It’s been sixteen long months since the super high-end Mac Pros were updated, but deep pocketed Apple aficionados should get their wads ready as the new range is nearly here.
Now listed as ready to order online in the UK store is Apple’s new Quad-Core, 8-Core and 12-Core models, available in a variety of lust-worthy configurations for the well-heeled out there (they’re definitely not cheap, with the Quad-core Mac Pro starting at £1,999, while the 12-core begins at a wallet-shredding £3,999).
Pricey but lovely
Targeted at pro filmmakers, graphic designers and other successful creative types (students, jog on), these Intel Xeon-powered beauties come with a Turbo Boost feature to dynamically accelerate CPU speeds up to 3.6 GHz when needed, and Hyper-Threading for the creation of up to 24 virtual cores.
Upgraded graphics
It’s now possible to add a 512GB solid-state drive into one or all four of the drive bays, while an ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory comes as standard, with the option to boost graphics even faster with the ATI Radeon HD 5870, also packing 1GB of GDDR5 memory.
Both cards support dual Mini DisplayPorts and one dual-link DVI port, so it’s possible to hook up two LED Cinema Displays for that desk-pwning experience.
The new Mac Pros can be ordered right here, right now at the Apple Store, although there’s a “2 weeks” shipping date listed.
Specs and pricing:
Quad-core Mac Pro. Suggested retail price £1999 inc VAT (£1701.28 ex VAT):
one 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon W3530 processor with 8MB of fully-shared L3 cache;
3GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory, expandable up to 16GB;
ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory;
two Mini DisplayPorts and one DVI (dual-link) port (adapters sold separately);
1TB Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
18x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
four PCI Express 2.0 slots;
five USB 2.0 ports and four FireWire 800 ports;
AirPort Extreme 802.11n;
Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; and
Apple Keyboard with numerical keypad and Magic Mouse.
Eight-core Mac Pro. Suggested retail price £2799 inc VAT (£2382.13 ex VAT):
Two 2.4 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5620 processors with 12MB of fully-shared L3 cache per processor;
6GB of 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory, expandable up to 32GB;
ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory;
Two Mini DisplayPorts and one DVI (dual-link) port (adapters sold separately);
1TB Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
18x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
Four PCI Express 2.0 slots;
Five USB 2.0 ports and four FireWire 800 ports;
AirPort Extreme 802.11n;
Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; and
Apple Keyboard with numerical keypad and Magic Mouse.
Twelve-core Mac Pro, suggested retail price £3,999.01 inc VAT (3,403.41 ex VAT):
Two 2.66GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon “Westmere” (12 cores)
6 GB (6 x 1 GB)
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s hard drive
ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB GDDR5
two Mini DisplayPorts and one DVI (dual-link) port (adapters sold separately);
18x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
Four PCI Express 2.0 slots;
Five USB 2.0 ports and four FireWire 800 ports;
AirPort Extreme 802.11n;
Bluetooth 2.1+EDR; and
Apple Keyboard with numerical keypad and Magic Mouse.
Configure-to-order options include:
One 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon W3565 processor for the quad-core Mac Pro;
One 3.33 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon W3680 processor for the quad-core Mac Pro;
Two 2.66 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon X5650 processors (12-cores) for the 8-core Mac Pro;
Two 2.93 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon X5670 processors (12-cores) for the 8-core Mac Pro;
Two ATI Radeon HD 5770 cards with 1GB of GDDR5 memory;
One ATI Radeon HD 5870 card with 1GB of GDDR5 memory;
Up to 16GB of DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory for the quad-core Mac Pro;
Up to 32GB of DDR3 ECC SDRAM memory for the 8-core Mac Pro;
Up to four 512GB solid state drives (SSD); or
Up to four 1TB or 2TB Serial ATA hard drives running at 7200 rpm;
Mac Pro RAID card;
Dual-channel or quad-channel 4Gb Fibre Channel card; and
Up to two 18x SuperDrives with double-layer support.
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