Intel Chip Delays Suggest No New Mac Pro Until at Least Early 2012

Friday October 21, 2011 9:18 am PDT by Eric Slivka

Potential Mac Pro customers have been long awaiting updated models from Apple, with the last update to the line having come in July 2010.

Anticipation regarding an updated Mac Pro was heightened back in June as several claims of an imminent launch surfaced. Part numbers claimed to be for new Mac Pro models surfaced a few weeks later, but they instead ultimately turned out to be for new Mac mini models and the Apple Thunderbolt Display.

mac pro 2010 side top half
With the wait for new Mac Pro models continuing, hope surfaced once again in early September amid reports that Intel was planning a November 15th launch of new Sandy Bridge E processors and their Xeon E5 equivalents suitable for the Mac Pro.

But hopes for a Mac Pro launch before the end of the year appear to have been dashed, as Intel is now targeting an early 2012 release for the new chips. The news, first reported last month, has recently been confirmed with additional timeline information from CPU World.

In September, during Intel Developer Forum event in San Francisco, new information came to light implying that Xeon E5 launch is postponed until the first quarter 2012. Indeed, according to the latest Intel roadmaps, all Xeon E5 processors are going to be delayed by one quarter.

...

Xeon E5-2600, also compatible with socket R, is aimed at dual-processor workstations and servers, and contains 17 different dual-, quad-, six- and eight-core models with clock speeds up to 3.3 GHz. Both families will be released in Q1 2012. Despite the delay, there were no changes to E5-1600 and E5-2600 microprocessor line-ups.

Apple will almost certainly take advantage of the Xeon E5-2600 series in the next Mac Pro, likely targeting the E5-2620, E5-2650 and E5-2670 for the dual-processor configurations of the Mac Pro, offering options of 12 or 16 cores in those configurations. Single-processor configurations would likely also be made available using other chips.

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Top Rated Comments

Grimace

196 months ago

Ridiculous how bad they need to update their Pro's!!

How long am I supposed to wait for a decent lineup at apple prices before I just say ****** it and switch to PC.

Seems like they are ditching us Pro's and becoming an appliance company :mad:

Can't you read? Apple (and every other company) is waiting on Intel.

Whineboys are worse than Fanboys...

Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Apple Corps

196 months ago

Ridiculous how bad they need to update their Pro's!!

How long am I supposed to wait for a decent lineup at apple prices before I just say ****** it and switch to PC.

Seems like they are ditching us Pro's and becoming an appliance company :mad:

So you are a "pro" are you? How so?

What part of Apple can't deliver new Mac Pros UNTIL Intel provides CPUs are you not understanding ????

Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)

lostngone

196 months ago

eEeek!!

I am having flashbacks from the old PowerPC days when Apple couldn't release a faster computer because they were waiting for faster chips. At least this time around everyone else is waiting as well.

Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)

BC2009

196 months ago

Mac Pro on the back burner. :(

Did you read the article? Intel is delayed on the chips -- not much Apple can do about that.

Whether or not Mac Pro is "back burner" is still up for debate, but this article gives no support to either side of that argument.

Certainly the Mac Pro sells less units than the others, but I can't imagine they did Final Cut Pro X with the expectation that movie editors would use iMacs.

I suppose the delay gives me a bit more time to try to save up $5000 to purchase a nicely equipped Mac Pro. Then again, I'm probably not gonna get one of those until I start making a whole lot more money.

Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)

PeterQVenkman

196 months ago

Why are people here crying over delays to a workstation computer?

Because they don't feel like paying 2009 prices in 2011.

These type of machines are made to last a LONG time. Where I work there are powermac G5 towers and are still in full use every day, making a lot of money. I expect they still have years of service left.

Consider yourself lucky. Our whole company used to be on G5s, they all died after 3 years, half within 2. I do not miss the G5 lemon towers at all.

Also if you do want to whine, why not email intel, Apple, Dell, HP etc are all stuck waiting on intel.

In the mean time non-Apple manufacturers offer other computers with Intel's "consumer" desktop line. They are just as fast as Apple's single processor line (or faster) and they are not expensive.

These machines use state of the art processors that are difficult to find in any other consumer products. Hence, these computers are extremely fast and do not require a refresh every six months.

They were state of the art a long time ago. They may not need a refresh, but certainly a price drop would reflect reality.

What's the complaining? Is it not fast enough?

The single processor machines are not. Certainly not for $2500. This machine is a joke:

http://store.apple.com/us_smb_78313/configure/MC560LL/A?select=select&product=MC560LL%2FA

$2500 for a computer outdistanced by the iMac, MacBook Pro, and much of the windows el-cheapos out there.

The dual processor (8-12 core) models remain blistering fast and very competitive on price, however. Especially considering the incredible interior design of the Mac Pro.

It provides superb processing power using chips that are neither mainstream nor updated very often.

There is no significant reason to buy a single processor mac pro other than ECC, which many haven't found necessary in their work at all.

Deal with it.

A lot of people in the CG industry did exactly that. They switched to windows. And the sky didn't fall. They just got their work done faster at half the price.

Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)