
The Mac Pro from an audio pros perspective - shawndumas
http://createdigitalmusic.com/2013/06/life-after-slots-what-the-mac-pro-external-hardware-mean-for-production/
======
zdw
The new Mac Pro forces all device makers to use interfaces that are compatible
with the entire range of Apple hardware.

There's no "oh, we only have a card, you have to have a machine with slots"
anymore - every machine, from the lowliest Mac Minis and MacBooks to the
highest end Mac Pro will be able to use the same peripherals.

I think this is the end goal. Apple's computers will scale along the CPU and
GPU performance and memory size axes, with everything else being an peripheral
you can theoretically move to any computer you own.

It's a bold move.

~~~
dasmoth
The scaling across the range would be _much_ smoother if they released a
headless mid-range machine, rather than relying entirely on iMacs (and
laptops) to fill the gap between the Mini and the Pro. They seem quite
actively disinterested in building such a machine, though.

~~~
cstejerean
A laptop in clamshell mode is a good substitute for a headless mid-range
machine. Combine it with a BookArc stand to avoid wasting desk space and it's
hard to beat.

~~~
dasmoth
Depends what you're looking for GPU-wise (which is also one of the
frustrations of the iMac range). Also, slower CPUs and memory limited to 16Gb.

In many respects, the new Mac Pro is exactly the all-round machine
(development, scientific computing, plus the odd game) I've been waiting for.
If it shows up with a reasonable low-end version, I'd buy it in a flash (or
even sooner, given an Nvidia GPU option). But Apple have been very wary about
releasing mid-range machines which might cannibalise iMac sales, so I'm not
holding my breath.

~~~
leoc
The Mac Pro design looks like a better template for a mid-to-high end desktop
- at least if the Thunderbolt market matures enough. It would have downsides
compared to a conventional PCI-E-motherboard PC, but it would be a unique and
interesting option. I don't think it can really cut it as a substitute for a
meat-eating high-end workstation though. (Compare:
[http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C600/X9D...](http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C600/X9DAX-
iF.cfm) \- two Xeons and up to half a TiB of RAM in 16 sockets, never mind
about PCI-E.)

Maybe most professional audio guys don't actually require a serious
workstation anymore; I'm sure Apple is calculating or hoping that it will be
good enough for enough video editors too. It's hard to see the 2013 Mac Pro
getting under the desks at Pixar, but presumably Apple feels willing to give
up on that end of the market.

------
Apreche
This is one thing I never really understood. Apple really cares a lot about
aesthetics. In the store their devices all look fantastic standing alone
surrounded by white/black.

But when you see an Apple device in the real world, it looks like crap. Why?
Because it's tangled up in this octopus of cables and external doodads.

In my office I have a Lenovo X220, and everyone else has Macs, mostly
Macbooks. I have a docking station, so all my cables other than mouse and
keyboard are behind my desk out of sight and mind. The co-worker with the iMac
has the same situation. Everyone else has a Macbook Pro or Air. The entire
left sides of their desk are a mess of cables spewing out the side of the
Macbooks. It ruins everything.

Hiding everything inside of the beautiful box keeps it pretty, so I've never
really understood why Apple loves external devices so much more than internal.

~~~
potatolicious
I think that's a problem that's rather unique to our field. Most people I know
who have MacBooks don't have them in a "docked" configuration ever. It sits on
their desk where the most that comes out of them is the power adapter and a
USB cable.

I hear ya though, my Macbook Pro doubles as my home development machine, so
when I'm "docked" it's just a morass of cables. It really would be nice if
Apple lived up to the "Pro" moniker and gave us a reasonable dock.

I did order a Henge dock a while back, maybe I should actually unpack it and
set it up...

~~~
cicloid
The dock is a Thunderbolt Display

------
dasil003
The author hits the nail right on the head here. The new Mac Pro is making a
bold bet on the future: that given sufficient bandwidth, the benefits of
external expansion ultimately outweigh the benefits of packing them into a
tower. This is going to cause tremendous short-term pain and the fiercest
hand-wringing the tech world has seen since the release of FCP X, but in the
long term I think Apple made the right bet and will come out ahead.

~~~
IverNewson
It's not an either/or proposition; Why couldn't Apple have provided a tower
that had both internal and external expansion? Because new Mac Pro 'needs' to
be 1/8th the volume of the old Mac Pro?

~~~
interpol_p
Because it isn't necessary for the future they envision. It's like including a
DVD drive on a laptop: some people might use it now, but it's very clearly on
the way out.

Apple generally make these decisions before it's very clear what direction the
industry is heading.

Their decision here is to position the Mac Pro as a tiny, powerful computing
hub that has the bandwidth and controllers necessary to drive a crazy amount
of professional hardware at high speed.

This unifies their products relative to external accessories (if everything is
Thunderbolt, you can plug your hardware into your laptop when required). It
also lets them stay focused on making the best 'pro' computing hub they can
build. (That it also happens to be quiet and small is a very nice plus.)

