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The new 2019 Mac Pro Announced! - Apple is back!

For sure, $10k buys you a pretty darn powerful PC, and this new Mac Pro is very likely going to cost more than $40 for the most expensive variant.
Let's see if you can make 4 of those exact PC workstations at the same price, without compromises with quality.
Not challenging you, but curious if its possible. Lets see it happen.
 
It's not about making those exact workstations as the new Mac Pros. It's about recognizing what is more important in an audio DAW - and that is the highest possible CPU frequency across all cores. So yes, I reckon it should be possible to have that 18-core i9-9980XE with 128 gigs of RAM, good mobo and decent amount of NVMe storage at <10k. And you could get all those cores at 4.4 GHz, compared to a single core 4.4 GHz turbo boost on those Xeons.

Then build 4 of those and you have a 72 core, 144 thread processing farm.
 
If you're making something different and intend to use it differently, then whats the point of comparing or mocking the price?

Did you hear Tesla Roadster will be $200,000? Guess how many sample libraries I can buy with that amount of money....Way more than 4 :emoji_smile:
 
I'm saying that for $40k (most likely) for the most decked out Mac Pro, you could get a processing farm that will outperform it, due to more cores total and higher CPU frequency across all cores.

So yes, I'm mocking the price.
 
I'm saying that for $40k (most likely) for the most decked out Mac Pro, you could get a processing farm that will outperform it, due to more cores total and higher CPU frequency across all cores.

Very likely, but let's wait and see about the 4x thing.
 
If you're making something different and intend to use it differently, then whats the point of comparing or mocking the price?

Did you hear Tesla Roadster will be $200,000? Guess how many sample libraries I can buy with that amount of money....Way more than 4 :emoji_smile:

Hes comparing a computer to a computer, and whats best for what most of the people on this forum intend to use it for. There is nothing special about mac hardware, especially today. It just looks pretty, and you don't have to put it together.
 
Also.. for 10k, you can probably have the 28 core Xeon-W, with lots of ram and storage and maybe a sample library on the side.
 
Apple is back as absolute lunatic
I own iMac 5k, iPhone X, Airpods, Ipad pro.... but nope, I don't think it is OK to make a display for $5000 (with a separate stand of course! for $999!!!) They instead of trying to stop the fact, that majority of pros needing horsepower migrated to PC long time ago, create powerful but insanely priced computer. For most ppl iMac is a way better solution that will suit all their need and that small minority who actually need such power station - will anyway build something similar themselves from PC components. Of course, small % will for sure get this, but its a missed chance to seriously get back to a pro market. These prices are insane.
 
So many people grumbling about the price of the monitor and its stand - when it's clearly not for them. It's a reference-grade display intended for bleeding-edge color correction, VFX, and edit suites. By the time that thing ships, there will be LG and Dell displays that can serve up that many pixels for one-third the price, and without the 1,000 NITS and 1,000,000:1 contrast - that stuff looks great but is complete overkill for any audio application. Today you can get 5160x1440 on 49" curved displays for $1,400, or suitable 4k displays for under a grand, and I'll be surprised if the Koreans don't drop a 6k (or even 8k) display by the end of the year, with all the pixels but not the NITS.

Anybody that's gonna use the new Pro Display for its intended application won't care about the price, since the competition is 5-10 times that (if it even exists). If you're using that display to look at your DAW then you're insane, and thus won't care about the price - and you'll probably be using the VESA mount anyway.

It's like complaining that the RED Epic is too expensive when all you need is a camera to post clips on Instagram!

I do like the idea of the stand being optional - I have a stack of display stands cluttering up the junk room that I can't bring myself to throw away since whoever inherits these displays when I un-mount them from their Ergotron arms will undoubtedly want the factory stand.

If I get the Pro Display it will absolutely hang off a VESA arm.
 
For sure, $10k buys you a pretty darn powerful PC, and this new Mac Pro is very likely going to cost more than $40 for the most expensive variant.

Mario, don't exaggerate so much! It's more like $6k for a maxed out PC :)

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/JDzWHh

This build has a monster 18core processor with that high speed all-core boost, 128gb memory, 6TB of blazing M2 SSD (much faster than regular SSDs), 480gb of ridiculous speed PCIe SSD (even faster!), high tier graphics, super quiet operation. $6200 for parts.

Now if you live near a Fry's or Micro Center, you could pay $150-200 to have this assembled for you, and have on-call service anytime you need.
 
Mario, don't exaggerate so much! It's more like $6k for a maxed out PC :)

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/JDzWHh

This build has a monster 18core processor with that high speed all-core boost, 128gb memory.
It's hardly fair to compare an 18 core i9 with non-ECC memory (and 128 GB maxes it out) to a Xeon W system that supports up to 1.5 TB of ECC RAM. Your system is far from "maxed out" relative to the class of workstations we're talking about.

Yes, the new Mac Pro is a lot more than what most people need. Xeon processors are pretty expensive (newegg has a 28 core Xeon W for $3100, but I don't think it's the same iteration as will go in the Mac Pro) and so is ECC RAM. The base $6k unit can probably be outbuilt easily in terms of raw performance, but for some people, the expandability of the Mac Pro will be worth it. Maybe get 128 GB of RAM now and upgrade to 1.5 TB of RAM in a few years, as an example. Not having to replace a working system is worth a lot to some people.

Apple's mid tier is the iMac and iMac Pro. I get that not everyone likes their all-in-one form factor, but the iMac itself is a pretty good deal: 5K 27" monitors go for over $1000 (the LG is $1300), while a pretty decent 27" iMac is $2k.
 
If they were marketing this as an "audio workstation" I could see frustration with the price. Yes, they did demo Logic on it ... but I have a feeling that was more to advertise Logic and since video editing might be more sluggish as a demonstration. I mean do you want people to wait 5 min for a render to brag about how it isn't 10 min? Or show in a matter of seconds 1000's of tracks playing with no major CPU hit?

I think if you want an amazing audio machine, the MacPro is overkill. A good iMac or custom built PC will work greatly.

But if I had the money, I would deck out a MacPro. But that is mostly because I personally don't like Windows, and don't prefer a Windows DAW.

And yes, I would rather spend $10k instead of a $5k PC just to stay within the Mac OS world. But that is me.
 
And yes, I would rather spend $10k instead of a $5k PC just to stay within the Mac OS world. But that is me.
Of course, a $5k PC is just a doorstop without software. Comparing hardware to hardware alone is a false economy.

For many (most?) musicians, you could add dirt cheap Logic Pro X—and its fleet of virtual instruments and effects—to a Mac and call it a day. Not so with a PC. The cost of a comparable PC system will rise considerably, once you add in the equivalent DAW, VI, and effects software, particularly when you also factor in the cost of most vendors' periodic paid upgrades instead of Logic Pro X's free updates.

Apple hardware sales underwrite Apple software costs. If you buy completely into the Apple ecosystem—i.e. using their cheap or free software instead of more expensive alternatives—you reap the rewards. If you don't, then the cost of owning a Mac gets higher.

Best,

Geoff
 
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