Apple Launches Fastest-Ever Mac Pro
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The new Mac Pros run on dual Intel Quad-Core Xeon CPUs and a system architecture with "up to twice the performance of its predecessor."
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The recent word from The Inquirer that Apple may be hoarding all of Intel's new 45nm Penryn processors -- and possibly paying for the privilege -- has prompted a lot of speculation about the future of Apple's Mac Pro desktop lineup. Apple's professional machines, which now use Intel Xeon Cloverton chips topping out at 3GHz, are called workstations by Apple and offer quad- and eight-core configurations. They're fast, and they sport professional prices to match with top-of-the-line eight-core units starting at $3,997.The latest generation of Mac Pros, although radically restyled on the inside when Apple jumped to Intel chips in 2006, look pretty much the same on the outside as they did when they sported PowerPC chips. But the expected move to Penryn -- at or before the next Macworld show in January -- could mean the first major change in Mac Pro design in years.Penryn is Intel's first chip under 45nm (compared with the 65nm processors now used) and offers a faster front-side bus, larger Level 2 caches, better energy efficiency, and a new instruction set (SSE4) aimed at boosting media, gaming, and graphics uses.As important for Mac fans, the new chip architecture allows some new possibilities in case design -- namely because the motherboard and cooling system could take up less space. The new chips could also mean the incorporation of new technologies such as scalable-link interface (used for linking two or more video cards) and a faster front-side bus.With that in mind, let's go through some of the things Mac users -- especially this Mac user -- would like to see in the next Mac Pro:1. A new enclosure Rumors abound that the now-familiar all-aluminum Mac Pro box -- brought over part and parcel from the original Power Mac G5 -- will finally be shrinking. Of course, I still expect Apple to house all of the latest goodies, so whatever Apple comes up with isn't going to rival the Mac Mini for portability either.I'm looking for more audio/USB/Firewire ports up front with space for four 3.5-in. internal drive slots and two 5.25-in. optical drives -- which are now offered on the current crop of Mac Pros. An easier-to-open case more like that found way back on the Power Mac G4 desktops would certainly be appreciated by systems administrators, along with a reduced weight and better handles for lugging around.2. A Blu-ray option not just for movie editing but also for storing 50GB of data on a single disc -- perfect for sending off major quantities of files (high-definition movies, anyone?) to a client or user. Although I never thought I'd say it, DVDs -- even double-sided ones that can hold up to 8GB of information -- are too small. It's time for Apple to get on board with the next level of optical drives.As for using a Blu-ray drive for movies, the digital rights management associated with them might be too much to ask for. But they'd look pretty darn nice on Apple's 30-inch Cinema Display, now, wouldn't they?3. Cooler but quieter systems Those fans on current Mac Pros can sometimes be loud and annoying. Liquid-cooled enclosures, while more expensive, are a much more elegant solution. Heck, Apple even used that with late-generation Power Mac G5s, although there were some reports of leaks.If Apple doesn't want to go back to that option, then it should turn the whole case into a heat sink. Whether it's on purpose or not, my MacBook Pro sometimes feels like one well-designed heat sink.4. Less energy use I love power, but I also love clean air and Middle East peace and all of that, so Apple, while you're at it, cut down our energy usage! It's nice not to have the lights dim when I turn on the computer. This should be doable, and former Vice President Al Gore, who's on your board of directors, will no doubt approve.5. Penryn I know what The Inquirer reported, and yes, it makes perfect sense that you'd want to offer the latest and greatest from Intel to your top-end customers. What better way to run cool and cut power consumption than with a 45nm Penryn chip? These babies are fast and efficient. The first widely distributed 45nm processors, nothing comes close to them in terms of speed per watt -- the main reason Apple moved to Intel in the first place.And let's get there sooner rather than later. The Mac Pro has been out since August 2006 with only the addition of faster chips in April to update the line.6. eSATA external storage Firewire 800, first introduced in 2003, just doesn't do it anymore for high-speed external storage and is beginning to become outdated. I need more options. 