Good to know New Macs

[waxman]

This is important to know if you have a studio. We think about what plugs and all the other gear to buy. But more often then not we are reactive instead of proactive on our CPU. Knowing when to sell and buy a the next round of CPU while keeping your studio working is a tricky dance. The wrong move can be very expensive or even a disaster. Here is a good article on Apples need for sales that may answer some questions and put your CPU choice on the radar...


http://finance.yahoo.com/news/apples-ma ... rc=applewf

[Killahurts]

Interesting read, thanks for posting!

[MIDI Life Crisis]

There's also some indication that Apple will discontinue the trash can!

[waxman]

There's also some indication that Apple will discontinue the trash can!

That gives me concern... where did you see that and is it being replaced with something better?

[billf]

There's also some indication that Apple will discontinue the trash can!

That gives me concern... where did you see that and is it being replaced with something better?

http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/mac/new- ... s-3536364/

[bayswater]

This is important to know if you have a studio. We think about what plugs and all the other gear to buy. But more often then not we are reactive instead of proactive on our CPU. Knowing when to sell and buy a the next round of CPU while keeping your studio working is a tricky dance.

Very important point. To that end, people I know who run recycling programs for computers tell me that the forecast for units needing recycling decline to very small numbers over the next 5 to 10 years, and that many of the current large suppliers will start exiting the PC business. Although Apple is not specifically mentioned, they have to be regularly reviewing the need to stay in this market.

[Shooshie]

There's also some indication that Apple will discontinue the trash can!

I said long ago that Apple would discontinue the trash can, but several ridiculed me here. (I don't mind the ridicule, btw.) But I still think it's inevitable. I compared it to the Toaster way back in the 1990s, but maybe that wasn't the best comparison. That Mac was underpowered and kind of ridiculous, other than as an object of aesthetic appreciation; its design WAS cool. But the trash can represents a wrong turn. Professionals do not want it. They want a machine that powerful, that quiet, and even small, but it's got to accommodate their tools, and the trashcan thumbs its... er... nose hole at professionals. When made useful, it looks like a terminal patient in the ICU with cables running out the yinyang and every other orifice. It's expensive and requires expensive connections just to get it to work with anything on the shelves of any computer store, and the drivers haven't been written for all those connectors. Legacy MOTU devices (I'm told) simply don't work even if you get them hooked up.

I haven't heard anyone really complaining about the performance of these Macs; they're apparently quite speedy, but if you buy one, you've already accepted certain realities, or else you are moving up from an iMac, whose connectivity is not all that different to begin with.

I've got a Mac Pro with 5 SATA hard drives in it, plus one optical drive. It's got 40 GB RAM, and two PCI cards. (not including the GPU, which I recently replaced) I have 13 external Firewire/USB drives connected to it, plus a dozen USB thumb drives, of which about 7 or 8 (Firewire and USB) are mounted at any given moment. This already sounds like a nightmare trying to migrate to a trashcan Mac. I'm not excited about having to do that. Then the PCI stuff: forget about it. It's not going over. Even if I found a connector, the MOTU stuff doesn't work. That means at least two or more new audio interfaces and a MIDI interface.

So, you can bet that I'd be very happy to see them bring the Mac back to a rational form that makes sense for people who are already heavily invested in that form factor. I'm not poor — yet — but shelling out that much money just to get back to where I am right now makes me sick to my stomach. If I could do it one component at a time, stretched out over years, it would be fine. But when I do this, if I do this, it will have to be all at once. I'll be looking at 8 or 10 grand.

I'll make my Mac Pro last as long as it will keep powering up, which probably means as long as the power supply lasts. I'll put in new CPUs at some point, as HC Markus has so generously instructed me. And I'll keep running these old spinners until they stop spinning.

Ok... getting off my soapbox.

Shooshie

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I still have MY 3,1 MP in storage ready as a backup or replacement., but I do love the trash can. The biggest issue for me is the internal drive is a bitch to replace. Mine is 1TB w/13 TB of external spinners in docks and FW enclosures. The Track 16 is rock solid in El Cap. The only annoying thing on the machine is Safari but there are options there.

[HCMarkus]

Sales will probably jump once updated Macs are shipping.

I'm glad DP also runs on Windows. One never knows...

[mikehalloran]

There's also some indication that Apple will discontinue the trash can!

Probably not. Apple hired over 700 to build it in Texas and there have been no layoff announcements.

And there's this:

http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/mac/new- ... s-3536364/

The trash can was designed to do heavy lifting in AV where its only competitors are UNIX stations that command far higher prices. I don't expect to see it going anywhere soon.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Well mine isn't going anywhere.

[HCMarkus]

I'm going nowhere... FAST.

[nk_e]

The prices - even on refurbished - are still breathtaking.

[mikehalloran]

The prices - even on refurbished - are still breathtaking.

What does that mean? They are more expensive than iMacss and Windows machines but a lot less than the UNIX stations designed to handle the same tasks.

I paid $7.000 for a brand new Mac+ system in 1986 dollars to run my business. It was worth every penny. I can put together a new Mac Pro system including three monitors for less in today's dollars.

I don't really need a nMP—a high end iMac will work for me. Doesn't mean I don't want one. My 2010 iMac is still chugging along. I normally upgrade every eight years or so. Hopefully, the next generation Mac Pro will be out by then and I can make the correct decision for me.

Apple has quietly discontinued the TB monitor—when the remainder are gone, that's it. They're working on a new one but details are sketchy and no release date has been announced. Great monitors are available from other sources.

[jloeb]

The prices - even on refurbished - are still breathtaking.

What does that mean? They are more expensive than iMacss and Windows machines but a lot less than the UNIX stations designed to handle the same tasks.

But come on Mike, there's no doubt that multiprocessor machines have gone up in price relatively speaking. I think the problem for many (including, i must admit, me) is that our comparative basis is founded on a longing for what is now looking like a golden era of MacPros (the Silver Towers), at least for audio. I have a 12x 3.46GHz. I've owned the box since 2009 (!!!), upgraded CPUs and storage myself and I still can feel no limits on it CPU wise. I've owned and modded computers since 1983, Macs since 1989 and I don't remember any time during that period where the value proposition was so good as it was in the era just pre-trashcan.

The focus has moved on - video is the new audio, Apple is now king - and, if we're just about music and audio, we're now expected to pay for gear that lets us play in a game we have little participatory interest in. Otherwise you settle for prosumer computers - or maybe high end laptops. New normal (already a hoary old phrase, that).