new NEW Mac Pro ships — mostly

[mikehalloran]

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-pro

A few things can't be ordered yet including the rack mount version, the mid-range 5700x 16GB VRAM GPU, 8TB storage but they are promised "soon".

The $5,999 monitor is not needed if 4K and 5K will do. Depending on the GPU, there are DisplayPort 2.0 and TB3 ports that we mortals can connect to.

As I expected, a 16 core the way I would want is priced about the same as the 14 Core iMac Pro I bought before the price cuts last July (I did even better used). Factoring in the current iMP prices and $1,300 for an LG 5K, it's only $150 cheaper... unless you actually buy additional RAM from Apple. OWC hasn't updated their site yet but the 8–16 core MPs are supposed to be able to use the same RAM as the iMP up to 256GB.

I don't regret what I bought but I kinda' wish I'd been able to hold on another 7 months.

[mikehalloran]

Just for kicks, I priced a maxed out system. At $52,498 incl AppleCare, it's a little over 1/3 the price of the Maya box rendering stations it's designed to compete with.

Add the monitor, its Applecare @ $499 (!!!!) and a TB3 cable, the total jumps to $60,040 + taxes. I know the monitor is supposed to be able to go up against $40k animation and other precision monitors but I have little hands-on with those.

Ok, I'm clearly not the intended customer for this.

I think I'll stay away from MacRumors for awhile. There are nutjobs over must be foaming at the mouth right now. I don't want to be the one who tells them that, for the intended customer, this machine is a bargain.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

There goes the Bosendorfer money. Lol

[mikehalloran]

There goes the Bosendorfer money. Lol

Nah... we'll include the restoration of that in the refi to fix up this 60 year old house. It's been 40 years since the last rebuild in 1979. Don't know if we'll actually do that but we're discussing it. I just realized that piano is 100 years old this year.

Ours is a 200. My wife played a 225 a number of years ago and was blown away but that would cost the defense budget of a small country.

[labman]

There goes the Bosendorfer money. Lol

And our grandkids next trip

[wonder]

Just for kicks and giggles ... will my 2408mkIII work with this? (PCIe cards).

I have a 2008 Mac Pro and just throwing around the idea of saving up for the new Mac Pro.

[mikehalloran]

Just for kicks and giggles ... will my 2408mkIII work with this? (PCIe cards).

I have a 2008 Mac Pro and just throwing around the idea of saving up for the new Mac Pro.

I don't think we'll know till someone here or on Gearslutz buys one and tries or MOTU makes an announcement (yea, right).

If MOTU does release 64 bit drivers for the USB/FW interfaces, then there's a chance unless there's a firmware issue with the 424e card—possible.

If they get it working, will CueMix be functional also?

Thing is that, if I hadn't bought an iMac Pro last April (I know, been saying Summer but I looked it up), I'd have placed my order for a Mac Pro yesterday and would give it a go myself. That experiment will have to be done by someone else.

[Phil O]

Ouch! That's a hefty price tag...even for the base model.

[mhschmieder]

Yikes; it seems that those of us whose 2008-2012 macPro models died over the past 2-3 years and went for the 2017 highest-end iMac (before the iMac Pro became available) have no cause for regrets, based on the comments I'm seeing here.

[mikehalloran]

Ouch! That's a hefty price tag...even for the base model.

Especially the base model — overpriced, IMO. A base model iMac Pro specs better — but it’s not user upgradeable and very expensive to have done professionally.

Once you get past the base models, the prices aren’t so far apart if you select comparable GPU and buy 3rd party RAM & an LG 5K monitor. Beyond the base model, the iMP comes in 10/14/18 core while the MP is 12/16 core.

With similar RAM, GPU and monitor for the MP, the difference is around a grand. At that, the MP is still expandable and upgradable while the iMP is not. Before the July price cuts, the iMP was more expensive than a similar MP now. The MP CPUs are faster but I don’t think that makes much difference with DP.

Of course, you can go way nuts on the MP options up to $53k + the monitor which can run $8k with the etched glass and stand. Yikes!

The 24 & 28 Core MP with the twin GPU and turbo-boost enhancements are designed for large scale AV file rendering. For audio, Apple demonstrates 1,000 instances of VIs and plugins in Logic and claims the elimination of slave machines for VEP but how powerful it needs to be depends on your needs.

