New Mac Pro

[Marsdy]

It looks like these are the processors in the Cheesegrater v2.
https://fuse.wikichip.org/news/2400/...-w-processors/

The ones with the M suffix support up to 2TB of memory and are MUCH more expensive.

As a heavy VI/VE Pro user the 16 core looks like the GHz vs. number of cores sweet spot. The 16 core is $1250 more than the base 8 core chip.

According to the tech specs on the Apple website only the 24 and 28 core models support up to 1.5TB of RAM so those are using the processors with the M suffix presumably. I’m optimistically guessing/hoping the 16 core will use the cheaper version of the processor because it’s a massive $3000 cheaper!

[RyanC]

Originally Posted by Marsdy

Could you actually build a PC for less? Not by much if you used like for like components and it would be far from Avid qualified.

Certainly you can't have Avid qualify it, but I have 7980xe (18 core) hacks I've built that cost about 3k each with a 2tb m.2. They comfortably overclock to 4.5g and are monster machines for audio due to all cores at 4.5g. I have two machines now in use (multiop) around 100+ hours a week and they run really well, with TB and all.

Not for everyone for sure, but I don't think the price argument here is a very good one. That all said, I'm happy with my hacks for now, but I'm also glad to see apple make a computer that I would consider buying in the future. I will be interested to see if they will be able to update this.

My concern is that when more core's isn't going to be the best bet for audio, Intel's HEDT form factor will probably always be the best choice for audio, and it doesn't look like Apple plans to use it at all.

[inf0l]

Originally Posted by JFreak

I wouldn't be surprised if the connector is just the same as in the trashcan, which means OWC already has 2TB Aura Pro X2 for $700 -- the real question is, when will they be able to offer 4TB, 8TB, 16TB and so on..

Sonnet already has a 4x NVMe PCIe card available...

[Philthy]

Originally Posted by ProtoolsLover

Come on man, you are always super negative.

He's not super negative, he saved me the trouble of saying the exact same thing. RTL, RTL, RTL, that's why Avid DSP rocks if you track live musicians. It's like buying a digital mixer that lives inside your computer, so you don't have to run your audio through the native processor. If you don't get it, you don't get it. But for the people who need it, there's still nothing like it. For the needs of my small commercial studio, I'm far better off with even a lowly $1000 hackintosh and an HDX card, than this new Mac, which is clearly aimed at video and not audio.

[LightWing]

Their SSD config is a bit "interesting". Rumor has it the drives interfaces are Proprietary meaning you can only use drives purchased from them (HUGE $?)...we'll see. You can only have TWO SSD drives internally which is not necessarily bad as long as you take the long view and get as much capacity as you can afford right out of the gate. It appears you CANNOT get it with a 256GB and an additional 500GB nor can you have just a SINGLE 500GB as configuration options. Also they state that ALL drives will be T2 encrypted. What happens when you move a drive(s) from an older Cheese Grater? Does it get encrypted thereby eliminating the move of the drive(s) back to the Cheese Grater if the need arrives? I use an older Dell with Windows 10 Pro on it and because I have the internal space thanks to the size of SSDs it currently houses FOUR of them interfaced off a SATA 3 card I added as the system board supports SATA 2 and I wanted the faster 6GB interface speed the drives can perform at. I also have two 4TB hard drives in an external enclosure for huge VI Content (East-West and others), Backups and System/Disaster Recovery if necessary. Because Apple has limited the INTERNAL drive count, it appears that the new Mac Pro will require an external drive enclosure as well to cover yourself in backups and disaster recovery OR you go with a "Slot Based" SSD/NVMe/M.2 drive expansion option (more $ if you don't already have either one). And THEN there is the question whether those additional drives get T2 encrypted as well. Thoughts? Criticisms? Public Flogging? :)

[SDDP]

Originally Posted by john1192

and i need to get a new Power Service to my house / Studio for the 1.4 KiloWatt power supply .. !!!

1.21 Gigawatts?



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p46VOwNUOdw

[DetroitT]

Compared to cMP;
2010 mac pro power, 1.0 KW rounded.
I like the new MP-19.
needs mirrors looking removable-Network NAS via 2nd 10g port
(Fill with 8TB-16TB SSD)

Comparative Audio Budget Drop-into-Builds
iMac Pro $10K, MacMini $6K, new Pro-19 $15K
Beef up oldMacPro Vid SSDrives $2K

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by LightWing

Their SSD config is a bit "interesting". Rumor has it the drives interfaces are Proprietary meaning you can only use drives purchased from them (HUGE $?)...we'll see. You can only have TWO SSD drives internally which is not necessarily bad as long as you take the long view and get as much capacity as you can afford right out of the gate. It appears you CANNOT get it with a 256GB and an additional 500GB nor can you have just a SINGLE 500GB as configuration options. Also they state that ALL drives will be T2 encrypted. What happens when you move a drive(s) from an older Cheese Grater? Does it get encrypted thereby eliminating the move of the drive(s) back to the Cheese Grater if the need arrives? I use an older Dell with Windows 10 Pro on it and because I have the internal space thanks to the size of SSDs it currently houses FOUR of them interfaced off a SATA 3 card I added as the system board supports SATA 2 and I wanted the faster 6GB interface speed the drives can perform at. I also have two 4TB hard drives in an external enclosure for huge VI Content (East-West and others), Backups and System/Disaster Recovery if necessary. Because Apple has limited the INTERNAL drive count, it appears that the new Mac Pro will require an external drive enclosure as well to cover yourself in backups and disaster recovery OR you go with a "Slot Based" SSD/NVMe/M.2 drive expansion option (more $ if you don't already have either one). And THEN there is the question whether those additional drives get T2 encrypted as well. Thoughts? Criticisms? Public Flogging? :)

The proprietary SSD is not different than what Apple has done on every other "M.2" like SSD they have shipped.

I have not seen anything that implies disk *must* be encrypted.

The Mac Pro has oodles of PCIe slots, power and cooling. You take as many PCIe adapter cards as you want and stuff them full of 1TB or 2TB M.2 cards (or maybe other form factor PCIe SSDs, like the "rulers" that multiple vendors have). The one thing this computer should not have is lack of storage. Folks consuming all PCIe slots, OK you may have a challenge... so options include Thunderbolt3 attached storage.

Lots of larger places will have storage on a NAS with working download/caching on the SSD, or direct to disk cache. The primary driver of that won't be lack of storage on a these Mac's, it will be asset management, integrity and security.

[LukeHoward]

I suspect the internal flash options will be similar to, say, the iMac Pro – you can't upgrade it and it will appear as a single disk managed by the T2 chip. But, beyond that, you can do whatever you like. The Pegasus J2i will let you attach two SATA HDDs within the enclosure. Or there are a million other options with PCIe or Thunderbolt storage.


Does anyone have any thoughts about the sweetspot for internal vs external storage, for a typical use case with say 1TB of sample libraries and 3-4TB or working audio?

[Darryl Ramm]

... you simply put it all on PCIe internal SSD. Why would anybody buying such a high-end system at this price point attach SATA anything except for backup/archive. A 2TB Samsung 970 Evo M.2 SSD is only $570. A couple of those on a PCIe adapter card plus the internal boot SSD(s) and you are done. ... and SSD prices will likely continue decreasing.