The PC workstation manufacturer BOXX has come out with a humorous video commercial focused on debunking Apple’s new Mac Pro workstation. While the aim isn’t to deprive Apple of attaching the “workstation” badge onto an otherwise qualified professional computer, the ad (which you can see below on YouTube) does poke fun of the many limitations inherent in the new Mac Pro–limitations that have not been lost on many users.
A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Apple Store
BOXX’s special webpage devoted to this comparison pulls no punches. It states:
“Once upon a time, a number of Hollywood blockbusters were edited using a Mac Pro with Final Cut. But in recent years, Apple seems to have shifted their focus away from the professional media and entertainment market in order to widen their consumer appeal with products like the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Although this strategy has paid off handsomely for Apple, it has, unfortunately, left creative professionals in the lurch.”
The page continues with a side by side comparison that list what is missing from the new Mac Pro. Notable items missing include (with commentary):
- CUDA Cores — (there is no Nvidia GPU option and CUDA is an Nvidia technology)
- Nvidia GPU option — (nope, not now but perhaps after Apple gets enough heat…)
- 10 GB Ethernet
- FibreChannel HBA
- iray — (this is relatively new technology but requires Nvidia again)
To BOXX’s credit it notes that Apple’s focus on the professional market and its troubles with demonstrating attention and commitment to pros all started with the release of Final Cut Pro X. Credit is fair because this accurately reflects their attention to what has been happening in Apple’s pro community. Labeled a “regressive release” Final Cut Pro X has been steadily improved but the fallout initially was quite damaging.
While this BOXX YouTube commercial is humorous it is also striking a chord with many professional creatives who have, for years, relied on Apple hardware because they love OS X.
To be fair there are several items mentioned in the video that really shouldn’t be there at all. Only a small percentage of high end pros truly want an over-clocked system. Dell, HP, Lenovo, and the like, rarely if ever produce over-clocked systems. Their mainstay workstations are clocked normally. The same comment would apply to liquid cooling and other such hot-rod trickery.
There is also a comment about “limited Autodesk support” on their web page. Having platform parity with Windows for all of Autodesk’s DCC apps should not be a requirement for judging the new Mac Pro’s worthiness as a true workstation. There are dozens of rivals to Autodesk software that are tried and true pro software tools in DCC, engineering, film, science, architecture and other creative fields–all native on OS X!
To see the BOXX webpage on this go here.
[Corrections: The article has been fixed to address several auto-typos not caught at the time of publication – 4:30 PM, 23 April 2013]