The new Mac Pro may very well be one of the coolest desktop machines we’ve ever seen, but unlike the older Mac Pros, this new one isn’t going to keep your work area all that tidy.
Giga.de created the image above to show just how messy things are going to get when you want to add a few external harddrives, DVD burner, audio interface, Blu-ray player and a video capture interface to your Mac Pro. Too bad you can’t just stuff them all inside that fancy thermal core.
Via: Twitter
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
22 responses to “The Sad Truth About Expansion On The New Mac Pro [Image]”
OWC is going to make little mini mac pro cylinders that hold all that stuff in one neat little package. Of course knowing them it will connect to your mac pro via usb and firewire.
So true. Though if you’re already into the iMac bit, you’d already have this stuff.
Wow! Square pieces don’t fit into a round hole. Horrors. Oh, the humanity! Apple is doomed again.
Your organization skills will play a key role in making everything look pretty. Btw they forgot a 4K cinema display great to hide stuff behind!
I don’t think it’s about having to buy the stuff.. it’s about paying a premium for a computer that you then have to have extra things attached to it to make it fully functional
This is the same as buying an app with in-app purchases ¬¬ so frustating!
While it is a fair point there are several things wrong with this image and one or two things that aren’t accounted for.
First off, most people who get a high end system like a Mac Pro that need additional storage like that typically have external drives anyway, many in a RAID system. Second, a DVD burner is redundant if you have a blu-ray drive (can’t remember the last time I saw one of those that didn’t also burn DVDs). Third, the majority of audio interfaces these days either are external already or are going to be external and may not even have an internal option. Can’t speak for the video interfaces but I wouldn’t be surprised if those went the same way.
But one big advantage to Thunderbolt and all of these things being external is that all of this can be driven and used by a MacBook Air/MBP just as easily; no need for additional equipment for when you’re on-the-go. Grab your MacBook and the one or two pieces of gear you need and go, no more hauling the freaking huge tower everywhere (which I’ve seen way too many people do).
It also makes upgrading the tower easier. No more having to worry if the new tower will have the right slots or enough bays. Dropping in a new machine will be faster, too, as you’re just dealing with a couple cables vs. opening the machine and worrying about screws, plates, and snapping things in correctly.
For some this may be an issue, but for most it won’t be. It’s the way things are going anyway. At worst people will cope and come up with better things, a la original USB transition, dropping optical drives, and the new Lightning port on iOS devices.
You can’t be serious. Who really wants internal drives in this age of cheap externals? Good grief. I’ve got 5 TB behind my desk right now, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
And since when was an Apogee Duet built into the 2012 Mac Pro? I must have missed that since you’re showing one beside the 2013 Mac Pro. That’s lame, guys. The idea that nothing needed to be plugged into the 2012 Mac Pro is ignorant.
The days of needing a giant tower have been gone for years. Boo frigging hoo for the childish mentality that says everything old is good and change is bad.
Not a very convincing story really is it. Anyone with half a brain looks at the 2012 and the externals around the 2013 and sees that the clutter would be exactly the same only you have this great big tower amongst it. I could understand if you were saying in most cases the 2012 Mac Pro can sit below your desk and the externals can sit on top. But the likely hood of people not wanting to put he 2013 Mac Pro under the desk means your desktop with 2013 Mac Pro and externals just got that bit more cluttered.
Please, very deceptive image!!!!…. Redo image with all that crap on the old Mac Pro as well!
Most pros have that mess on their Toaster box! They rarely put most drives inside. Firewire anyone? The big complaint wasn’t drives.. it was Graphics Card expansion/swap-ability.
Please, very deceptive image!!!!…. Redo image with all that crap on the old Mac Pro as well!
Most pros have that mess on their Toaster box! They rarely put most drives inside. Firewire anyone? The big complaint wasn’t drives.. it was Graphics Card expansion/swap-ability.
I don’t know about you all, but if I had the cash for a Mac Pro, I would also have the money for a server to handle all that data. Centralize all the bulk and keep the essentials with you.
If for some reason you don’t want a central server. Hide all the external drives on a shelf behind your 3 4K displays. Problem solved.
Said the exact same thing three weeks ago at TUAW: http://www.tuaw.com/2013/06/18/mac-pros-react-to-the-mac-pro/
And “pros” use as many inexpensive internal drives as possible.
You could fit all that stuff including the new mac pro inside an old mac pro empty case.
Get ready for Kickstarters galore! There will be a half dozens new projects for keeping your cords organized in the first 6 months.
Exactly. I work in the creative industry and we have tons of the 2011/2012 MacPros and all of them have a mess of external devices connected to them as well. The nice thing about the new one is that you can use Thunderbolt which simplifies everything. Let’s hope we start seeing some more (reasonably priced) Thunderbolt devices.
Many folks may have zero need for some of that stuff so it’s a bit of a misleading image. Particularly when some of the items in question wouldn’t be in the box for the old one either
What about the happy truth? Is there any love for Apple left at CofM? It’s a radical new design, purportedly fast as hell, cool-running, small footprint and likely very affordable for its class of machine.
It’s bad enough that uninformed Apple detractors populate the Intertubes, but why must we read this stuff—complete with totally misleading headlines and unfair photos—on Cult of Mac?
C’mon Buster.
which professional is going to buy 3 separate storage stations, 2 disk drives legacy video interfaces and a toy audio interface? All it needs is 1 storage solution (mainly for backup) and 1 serious audio interface, which have always been external devices.
The set up in the photo is not at all realistic and is very misleading. But even so … most pros who’re hard at work, have cluttered desktops anyway … so where’s the problem?
While everyone is flipping out over the “unfair portrayal… Yadda yadda yadda”, I’m sitting here cracking up over the “Fibre-channel-Shnitzel”
While I understand people’s concerns with the new Mac Pro, I do think this image is a bit dramatic. The new Mac Pro may not be what we were expecting, but that certainly won’t stop me from buying one. My current Mac Pro (2006) is definitely showing its age.
http://macpro2013accessories.com