Monday, August 7th 2006
Apple Launches the Mac Pro
Apple today announced its new Intel-based line of desktop computers. Called the Mac Pro, Apple's new desktops have been a long wait for many. The new computers are what many consider to be the catalyst that will boost development of Apple x86 software to a whole new level. Many of the world's top designers and artists develop their work on Apple's desktops and with the new technology that's inside these machines, the performance of Apple's desktops will leap to a new level.
Based on Intel Woodcrest Xeon DP processors, the new Mac Pro desktops are multi-core, multi-processor systems. At first, it was predicted that Apple would use Intel's Core 2 Duo processors but Core 2 Duo processors are not capable of operating in SMP mode. Apple's previous desktops based on the G5 processor used two dual-core processors and thus living up to that expecation required the skip over Core 2. DailyTech covered Intel's Xeon DP processors earlier this month. The processors currently top out at 3.0GHz and all of them come with 4MB of L2 cache. The rest of the Mac Pro is equally advanced:
Despite all the new technology crammed into the Mac Pro, Apple's design team has yet again produced a machine that's very well thought out on the inside as much as it is on the outside. Internal air cooling is well thought out and the Mac Pro comes with no less than six low-RPM high volume fans. Components are well cooled and with a flip of a lever, they are easily accessable for upgrades and adjustments.
Over the past several months, Apple has been releasing its product transitions at a steady pace, first with the iMac and then the Mac mini. The new Mac Pro desktops complete Apple's consumer line of computers according to its press release, is available immediately. If Apple's new Mac Pro turns out to be what many have been hoping for, it could be one of the most powerful and promising computers Apple has launched -- and it runs both OS X and Windows.
The new Mac Pro starts at $2499 and comes with a base configuration of:
Based on Intel Woodcrest Xeon DP processors, the new Mac Pro desktops are multi-core, multi-processor systems. At first, it was predicted that Apple would use Intel's Core 2 Duo processors but Core 2 Duo processors are not capable of operating in SMP mode. Apple's previous desktops based on the G5 processor used two dual-core processors and thus living up to that expecation required the skip over Core 2. DailyTech covered Intel's Xeon DP processors earlier this month. The processors currently top out at 3.0GHz and all of them come with 4MB of L2 cache. The rest of the Mac Pro is equally advanced:
- Processor: Intel Xeon DP processor up to 3.0GHz
- Each Mac Pro comes with dual processors
- Memory: Up to 16GB of DDR2 memory
- Graphics: Up to NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 512MB
- Storage: Up to 2TB of SATA storage
- 4 PCIe slots
Despite all the new technology crammed into the Mac Pro, Apple's design team has yet again produced a machine that's very well thought out on the inside as much as it is on the outside. Internal air cooling is well thought out and the Mac Pro comes with no less than six low-RPM high volume fans. Components are well cooled and with a flip of a lever, they are easily accessable for upgrades and adjustments.
Over the past several months, Apple has been releasing its product transitions at a steady pace, first with the iMac and then the Mac mini. The new Mac Pro desktops complete Apple's consumer line of computers according to its press release, is available immediately. If Apple's new Mac Pro turns out to be what many have been hoping for, it could be one of the most powerful and promising computers Apple has launched -- and it runs both OS X and Windows.
The new Mac Pro starts at $2499 and comes with a base configuration of:
- Two 2.6GHz Xeon Processors
- 1GB of RAM
- NVIDIA GeForce 7300GT 256MB
- 250GB hard drive
- Superdrive