Add-on hardware compatibility

March 27, 2011

Add-on hardware compatibility

  • For 2006 and 2008 models, Apple recommends an Apple-specified heat sink on each memory DIMM for cooling, and the required on-chip thermal manager may shut down memory, or increase fan speed, if it starts to overheat.[20] Several third-party, self-installable memory upgrades that include Apple-specified heat sinks are available. In contrast, the 2009 Mac Pro with Nehalem processors uses unbuffered memory with no heatsinks.
  • The Mac Pro, as with other Macintosh platforms, requires Mac OS X firmware. That is to say, a PCIe video card designed exclusively for other operating systems will not work properly under Mac OS X without appropriate drivers and/or firmware; however, they will work under the operating systems they were designed for, if installed via Boot Camp or other means. Some video cards and other hardware accessories not marketed for Macintoshes can nonetheless be tricked into compatibility through combination with software extracted from similar Macintosh hardware.[36] Also, AMD released the ATI Radeon HD 3870, which is compatible with both Mac Pros and PCs from other manufacturers.[37]
 

Operating systems

March 27, 2011

The Mac Pro comes with the BIOS successor EFI 1.1 and handles booting differently from the conventional BIOS-based PC.[32]

Apple's Boot Camp provides BIOS backwards compatibility, allowing dual and triple boot configurations. These operating systems are installable on Intel x86 based Apple computers:[33]

  • Mac OS X 10.4.7 and later
  • Microsoft Windows XPVista, and Windows 7 32-bit & 64-bit (hardware drivers are included in Boot Camp)
  • Other 80x86 operating systems such as Linux x86, Solaris, DOS, Be...

Continue reading...
 

Specifications (Description)

March 27, 2011

Specifications

ComponentIntel Xeon (based on Core microarchitecture)Intel Xeon (based on Nehalem microarchitecture)Intel Xeon (based on Nehalem microarchitecture and Westmere microarchitecture)
ModelMid 2006[28]Early 2008[29]Early 2009[30]Mid 2010[31]
Release dateAugust 7, 2006
April 4, 2007 Optional 3.0 GHz Quad-core Xeon "Clovertown"
January 8, 2008March 3, 2009
December 4, 2009 Optional 3.33 GHz Quad-core Xeon "Bloomfield"
August 9, 2010
Model NumbersMA356*/AMA970*/AMB871*/A MB535*/AMC560*/A MC250...

Continue reading...
 

Description

March 27, 2011

Processors

The current 8 core standard configuration Mac Pro uses two Quad core Intel E5620 Xeon processors @2.4 GHz [13][14], but can be configured with upto two Hexacore Core Intel Xeon Processor X5670 @2.93 GHz[15].All current Mac Pros have processors with 12Mb of Intel Smart cache(L3 cache).[16] All current Mac Pro processors are capable of Intel's Turbo Boosttechnology (similar to Intel's SpeedStep technology), which dynamically boosts the clock rate of a core in intervals of 133 MHz if t...


Continue reading...
 

Overview

March 27, 2011

An Intel-based replacement for the Power Mac G5 had long been expected prior to the release of the Mac Pro. The iMacMac MiniMacBook and MacBook Pro had moved to an Intel-based architecture starting in January 2006, leaving the Power Mac G5 as the only machine in the Mac lineup still based on the PowerPC. Speculation about the G5's eventual replacement was common. Rumors initially expected the machine to differ physically from the existing G5 and considered a number of different possible i...


Continue reading...
 

Mac Pro

March 27, 2011

The Mac Pro is a workstation computer manufactured by Apple Inc. The machines are based on Xeon microprocessors, but are similar to the Power Mac G5 they replaced in terms of outward appearance and expansion capabilities. The Mac Pro is the fastest computer that Apple offers and one of three desktop computers in the current Macintosh lineup, the other two being the iMac and Mac mini.

The first Mac Pro was based on dual Dual-core Xeon Woodcrest processors and formally announced on August 7, 200...


Continue reading...
 

Categories

Recent Posts