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Silver Tower Mac Pro (Dual Optical) Q&A - Updated May 28, 2013
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What are the "pros and cons" of the Mac Pro? Is it right for my needs?
Like any other purchase, only you can make the decision whether or not the Mac Pro is the right Mac for you, but you can evaluate the pros and cons of the series to see if your needs are met.
This quick "run down" may be helpful in making a decision:
Pros (All Models):
- Quite fast.
- Numerous configuration options available.
- Wonderful case design makes it quick and easy to upgrade the RAM, hard drives, and optical drives.
- PCIe expansion slots make it simple to add superfast SSDs, high performance video cards, and more.
- It's not the easiest upgrade, but it is quite possible to upgrade the processors.
- Two more 3.5" hard drive bays that support faster storage, an additional 5.25" optical bay, and more ports compared to the Power Macintosh G5.
- Competitively priced compared to similar Windows PCs at the time of their release.
Cons (All Models):
- Large, bulky case design may not be suited for all environments.
- Slow update cycle from Apple means connectivity is particularly out-of-date (and Thunderbolt cannot be added even with a PCIe card).
- No support for Mac OS 9/Classic applications.
Cons (Early Models):
- Mac OS X applications forced to run via "Rosetta" are slower on the original Mac Pro systems than the same applications running on the Power Macintosh G5.
- Bluetooth 2.0+EDR -- and AirPort Extreme (802.11a/b/g/n) -- were not pre-installed on the original Mac Pro. AirPort Extreme (802.11a/b/g/n) was not pre-installed on the "Early 2009" Mac Pro models, either. These systems do support these technologies, however.
- Default graphics card on the original Mac Pro may not satisfy the needs of 3D graphics intensive applications (games, in particular).
- Dynamically allocated PCIe architecture on the original Mac Pro model limits 16-lane video card configurations.
Essentially, if you are looking for the most powerful and expandable new Apple computer you can buy, have no Mac OS 9/"Classic" applications, and no "mission critical" Mac OS X applications that are incompatible or run too slowly using "Rosetta" (on Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard"), a Mac Pro model would be an excellent choice.
If compatibility and performance of vintage applications is critical, but expansion is a slightly lower priority, a Power Macintosh G5 remains worth consideration.
To purchase a used Mac Pro, high-quality storage or memory for the Mac Pro, visit site sponsor Other World Computing.
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