Lets Have A Little History.The Mac Pro is currently Apple's loudest and most expensive piece of computing hardware under the Mac product line. The have been playing with "Pro" users for some time as to whether or not to develop a newer machine for them to use. Because these types of customers are willing to spend vast amounts of money on their machines it seems 2013 became the year that their prayers got answered. I am curious just how happy we all are about that. Because in my mind the average customer of Apple is going to show almost no interest at all. But this might be exactly what is expected.
Courtesy of the lovely people at MacRumours we have a nice timeline of events regarding the 2013 Mac Pro. I would like to share this with you first of all so we can all get the sequence right in our minds before we dive into the major topic I wish to address. I have shuffled the order somewhat to suit my methods.
Mac Pro TimelineOCTOBER 2013
Oct 28
Apple Sends Mac Pro Posters to Journalists: 'The Computer We Were Insane to Build'
NOVEMBER 2013
Nov 6
A Closer Look at Processor Options and Performance for Apple's New Mac Pro
Nov 5
6-Core Version of Apple's New Mac Pro Appears in Benchmarks
DECEMBER 2013
Dec 27
New Mac Pro Confirmed to Have Removable CPU
Dec 24
First Mac Pros Begin Arriving Ahead of Christmas
Dec 23
Apple Begins Preparing First Mac Pro Orders for December 30 Delivery
Dec 23
Mac Pro Reviews Find Impressive Hardware, But Few Software Titles Take Advantage
Dec 20
New Mac Pro: Simultaneous Real-Time 4K Effect Rendering, +900MB/s Read/Write
Dec 19
First Mac Pro Unboxing Videos Revealed
Roundup Last Updated
Dec 19
OWC Announces RAM Upgrades for New Mac Pro, Up to 64 GB for $895
Dec 19
First Mac Pro Review Units Out in the Wild
Dec 19
Shipping Estimates for Mac Pro Online Orders Slip to February 2014
Dec 19
Apple's Redesigned Mac Pro Now Available for Online Orders
Dec 18
All-New Mac Pro Launches Thursday, December 19 Starting at $2999
Dec 16
Mac Pro Build-to-Order Upgrade Pricing Revealed
Dec 15
New 12-Core Mac Pro Once Again Shows Up in Benchmarks
The above timeline shows us just how long the company and the users have been waiting for the Mac Pro to make its glorious debut onto the market and it would seem that a lot of thought and effort has been expended on getting it just right. Let us next focus on the machine itself, what is it and why do we want it?
What is it and why do we want it?The Mac Pro is most likely aimed at the sort of user that finds the Macbook line of computers too slow for their needs and seriously lacking in performance capabilities. These sorts of people could be in media production, audio, video editing or creation and lets even include serious level programmers. All of these sorts of individuals will have an idea how they like their machines to be and what level of speeds they will require. I often wonder if my own co-host Dean Murphy could benefit from one of these machines? Thought i do not think it wise to put such an idea in his head just yet. Perhaps he might surprise me one day and announce his new acquisition of a Mac Pro. Though for now both he and I are rocking Macbook Pro's. I know I am happy with that, is he?
The Mac Pro is designed to built from the ground up with everything within itself and little room left inside or outside for additions, excluding peripherals. When one buys a 2013 Mac Pro the ordering process is entirely customisable to the buyers needs, and it is very easy to raise the price you spend very quickly by choosing the parts you need. Apple does not believe that discounts or cheapness applies to these sorts of orders. Let me show you a page that shows the standard Mac Pro lineup at present (30/12/2013). As you can see from this, the models shown are not cheap and very customisable for a price of course. So the professional user is really going to be putting a lot of money behind their order and will wont it just right. I cannot imagine the level of pain that would be felt by customer and Apple if errors got made during these orders.
It is my belief that the general customer like me or first time user will have little benefit from the Mac Pro line at all. This may seem obvious but i worry that too often people make their decisions based on what is getting the most press attention at the time in hand. So for example this festive season the items getting the most attention by my standards turned out to be the iOS devices and Mac Pro's. The iOS devices namely being the newest generation iPads and iPhone 5S. Gifts of the Mac Pro within a family unit I bet are going to be very rare indeed. Who loves anyone enough to spend the amounts of money required to get a Mac Pro, unlikely in my view. Even though the company turned out to be shipping to customers before christmas this year, impressive i thought, but ultimately unnecessary.
Best introduction everThe Mac Pro when they introduced it at the WWDC 2013 was truly given a great introduction by the Apple team. For those who forgot to check it out then please do have a look at the below video.
Mac Pro Introduction, WWDC 2013
What do I see?Well when I look at the Mac Pro 2013 model I can only really see one thing. Check this out.
Do you see the similarities. I know it is not square but it has the right feeling to be monolithic. Black, deep and impressive in ways Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C Clarke would of wished a computer could look like. How fun!
Perhaps even that second shot of the monolith with the monkeys adequately symbolises the Mac Pro and its few scavenging customer base becoming like a pack of starving animals after so long without any attention from Apple? Just a thought.
A reviewI am not a Pro user so I am not qualified to review the Mac Pro, not least because I do not own one, so I have spent my time searching through the online material to find you a couple of reviews that are well written and satisfying to a professional and an interested non-professional. Because even those not willing to spend the money or have any serious use for it do still have a passing curiosity with Pro Specification hardware.
Below is my list of authors and sites that have done well with reviewing the Mac Pro, enjoy.