Apple Mac Pro

The Mac Pro is the Intel-based replacement of the PowerMac G5, and its smoking fast!

Apple has finally completed their switch to Intel-based processors. On Monday, August 7^th, Apple released the Mac Pro. The Mac Pro is the Intel-based replacement of the PowerMacG5, which was Apple’s top of-the-line desktop system. But just when you thought Apple couldn’t outdo itself, you were wrong. This machine is so fast, it will make your old G4 seemlike a Model T.   Those on a budget need not apply here though. The base model costs $2,499 and after customization, can run way past the $10,000 mark. Some of the new features on the Mac Proinclude Dual-Core Xeon CPUs up to 3Ghz, RAM expandable up to 16GB, and an added 2^nd drive bay – a highly requested feature from Mac users. If you are into high-demand applicationssuch as video editing or gaming, you’ll be shocked to know that the Mac Pro can come with up to four 500GB SATA hard drives. That’s 2 Terabytes of storage at your fingertips.   
Image Courtesy of Apple If you’re searching for some upgraded hardware, the Mac Pro has it. It comes with Apple’s somewhat-new Mighty Mouse, two Firewire 800 ports, twoFirewire 400 ports, and 5 USB 2.0 ports. Talk about connectivity. If you run out of ports on this bad boy, you might have one too many peripherals lying around.   But just how fast is it? Doesthe Mac Pro excel over the Macbook Pro? What about the G5? After spendinga half-hour with the Mac Pro, we realized the true power of this machine. Applications open lightning fast, overall performance is absolutely incredible, and there is virtually no lag on applicationsthat must still use Apple’s Rosetta emulation technology. Adobe Photoshop feels like it’s already ported to Universal Binary, which is hardly the case on the Macbook. OS X is truly ableto shine on this machine.   Apple has come out saying that the new Mac Pro is better bang for the buck when compared to a similarly configured Dell Desktop (specifically the Dell Precision 490). After some digging on Dell’swebsite and pricing a new machine, it turns out that Apple is indeed the better buy. Plus with the Intel-based chips, you’ll be able to run both OS X and Windows. That alone is a killerselling point.   Fans wondering about video performance and gaming will be glad to know that a full-size PCI-X slot is taken up by an NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT graphics with 256MB of memory. So don’t worry about runningWorld of Warcraft, Quake 4, or any other high-demand game, the Mac Pro will handle it. If you still find room to complain, you can deck your new box out with an X1900 XT…for a price of course.

Images Courtesy of Apple

One thing that Apple failed to impress with was case design. It’s pretty much the old G5 casing with some improvements and upgrades such as Firewire 800 on the front. Usually when anew era of the high-end Mac Desktop begins, it’s symbolized with a fresh, new case design. The dual Superdrive slots also start to retract from the polished look of the G5 case. But overall, itdoesn’t even matter when you consider the hardware inside this beast.   So the question to answer: is it time to upgrade? Yes! This is the upgrade that Mac users have been holding outyears for. The power of quad-core processing at high speeds, the expansive storage, upgraded video card, and other features make the Mac Pro the must-have powerhouse computer. Anyone in thevideo-editing business will drastically improve workflow and productivity. This statement goes for anyone who demands raw power and uncontested performance. Get a Mac Pro and don’t worry aboutupgrading your computer for a long, long time.   Wondering what every Mac Pro comes with stock? Check out the following specs from Apple’s website:  Two Dual-Core Intel Xeon “Woodcrest” microprocessors, eight fully buffered DIMM slots, one double-wide PCI Express graphics slot, three full-length PCI Express expansion slots,four hard drive bays, two optical drive bays, five USB 2.0 ports, two FireWire 400 ports, two FireWire 800 ports, dual Gigabit Ethernet ports, optical digital audio input and output, analog stereoline-input and line-output, and a headphone mini-jack. Visit the Apple website for more information Check out our professional review in the  Digital Trends review section shortly