So there's this parting paragraph at the end of Apple's iMac Pro Press Release...

VegetableStu

Shrink Ray Wielder
Original poster
Aug 18, 2016
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https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2017/12/imac-pro-the-most-powerful-mac-ever-available-today/
In addition to the new iMac Pro, Apple is working on a completely redesigned, next-generation Mac Pro architected for pro customers who need the highest performance, high-throughput system in a modular, upgradeable design, as well as a new high-end pro display.

So, if they boasted the smallness of the trashcan design the first time round, and now they're looking into modularity, could it be suggested that they're going for a high density design no bigger than 2.5 Trashcan Pros? o_o

(for reference: according to a bit of calc.exe maths, the TCP is about 5.5L?! (height 25.1cm diameter 16.7cm))
EDIT: okay if we go by right cuboid bounding box (no pi R square), it'd be about 7L o_o still having a hard time thinking that it's about the size of a DAN A4 o_o
 
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owliwar

Master of Cramming
Lazer3D
Apr 7, 2017
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today i saw one of the old mac pros from 2009. their inside is nuts. the cpu portion of motherboard is modular and in a different axis from pci-e lanes and storage. its hella big, that's for sure, but if they can use the same idea, (thats also being use in the trash can pro) of split motherboard components, I guess its totally doable. imagine a low chamber for cpu and ram, a middle chamber for 2 reference gpus on the side) and on the back it could have storage, and probably somewhat of a flex atx psu or external power brick.


I mean, I'm on a fanfic level of speculation here but that split motherboard layout gave me ideas
 

Phuncz

Lord of the Boards
SFFn Staff
May 9, 2015
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Pretty much everything was non-standard at a time with Apple's computers. The PowerMac G5 I've handled have custom PSU pin-outs, the fans themselves have totally different layouts (the fan logic needs a seperate 12V, for example) and with the Mac Pro 2013 they had custom everything, especially the motherboard and GPUs were interesting.

If there is one company that can make an SFF PC purely about efficiency, it's Apple, since their design teams are basically dreamers like us but with a seemingly unlimited design budget and the fanciest lab around.
The Mac Pro with it's 5.5L or 7L like @VegetableStu calculated could be configured for 130W TDP 8-core Xeon 3.9GHz or 12-core 2.7GHz, up to 64GB of DDR3 ECC RAM, dual AMD FirePro D700 cards with 6GB VRAM each, along with dual PCIe SSDs up to 1TB. For something that's 4 years old and is cooled with a single fan, that's impressive.
 

Zobeid Zuma

Efficiency Noob
Dec 8, 2017
5
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I've given up waiting on Apple to make the computer I want, after many years and many disappointments. I feel like Apple have lost their way, at least with the Mac platform (both hardware and software). That's what brought me here. And that's why I'm getting ready to assemble the replacement for my old Mac Pro.

 

neilhart

Cable-Tie Ninja
Apr 18, 2017
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https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2017/12/imac-pro-the-most-powerful-mac-ever-available-today/


So, if they boasted the smallness of the trashcan design the first time round, and now they're looking into modularity, could it be suggested that they're going for a high density design no bigger than 2.5 Trashcan Pros? o_o

(for reference: according to a bit of calc.exe maths, the TCP is about 5.5L?! (height 25.1cm diameter 16.7cm))
EDIT: okay if we go by right cuboid bounding box (no pi R square), it'd be about 7L o_o still having a hard time thinking that it's about the size of a DAN A4 o_o

Well I have been following Apple's Macs for years and will not be surprised by anything that they do. However I will continue to build the machine that I need/want. Here is a shot of my Intel Apples hacks:


My current systems are more SFF then Apple influenced, however they all run macOS.

Neil
 
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kittysox

Cable-Tie Ninja
Aug 8, 2017
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Well I have been following Apple's Macs for years and will not be surprised by anything that they do. However I will continue to build the machine that I need/want. Here is a shot of my Intel Apples hacks:


My current systems are more SFF then Apple influenced, however they all run macOS.

Neil

What cases did you use for these hacks? They look lovely