Apple on Friday quietly updated its high-end Mac Pro computer with an option for a faster processor.
(Credit:
Apple)
First noted by AppleInsider, the 3.33GHz quad-core Intel Xeon option will add $1,200 to the price of the base configuration, which currently sells for $2,499. An option for the 2.93GHz processor, introduced in March, is still available for an extra $400 over the base model.
The current Mac Pro base configuration ships with a 2.66GHz quad-core Intel Xeon "Nehalem" processor.
The custom configuration options for the Mac Pro also enable buyers to add up to 16GB of RAM, as many as four 2-terabyte hard drives, and a variety of graphics cards, in additional to other components and software.
When it introduced the Intel Xeon-based Mac Pro in March, Apple added options for the Nvidia GeForce GT 120 and the ATI Radeon HD 4870 graphics cards, as well as three channels of memory designed to cut latency by up to 40 percent on the machines.
While Apple's iMac and Mac Mini are recognized by most consumers for their design, the Mac Pro is the machine of choice by many IT, graphics, and audio pros for its superior power.
(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET)
We've received a few e-mails since our post last week on Apple's new Mac Pro and its higher-end 3D graphics card option, AMD's Radeon HD 4870. Echoing the comments in the original post, some folks wanted to know how we tested. Others wanted us to test the Mac Pro in Boot Camp. Also, AMD wanted us to show actual test results to back up our claim that the combination of the Mac Pro and its Radeon HD 4870 card was not great for gaming, especially compared with competing Windows desktops.
We're happy to oblige everyone.
... Read more
We promised some more benchmark scores for Apple's new eight-core Mac Pro this morning, and once the Fed Ex delivery guy showed up, we got to work. Apple sent us an ATI Radeon HD 4870 3D card to see how the major graphics card upgrade for the Mac Pro would improve its 3D gaming performance.
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As in our review of the Mac Pro, we tested with three different time demos in the Mac version of Call of Duty 4. We set the resolution to a modest 1,680 x 1,050 with 4x anti-aliasing. The results, as you can see, are definitely better with the $200 ATI upgrade, but it really only pushed the Mac Pro from "mediocre" to "acceptable" as a gaming system.
We suspect you'd see better performance with faster CPUs than our default model's pair of 2.26GHz Xeon chips, but with the 3D card upgrade our previously default review model already costs $3,499. We found plenty to like about the Mac Pro in our review, and for design professionals the new 3D card options will surely be welcome. We just can't endorse even this upgraded Mac Pro as a gaming system, with so many more powerful Windows-based options available for less.
We posted our review of Apple's new Mac Pro on Thursday night. You can read all about it here.
So it's clear, we tested the default, $3,299 eight-core spec with a pair of 2.26GHz Intel Xeon quad-core CPUs, 6GB of RAM, and a 512MB GeForce GT 120 3D card. With the help of our digital-imaging and video production teams, we also put together a few extra tests.
We took Photoshop 4 and timed a batch RAW file treatment, and we also have two Final Cut Studio 2 tests that take an HD video file and prepare it for uploading to the Web. For comparison, we had a baseline 2.8GHz eight-core Mac Pro from the previous generation, but we tested it with both 4GB and 8GB of RAM.
(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET)
On the whole, we're impressed by the Mac Pro for digital-media production, and in most cases, it provides a noticeable performance improvement over the older models, especially on apps like Final Cut and Cinebench that take full advantage of its new CPU and memory architecture.
It's interesting, though, that because of its slower core clock speed, the new 2.26GHz system actually trailed behind the older 2.8GHz Mac Pro on Photoshop. Raw clock speed obviously still matters.
As for the design muscle we mention in the headline, the new Mac Pro actually has very few external changes, but the redesigned interior features some of the most innovative case features we've seen in a PC to date. Check out the review for the full story, and check back here later this afternoon for a few extra test results.
Read our review of the 2.26GHz eight-core Mac Pro.
Dr. Michael Breus, the Sleep Doctor, gets snowed out of New York today, and Justin Yu and Natali Del Conte are both suspiciously absent. We thought they were joking about the whole getting married thing. We didn't actually think they would hook up. Anyway, Heavy fills in today and does an admirable job of explaining why people get migraines. Essentially, Justin needs to take some Midol.
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So what the hell is this Facebook ad suppose to mean? Jeff can't figure it out, but Heavy is heavy on the case. As usual, Jeff has a hater opinion on the new Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show. The best part by far is The Roots band. Anyway, we learn why smart people have a hard time dating. It's not the acne. It has mostly to do with the studying rather than dating.
