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2007-03-28 - Send Feedback
Related: Apple macOS, computer display, diglloydTools, GPU, hard drive, IntegrityChecker, Mac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Pro, memory, Photoshop, video

The Apple Mac Pro completed Apple’s transition to the Intel platform in August 2006. If you’re in the market for a Mac Pro, read this article to learn about issues you should consider before buying a Mac Pro—especially if you are a digital photographer or content-creator.

My workstation was a PowerMac G5 Quad until March, 2007. It offered excellent performance for most tasks, but the Mac Pro outperforms it handily for almost everything, so long as the program being used is a Universal Binary (one that contains Intel code).

When I wrote the first iteration of this article in August 2006, I predicted that by March 2007 memory prices would be lower and processor speeds would rise. While Apple’s build-to-order memory prices have not fallen, there are several good options from 3rd parties at considerably lower cost; see All About Mac Pro Memory.

Processor (clock) speeds remain unchanged, still topping out at 3.0 GHz, and still at a stiff price premium for the 3GHz model. The future seems to be quad-core processors at the same or slightly slower clock speeds, though Apple has yet to offer quad-core chips in the Mac Pro (as of March 25, 2007).

Industrial design

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The Mac Pro is beautifully as well as functionally designed. Its highly-attractive aluminum case offers whisper-quiet operation that is matched by very few, if any PCs.

Access to the memory slots is incredibly simple and fast—the best the author has ever seen.

Installation and/or swapping of internal disk drives (4 bays) is extremely quick, and doesn’t require any tools or additional parts or cables. Again, the best design the author has ever seen.

You’re unlikely to find a more thoughtfully-designed system anywhere, at any price.

It’s a mistake to focus on just the cost of a “bare” Mac Pro itself. Many users will want more memory, additional hard disk space, a faster video card, larger or additional displays, new or updated software, etc. By being realistic about the complete system configuration and thus overall system cost, the increased cost of any particular system upgrade can be kept in perspective, making a decision easier.

For example, it makes little sense to save $300 buying a 2.0GHz model instead of a 2.66 GHz model while spending $2500 to upgrade to 8GB of memory; the resulting Mac Pro would have ample memory but (relatively) sluggish performance compared to the 2.66 GHz model. Buyers on a budget are well advised to seek out 3rd-party options for memory, due to its high cost.

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Lloyd recommends 32GB RDIMM modules for most users (more expensive LRDIMMS are for 512GB or more).

Refurbished is a win

Consider buying a refurbished model through the Apple store. The author’s 3.0 GHz Mac Pro was purchased as a refurbished unit at a savings of 15%. Refurbished models are still eligible for AppleCare and carry the same warranty as a new model.

Memory and processor speed

Deciding on the amount and choosing a brand of memory deserves its own discussion. There are also performance and reliability considerations (see All About Apple Mac Pro Memory).

As of March 2007, upgrading from the 2.66 GHz model to the 3.0 GHz model was another $700 or so. That’s about a 32% higher price to pay for a 12% increase in speed, but if you’re stuffing 8GB of memory into the Mac Pro, adding the upgraded video card and some more hard drives, the percentage “hit” is modest when viewed as a portion of the overall system cost—and it might thus be penny wise and pound foolish to spend all that money on memory for a machine with slower processors.

Of course, for many business users, and certainly most personal users, usually one must choose between faster processors and more memory, but not both. The 2.0GHz model should be avoided except in special situations, as its price/performance ratio is poor. The 2.66GHz model is the “sweet spot” and the best choice for most users. The 3.0 GHz model should be chosen only when it is certain that adequate memory can also be purchased for all of the machine’s intended uses; the speed hit of having to swap the contents of memory (“virtual memory”) to and from the hard disk is a far larger time penalty than the 12% speed difference between 2.66 and 3.0 GHz.

For digital photography which includes the use of Photoshop CS3, 3GB of memory should be considered the absolute minimum. The author tried using a Mac Pro with 2GB memory (for a short while) on medium-sized image files (with multiple layers), and quickly encountered impaired performance when trying to use it with programs like Nikon Capture and Digital Photo Professional. The author’s MacBook Pro , with 3GB memory, fares much better, though it is still limiting when trying to edit large image files and/or files with many layers.

A Mac pro with only 2-4GB memory will be acceptable for web browsing, Mail, iPhoto, casual Photoshop work, etc. But those tasks are done just as well using a MacMini, iMac, or MacBook. A Mac Pro with less than 8GB memory is a contradiction. It’s like buying a sports car that requires 91 octane fuel, then running it on 85 octane gasoline.

High-end example: Configuring a 2.66GHz Mac pro with 8GB memory, the X1900 video card and four 500GB hard drives totals $6643 (March 2007). Upgrading to the 3.0 GHz model is another $799, or 12% more—for a matching 12% processor speed increase. Add a monitor, and the comparison is even more favorable to going with the faster processors.

Basic example: A minimally-configured 3.0GHz Mac Pro with 2GB memory is $3518 at the Apple Store, while a 2.66Ghz model with 4GB memory is $3519. The 2.66GHz model with twice the memory would almost certainly perform better when used for serious work with Photoshop and digital photography.

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Hard drives

Apple offers several choices of hard drives—all overpriced. Your best value is to configure the Mac Pro with the 160GB hard drive (saving $79 over the 250GB model), using it as a boot drive (Mac OS X system drive) only. Avoid storing data on your boot drive; reserve another hard drive for that purpose—you’ll be glad you did if you ever need to reinstall the system software.

Use the $79 savings to purchase a 500GB hard drive, such as the Maxtor Maxline 7H500F0 for as low as $119 (zipzoomfly.com, Fry’s.com, newegg.com). Apple has done an awesome job of making hard drives easy to install:

pull the hard-drive carrier from its bay (no tools needed);
hand-tighten 4 screws;
slide the drive into the drive bay.
Format the drive using Disk Utility.

Video card and displays

If you need to connect two “dual link” displays (eg the Apple 30' Cinema Display), then one of the more advanced video cards such as the ATI X1900GT is required. Otherwise, the standard video card is beyond adequate for most users. In theory, the more advanced video cards speed up work in programs like Aperture, Final Cut Pro, etc, but the author has not seen test numbers that quantify the advantage. If you’re such a “heavy duty”