New Mac Pro tomorrow
Apple have taken an unprecedented approach to the release of their new MacPro. They have announced it’s availability a day in advance:
“All New Mac Pro Available Starting Tomorrow
CUPERTINO, California―December 18, 2013―Apple® today announced the all-new Mac Pro® will be available to order starting Thursday, December 19″
This is certainly the event that Video pros have been looking to. But at a price. The US listing for the entry model is: US$2,999 and for the 8 core model: US$3999. That equates to AUD 3,999 and AUD 5,299.00 on the Australian Apple store.
Still at up to 8 times the processing power of the current silver tower MacPro it seems to be somewhat value for money. Maybe it is just the little touches that we are paying for: The almost silence of the fans while working, despite the amount of power contained under the hood. Even little details like the back panel that automatically lights up when it detects the computer is being moved to help you see which ports are which.
The entry model ships with a 3.7GHz Intel Xeon E5 processor, 12GB of DDR3 RAM (filling three of four memory slots), 256GB of flash storage, and two AMD FirePro D300 GPUs (with 2GB of VRAM each). The second standard option has a 3.5GHz Xeon E5 CPU, 16GB of RAM (filling all four slots), 256GB of flash storage, and two AMD FirePro D500 GPUs (each of which have 3GB of VRAM each). The graphics chips will drive three 4K displays at the same time.
There is no mention yet about pricing for build to order options.
Nor is there any mention about the Optimised version of Final Cut Pro that was rumoured to be available at the same time as the MacPro – but maybe that is a surprise in store for tomorrow.
Made in USA
This release is also another milestone for Apple as it is a return to USA manufacture in Austin Texas by Flextronics:
I know what will be under my Christmas tree – maybe just a gift card or a promissory note!!!
The full Press release from Apple.
We recommend: