[PreciousLiberty]

“$6.000 for a computer is REALLY HIGH!!!”

For what they are, the Mac Pros have actually always been a great value. And they even run a real operating system... ;-)

For comparison, here’s a Dell workstation (note: not “desktop computer”):

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/cty/pdp/spd/precision-7920-workstation/xctopt7920us_4

That was as close as I could get to the entry-level new Mac Pro. It has older Xeons, a lesser graphics card, no Thunderbolt, no macOS, and mediocre design and engineering by comparison.

As configured, it comes in at $6229.

It’s pretty wild that macOS is essentially the last commercial Unix variant left standing...especially considering how late Apple was to the Unix game. I was in the process of giving up on Apple as a serious computer company, but this is an interesting development.

I’ll be getting one to evaluate.

[PreciousLiberty]

“That was as close as I could get to the entry-level new Mac Pro.”

This is actually a bit of a mis-statement, sorry. The 12 core option looks like a sweet spot for the Mac Pro, so I configured the Dell with the closest processor I could find. It’s a 16 core, but with much lower clocks and less total cache split across more processors.

It’s also worth mentioning that the Dell can take two processors. Many feel (apparently including Apple) that the various tradeoffs involved in using dual processors aren’t worth it though.

[Swordmaker]

That was as close as I could get to the entry-level new Mac Pro. It has older Xeons, a lesser graphics card, no Thunderbolt, no macOS, and mediocre design and engineering by comparison.

As configured, it comes in at $6229.

I just did an HP Z8 G4 workstation to match the entry level Mac Pro.

• HP Z8 G4 workstation base price: $3,395.20
• Upgrade: XEON to 3.5GHz 4.2Ghz Turbo 2666Mhz 8 core:$7,772.80
  (Intel has a much less expensive 8 core 3.5Ghz, 2666Mhz, Xeon that just came out, but HP doesn’t offer it and none of their lower priced XEONs matched either the speed or the memory speed.)
• Upgrade: HP Z8 G4 90 1450W Chassis 100V/20A: $7,800.00
• Upgrade: 32 GB (2x16 GB) DDR4-2666 ECC Registered Memory: $8,448.00
• Upgrade: HP Z 256 GB Turbo Drive Quad Pro TLC SSD $8,855.20
• Upgrade: AMD Radeon™ Pro WX 7100 (8 GB GDDR5, 4x DisplayPort) Graphics: $9,479.20
• Upgrade: HP Dual Port 10GBase-T NIC Module: $9,701.60
• Downgrade: No included Optical Disc Drive -$55.00: $9,657.60
• Upgrade: HP Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Business Slim Keyboard: $9,680.00
• Upgrade: HP Dual-port Thunderbolt™ 3 PCIe Add-in Card: $9,819.20

So, the HP comes in at $4,824.20 MORE than the $4,995.00 Apple Mac Pro to just duplicate the hardware without even talking about the entire suite of software that’s included with the Mac.

And, it doesn’t have eight PCIe slots. . . and what slots it does have are taken up with cards to bring it up to the specs of the Mac Pro.

[Swordmaker]

It has older Xeons, a lesser graphics card, no Thunderbolt, no macOS, and mediocre design and engineering by comparison.

I added in thunderbolt 3, dual 10Gb Ethernet, and wireless mouse and keyboard and it came up to $6333.00. I then added the older Xeon that HP was offering at their (HP’s) price and it would have jumped the Dell price to over $8500 if they offered it. . . And neither of them still equaled the hardware in the base Apple Mac Pro!

[Swordmaker]

I’ll be getting one to evaluate.

Oh, and the Mac uses a very high speed access SSD, not your typical off-the-shelf discount SSD. . . I’m not sure which one of the Dell upgrades it would be, they had so many upgraded SSD choices with various names., too many choices is not a good thing.

For example Samsung sells two grades of 1TB SSDs, one was selling for about (when I was looking for one) $200-$249, the other, much faster, for around $900-$1000. There was a significant difference in speed.

[KC Burke]

After you’re done with your evaluation and you decide to sell it off for $900 to an old retired guy: Call me.