A Look at the Mac Pro

by on Oct 29, 2007 | 35 comments

I recently picked up a Mac Pro as a new system to use here in the office. The Mac Pro is Apple’s enterprise class computer. The specs of this machine, direct from Apple, are:

  • Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
  • 1GB (2 x 512MB)
  • 250GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
  • NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB (single-link DVI/dual-link DVI)
  • One 16x SuperDrive
  • Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse
  • Mac OS X

Setup

It is said that you are supposed to fall in love with your Mac the moment you open the box. So, I snapped a few photos of the experience:

The Mac Pro BoxMac Pro Open BoxMac Pro - Out of the Box

Mac Pro - Side ViewMac ProMac Pro - Rear

Essentially, its a computer in a box. I didn’t feel my heart skip a beat or anything. Was I supposed to?

Setup was easy. I took the tower out of the box. It is quite heavy and very solid. I set it up next to my Windows machine. I attached one of my spare LCD monitors to it using the included DVI-to-VGA adapter (the Mac Pro does not have any VGA outputs – only DVI). I attached the Apple keyboard and the Mighty Mouse. The cords on the keyboard and Mighty Mouse are short. Apple does include a USB extension cord, but I think the cord really needs to be longer. It is fine that the mouse cord is short because it is designed to plug into the keyboard (the Apple keyboard functions as a USB hub as well). But, they really need to extend the keyboard cord. I plugged it in and powered her up.

The phrase “It Just Works” is the popular Apple mantra, and I can report that it worked fine the moment I cranked it up. The machine came with OS X Tiger pre-installed. I simply answered a few quick questions and it booted right up to the desktop. It did not quite set my monitor’s screen resolution at the native resolution, but that was a quick adjustment. I then popped in the upgrade DVD for Leopard. Again, answered a few questions and let it do the upgrade. When it was done, the Mac was running Leopard. No problems.

Quirks & Surprises

I am a long-time Windows user, so my look at the Mac Pro is coming from that viewpoint. While I can tell this is a quality machine, there are some things that I found to be odd. These are not shortcomings of the Mac Pro, mind you. It’s just different. For example, I found it really odd that there is no button on the optical drive on the Mac Pro in order to eject it. There are just slots. You’re left pulling your hair out just to do something as simple as put a CD into the drive. After looking at the manual, I find that you have to hit the Eject button on the Apple keyboard. I do so and it doesn’t open. What?! Then, I try again and hold it down. This time it opens. I guess it works, but it leaves me wondering if I’ll be able to open it if I decide to use another keyboard. I’m not too fond of this Apple keyboard and would like to use my big Microsoft natural keyboard if I can. I know I can always right-click to Eject a disc. Speaking of which…

Using the Mighty Mouse is not difficult, but very different. The entire top of the mouse clicks down to give you the function of the left mouse button. There are two little pressure areas on the sides which, when pressed, activates Expose and shows you all active applications. The little roller button on the top is very small, but functions as the roller present on many mice. Most notable to me is that there seems to be no right click capability. I am used to being able to use the right-click button to bring up contextual menus. Is there no way to do this in OSX? No right click? I look up on the Apple site this issue and it says the Might Mouse is supposed to detect which finger I am using to press it and allow right click that way. But, it simply doesn’t work. I cannot get a right-click contextual menu no matter what I do. So, basically, I decide the Mighty Mouse is a piece of crap and I attach a REAL mouse to the Mac. Using a normal USB mouse, I get both left and right click. Pressing the scroll wheel (or F12) activates the Dashboard. So, no loss of capability and I gain a working right-click. Mighty Mouse goes back in the box – screw it.

The only thing you might miss by not using the Might Mouse is the quick access to Expose. The alternative is to use the F9 button to bring up Expose. F11 will minimize all windows.

So, I’m not incredibly fond of the peripherals that come with the Mac. The computer, though, is great.

The Box

The Mac Pro itself is the reason I bought this thing. I don’t care about the peripherals. The box, though, is rock solid. It is very heavy and it takes some muscle to move it around. In true Mac Pro style, the exterior design is very minimalistic (and judging from the lack of a CD eject button, perhaps a little too minimal). When running, the box is very quiet. Apple has obviously done a good job of packing two processors into this box without the need for loud cooling units. The system fans are likewise very quiet under normal operation. The only thing that is loud is the optical drive. It makes quite a bit of noise when in use.

