Apple Mac Pro – Now Up to 12 Cores Of Processing Power!
It’s ridiculously, over-the-top, stupid power time!
Apple today announced (among other things) that the new Mac Pro coming in August will offer 12-core CPU option (twin six-core processors) that can also been seen as 24 virtual cores in the system.
Is it expensive. Yep.
Is it worth it? Yep. 
Do you need it? Depends.
If budget is not an issue, then by all means dive in no matter what.
If you’re the typical home or project studio on a budget, this is probably overkill. However, if you do a lot of intense video rendering, the decision gets a little tougher to call.
I think the main thing this demonstrates is the ever-decreasing need for hardware dependent DAWs, e.g. Pro Tools HD.
How will this ever-progressing march of technology and speed be reflected in our industry, and how soon?
From Apple’s Site – Features include:
Up to 24 Virtual Cores
The Intel Xeon processors support Hyper-Threading, which allows two threads to run simultaneously on each core. So, for example, a 12-core Mac Pro presents 24 virtual cores that are recognized by Mac OS X. Performance is enhanced because Hyper-Threading enables the processor to take better advantage of the execution resources available in each core.
Easy Access for Easy Expansion
The easy-access interior of the 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 access to everything. Slide out the processor tray to add memory. Slide out 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.
Tool-less PCI
When it’s time to upgrade, a quick slide of the retention bar frees up the four expansion card slots for easy access. Thanks to a thumbscrew PCI bracket, you can swap out cards without any tools. All four slots are PCI Express 2.0 for incredible performance. And since the graphics slot in the Mac Pro is double-wide, your graphics card won’t cover an adjacent slot.
Up to 8 Terabytes of Slide-in, Mechanical Hard Drive Storage
The Mac Pro comes with four 3.5-inch drive bays for an enormous amount of internal storage — up to 8TB.* For faster access to your data, you can also configure your Mac Pro with up to four solid-state drives. The bays are direct-attach and cable free, so it’s easy to add or remove drives. Just attach the drive carrier to a drive and slide the drive into place. There are no connectors or cables to contend with. Lock the drives with the side door latch, and you’re done.
Optional Solid State Storage
New to the Mac Pro is the option to add up to four 512GB solid-state drives — or any combination of solid-state and hard drives. Solid-state drives have no moving parts and are capable of accessing data at speeds up to 230MB per second, which is up to twice the speed of hard drives. The result? Incredible performance on a range of data-intensive tasks, including up to 2x faster ProRes video encoding using solid-state drives compared with hard drives.
Up to 32 BG of Snap-in DDR3 ECC SDRAM
Install more memory in your Mac Pro in a snap. Literally. The easy-access interior lets you slide out the processor tray in one smooth motion, then simply snap new memory into place. You don’t have to dig around inside the computer or wrestle with wires or cables. The single-processor Mac Pro offers four slots that support up to 16GB of DDR3 ECC SDRAM, while the dual-processor Mac Pro offers eight slots that support up to 32GB.
Front and Back I/O
There are plenty of places to connect external devices to your Mac Pro. You’ll find two FireWire 800 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, and a headphone minijack right up front — where it’s more convenient to connect storage, multimedia devices, and high-speed peripherals. And there are even more ports on the back: three USB 2.0, two FireWire 800, optical audio in and out, analog audio in and out, and dual Gigabit Ethernet ports.
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