3GB eSATA is coming out of the woodwork now as the new standard for super-high-speed drives even as external drives and arrays that use it are coming down in price dramatically. Fiber is nice, too, but overkill for workstations. USB3 fiber isn't ready yet; eSATA is.7. Strong video support: HDMI out How about letting users present stuff on an HDTV without having to use an adapter? This feature would cost very little, but the coolness factor would be huge, right Steve? Besides, HDMI is already available on Apple TV, so we know it can be done.In fact, while I'm wishing, why not add two HDMI out ports? Running two hi-def TVs from a Mac Pro over HDMI would be absurdly cool. This, of course, could be part of an extremely high-end video card option. I know Apple likes to have options when it comes to processors. Well, users like options when it comes to video cards. Some of us want a solid video card, while others want the absolute fastest thing money can buy. I happen to want both.8. 10GB Ethernet If not now, when? If not Apple, who? 10GB Ethernet cards are coming down in price by around $100 a pop -- and they're even cheaper when integrated on the motherboard. The prices for switches that utilize them are also coming down. Maybe Apple doesn't have to put them on all new Mac Pro models, but wouldn't they be perfectly appropriate for top-of-the-line HD video rigs? How about Xgrid? The speed certainly helps.Now, I know the question will arise: Who needs 10GB Ethernet? Something along those same lines was asked five years ago when Apple released the G4 models with 1GB Ethernet. Time flies.9. Hardware RAID standard A few months ago, Apple introduced a $1,000 add-on card that turns mild-mannered SATA ports on the Mac Pro into a hard-core RAID configuration. Now it's time to build it in.And with the ZFS file system expected to be part of the upcoming Leopard OS, RAID configurations should work even better. (ZFS, if you aren't familiar with it, offers a whole new way to handle storage, allowing large capacity, storage pooling, fast data snapshots, and copy-on-write.)10. Affordability I'm not talking $399.99 Dell affordable, but drop the barrier to entry a bit. Perhaps you can offer something under $2,000 at the low end. No doubt, some additional PC gamers and tinkerers will come into the Apple fold if you have the fastest processor and a solid video card.Oh, just one more thing: Let's not wait for Macworld San Francisco to get the next Mac Pro on store shelves. The holidays are coming, and I know of at least one computer geek who'd like to see something like this wrapped up with a bow on top.Seth Weintraub is a global IT management consultant specializing in the technology needs of creative organizations, including The Paris Times, Omnicom and WPP Group. He has set up and managed cross-platform networks on four continents and is an expert in Active Directory/Open Directory PC and Macintosh integration. Computerworld is an InfoWorld affiliate.
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The new iMac G5, which begins shipping worldwide mid-September, features the high-performance G5 processor and a stunning new design that integrates the entire computer right into its 17- or 20-inch flat panel display. The iMac G5 packs a complete computer system into a mere two inches of depth &#151; the world&#146;s thinnest desktop computer, with a G5 processor running up to 1.8 GHz. [Aug 31]
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Apple Inc.'s long-awaited Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard finally got into buyers' hands today, hitting the first Apple store in Tokyo at 6 p.m. local time.
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Apple today introduced the new AirPort Extreme, a simple and elegant wireless networking solution delivering up to five times the performance and twice the range of the previous AirPort Extreme.
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Apple Computer Inc.  on  Wednesday said its entire line of iMac computers would use  faster microprocessors from Intel Corp. , and the  company introduced a $999 model of its popular PC line.
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In September, IBM announced that the Blue Gene/L prototype had sustained speeds of 36 trillion calculations per second. Last week, NASA announced that a system built by Silicon Graphics had topped that by sustaining 42 trillion calculations per second.
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Apple took its trademark minimalism a step further on Tuesday as it launched the latest computer in the iMac family that helped restore the companyâs fortunes: a sleek flat-panel monitor with processor and drives built in.
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Apple has unveiled the latest computer to join its family, the iMac G5, at the Apple Expo 2004 in Paris.
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The worldâs fastest web browser for Macs is now available for Windows PCâs. Safari 3, introduced at the World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco, is the fastest browser running on Windows, based on the industry standard iBench tests, rendering web pages up to twice as fast as IE 7 and up to 1.6 times faster than Firefox 2. Safari joins iTunes in delivering Appleâs legendary user experience to both Windows and Mac users as well as full support of open Internet standards. Safari 3 features easy-to-manage bookmarks, effortless browsing with easy-to-organize tabs and a built-in RSS reader to quickly scan the latest news and information. Safari 3 public beta is available today as a free download at www.apple.com/safari.
