I really like the new Mac Pro and since I use mostly external rack units and other gear, the lack of expansion slots is fine with me. Many studios won’t be upgrading right away, and when they do, there will be a lot more gear that supports Thunderbolt and other I/O options. Peter Kirn has a nice look at what the audio industry thinks of the Mac Pro.
The Mac Pro from an audio pros perspective
And once again, passionate fans are displeased with a “transition.” Same story, different decade. How many times have we been through this? Apple makes a bold move forward, the pros and hobbyists grumble, several years pass and the noise slowly dies out, and then the rest of the industry moves in that direction and people don’t even blink when it comes to these decisions.
Its funny, because all the groaning I’m hearing, sounds almost identical to the other transitions Apple’s made in the past. I could literally take some of these comments and travel back in time and they would sound exactly the same.
You either move forward or get left behind. I’m sure there’s a few SCSI diehards out there who still resent Apple.
First there was FireWire and now ThunderBolt. Then after that will be BrainWave followed by Ommmmmm.
I’m wondering if part of the reason there aren’t many thunderbolt peripherals is because vendors knew thunderbolt2 was coming and wanted to wait for it.
In any case, I do hope that more options will come available.
Thunderbolt ports give more bandwidth than the slots in the last generation Mac Pro.
Slots are obsolete. Slots were necessary when external IO was super slow. You needed slots to have a fast connection to the CPU.
Those who don’t recognize this are failing to understand how much technology has advanced.
Thus the only real difference is whether you store hard drives an other equipment inside the case or outside of it, and outside of it is better, because it lets Apple make a more efficient design, rather than design for the worst case scenario current draw and heat generation of whatever arbitrary stuff you might stick in there.
PCIE is a serial line technology, and thunderbolt is the peripheral extension of it. It is the same technology. The new Mac Pro embraces this, and the whiners need to wake to reality.
Thunderbolt may have more bandwidth than the previous Mac Pros, but they certainly don’t have more bandwidth than speeds in machines that are actually current. And it really isn’t even close. I’m all for going the external route/adjusting, but to claim slots are obsolete is factually incorrect.
3rd party gear will eventually accommodate. I’m stoked! Now, Logic Pro X please. 9 is fine, but after 4 years, I’m anxious to see what they’ve been working on.