The interior of the box is clean and tidy. The main guts of the unit (motherboard and processor) are buried and are not meant to get to. The memory cards are easy to remove so as to install additional memory. The system comes with a single SATA drive mounted in the first of four drive bays for hard drives. The style in which SATA drives are mounted is really easy to use. No SATA cables. You simply remove the caddy, insert the drive, and re-insert the caddy. Hard drive installation is truly a pain-free experience. The system board comes with 4 PCI Express slots, with one in use for the included video card.

Powerful, but Limited

When you pack four processor cores into a single box, you expect everything in that computer to be stellar. So, I was surprised when I first found that the system only comes with 1 gigabyte of memory. To me, that seems like throwing 87-octane fuel into an Indy car. Now, I fully realize that OS X is very efficient with it’s memory. When you are using OS X using only the stock 1 gigabyte of included RAM, the system is snappy and you do not feel limited. However, most of us with Intel-based Macs are probably going to not only load up OS X, but we’re probably going to run Windows. That is a lot of load for 1 gig of memory, and yes, my experience with trying out VMWare Fusion and several Mac apps is that the Mac Pro is going to crawl for you at times with only 1 gigabyte. It does for me.

I definitely recommend installing more memory, and I plan to do so on my Mac Pro. I do not recommend buying the memory from Apple. They GROSSLY overcharge for memory and it is borderline shameful if you ask me. To illustrate, a look at the Mac Pro in the Apple Store shows that you can upgrade the system to 4 gigabytes of RAM for a whopping $699. Ouch! However, head on over to Newegg and you will see that you can buy Mac Pro compatible memory in 2 GB sticks for $126.99 each. So, I can upgrade the Mac Pro to 4 gigabytes for only $253.98 as opposed to $699.

The same goes for hard drives, and probably any other hardware you want to add to your Mac Pro. Apple will charge you $329 for a second hard drive. Needless to say, you can buy a SATA drive for much cheaper than that almost anywhere else you go. So, if you are going to get a Mac Pro, I highly recommend you purchase the stock model with no upgrades (unless you desire more than four processor cores). As easy as they make it to upgrade the box, there is simply no reason not to buy the hardware at a fraction of the price and simply install it yourself.

And to those of you Mac lovers who claim Apple is not more expensive, give me a damn break. I own a Mac now and still say you guys are smoking crack. You just can’t argue with those kinds of numbers. If you blindly trust Apple to do everything for you, you will get screwed. Period. However, if you buy an Apple and then do whatever you can on your own, you are OK. You’re still paying a lot, but at least it is somewhat justifiable at that point.

Conclusion

I am happy with the Mac Pro. It is a solid, fast box and is definitely going to be a workhorse computer for me. I think Apple definitely cut a few corners with this unit, but the underlying system is fast and rock solid.

Is the box worth $2,499? My answer is going to come at you in two versions:

  • The Mac Pro is a quality system and is very fast. It is definitely an enterprise level computer. Considering what you can do with it and its core specs, I would say it is worth the money.
  • On the other hand, just know going into it that you are paying for the piece of fruit on the side of the machine, and the fact that it allows you to run OS X. Aside from the Apple-specific design choices, a box of similar specs to this can be built for cheaper. You’re paying more for the Apple logo, the ability to run OS X, and the quality of the machine. As long as you understand that, you’re good to go. If you only look at the system specs, Apple is going to look really overpriced.
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  • on

    to activate right click on the mighty mouse, go to system preferences- mouse keyboard and when you click on mouse it gives you the option to turn on right click. hope this helps

  • Michael Maddox

    If you use the Microsoft Keyboard use the F12 key to open and close the optical drive door. The disks are mounted by the operating system and the eject button is to unmount the disk. Remember to hold down the left mouse button if you want to eject a disk during start up. If you are using a Microsoft five button mouse instal their control panel to customize the buttons. Remember Microsoft did not copy all of the apple conventions. Check the help menu for weird keyboard shortcuts and so on. If things start acting weird use the repair permissions button in disk utility first.

    Enjoy

  • Bill

    Ummm… ejecting an optical disc by simply hitting the drive button is a good way to BSOD Windows. The eject key on the keyboard ensures a proper unmount takes place. I’m pretty sure any keyboard can do it you just need to discover the correct key combo on non-Apple ‘boards.

    Likewise, the mouse might work better if you enable the right button in Mouse Prefs. It’s off by default though mayby you did this and just need to return the thing for an exchange. It’s a very solidly built mouse and 360 degree scrolling is nice. (Also needs to be enabled out of the box, see Mouse Prefs again.)