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Apple Computers&#39; latest iBook range is the fastest to date. Still lacking in raw speed compared to Intel Centrino-based laptops, the consumer model is available from just Â£636 (ex.
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The fastest Mac supercomputer has gotten faster, thanks to an Xserve makeover.
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Though it's been criticized for being more spit and polish than a bona fide upgrade, the new Mac OS X, due for release Friday, has an impressive set of enhancements that turn ordinary computer jocks into power users.
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(InfoWorld) - Apple's just-released public beta of the Safari 3 Web browser -- the first version to run on Windows as well as Mac OS X -- is drawing fervent and sometimes heated reactions from early testers. The following is an unexpurgated sample of what bloggers, ranging from grumpy Windows users to Mac fanboys, had to say in the immediate aftermath of Monday's Safari 3 announcement: Is Safari faster than Steve Jobs speeding on Hwy. 280 in his Mercedes SL AMG? "I miss the spell-checking, but damn -- this gives Opera a run for it's [sic] money in terms of speed. I just tested loading my homepage with both of them, and I have no doubts about it." -- Griffith, Forever Geek "After downloading and installing Safari on XP (w/ 1GB RAM, P4 3Ghz, yada yada yada), I have to say that it is a complete joke ... the browser is just so horribly slow. Did they test this? It takes literally at least 5x longer to render pages in Safari than Firefox. Sometimes even longer. Very sad." -- Doug, Read/ Write Web "I did a comparison of loading CNN on both browsers,and Safari beat Firefox by a mile." -- Hoobam, Download Squad "The more I run Safari on Vista, the faster it launches. Am I hallucinating? Is there a cosmic force that means just when I complain about Safari taking 57 seconds to launch, as soon as that complaint is made public, it launches much more quickly? Am I going insane? Or is someone playing a clever prank on me?" -- Joel Spolsky, Joel On Software Fonts: fuzzier than a peach skin? "If you sit really close to the monitor, then the Windows way is better. However, if you move back a couple of feet (3 feet or so from the screen to your eyes), then the Apple way seems more readable. The Apple rendering is definitely darker." -- Brendan Dowling, Coding Horror "It looks like they've skewed the contrast of the fonts to an absurdly low level. I'm curious why Apple's default font rendering strategies, to my eye -- and to the eyes of at least two other people -- are visibly inferior to Microsoft's on typical LCD displays. This is exactly the kind of graphic designer-ish detail I'd expect Cupertino to get right, so it's all the more surprising to me that they apparently haven't." -- Jeff Atwood, Coding Horror "In Safari, go to Edit/Preferences ... and then select the Appearance tab. For "Font smoothing," choose Light (the default is Medium). Much better now. Not perfect, mind you, but much better." -- Tom, Coding Horror "I also noticed that if I increase the font size, Apple-style anti-aliasing becomes tolerable. I'm beginning to think that the differences are. 1) Apple doesn't hand-tune the font aliasing hints for smaller font sizes. 2) Apple chose a much, much darker contrast level for its anti-aliasing algorithm." -- Jeff Atwood, Coding Horror And now for today's bug report.... "Seems like the only website my Safari works with is Apple's own homepage. Crashed about 15 times and I've only been _trying_ to use it for an hour." --Â  Brandon, Download Squad "I installed Safari, and every single time I attempt to bookmark something, it crashes -- hard." -- EJ Passeos, TechCrunch "The only browser unable to correctly display a Google result page. Wow." --Â  Xavier, TechCrunch "Oh damn, I just crashed with Safari at the 1st Google request by entering Japanese characters." -- Eirikur, Engadget "ALL the menu dropdowns don't work (they are just empty). Half the text is missing on many pages. URL bar doesn't work. Selects a non standard font for the pages. Need some more?" -- ScOObyDoo, Engadget Well, how about the new features? "The most notable new feature is an improved Firefox-style way to search for text on a Web page. Hit Control-F, and an oval search box appears towards the top of the window. Type your search term, hit enter, and watch the page go gray with your search terms highlighted in white or bright orange (that's the selected result)." -- Narasu Rebbapragada, PC World "Tabbed browsing? Been done. Easy Bookmarks? Been done. Popup blocking? Old news. Inline Find -- stunning visually but also been done. SnapBack? This is a gimicky [sic] back button -- not good enough. Forms autofill -- zzz. Built-in RSS -- yawn. When are