By comparison, the trashcan 12 Core 6.1 MP is maxing out at 150 instances of the above while a 10 Core iMP handles 300 tracks without strain.

The iMP shows up in the Refurb Store these days at bargain prices. The base model is $4,249 while that 10 Core with 64G RAM & Vega 64 GPU upgrade is $5,739 and a 14 Core w/ 128GB RAM, 2TB SSD & Vega 64 (exact machine I have) is currently $8,119 while the18 Core, 128G, 4TB, Vega 64 is $9,309. Like with new iMPs, AppleCare is $169.
https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished/mac/imac-pro

If that’s not enough for, say, VEP, you can add 2018 Minis with 10G Ethernet ($900–$3,200 ea.) as Apple demonstrated in 2018 with 5, 10 & 20 Mini arrays crunching huge animation files. I don’t know why you need the 10G Ethernet option but Apple says it’s required.

[mikehalloran]

Yikes; it seems that those of us whose 2008-2012 macPro models died over the past 2-3 years and went for the 2017 highest-end iMac (before the iMac Pro became available) have no cause for regrets, based on the comments I'm seeing here.

The highest end iMac and the iMac Pro are barely the same machine other than they use the same display. Specs and Geekbench scores mean nothing in many real world pro applications where the superior cooling, storage, Xeon W CPUs and upgraded GPUs of the iMac Pro leave the consumer grade iMac straining to keep up while the fans roar in protest. There are a few on MacRumors with i9s at home and iMPs at work — none of them disagree. I only know what my iMP fans sound like at speed because I can run a test that makes them put out for 5 seconds.

The hot rodded 5.1 is a powerful machine that still has life left in it but its age is showing. You need a hack to run Catalina and a few newer apps cannot be run even if you do that. Keep it going as long as practical, of course, but there comes a time when you might not be able to do your work with it. I am reminded of when I stopped buying lead additives to keep our ‘61 Jaguar running and sold it for something more practical in the mid ‘90s.

[HCMarkus]

I am reminded of when I stopped buying lead additives to keep our ‘61 Jaguar running and sold it for something more practical in the mid ‘90s.

I'm still trying to turn lead into gold (records) Mike

I figure I'm good for at least a couple more years, especially since I have a backup 12 core at the ready should the studio MP take a powder.

I'v been logging into Geekbench, waiting for the first 7,1 scores to hit. It will be interesting to see what Apple can deliver, but my expectations are informed (and tempered) by the already-posted iMac Pro scores. I expect the 16 core 7,1 (about $10k, the machine that probably makes the most sense for musicians) to deliver something in the 12-13k range (Geekbench 5), whilst my humble 12 core machines (almost infinitely more affordable) each tests a little under 6k in Geekbench 5.

Don't get me wrong; I'd love to pick me up one of these new Mac Pros and am stoked for anyone who is able to do so! Who knows what the future holds in store?

[bayswater]

Are there refurbs yet?

[mikehalloran]

Are there refurbs yet?

[HCMarkus]

Geekbench 5 Multi-Core Scores:

Mac Pro (Late 2019)
Intel Xeon W-3245 @ 3.2 GHz (16 cores) 14285

iMac Pro (Late 2017)
Intel Xeon W-2191B @ 2.3 GHz (18 cores) 13194

Mac Pro (Late 2019)
Intel Xeon W-3235 @ 3.3 GHz (12 cores) 11599

iMac Pro (Late 2017)
Intel Xeon W-2170B @ 2.5 GHz (14 cores) 11319

iMac Pro (Late 2017)
Intel Xeon W-2150B @ 3.0 GHz (10 cores) 9593

iMac (27-inch Retina Early 2019)
Intel Core i9-9900K @ 3.6 GHz (8 cores) 8205

iMac Pro (Late 2017)
Intel Xeon W-2140B @ 3.2 GHz (8 cores) 8120

Mac Pro (Late 2019)
Intel Xeon W-3223 @ 3.5 GHz (8 cores) 7606

...

Mac Pro (Mid 2012)
Intel Xeon X5675 @ 3.1 GHz (12 cores) 5618