    Buying RAM from a big vendor is always more expensive than buying it seperately from a memory specialist. There are a number of business reasons for this. Though Apple seems a little more egregious sometimes, it’s not (and never has been) special RAM. Price an equivalent machine from another big brand and it’s pretty much the same.

    I also doubt most people are going to run Windows. That’s a silly waste. It’s a Mac–Win support is incidental and occasionaly useful for some people but not a primary function of the thing.

  • http://loewald.com/ Tonio Loewald

    I don’t want to be an Apple fanboy, but if you look at a comparable system from Dell (and it’s hard to find one) you’ll find the Dell is priced higher.

    E.g. I went to Dell.com and specced a Dell Precision 690 workstation (it comes with a 20″ monitor and 2GB of RAM), and option it with a quad core Xeon 2.66 GHz (the Mac has two 2.66GHz Dual Core Xeons in its base configuration) … $3169.

    Subtract the 20″ LCD and the RAM and you’re still more expensive than the Mac Pro.

    Now — there’s no question Apple charges a lot for RAM and monitors. I wouldn’t think of buying either from them.

  • kboggs

    It’s interesting to me how there are different paradigms for Windows/Mac users. It seems the Windows users see their machines from a feature focused perspective while Mac people focus more on the user experience. I guess it’s a bit like the blind men and the elephant. Anyway, I’m glad you gave the mac a try. So many only go so far as to say “Macs suck!”. I have to agree on the RAM comment. I really don’t understand why Apple is always so stingy on RAM. It’s the first thing I’ve added to all of my Macs. As for the price issue, I could probably buy a Hyundai with similar specs to a BMW for a lot less, but that wouldn’t make it a BMW. Apple does charge a lot for add ons, so I’ve always done as you said and looked to third party stuff. Now, where did I put my crack pipe?
    Have you had a chance to run WIndows on the machine yet? I’d like to know your opinion

  • Joe Jerk

    Why write such nonsense? Basically your article sounds very provincial. My question is if you are a techie why has it taken you so long to try a Mac? Any experienced Apple engineer could write a more meaningful review.

    And regarding the price, the Mac Pro compares well with workstations from the other major PC mfgs.

    For normal work environments, an iMac is more appropriate, duh. Otherwise Apple’s laptops haven’t taken 15% market share of US laptop revenues because they are pretty.

    Your article is like the nonsense I saw on the TV yesterday covering the NFL in London. “Wow man he place is old and full of history!” Finally a non-medication way to cure my insomnia.

  • Scott

    The eject key is purposefully delayed, so that you have to hold it down for a brief moment to get it to work. Why? It avoids accidental toggling. Took me a bit to get used to but after a few days I like it alot!

  • David Risley

    To answer a few comments:

    (1) I will look into the Mouse Prefs thing, but I’m just not fond of the Mighty Mouse. I would rather use a trackball. Personal preference.

    (2) I think the Mac Pro is expensive, but I do not think much overpriced as a stock machine. If I thought it was that bad, I wouldn’t have bought it. But, I make a disctinction between the box and the add-ons. Apple WAY overcharged for the add-ons.

    (3) Yes, I have gotten Windows to run inside of VMWare Fusion. It is running well, just a few minor hiccups. I will be writing a more in-depth look at that in the coming days.

    (4) All in all, I am liking OS X. It is indeed a paradigm shift, and I can’t say I like *everything* about it. Some things I think Windows does better, although I’m sure some Apple folks will argue with me as usual.

  • P

    Thanks for taking a look at the Mac.

    Apple ships just the base RAM because it is an enterprise unit, folks build-to-order all the time, or add their own RAM. And if you purchase through either the education or government channels, you can get discounts on the purchase, even through Apple’s web site. And if you are a corporate buyer, you’ll be assigned a corporate sales rep and they’ll give you discounts too.

    There are a number of ways to eject optical disks, but I do think style ruled over form when Apple eliminated the hardware-based eject button.

    The Mighty Mouse is annoying.

    The Mac Pro really shines with at least 4 GB of RAM and processor-dependent app working away. If you’re not keeping that processor busy, you may as well get an iMac. (And they’re nice machines too.)

  • DAK

    >If you only look at the system specs, Apple is going to
    >look really overpriced.

    I know that when I bought my 3 GHz Mac pro last year (with standard memory and hard drive – I agree with upgrading from third party sources), a similarly equipped (meaning: high end) Dell was over $1000 more expensive (based on the specs on their web site).