Finally, big news of the day is that Apple updates its desktop line of computers. We know that the whole tech universe stops whenever Steve Jobs does...well... just about anything. Nothing spectacular here. It's just a refresh of its iMac, Mac Mini, and Mac Pro lines of computers. Wilson is just glad that the Mac Mini isn't dead.
We've got a new contest! We want to come up with a new motto. Our archnemesis podcast Buzz Out Loud is "The Podcast of Indeterminate Length." So far, our best entries are "The Podcast of the Future" or "The Podcast of Indeterminate Sense." Send in your entries to 1-866-404-CNET (2628) or via e-mail to the404 [at] cnet [dot] com, and you might just get a nondate with Heavy.
Episode 290
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Related coverage:
• Apple overhauls iMacs, 24-inch models more affordable
• Apple finally refreshes Mac Mini with updated specs
Updated 8:25 a.m. PST with analyst note.
As expected, Apple announced desktop updates on Tuesday with a focus on energy efficiency.
There are new Mac Pro high-end desktops powered by Intel's Nehalem-based Xeon processors, new and more graphics-intensive Mac Mini machines, and updated iMacs that offer the lowest price yet on these consumer desktops.
Here are the new ports on the updated Mac Mini.
(Credit: Apple)All the new machines meet the requirements for Energy Star 5.0 certification, which kicks in this summer.
The new Mac Pro is priced at $2,499 for the quad-core version and at $3,299 for the eight-core version, with the Nehalem-based Xeon processors running at up to 2.93 GHz. The interior of the machine has been cleaned up to make physical expansions easier.
The new iMac all-in-one desktop offers a 24-inch screen and is priced at $1,499, the cost of Apple's previous 20-inch iMac. The 20-inch model now costs $1,199.
The 20-inch version comes with a 2.66 GHz processor, a 320GB hard drive, and 2GB of RAM expandable to 8GB. The 24-inch model offers processor speed options of 2.66 GHz, 2.93 GHz (for $1,799), or 3.02 GHz (for $2,199). The 24-incher comes with a 640GB hard drive and 4GB of RAM expandable to 8GB.
As for the new Mac Mini, the big upgrade: the Nvidia GeForce 9400M integrated graphics chip, which Apple says will improve graphics performance as much as fivefold. The machine (sans a monitor) costs $599 for a lower-end edition (1GB RAM, 120GB hard drive) or $799 for the higher-end (2GB RAM, 320GB hard drive).
The Mac Mini is the "world's most energy efficient desktop computer," Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook claimed in a statement. Cook is currently at the helm of the company while CEO Steve Jobs is out for six months for health reasons.
Analyst Maynard Um at UBS offered this assessment of Tuesday's news:
Not surprisingly, Apple unveiled a much anticipated refresh to its desktop line, though the timing was earlier than we expected. Updated iMac & Mac mini are available immediately with the new Mac Pro available next week. Though the new Macs may provide some boost to end of qtr Mac units (enthusiasts and reseller channel), investors may have been hoping for greater price cuts at the low end.
Rumors of new Apple desktop computers were first reported at AppleInsider.
It's as clear as it gets in the Apple rumor business that if you're in the market for one of the company's iMacs, it's probably worth waiting a few weeks.
March came in like a lion, and could go out with an iMac.
(Credit: CNET)Several rumors flew across the Internet over the weekend and Monday, hurled by World of Apple and others, that Apple is finally gearing up for the long-awaited refresh of its all-in-one iMac desktop sometime later this month. Such an overhaul is long overdue in the minds of many Apple watchers, who have been hearing about a potential iMac refresh since last November.
Surprisingly, few details are available about what changes Apple is planning to make to the iMac, which could suggest that the changes will be under the hood rather than design-related. The Nvidia integrated graphics chipsets used in last October's MacBook refresh are a decent bet, perhaps combined with the 9600M discrete graphics card as Apple did with the MacBook Pro.
Maynard Um of UBS put out a research note Monday saying that one sure bet for the new systems are Intel's Nehalem processors. The server version of those chips is scheduled to be out relatively soon, which means Apple will probably also have a new high-end Mac Pro soon, as OSX86 contributor Netkas (via Ars Technica) has uncovered.
... Read moreApple and Nvidia are finally shipping a graphics card for owners of older Mac Pros who felt left out in the cold in January.
