Apple Mac Pro (Intel Xeon Quad Core, 2006) Reviews

Professional designers, digital media hobbyists, and those simply into great design: meet your new lust object. Apple's new Mac Pro ($2,499 for the base model) is a winner on multiple levels. From the outside, it looks great--far more put together ...

Attractive exterior, innovative interior ; great value for the baseline configuration ; strong multicore CPU performance

Configuration options are not as comprehensive as Dell's ; weak support plan

Apple's Mac Pro has design innovations that we hope will cross over to other systems. Its performance is as strong as you'd expect for a system in its class, and it's priced right, too. You might need more flexibility in your config options, ...

The Apple Mac Pro (8-Core), priced at $3,499 direct, is an aluminum behemoth made for artists and designers who depend on being able to turn around their graphics-based projects before you can say "WYSIWIG." It looks like a typical professional Mac, ...

Easy expansion. Eight-core power. High-end graphics. Looks like the old Mac Pros, so co-workers won't get jealous

Performance boost isn't as impressive on day-to-day tasks as you'd think. Big and bulky. Windows performance outpaces Mac OS X performance on the same task. Only 90 days of phone tech support

The Apple Mac Pro (8-Core) is the performance dream PC of the creative professional. If you get one, just make sure you have programs that will take advantage of the extra power.

If you simply want the fastest Mac you've ever used, the base-model Mac Pro Eight-Core 2.8GHz won't disappoint. If, however, you don't need the maximum Mac, stick to an iMac-they're plenty powerful for the rest of us.

Dual enhanced quad-core processors ; faster memory and frontside bus ; doubled PCI Express specifications ; faster video cards ; strong storage options

Limited storage and RAM on default model

And one of the base model's most attractive features is that it's just that: a great base upon which to build a truly fearsome-fast machine. If you're a multimedia pro-videographer, professional photographer, or audio pro-the Mac Pro is the machine ...