    True, if I wasn’t interested in running OS X as well as Windows, I could purchase a bunch of parts and assemble my own similarly equipped PC for much less. Which is great if you enjoy doing that sort of thing. I am perfectly capable of doing that, but just because I’m capable does not mean that it would be time well spent – my time is worth something, as is having support from one place if something goes wrong. Apple doesn’t play in the stripped-down category, so if you don’t need all the stuff their systems come with, you can get a much less expensive Windows-only computer.

    But at the high end (which I believe was the focus of your article – “Enterprise Level”), they’re not more expensive than some other name brand systems in my experience, when comparing “Apples to Apples”. And no, I don’t smoke crack. Of course, maybe you consider Dell to be in the same “really overpriced” category. I’m just saying Apple is not the most expensive, as most people believe. Their high end laptops are cheaper than similarly equipped Dells, too.

    Your difficulty with the peripherals probably occurs with many Windows users that expect the Mac to work the same way – different is not necessarily bad.

    When it comes to Mice, once you get used to a particular mouse that you like, it can be tough to change. It’s nice that any USB mouse works fine with the Mac. I found that even when the Mighty Mouse is configured properly to use the right click, it sometimes didn’t catch that I was trying to right click, since there’s no tactile feedback to ensure that my finger is over the right button. So I agree their mouse could be better.

  • kboggs

    I’m a Mac guy but there are a few things I like better in Windows. That’s why it’s nice to be able to run both OS’s on a single machine. Did you try running Windows with Bootcamp?

  • chad

    Apple may charge a lot for extra memory, but keep in mind this is not regular DDR memory. It’s DDR2 ECC, which is very expensive and usually only put in servers. And you are absolutely correct, 1GB is way to little. That machine should have no less than 2GB and 3-4GB is more inline with the power of the Xeon CPU.

  • e

    Steve Jobs needs to get his head out of his ass and make the default setting for the mighty mouse and the trackpad such that they support right click by default, or explain this and allow it to be enabled in the setup assistant. We get it Steve – you think the world can get by with a single button mouse. Look, no one agrees with you. Even your company now ships two button mice and trackpads (kind of) can you get over it already and enable this feature without every new to the Mac person getting confused that they can’t find it?
    sheesh…..

  • http://none Richard Dalziel-Sharpe

    It’s nice to read a review of a Mac by a PC user that is not biased.
    The errors were of inexperience to the platform rather than prejudice.
    I can still remember when I sat at my Mac for the first time and double clicked on an application icon on the desktop and wondered why the menu bar changed from having “Finder” at the top left, to “BestBooks”. However I must defend my ignorance by stating that this was the first time I had ever sat before a computer.
    Maybes it is Apples fault in not having the right click enabled by default, rather than a user choice, that confused David.
    Although, remembering my first time experience noted above, I can only wonder at the confusion a newbie might have when a contextual menu appears when he/she is simply trying to open a file.

  • http://www.virtuallyknown.net Dave

    Thanks for having the guts to buy a Mac Pro—many Windows users bitch without taking a look. I bough a G5 Mac Pro in Dec 2005… it is slow in comparison, but was fast back then. Tons of room for expansion. I bought memory and disks from resellers. Watch for disk specials and save plenty.

    I’ve seen many tech friends buy a Mac… Pre-OS X they hated the machine—complain a lot and wanted to send it back! Post-OS X they quickly accept the differences. If you have no “must use” Windows only app, then at some point you will suddenly realize that it has been days since you went to Windows. Then it will hit you: it has been months since you rebooted.

    Take time to read and learn what is different… it will minimize frustration. Even Recycle and Trash work very differently. On a Mac trash remains “in-the-can” until YOU select Empty Trash. There are differences in merge, copy etc. Read a bit and smile a lot.

    Welcome to the world of OS X.

  • iBob

    I feel rather excited for you knowing that you are new both to the Mac hardware and software. Pretty soon you will have enough experience to feel more comfortable with this new environment, then you can begin to appreciate and enjoy some of the differences you see compared to a PC.

    Personally I place value on the esthetic experience of both hardware and software. I like a minimum of buttons and design simplicity and especially the new aluminum keyboard. I’ve programmed a number of the keys for shortcuts. I also like my, shall I admit it, Microsoft Trackball mouse.

    Maybe in a few months, after you’ve settled in with your new Mac, you can give us an update of your findings and feelings.

  • anon.

    Bill,

    In all of my years using the button on the CD drive, I have NEVER caused a BSOD and don’t know ANYONE who has. If you start ejecting your CDs in the middle of programs that require it, then you’ll run into problems. That is a user issue.

