AnandTech's Mac Pro Review

As Marco said in his post linking to AnandTech’s new Mac Pro evaluation, “For Mac OS reviews, read John Siracusa. For Mac reviews, read Anand.” This has become widely accepted over the last few years, and rightly so: these two writers epitomize every aspect of excellence within their respective fields. That’s why I sat down with AnandTech’s latest article, despite having no intention of buying a Mac Pro within the foreseeable future. After Marco’s recommendation I originally intended to focus solely on page two, but before I knew it Anand had sucked me in and I ended up finishing the entire piece.

During Neutral’s brief run John made an interesting point in their discussion of the latest Ferrari supercar which, I believe, took place during episode eight: car companies traditionally focused on mid-range to low-end price points nevertheless devote significant time and money to building incredibly powerful vehicles — some of which never even make it to market — in order to push the boundaries of the automotive industry and showcase the extremes of their abilities as engineers, designers, and manufacturers. In the computing world, Apple’s Mac Pro fulfills a similar role in epitomizing the juxtaposition of power, usability, and design. To shift focus briefly back to cars, high-end car companies like BMW and Audi charge a premium for craftsmanship and luxury, yes, but also for the latest vehicular technology available that more economical cars will not see for years to come. To predict the future of the low end, one need only look to the current high end: within a few generations that technology will trickle down to the economy classes, replaced with even more impressive features, and so the cycle will repeat itself. We may draw another parallel to the Mac Pro here as the signifier of impending change to not only Apple’s other computing devices over the next few years, but the computing industry as a whole resultant of Apple’s relatively new position as today’s most popular tech company. Therein lies my reasoning behind setting aside an hour or so to read Anand’s article and put this short post together: while I do not plan on buying a Mac Pro, it serves as an excellent indicator of where the high end is headed, and thus sets a reasonable expectation for the next few years with regards to not only CPU performance, but every other aspect as well.