Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1152338
41 connection with up to four times the speed of USB 3.0 and the ability to connect a much larger range of peripherals. Com- bined with impressive processor speeds, processor core counts, and AMD GPU options, the second-generation Mac Pros were arguably the first widely available computers ready to tackle the then upcoming rigors of 4K production. Unfortunately, this generation of computers was not without some rather monumental flaws. This was also the first profes- sional-grade machine produced by Apple not to feature any sort of optical disk drive. Many users had hoped to see the Super DVD drives from the previous generation replaced by Blu-ray capable equivalents and found themselves disappointed. In or- der to accommodate its small form factor, it required that all of the components be soldered directly into the Logic Board, making both maintenance and upgrades difficult for some com- ponents and impossible for others. This meant that users could no longer install third-party components into their machines in order to extend the product life cycle or customize them to suit their specific needs. After several years, this caused the trashcans to run into the same problem as the cheese graters. Technology that was revolutionary in 2013 was becoming out- of-date just a few years later. By 2017, users were desperately searching for ways to coax more computing power out of their systems in order to accom- modate the newly emerging 6K, 8K, RAW, and HDR workflows that Hollywood productions were beginning to demand. Ironi- cally, some turned back to the first-generation cheese graters. By developing and using a variety of adapters and peripherals, they were able to install more modern components into their aged machines. The process was not always (or even usually) perfect but it did allow some to surpass the capabilities of their 2013 computers by using their 2006-2012 ones. Others turned to more drastic solutions. By carefully selecting a variety of PC components that were technically supported by the OS X/ MacOS code, many DIY users found success in illegally bypass- ing Apple's software security and installing the Mac operating system on computers built using Windows-oriented compo- nents. These "Hackintosh" computers were (and still are) often unstable but they provided customers with a means of running their preferred operating system on workstations that were not out-of-date. Nonetheless, none of these solutions were ideal. Apple provided a stopgap in 2017 when they introduced the iMac Pro—an all-in-one workstation unit that boasted bleed- ing-edge performance and 5K retina display that was up to the challenges of high resolution and processor intensive tasks that production environments demand. While these units could re- place the trashcan Mac Pros, many were quick to point out that the iMac Pro suffered from many of the same problems. The components were still soldered directly into the Logic Board, making maintenance and upgrades problematic. Within a few years, these computers would also begin to show their age and customers would have no means of upgrading them to meet the challenges of tomorrow. Enter the third-generation Mac Pro. At the World Wide Developer's Conference in April, Apple un- veiled a completely redesigned machine that was a large depar- ture from either of its predecessors. The large aluminum chas- sis resembles the older bodies of the original cheese graters (leading many to dub the new machines Cheese Grater 2.0) but what's under the hood bears little similarity. The new Mac Pro features an exclusive line of Intel Xeon W processors that can be configured in a range from 8-core 3.5ghz chipsets to 28-core 2.5ghz chipsets, making it well suited for an impressively wide variety of users. Moreover, while most motherboards for Win- dows computers only support up to 64gb or 128gb of RAM, the new Mac Pro can make use of an astonishing 1.5tb of 2933ghz memory. For applications that frequently use memory caching (such as Adobe's video production suite, Avid's Media Compos- er & Pro Tools, and Apple's Final Cut Pro), substantially more video and audio previews can be temporarily cached before a full render is required for real-time playback. Apple also of- fers a variety of graphics card options, including AMD's Radeon Pro Vega II Duo card—a GPU capable of performing up to 56.8 teraflops of calculations. For comparison, the 2013 Mac Pro running two AMD FirePro D700 GPUs (the best configuration Apple offered) could only manage seven teraflops. In addition to the impressive components inside the box, it is worth noting that the new Mac Pro features a versatile range of connectivity options. With two USB 3.0 ports for traditional peripherals, two Thunderbolt 3 ports for high-speed devices or expansion (Thunderbolt 3 is capable of being adapted to most other connection types such as USB, HDMI, and DisplayPort), and two 10gb Ethernet ports for high bandwidth online work, Cheese grater