Is the New Mac Pro Your Next Editing System?

Thunderbolt 2

Intel recently announced it, and Apple is first to show it off. While we're still waiting for Thunderbolt 1 to really take off (much like we did with FireWire 800) here's the next level, which Apple says is "capable of four 4K displays." However, if you're running four 4K displays, there's likely little GPU power left to process your video with. So plan accordingly.

Thunderbolt has true potential to make file management of big video projects an absolute drag-and-drop breeze. Here's a truly speedy standard that's waiting for everything else to get faster. I hope that 2013-’14 is when we see personal computers adopt Thunderbolt technology en masse because Apple can't push this standard alone. If no one else gets behind it, Thunderbolt will be as successful as FireWire 800 was, which is to say not very successful at all.

I/O Connections

It's nice to see a standard HDMI port on the back, but we'll need adapters to be able to use it with high-resolution computer displays. Nobody wants just one 1920x1080 TV to do all their computing on. Four USB 3.0 ports are nice, but any computer these days needs a lot more USB, period. Dual-Gigabit ports are nice as well. Here's hoping at least one of them is iSCSI-compliant for shared storage that works like locally connected storage.

Another thing to consider is all the stuff you will have to connect to the Mac Pro--a round tube with ports down one side. At least with the Cube, the ports were on the bottom. It was flat so you could lay it down. The Pro has a fan, which is good, but other than that, it doesn't make much sense other than the fact that it's small.

And with the core of the Mac Pro honed down to something so small, you will need accessories. First thing: an external HDD, or RAID. Then you'll need a media reader because it looks like Apple axed the media slot completely. Then some sort of USB hub so you can conveniently plug stuff in the way you've been doing it since forever. Next thing you know, this pretty little computer is sitting amidst clutter.

“Advanced” Wireless

Stepping up to the latest 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0 means faster I/O and lower power needed for wireless peripherals--both good things that you just can't argue with.

"Radical. Yet completely logical"

I'm going to have to call them on this one. It’s “logical” only if you designed a computer for design's sake--to see what you could do, with zero interest in making it physically work in the environment of your supposed target market.

It's round and doesn't fit on a rack. If the same hardware had been designed into a 2 RU enclosure or standard average depth (around 14"), not only would they have had more interior volume, but the professional world would have loved to slide it into the racks of gear they already own.

Apple already has experience cramming server-level hardware into their 1 RU Xserve computers, but those were expensive, excessively long, and very loud. If they can put this level of hardware into a single-fan, shared cooling system like this, they could have easily made it so it would be effortless for professionals to integrate into their systems.

And all this reminds me of the last time Apple built a computer with a cylindrical component: the 20th-anniversary Macintosh. Originally listed for over $7,000, a good friend of mine bought one for under $2,000. In that case, the cylindrical base housed the power supply and the subwoofer to a Bose-tuned 2.1 sound system that really did rock the house.