Anandtech's mac pro desktop computer is high-end from Apple. It's a powerful workstation capable of running professional applications at a very affordable price. It is also quite attractive.
It has a modern, sleek look and feels very solid. It is also very quiet, which is important when you are using it as a professional workstation.
The desktop is also beautiful, which is something many other desktops cannot claim. That's why I was excited to receive one for this review.
A quick tour through the system
The anandtech mac pro has a single CPU board behind the IO panel that features a single LGA-2011 socket supporting Intel's latest Ivy Bridge-EP Xeon processors. This allows you to easily upgrade your system as long as there is a decent memory upgrade kit and a motherboard with at least two PCIe slots.
You can also use an optional sled adapter to support SSDs in your four internal hard drives bays (mid-2010 models or later) or a third-party solution for older Mac Pros. A hardware RAID card is also available, although it's not necessary to use it for most users.
You can easily upgrade the system's memory, too, as it comes with 16GB of DDR3 RAM. Apple's FB DIMM memory modules have special heatsinks that maintain a constant temperature.
Aside from the CPU, the other major component of the anandtech mac pro is the graphics card. The new chip comes with a dual GPU. One GPU is dedicated for high-end computational work and the second one for high quality media. This design, which a lot of people are going to love, allows for the best possible performance gains for the current GPU architectures and gives Apple a huge opportunity for future-proofing its product line.
Six-core Mac Pros now run as fast as three-core machines. With the latest Xeons, a twelve core Mac Pro runs faster than a ninecore unit. Although this is great news, it doesn’t make a significant difference in more light-weight, threaded applications, such as playing back video or importing images into Lightroom.
Those users will likely find that a more affordable option will be better suited for their needs. For example, the anandtech Mac mini is more affordable than anandtech Mac pro.
Anandtech's Mac mini is a great option for users who don’t need a top-end workstation but do require a compact desktop. Although it isn't as powerful, the screen is extremely sharp and it is very quiet.
The new anandtech macpro is definitely a better model than the one before it. It has a nice design and feel. While I don't think the overall design and functionality for the new anandtech pro are perfect for all professional uses it is still very useful for what it does.
This is evident in the design of Mac Pro's new Mac Pro. The Mac Pro aims at being as small as possible but still offering high-end functionality, performance, and functionality. While I am not certain if this was the original goal, it is evident that Apple has a strong commitment towards form factor evolution. The Mac Pro is a significant step in that direction.