we getting to the good stuff? Er ... okay, so that's it, there is nothing new here." -- Vincent Maher, Media in Transition "The display window is VERY clean; even the status bar at the bottom of most Windows applications is missing (configurable to have it return) to give maximum viewable area. Notably absent are the OS X style green, yellow, and red Window controls in the top right of every dialog window -- stylized but otherwise standard Minimize, Maximize, and Close buttons are found instead." -- Scratching The Surface "If it wasn't so damn ugly, and made use of more than 2 mouse buttons (no middle button click-to-scroll or back/forward at present), it may be useful. I admit the WebKit is rather snappy at displaying web pages but I can't stand the interface." -- Lizard.boy, Download Squad The final word(s)? "The new version is 3 and really it does what they claim, SPEED. The only problem is I have become so comfortable with Firefox that just speed isn't enough for me to switch." -- Jeremy Jones, Multimedia-PCs.com "It's like software from a different world installed on a Windows-powered computer (much like how Windows users might initially find iTunes)." -- J. Angelo Racoma, J Spot "I've used it for a good 4 hours straight just surfing along a bunch of websites and stuff. It is a lot faster than Firefox, which was my browser of choice, and it is much faster than IE. There are a bit of glitches on it, which is understandable since it is a beta. Once all the features are perfected and the glitches are fixed it'll be a find [sic] browser." -- Jae, Engadget "I'm surprised nobody has said that XP/Vista is making Safari crash ;) After all you know, Apple can do no wrong." -- ssummer, Engadget
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The update to&#160;Apple&#39;s Mac OS X operating system, called Leopard, went on sale at the Apple Store in Tokyo on Friday evening, part of a global launch that will unfold around the world over the next 24 hours.Apple is putting the software on sale at 6 p.m. local time at stores worldwide. That means customers in Australia and New Zealand got a head start on the rest of the world, although Tokyo marks the first launch of the OS, also called Mac OS X 10.5, at an official Apple Store.About 200 people queued in light rain in Tokyo&#39;s Ginza district for the start of sales, looking on as Apple staff prepared themselves for the event with cheers, countdowns and high-fives. The Apple store had been closed since 4 p.m. to allow for the launch preparations.At 6 p.m. the first customers entered the store, already clutching T-shirts and a copy of the OS that Apple staff were handing out as they entered. Then it was off to the counter to pay.Leopard is the fifth major upgrade that Apple has made to its OS, and its first in two and a half years. The software will be installed on all new Apple computers, or priced in the U.S. at $129 for an upgrade. Apple has said the vast majority of Macs sold over the past four years will be able to run Leopard, as well as some older machines depending on their configuration.The major advances include Time Machine, which automatically creates snapshots of the OS from an earlier point in time, allowing users to retrieve files and applications that have been deleted, or even earlier versions of documents that have been updated.A feature called Spaces allows users to flick between a series of &quot;virtual monitors.&quot; This allows busy desktops to be broken into several parts, and could make using a Mac easier for people who have a clutch of applications open at once.Another new and likely welcome feature is Quick View, which allows users to preview documents without opening the relevant application. Word processor files, pictures, presentations and even movies can all be previewed right away.There are also some cosmetic upgrades, such as a mirrored base on which the dock icons now sit. Other changes aim to better organize files: Downloads now all flow into a single folder, for example.Apple is also releasing a server version of Leopard on Friday. Updates include an improved set-up process, a new version of the iChat Server software, and tools for hosting podcasts and wikis.Leopard&#39;s launch continues Friday around the world. A French Apple dealer has promised a live leopard in a cage at one of its stores outside Paris.(James Niccolai in Paris contributed to this report.)
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Momentum is building around Apple's reputed plans to launch its thinnest and lightest notebook ever at Macworld, less than two weeks from today.
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The update to Apple's Mac OS X operating system, called Leopard, went on sale at the Apple Store in Tokyo on Friday evening, part of a global launch that will unfold around the world over the next 24 hours.