Apple Introduces the new Mac Pro 8-Core (Today)

[ScottW]

The fastest Mac ever, the new Mac Pro has eight processor cores and a new system architecture that delivers up to twice the performance of its predecessor.* It combines two of Intel’s new 45 nanometer Quad-Core Xeon processors running up to 3.2 GHz, powerful new graphics and up to 4TB of internal storage, offering the ideal system for creative professionals, 3D digital content creators and scientists. The standard 8-core configuration starts at just $2,799.

http://www.apple.com/macpro/

[Satcomer]

Mistake: I can't read.

[fryke]

What?

[Satcomer]

Originally Posted by fryke

What?

That BlueTooth is now included, not BTO.

[fryke]

Ah. I first thought the Mac Pro simply didn't have BT. The icon on the online store is misleading, where at the "WiFi and Bluetooth" part, you can only select WiFi. (Edit: They've removed the BT icon from that section by now.)

[Oscar Castillo]

Nice update. Big mistake not to make the new video cards backward compatible.

[symphonix]

Originally Posted by Oscar Castillo

Big mistake not to make the new video cards backward compatible.

There were unavoidable technical reasons for that. The new cards use PCI-Express 2.0, which wasn't included on the older Mac Pros.

I think this is an impressive machine, but it highlights even more the immense gap between some of Apple's consumer lines and their high-end lines. I would not be surprised at all if Apple starts introducing something to fill that gap, they've pretty much had two tiers of hardware for a decade now, and I really think a lot of users fall into the in-between category, especially gamers, IT professionals, photographers and film-makers.

[Oscar Castillo]

The PCI-E 2.0 spec is supposed to be backward and forward compatible with 1.0 and 1.1.
A 2.0 card would simply run at the lesser spec. These things should not happen on any high-end system.