Along with sweeping changes to its line of iMac desktop computers, Apple has also refreshed the Mac Pro, making the new model the fastest Mac ever, the Cupertino, Calif. computer maker said.
The punch packed by the new Mac Pro is due to the up to 12 processing cores. The new Mac Pro adds nearly 50 percent more performance than previous Mac Pro models and also bulks up memory with up to 32 GB of speedy DDR3.
"The new Mac Pro is the most powerful and configurable Mac we've ever made," Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, said in a statement. "With up to 12 cores, the new Mac Pro outperforms our previous top-of-the-line system by up to 50 percent, and with over a billion possible configurations, our customers can create exactly the system they want."
The new Mac Pro features the latest quad-core and six-core Intel Xeon processors, the Quad-Core Intel Xeon Nehalem or the Intel Xeon Westmere for four to six cores. The system maxes out at 12 cores - two six-core Intel Xeon Westmere processors - at up to 2.93 GHz. On the graphics front, the Mac Pro adds new ATI Radeon HD 5770 or 5870 cards with 1 GB of GDDR5 memory and support for up to six displays. The new Mac Pro has access to a dual 16-lane PCI Express 2.0 graphics slot, to boot.
Apple's new Mac Pro comes on the heels of Apple's massive iMac overhaul, which saw the computer maker retool the 21.5-inch and 27-inch desktops to boost speed and capabilities.
Other features of the new Mac Pro include up to 8 TB of memory on both hard disks and SSD drives.
According to Apple, the new Mac Pro will be available from resellers and hit retail store shelves in August. The suggested retail price for the quad-core Mac Pro starts at $2,499, while the new 8-core Mac Pro starts at $3,499. Both come with a host of configure-to-order options to beef up the system.
Apple also introduced a 27-inch LED Cinema Display that offers 2560 x 1440 resolution and can be connected to other devices via a trio of USB ports. The LED Cinema Display also ties in an iSight camera, speakers and a microphone and is expected to retail for $999 when be available in September.