    Other than that, for those quoting Dell prices…
    Go to a site like newegg and then price it out. BYOPC is cheaper than buying a standard Mac, ’nuff said.

  • http://www.victorpanlilio.com Victor Panlilio

    “BYOPC is cheaper than buying a standard Mac, ’nuff said.”

    Sure — if your time is worth nothing.

  • DAK

    >Other than that, for those quoting Dell prices…
    >Go to a site like newegg and then price it out. BYOPC is >cheaper than buying a standard Mac, ’nuff said.

    That would be an interesting exercise. Maybe you’ll save some money, provided your time is not worth anything. I wonder if you’ll be able to match all the specs. I doubt you could match the software that comes with the Mac (or a Dell, or HP, for that matter) and still remain price competitive.

    There will always be people who are willing to build their own Windows PC, and are happy with the result. But it’s just not a valid option for the vast majority of people. It’s not worth the hassle for most of us. The time shopping for parts, the time waiting for all the parts to arrive at different times (free shipping on all the parts?), the time to put them together, the time to format the hard drive and install the OS, the time to install other software to try to approach what comes preinstalled from one of the big name manufacturers, etc… How is this less expensive again? It’s not.

    Only the bare bones hardware can be thought of as less expensive, provided you know where to get the best deals on everything. But when you figure in what it really takes to put together a PC, it’s tough to beat having it all done for you for a few hundred bucks (or less), so you can do something else with your time, and having one entity to deal with when one of the parts goes bad.

    Unless you like doing it – that’s different. Most people don’t.

  • anon.

    Most people may not like doing it, which I guess is valid. If, however, they want to talk about price and what hardware you can get, BYOPC is the better way to go. Personally, I can’t stand customer support from big name companies. I have yet to have a good experience. To me, the “convenience” is not anywhere near worth it. “If you want something done right, do it yourself.”

  • MCSEBear

    Are you honestly shocked that you can find parts for your PC cheaper out on the internet (e.g. Newegg, Pricewatch) than from the PC’s Vendor? Really??

    Since you’re such a newbie, let me help you out.

    Shopping Advice:
    If you need a good high resolution LCD monitor, then check out Dell’s website. They have awesome prices on those.

    Pricewatch.com can help you find really low prices on memory or hard drives and such, but I stick with Newegg on parts because they have awesome customer service if something goes wrong with a part.

    General Computer advice:
    If you have trouble with your PC’s mouse/trackpad, you should try going to the control panel and checking out what settings are available.

    Mac specific Advice:
    To uninstall an app you just drag it to the trash. There is no Add/Remove Programs control panel.

    Closing a program’s only window often does not close out the program. You have to pick Quit from the menu or use the Command-Q keyboard shortcut.

    Mac Product Cycle Advice:

    The Mac Pro is at the end of it’s product cycle lifetime. It’s due to be replaced by a newer model in the very near future, so this was not a great time to buy one. You could have waited and gotten a sweet discount when the updated version comes out.

  • Dave Barnes

    I use a Microsoft Natural keyboard with my iMac. I also used it with my G5 Power Mac.

    It works with both Mac OS X and Windows XP (under VMware’s Fusion).

    Of course, there is no eject button on this MS keyboard, but this is very helpful: http://eshop.macsales.com/Reviews/Framework.cfm?page=/Tips/ejectmenu/ejectmenu.html as it shows you how to add an eject button to the menu bar.

  • e

    Barnes….
    You can also just install the software Microsoft includes for their keyboard and then use the “media” key for eject

  • Dave Barnes

    @e “just install the software Microsoft includes”

    Uh, no, I can’t.
    I have a 5+ year old MS Natural Keyboard Elite that I bought to use with my Windows 2000 machine.
    It has not “media” key.
    MS does not list it in their support area.

  • http://www.victorpanlilio.com Victor Panlilio

    “Personally, I can’t stand customer support from big name companies. I have yet to have a good experience”

    Your data is anecdotal, and not statistically significant.

    Computerworld: Macs take reliability, support prize
    http://tinyurl.com/3e5fy3

    Apple Inc.’s computers are the most reliable and its support the most dependable of five top vendors, a national chain of computer service shops said today… Apple, which took the second spot last year, blew away the competition this year by posting a score 51% higher than the next-best, Lenovo.

    PC Magazine and Consumer Reports also put Apple on top in terms of reliability, by a significant lead over others.

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