Apple Mac Pro 8-Core workstation PC

We were disappointed that Apple’s new iMac range didn’t include Intel’s Core i7 processors. However, Apple has been quick off the mark with this update to its high-end Mac Pro. It is one of the first computers we’ve seen with quad-core Xeon processors that use the same Nehalem technology as consumer Core i7 PCs.

The Mac Pro is aimed at professional designers and to a large extent it’s a ‘build-to-order’ system that allows you to customise the specification. There are two standard models: the entry-level one costs £1,899 and contains a single Xeon running at 2.66GHz, along with 3GB of DDR3 memory, a 640GB hard disk and an Nvidia Geforce GT 120 with 512MB of video memory.

Our review unit was the more expensive model, with two Xeon processors running at 2.26GHz, 6GB of memory, the same 640Gb hard disk and GT 120 graphics. This Mac Pro costs £2,499 and for an extra £400 you can upgrade the single-Xeon model to 2.93GHz (£2,299 in total), while upgrading the twin-Xeon model to 2.93GHz will bring the price to £4,700.

Apple is aiming the Mac Pro at power users running native applications on OSX, such as Apple’s Final Cut video editor. We used Apple’s Bootcamp to install Windows and try some of our standard benchmark tests to compare it with overclocked Core i7 machines. The results from 3Dmark06 weren’t outstanding, but still respectable given that the Mac Pro has just one graphics card, rather than the twin-card SLI setups in our i7 group test in February’s PCW (you can upgrade to twin GT 120 cards for another £120, or four cards for £360). However, the Mac Pro isn’t really intended for gaming.

The raw processor power of the twin Xeons impresses, especially in any application that makes good use of multi-core processors. Running Cinebench to measure its performance with a single chip, the Mac Pro’s 2.26GHz Xeon still managed to match the performance of a Core i7 PC running at 3GHz. And when Cinebench moved on to test both processors ­ that’s eight physical cores altogether (16 logical cores with Hyperthreading) ­ the Mac Pro pulled way ahead of even the heavily overclocked 3.7GHz Wired2Fire Diablo, delivering 22,415 points in Cinebench. As we expected, running the Mac version of Cinebench under OSX produced similar results, making this the fastest Mac system we’ve ever seen.

The other aspect of the Mac Pro that sets it apart from the consumer-oriented iMac is that you can open it and upgrade the system. The aluminium tower chassis is equipped with five USB2 ports, four Firewire 800 ports, twin Ethernet ports, analogue audio input and output, and digital Toslink audio connectors. Flick the latch on the back panel and the screwless side panel opens up to provide easy access to three spare PCI Express slots and three spare 3.5in drive bays.

There are a few disappointments. The price doesn’t include a monitor, although most potential buyers will already have one. There’s no Blu-ray drive either, so anyone interested in Blu-ray authoring, or watching Blu-ray films will need to budget for a third-party drive.

Apple hasn’t included the Core i7 in any of its desktop machines yet, but this twin-Xeon workstation will be more than enough to keep the most performance-obsessed Mac users happy for some time. The combination of eight processor cores with Nehalem’s integrated memory controller pushes the Mac Pro’s performance in many design-oriented applications to new levels.