During this year’s WWDC keynote address, Apple surprised pro users with a look at a completely redesigned version of the Mac Pro, a machine many thought had long been abandoned by the company. At the time, the only availability information that was available was an ambiguous “shipping by December,” though Apple recently gave a more specific release date: today.
After about an hour of downtime, the Apple Online Store has come back up with the option to order the latest-generation Mac Pro. The quad-core model starts at $2,999, with a 6-core model available starting at $3,999.
Both models ship with Intel Xeon E5 processors that can be clocked up to 3.9GHz. The quad-core model comes with 12 GB of RAM, compared to the 16 GB available in the 6-core model. The cheaper version is outfitted with dual AMD FirePro D300 graphics processors, while the more expensive configuration sports two of the beefier FirePro D500. Both models can drive three separate displays at 4k resolution or up to six Thunderbolt displays.
Both models can be upgraded to chips with 8 or 12 cores, a D700 graphics cards, and 64 GB of RAM.
The default storage option is 256 GB of flash storage, though both machines can be customized with up to 1 TB of space. While the built-in storage isn’t user-upgradable, a Thunderbolt drive can supplement the existing storage options if you find yourself needing more room.
All configurations also ship with a variety of I/O ports, including four USB 3.0 ports, dual gigabit Ethernet, six Thunderbolt ports (configured to the improved Thunderbolt 2 spec) and an HDMI port. The Mac Pro also supports the latest 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard and low-power Bluetooth 4.0.
In terms of software, the new Mac Pro ships with all the customary OS X applications, and new versions of Final Cut Pro X, Compressor, and Motion are now available with enhanced support for the new machines.
You can grab your own Mac Pro right now on Apple’s Online Store with the option to pick it up at your local Apple Retail Store.
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Tim Cook should have said coming 2014 not 2013. It makes me wonder if it’s really ready or if they are just trying to get it out in 2013 like they promised.
Reblogged this on Ronak's Apple iNews.