Expansion made easy
The redesigned interior of the new Mac Pro feels like the well-organized workstation it is. No rat's nest of components here. You don't need to turn the system on its side or struggle to reach into awkward spaces to make changes. Just remove the side panel for instant, easy access to everything. Slide out the processor tray to add memory. Slide out hard drive bays to add storage. Slide a simple bar to change up to four expansion cards at once. And with plenty of I/O ports both front and back, you'll have room for all your external devices. Ready to dive into the details of your new pet? Read on . . .
The "Nehalem" advantage
With the multicore technology enhancements of Mac OS X Leopard, the new Mac Pro is a force to be reckoned with. Inside the new Mac Pro is the latest technology from Intel: one Quad-Core Intel Xeon with a "Nehalem" processor. Many quad-core processors are composed of two separate dies, which means some cached data has to travel outside the processor to get from core to core. That's an inefficient way to access information. Enter the Quad-Core Intel Xeon "Nehalem" processor. Its single-die, 64-bit architecture makes 8MB of fully shared L3 cache readily available to each of the four processor cores. The result is fast access to cache data and greater application performance. Combine that with the other technological advances and you get a Mac Pro that's up to 1.9x faster than the previous generation.
The greenest Mac Pro ever
Even though the Mac Pro is the fastest Mac ever, nearly 2x faster than before, it is also more energy efficient. The energy-efficient hardware components in the Mac Pro work hand in hand with Mac OS X to create a system that can dynamically adjust power consumption to reduce the overall energy used. For instance, the CPU architecture allows individual cores to go into a low-power state to reduce energy consumption when they are not needed. The graphics card does the same, reducing power draw when not running graphics-intensive applications. The result is a smarter and more energy-efficient system that is not only as fast as possible when you need it, but also throttles down power use when it's not needed. Compared with the previous-generation Mac Pro, the power used when the system is idle has been reduced by 15 percent. Additionally, Apple has worked hard to eliminate many of the toxins that are a common part of computer manufacturing. Apple engineers removed brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) from circuit boards, internal cables, connectors, insulators, adhesives, and more. Apple has removed these toxins from all new Mac Pro systems and all of its configuration options (including graphics cards, Fibre Channel cards, and RAID cards).
Xeon, warrior processor: memory bottlenecks begone
System memory is often connected to a processor through a separate I/O controller. But each Intel Xeon "Nehalem" processor features an integrated memory controller — another leap forward for workstation system architecture. By connecting memory directly to the processor, the new Mac Pro processors have faster access to data stored in memory, and memory latency is reduced by up to 40 percent.
The integrated memory controller, along with fast 1066MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM, also gives Mac Pro up to a 2.4x increase in memory bandwidth over previous generations. More bandwidth allows for more data to be fed to the processor faster, helping each core spend its time processing data, not waiting for information to arrive. And Error Correction Code (ECC) corrects single-bit errors and detects multiple-bit errors automatically. That's especially important in mission-critical and compute-intensive environments.
More bite than purr
What makes Leopard so great? The fully compliant UNIX technology. It can compile and run all your existing UNIX code. It helps you make the most of multicore systems. It puts a new tabbed-interface terminal at your fingertips. And it gives Leopard the solid groundwork for hundreds of great new features on every Mac Pro. Leopard is the first universal operating system to seamlessly support both 64-bit and 32-bit applications. There's no need to upgrade drivers, and you can even stick with your existing printers, storage devices, and PCI Express cards. Leopard lets you take advantage of 64-bit processing power without having to use command-line applications, servers, and computation engines. Leopard is designed to take full advantage of eight cores of processing power. The new Leopard scheduler allocates tasks more efficiently across these multiple cores and processors. A new multithreaded network stack speeds up networking. And Mail, Address Book, and Font Utility have all been updated to be fully multicore ready.
Tra-la-la! SuperMulti drive is here!
Have no fear! The SuperDrive is here! Need a disc burned quickly? Let the Mac Pro's DVD SuperMulti drive handle it. The Superdrive feature supports DVDs, CDs, and even double-layer discs. The maximum speeds are as follows:
- Writes DVD+R and DVD-R discs at up to 16x speed
- Writes DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL discs at up to 8x speed
- Writes DVD+RW discs at up to 8x speed
- Writes DVD-RW discs at up to 6x speed
- Reads DVDs at up to 16x speed
- Writes CD-R and CD-RW discs at up to 32x speed
- Reads CDs at up to 32x speed
Hard-core software: standard
The Mac Pro ships with the latest and greatest in software innovation. As part of Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard, Mac Pro comes standard with the latest versions of the greatest applications, and includes iLife '08 out-of-the-box. New applications include Time Machine, which automatically backs up your entire system to an external hard drive. Boot Camp is another addition, which allows you to run Windows XP or Vista at native speed on your Mac. Quick Look in Finder automatically gives you full-size previews of your files before you open them (even video). Finally, Spaces allows you to create different screens of related windows to unclutter your desktop on a single monitor. In the improved category, Finder added Cover Flow, which allows you to browse working previews of your documents, and Finder also redesigned the sidebar for easier navigation. Desktop got a new look, and added Stacks, which allows you to organize your files in collapsible stack. Mail, Safari, iTunes, GarageBand, iMovie, iPhoto, iChat, and even the Parental Controls were revamped to work better with your life. These are just a few of over 300 changes in Leopard that users will wonder how they ever lived without. It's safe to say that this is one case where, "If it isn't broken, don't fix it." doesn't apply.
Mac Pro is ENERGY STAR 5.0 certified
The Mac Pro meets the stringent power requirements set by the EPA, earning ENERGY STAR certification. In addition, it meets the latest efficiency requirements of ENERGY STAR Version 5.0 Specification for Computers before its July 2009 effective date. ENERGY STAR 5.0 sets significantly higher efficiency limits for power supplies as well as aggressive limits for the computer's typical annual power consumption. Because the Mac Pro is environmentally innovative, it has earned the highest rating of EPEAT Gold. The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, or EPEAT, evaluates the environmental impact of a product based on how recyclable it is, how much energy it uses, and how it's designed and manufactured.
Hookups galore
The Mac Pro comes standard with everything you need in the way of connections. It features two independent 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet (RJ-45) interfaces with support for jumbo frames, Bluetooth 2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate, optional 802.11n AirPort Extreme wireless networking, and even an optional external Apple USB Modem. It also makes room for Firewire 800 and Firewire 400 ports (1 each front and back), for 4 total. There are 5 USB v2.0 ports on the computer itself (2 front, 3 back), as well as two more on the included keyboard. On the front, there is an audio mini-jack out as well as an internal speaker. The audio connections on the back are even more accommodating, with optical digital audio input and output TOSLINK ports, and analog stereo line-level input and output minijacks. Oh yeah, it's got the hookups alright . . .
What's in the box?
Your purchase of the Mac Pro includes all of the following: Mac Pro, Apple keyboard with numeric keypad and Apple Mighty Mouse, USB keyboard extension cable, install/restore DVDs, printed documentation, and electronic documentation.
