, while I personally own an iMac and a MacMini, the Mac Pro is
the only truly configurable Mac and will likely be around for a long
time to come. Will it always be in stock at the Apple Store? Maybe,
maybe not...but built to order machines will exist for a long time. As
a matter of fact I believe that the LOM capabilities in the Xserve are
soon to come within the next generation of Mac Pros.
V/R,
IT2 Stuart B. Tener
NORAD / US NORTHCOM HQ (Reserve ADT orders until 30 SEP)
--
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