Apple defied expectations by introducing anupdated Mac Pro today, despite not mentioning it at WWDC, as well as indication that it would kill it off. Creative professionals are most definitely celebrating—it's the first time their super-powerful computer of choice has gotten a refresh in two years, and it needed some attention in a bad way. So what exactly does the update look like?
It's actually not that significant. Similar to its predecessor, the new Mac Pro comes in three configurations. For $2,500, the base has a 3.2GHz quad-core processor, 6GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive, and the ATI Radeon 5770 graphics chip. If you're hankering for even more power, the next step up has a 2.4GHz 12-core processor, 12GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive, and the same graphics chip for $3,800. Once again, there's also a server model, with a 3.2GHz quad-core processor, 8GB of RAM, two and 1TB hard drives. This one costs $3,000. Mac Pros, of course, can also be built to order, but these are the readymade specs.
Until today, the future wasn't so certain for the Mac Pro—sales have suffered and there is a growing selection of more affordable alternatives, making it harder to justify the expense. The last update in summer 2010 gave it 12 cores of power for the first time. With its immense processing power, it's an aspirational product that's dearly loved by creative professionals, though Apple could have stood to throw in more bells and whistles.
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