When Apple introduced the newest version of the Mac Pro in January, it offered Nvidia's GeForce 8800 GT graphics card as an upgrade option on those systems. Owners of older Mac Pros, however, were miffed that Apple said the cards would only work with the latest Mac Pro generation, because firmware in the card could only support the PCI Express 2.0 standard unveiled with the new Mac Pros.
The thing is, those cards were supposed to be backwards-compatible with older PCI Express standards. Many were irate that Apple appeared to be forcing them to buy a new Mac Pro to get the 8800 GT, but Nvidia said it would release an upgrade kit in due time. And it's now available on Apple's site for $279.
As usual, there were many specific rumors about what Steve Jobs would be announcing at MacWorld Expo this week. Several were reasonably credible, but Apple runs a tight ship; there's really no way to be sure what will come out at any given show.
The MacBook Air is remarkably thin and stylish, but it isn't for everyone.
(Credit: Courtesy of Apple)At the beginning of the year, based on the better rumors and some discounting of existing Mac products, I was pretty sure we'd see four things: new Mac Pro workstations, a refresh of the MacBook Pro line with Blu-ray optical drives and Intel 45nm processors, minor improvements for the iPhone, and a new subnotebook.
New Mac Pro configurations were announced a week before the show-- minor updates, but significant for the professional audience. We got the new subnotebook, the MacBook Air, this week. The iPhone and iPod got only some software tweaks. There was nothing new for the MacBook Pro family.
But that's okay. I'll keep waiting for a better iPhone, and I'm still sure there'll be Blu-ray equipped MacBook Pro models before long.
In the meantime, the MacBook Air is worth a closer look.
The first thing to understand about this machine is that it's aimed at a relatively small market. Apple made a series of design decisions that limit the audience for the Air, but for those potential buyers who aren't turned off by these choices, the Air is the best machine on the market.
If you're not part of the target audience, though, the Air might look like a poor choice. To quote a friend of mine, Mac book author Brian Tiemann, "Is it just me, or is this a ridiculously overpriced, feature-poor, and generally useless pig of an idea?" Honestly, I can see where he's coming from. I think he just doesn't see where the Air is coming from.
Let's list the obvious objections:
- Non-expandable RAM.
- Small hard disk.
- No optical drive.
- Non-removable battery.
- Peripheral interfaces limited to one USB port and one monitor output.
- High price for the included features ($1,799 and up).
Start with 100 million potential buyers and go down the list. Most will get past the first two points, but the lack of an internal optical drive will turn away a lot of people. The fixed battery is a big problem for a lot of people, and still more folks won't accept the limited I/O options. If you care about any of these things, the Air doesn't look like a good value for money. By the time you reach the end of the list, only a few people will still be paying attention.
But once they look at the Air, those remaining candidates may be quickly won over. It's so thin! The case is so cleverly curvy that it's actually deceptive. Visually it looks thinner than a fashion magazine, but in fact it's three-quarters as thick as a regular MacBook Pro, at least at the back edge. At the front edge it's thinner, but it doesn't taper smoothly down to 0.16" (4mm) as Jobs claimed in his speech. That edge actually hangs in air almost half an inch off the desk. (I didn't bring one of my digital calipers to the Expo, but I do intend to measure a real machine when I get the chance.)
It's too thin for a removable battery; the Air's battery is a lithium-polymer pack just a few millimeters thick spread across the full width of the machine under the palm rests and trackpad. (If you need longer battery life, you'll need an external battery such as the PPS-118 Portable Power Station from Battery Geek. There aren't many other options for MacBooks because of Apple's proprietary MagSafe magnetic power connector.)
The Air is also too thin for a conventional motherboard with sockets for the processor, memory, network interface, and other configurable options. The Air's processor, chipset, and memory are all soldered down on a board about three by six inches that sits to one side below the keyboard. The 80GB hard disk or optional solid-state disk ($999 extra for 16GB less space!) sits beside it. And that's all that's down there; that's all there's room for.
Apple says the Air is the thinnest laptop on the market, and I think that's true. I checked the websites for some notably thin notebooks including the Toshiba Portégé R500, the Sharp Actius MM20, and the Sony VGN-X505; all are thicker. (But most are lighter, and the R500 has an internal optical drive, so I'd have to say Toshiba deserves similar praise for the sophistication of its mechanical engineering.)
Also, the Air is faster than any physically comparable ultraportable, and probably offers better battery life when comparing the standard batteries. It doesn't have the performance of a full-size notebook, but at 1.6 GHz or (for $300 more) 1.8 GHz, it's plenty fast enough for Mac OS X or (if you prefer) Windows Vista.
