New Mac Pros Out
January 8, 2008 by Juan Magdaraog
Filed under Computers
Well, well, well… It seems that the Mac Pro isn’t a big enough item to deserve being introduced at MacWorld. Apple just released the New Mac Pros.
The new Mac Pro now comes with 8 cores as standard. Based on Intel’s new Quad-Core Xeon “Harpertown” processors, the Mac Pro is one of the first desktop computers to make use of these new chips. Topping out at 3.2 Ghz, these new chips also feature the 45-nm architecture thus delivering blistering speeds without using too much power. Each processor has a massive 12MB L2 cache and 1600MHz frontside buses.
Expansion is a snap. It features the faster PCI Express 2.0 graphics slot. 4 drive bays that will total up to 4TB of storage. 8 DIMM slots are also available allowing you to install a 32GB 800MHz DIMM memory.
I/O ports feature a Firewire 800 port, Firewire 400, 2 USB 2.0, headphone minijack all in front. At the back you get 3 USB 2.0, 1 FireWire 800, 1 FireWire 400, optical audio in and out, analog in and out and dual Gigabit Ethernet ports. Enough expansion for all your peripherals.
So.. this news at least proves that one of the items of the supposedly leaked transcripts are false.
Steve then says that “sometimes bigger is better,” and brings up the Mac Pro, lauding it as the “best workstation on the market.” Steve then introduces the new Penryn chipset, praising Intel for its innovation. He then introduces a redesigned Mac Pro. (There is no “final image” present in this draft Keynote). Steve brags that the Mac Pro was the first mainstream computer to feature eight cores, and says its time to bring that into everyone’s hands.
The new Mac Pro comes with dual 2.8 GHz Penryn Xeons standard, with build-to-order options for 3.0 GHz and 3.2 GHz. Standard RAM is bumped to 2 GB, standard hard drive to 320 GB. Standard graphics card is now 512 MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT, with other graphics cards build-to-order.
Steve then reveals a final new feature: the Mac Pro is the first Mac to feature a high-definition optical drive, a Blu-ray drive for $400, BTO.
Check out the complete specs here.
