Author Archives: Bob Martens

The poor Mac Pro

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It’s easy to look at the Mac Pro as it currently sits and think that it is as good as dead.

I’ve thought that too.

However, I’ve done some digging and I think I’ve come to the actual culprit for the seemingly stagnant workstation: Intel.

While, yes, we’ve seen a lot of movement on the Core i-series of processors, and those processors have been moved into the other Mac lines, we have yet to see much-if-any movement on the multi-processor Xeon line.

I’m not talking about single-processor/multi-core Xeons, but the multi-processor/multi-core  Xeon line, and that is something to keep in mind.

The current Mac Pro tops out at two 6-core Xeon processors at 2.93 Ghz a piece. As far as I can find (using Newegg and Wikipedia), there are only small, incremental steps Apple could release right now if they wanted to keep things the same. Could Apple have done this? Sure. Should they have? Probably, but it would have required them to commit to purchasing quantities of chip they sell very few of.

Currently it looks like the highest-end Mac Pro uses the Intel Xeon X5670 (two of them) with a TDP of 95W. They could use the X5675, which is just a little speed bump, but if they would use anything faster than that they would bump the TDP up to 130W. That’s almost 40% greater, and would probably require some internal changes to the Mac Pro that would differentiate it from the lower-specced models.

So the poor Mac Pro is stuck with old CPUs while we wait for the next version of the multi-processor Xeons to come out. This is what I am imagining as the headline features for the next Mac Pro (if there is one):

  • Newest generation of Xeons (probably bumping the number of total cores higher)
  • USB 3.0 because it is finally brought with the Intel chipset
  • Thunderbolt ports … probably two
  • Newer AMD Radeon graphics … even if the 5770 is still a really good card
  • Same chassis

That’s about it. Most of this is being held up by Intel and I think we will see it when Apple can get its hands on newer Xeons. The Mac Pro is really a single model with multiple configurations and if they need to have special models, I just don’t think they are going to go through with it.

For now, I put a moratorium on Mac hardware purchases for myself until the next refreshes not because of anything Apple has done, but because Intel has been holding some things up.

Sandboxing pushed back … again

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As reported by Serenity Caldwell at Macworld, Apple has pushed the sandboxing requirement for the App Store to June 1st along with two other changes/clarifications:

  • Applications currently on the App Store and not sandboxed will be allowed to stay after June 1, but only allowed to ship bug fixes.
  • Exemptions to the sandboxing requirement will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

I’m not sure if these are permanent changes or just temporary as Apple looks to tighten up their sandboxing requirement or even ditch it altogether.

Little Things in Mountain Lion

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Serenity Caldwall has written over at Macworld about Ten exciting changes in Mountain Lion.

I’m going to highlight some of my favorites so far:

  • Many computers, one account. If true, this could be awesome. It would bring about the idea of a networked identity that you would have access to from anywhere, and it will all be in iCloud. Is it going to be what I want? Probably not, but any time I can take my settings with me will be a huge win.
  • Multi-disk backup. Oh. Yes. If it can possibly handle a failover system where it will still backup to the one drive if the other is not present … oh, that will be awesome.
  • One-stop software updating. Probably the single most glaring omission in Lion right now is the fact that you have two different areas to get software updates from … and the line between them is not clear. Pulling everything together is a good idea and needed.

Read about the other seven because they might “tickle your fancy” more than these, but the above three are some of the little things that are getting me excited for Mountain Lion.

Mountain Lion: Airplay Mirroring

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This. Is. Big.

I thought that Airplay Mirroring on the iPad 2 was a huge deal, but this just takes it to the next level. Being able to mirror your Mac to a TV connected via an Apple TV 2 might be one of the best things to happen to the education market for a long time.

Imagine removing all interactive white boards, all projectors, and a huge amount of cabling in classrooms and instead using products that will work better in a well-lit classroom.

  • Large LCD TV
  • Apple TV 2
  • Wireless or wired network

That’s it. You could get down to just three cables if you wanted: two power cables and an HDMI cable to the TV. The LCD TV would allow for a better viewing experience in the classroom because of the higher brightness and contrast, the Apple TV 2 would allow students to use iPads to present in the classroom at the drop of a hat.

There are problems, as always, but a new version of the “smart classroom” is slowly coming out. No longer are we trying to shoehorn technology into older models (like an interactive white board) but bringing newer technology into the picture and freeing teachers to move around the classroom.

Of course, you can do this in many ways already, but I’m excited to see what Airplay Mirroring can do.