And while you would inevitably run into bandwidth limitations, that one USB port can be connected through a hub to multiple devices-- flash drives, external hard disks, external Ethernet adapters, even additional external displays using the DisplayLink standard.
There are a lot of small notebooks on the market that sell pretty well. Dell's Latitude D430, for example, is the same weight as the Air, has the same display resolution (on a slightly smaller screen), has all the usual I/O ports and expandability, and it's a good bit cheaper. It's a decent-looking machine, but it makes no sacrifices to style.
By comparison, the MacBook Air looks like it's from a different planet, a more advanced civilization. It's like that because it's missing all of the functionality that forces the Dell machine to look relatively clunky-- all the connectors, buttons, and lights that make it more usable, all the latches and screws that make it expandable. The Air has almost none of that stuff, but while that makes it irrelevant to most people, the Air's clean, thin lines make it uniquely attractive for others.
If I was a Hollywood studio executive, a New York art-gallery owner, or an editor of one of those fashion magazines, there's just no other computer I'd want to use. I'm not any of these things, of course; very few people are. But do understand: there are people who are exceptionally style-conscious for personal and professional reasons, and the MacBook Air was designed for these people.
There are also people who wouldn't use an internal optical drive or an Ethernet cable or an Option GT Max 3.6 Express HSDPA wireless WAN adapter anyway. For these people, simplicity is a positive advantage. The Air is a complete computer; it just isn't designed to be the center of a complex computer system.
If all you need is a display, a keyboard, and a WiFi interface, and you don't mind paying a slight premium for high style, maybe the MacBook Air is for you, too.
Correction 5:30 p.m. PST: This blog initially mischaracterized the nature of the unlimited client license for Mac OS X Server Leopard that comes with a new Apple Xserve. It allows purchasers to connect an unlimited number of clients to that server.
Apple got a little business out of the way before next week's Macworld extravaganza, announcing new versions of the Mac Pro and Xserve to go along with new Intel chips.
These systems are very high-end computers, designed for heavy work rather than organizing photos of your latest trip to St. Louis. Both the Mac Pro and the Xserve are available with two of Intel's Xeon 5400 series quad-core processors, and come with loads of memory and other performance-oriented features, like RAID hard drives.
This is Apple's latest Mac Pro, unveiled Tuesday. Click for more pictures of it and the latest Xserve.
(Credit: Apple)Apple's Mac business has expanded quite a bit over the past year or so, but creative professionals are still the base of that support and these are two products were designed for them, according to David Moody, vice president of Mac product marketing. Very few businesses have standardized on Mac OS X Server in the server room, and therefore the market for the Xserve is somewhat limited. Still, smaller shops that want to have a Mac OS X environment front to back, as well as educational customers, are key Xserve customers.
The Mac Pro is a little different, as it represents the most powerful computer Apple can put together, and is a favorite of graphics professionals that need tons of horsepower. It's also one of the few Apple products for which there are dozens of configuration options; most other Mac products have just three or four choices for combinations of processor, memory, and storage.
Those choices extend to graphics, where Mac Pro customers can select the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics card as the standard option, or add a few weeks to their ship times if they prefer Nvidia's GeForce 8800 GT or Quadro FX 5600. Even though those products are already available, Moody said Apple needed a few more weeks to make them available for the Mac Pro.
The standard price for the Mac Pro is $2,799, and that includes two quad-core Xeon processors, 2GBs of memory, and a 320-GB hard drive. You can add to that very quickly with some of the configure-to-order options; an additional 2GBs of memory will cost you $500.
If you know what you're doing, you can probably save a lot of money by selecting the standard configuration and adding your own components in after the system arrives. The newest Mac Pro uses the same chassis as the previous generation, which makes it very easy to get into the guts of the system and add memory or storage as desired.
A Xserve will set you back $2,999 in the standard configuration, which comes with only a single quad-core Xeon processor and 2GBs of memory. It does come with an unlimited client license for Mac OS X Leopard, meaning that if you buy an Xserve you can upgrade all the Macs in your shop to Leopard for free. Update 5:30 p.m. PST: Wishful thinking, as several readers pointed out below. An Apple representative confirmed the unlimited license allows you to connect as many clients as you like to the Xserve, not to suddenly get a bunch of Macs in the office up and running on Leopard.
So, cross off two rumors from the list of potential Macworld keynote announcements. These products are definitely the kind of thing that would get lost in any potential news about slim new notebooks, iPhones, or movie rentals, some of the early bets on the Macworld announcement schedule, which makes it a little easier to understand why they came out this week.