Edit: That said, who knows whether this is the right direction for the pro
industry.

~~~
dasil003
The other interesting bit of this strategy is how OS X serves as the wedge
that forces people to take the bitter pill and recalibrate their idea of pro
computing. Any other hardware company wouldn't have the clout to avoid losing
massive marketshare in a move like this.

------
JonnieCache
As a side point, those RME audio interfaces mentioned in the article are
utterly fantastic. I've recently acquired an older firewire one, and it makes
everything else in its pricerange look like a bad joke.

They are the only people developing custom USB/firewire controllers, everyone
else just sticks a TI chipset in there, wraps the OEM drivers and goes to
lunch. Not the plucky germans at RME.

If you need to get audio in or out of your computer, you should settle for
nothing less.

------
mhd
This really reminds me of the original iMac. When it came out, USB devices
were pretty rare, but this got better pretty quickly, especially regarding
printers. Firewire wasn't as successful. Although, if I understand correctly,
you can just hook up an external PCI-express bay via thunderbolt, so you don't
really need special hardware (like e.g. USB audio devices). So apart from the
usual series of external hard drives, you'll probably find a few expansion
bays docket to your central ash tray.

But given the additional power bricks, wires and boxes you need for this, it
seems they're optimizing for the non-extended situation and/or want to give
their other computers equal footing.

------
ripperdoc
I think the key point brought up here is that there is greater convenience in
external accessories once there is more than one computing device to use them
with - and I'd say that's a much more common scenario than it used to be.

My suggestion to Apple (or 3PP), would be to make a stackable accessory form
factor (along the lines of
[http://www.123macmini.com/accessories/guide/enclosures.html](http://www.123macmini.com/accessories/guide/enclosures.html))
with built-in Thunderbolt connectors, or at least cable guides. They could be
styled in the same style as the Mac Pro. Imagine just slotting on another
level of your little accessory tower, with a single Thunderbolt going to the
"capital ship".

------
mono
"It looks like a Dyson vacuum cleaner someone lifted from the maintenance
closet on the Death Star."

~~~
leoc
Shamelessly quoting myself: "The thing looks genuinely ugly with the outer
casing off: like computer junk from the late '90s, with a touch of Jawa
Quality Spares."
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Msp...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=MspVCc0_R3g#t=105s)

By the way, I just realised what it is that the base of the new Mac Pro was
reminding me of: it's the old G4 iMac, of course
[http://macspeedzone.com/images/reviews/machines/desktop/imac...](http://macspeedzone.com/images/reviews/machines/desktop/imac/4_02/close/side_right.jpg)
.

------
stephen_g
The loss of the hard drive bays really doesn't worry me (is anyone doing
serious work really not working off a big RAID or a SAN?), and my audio
interfaces have been external for years...

The only thing I might want is a PCI-Express slot for a RED ROCKET card (it's
a hardware decoder for 4K+ video from RED cameras) but I've never really felt
the urge to splurge for one of those - both Final Cut Pro X and Premiere Pro
are good enough at decoding it with the CPU and GPU even on my MacBook Pro so
the Mac Pro should have no problems with it... The only time I feel it is
rendering (you can work in 1/4 res [a bit more than 1080p] but for finishing
you want full quality even if you're downscaling). And if I did want one,
there are a number of adaptors that work with them...

~~~
jdboyd
A Red Rocket card can be attached to your thunderbolt workstation video this
[http://www.mlogic.com/products/mlink-r](http://www.mlogic.com/products/mlink-r)
which is currently listed at $599.

I don't know that TB1 will have enough bandwidth for the new Red Rocket X
card, and I'm not yet aware of any TB2 -> PCIe chassis for sale.

------
pmarin
I am curious about if the new Mac Pro will promote the build of high end
Hackintoshes to fill the gap left by Apple in their product line.

------
calinet6
Audio pros want everything outside the box anyway: interference from the power
supply, motherboard, etc are unacceptable. External peripherals are the norm.

I don't see any problem with this whatsoever.

~~~
WalterSear
External peripherals bring in the delights of ground loops wall warts and
dodgey inputs. Not to mention cables galore.

What is clear from this latest design is that Apple doesn't see audio
production as a market worth considering when designing stuff.

~~~
calinet6
That's ridiculous. The power from the wall has the potential to be much
cleaner and more predictable than that from a PC power supply. If that's the
issue, then the device's power supply is designed poorly.

I think there will be (and frankly are) very high-quality external interfaces
that have none of these issues, and avoid larger internal issues. Your
argument is a non-issue, and your conclusion is an overreaction.

~~~
prodigal_erik
The power from the wall is only as clean as permitted by the cheapest, most
worn out hair dryer or air conditioner in your building (or maybe
neighborhood). PC power supplies typically aren't great but they have to do
some filtering for the machine to run at all.

