Listen, I'm not going to do any more broad speculating or jumping to conclusions. Dan was right on that account. We won't know anything until we have solid benchmarks and a price and we read reviews of them in production usage. However we can extrapolate based on current tech prices at ebay retail what this little machine might cost in the basic configuration. Yes these are estimates. I have tried to keep them as low as reasonable. But I'll be pretty surprised if it's not very close to accurate when this comes to retail, barring Apple selling these below cost. Of which there is a snowball's chance in hell.

dual firepro GPUS, present in the low end model - at least $700-800 each, based on current top end firepro = $1400

32 GB ECC 1800 mhz RAM = $1000+ (lowball estimate based on current ddr2 ecc RAM for mac pro)

single intel xeon 12c = $900-1200 (based on current price of top end 8c xeon + 20%)

 PCI-e SSD 500GB = $650-800 based on current OCZ revodrive costs

case + thunderbolt + mobo = $400

Guys you are looking at $1400 + 1000 + 900 + 400 + 650 = $4350 for the baseline mac pro. This is before Apple takes it's cut, so I honestly think people should be expecting $4299 - 4899 for the *basic* model. This is before you trick it out with any extras, larger drives, thunderbolt drives, external graphics or pci-e expansions

Excuse me, my nose is bleeding...

-TG

On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 5:26 PM, Stephen van Vuuren <stephen@sv2studios.com> wrote:

> For a good and balanced review, please take time to read:

 

Ars Technica has another with a bit more detailed, critical look: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/06/a-critical-look-at-the-new-mac-pro/

 

However, the missing factor here is price. Even with the downgrade to a single socket system, I suspect pricing, especially because it was not announced even in vague terms e.g. “under $4000” is going to be the real unpleasant surprise.

 

Apple has become internally confused. If you are going to put it in your pocket, size and weight matters. For a workstation, it could not matter less. What nobody has mentioned is they have wasted all this time inventing a solution for a problem that did not exist. All the time while losing market share and potential buyers of the new system.

 

Last year, they could have easily released a sexy new tower and have it sold well. And for those few panicked about deskspace for a workstation, a micro or mini ATX sized system based on the same design which would have sold really well. All the tech in here – more bandwidth, dual GPU, PCI-E SSD, innovative cooling, Thunderbolt, is all tech that’s been around for a couple of years or more. This year should have marked the V2 release of that design.

 

Instead, they have the world’s most expensive coffee dispenser to sell to a shrinking market they hope is still around “later this year”. With no other option other than iMac. And this tube is an iMac refresh or two away from being outclassed price performance wise, not to mention Hackintosh or Windows box (or Linux for 3D stuff).

 

I could be wrong, but I don’t see this selling in the numbers of past Mac Pros unless I’m dead wrong about pricing. If there is a base model under $2000, that could help move a lot of units. But if it’s $2999 or so to get in the game, no chance.

 

stephen van vuuren

336.202.4777

 

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A film is – or should be – more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what’s behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.

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