Getting inside the case is just as easy as it was before, lift the lever at the back and remove the side panel:

Apple Mac Pro


Click to Enlarge

Unlike its predecessor, the Mac Pro has no plastic guard covering the internals and helping channel airflow around the case. Instead, the components are even further compartmentalized; all you can see are the FB-DIMM riser cards, the PCIe slots and the ICH (I/O Controller Hub).

Apple PowerMac G5


Click to Enlarge

As excited as we got about the two extra USB 2.0 ports we found on the outside of the case, the four removable drive bays on the inside of the chassis are manifestations of our dreams.


Mac Pro SATA drive bays - Click to Enlarge

The PowerMac G5, a multi-thousand dollar computer, was sold with no more than two 3.5" drive bays that were anything but easily accessible (as seen below):


PowerMac G5 SATA drive bays - Click to Enlarge


Click to Enlarge

The new Mac Pro features four fairly easily removable 3.5" drive sleds; just slide them out, mount your hard drive and slide them in. You don't have to bother with cables as the Mac Pro features four independent fixed connectors that any standard SATA drive will mate to.


Click to Enlarge

Mac Pro vs. PowerMac G5 The Drive Sleds (continued)
Comments Locked

96 Comments

View All Comments

  • michael2k - Wednesday, August 16, 2006 - link

    1:) Well, according to Anandtech's calculations, it's cheaper to buy a quad CPU Mac than to build one.
    2:) iLife is better than "free crap"
    3:) Macs can run Windows, BSD, Linux, and OS X all at once; PCs cannot
    4:) Drive sleds
    5:) Ram risers
    6:) Quiet case
    7:) 6 SATA connectors
    8:) 4 PCIe slots and 8 monitors
  • retrospooty - Thursday, August 17, 2006 - link

    Yes, in general, good quality components cost more than cheap crap... This is why Acura and Lexus cost more than a Ford, even though they are all built in hte USA. Would you rather get the mobo, memory, HDD, and video card that some kind and caring (cough cough) company landed a mulimillion dollar cotract to buy 10's of thousands, or pick your own?

    What is your point?
  • nexcom - Saturday, November 28, 2009 - link

    yes good and quality also mater aswell ok.
  • michael2k - Thursday, August 17, 2006 - link

    My point was that you got better build quality than the average DIY case:
    You get HDD sleds, cablefree installation, 2 gigE ports, 6 SATA connectors, etc, etc, etc.

    Not everyone has the skill, time, or resources to do their own research, shopping around, and haggling, you know.

    Are you arguing against, similarly, mass produced cars, TVs, homes, fridges, and furniture over DIY solutions?

    Or do you shop at Target and Walmart too?
  • retrospooty - Thursday, August 17, 2006 - link

    MAybe I am dense, but I am still missing your point... Anyhow, Apple's MAC's, or Dell, or any other vendor for that matter are not of high quality parts. The CPU's are great, most of the rest is cheap deal based components. Yes, most people lack the knowledge to build thier own systems, and they buy Dell's, and MAC's and such. All I am saying is that those systems arent at all using all the best high quality/high performance parts.
  • michael2k - Thursday, August 17, 2006 - link

    So I'm asking if you are consistent.

    Do you refuse to buy at Walmart and Target because they sell mass produced furniture, clothing, and household goods because they don't happen to use the highest quality materials? Do you, instead, build your own furniture, make your own clothes, grow your own produce, and make your own electronics?

    I don't see your point, because you haven't proven it, that Macs use "cheap deal based components". The case is definitely not "cheap deal based components" because it is crafted of aluminum ONLY for Apple, and it is quite nonstandard compared to the average PC case. Then there is the Mac motherboard, which as far as I can tell is also unique, being a Xeon EFI based motherboard, crafted singularly for Apple, most likely by Intel itself. The video card, yes, it is cheap, but that saves the user money too, and is no worse than an off the shelf NVIDIA video card.

    Where is your proof that the Mac Pro has cheap, unreliable, components?
  • retrospooty - Friday, August 18, 2006 - link

    you're wearing me out... I give. Long live the MAC, may Apple break thier 10 year rut and finally get more than 3% global marketshare, maybe even 5%. Whoopdeedoo. Yippee skip.

    BTW, Apple's beautiful aluminum cases are a total ripoff (if not an out right purchase)of the Lian Li design. EFI is an average/cheap mobo maker at best (not to say unreliable, just average in function, and performance). They are no DFI, or ASUS, not even close.
  • Maury Markowitz - Friday, August 18, 2006 - link

    You really are trolling...

    > total ripoff of the Lian Li

    Well I've actually used one of these, which I really doubt you can claim, and they're certainly nothing at all like the Apple case. Or are you overheating those two brain cells because both cases happen to use aluminum? I guess, by that brilliant logic, that Apple stole the design of their cases from the Dornier Dr.I from World War I. After all, that used aluminum too.

    For the record, the Lian Li design doesn't show a single one of the features that the Apple industrial design team put into the Mac Pro. They are, quite simply, bog-standard PC cases made of aluminum instead of stamped steel. That's it. For instance, the drives slide in from the front through a removable panel, are fastened into place with tiny little screws, and connected to the mobo with cables. Does this sound like the Mac Pro in any way whatsoever? Well pictures are worth a thousand words:

    http://silverpcs.com/product_info.php?products_id=...">http://silverpcs.com/product_info.php?products_id=...

    > EFI is an average/cheap mobo maker

    Stop! Please, stop! My ribs are aching!

    Hey brainiac, EFI is not a company.

    > They are no DFI, or ASUS, not even close.

    I hope not, considering it's an acronym for a boot standard.

    If this is the basis of your "Apple is cheap" argument, you really are a moron.

    Maury
  • retrospooty - Friday, August 18, 2006 - link

    Sorry to all, my bad, I read too quickly and I thought the post above was stating that EFI (the company) made Apple's new mobo's.

    Anyhow, I was not saying they are particularily bad, or cheap, I was saying ALL manufacturers use "average" parts in thier systems, including Apple. Aplle may well be at or very near the best of the list of major manufactureres, but its still not like hand picking your own motherboard, ram, v card, HDD etc. In other words, if Apple was an open standard, and any manufacturer could make parts for it, you would see alot of higher quality parts from some of those vendors.

    Any Yes, the case appearance is a TOTAL ripoff of Lian Li. The interior is certianly not, bute the look and feel externally, is identical, right down to the holes.

    Anyhow, I am done on this one, I have riled up enough MAC fanboy anger for now :D LONG LICE MAC, may their marketshare double to a whopping 6% !
  • michael2k - Friday, August 18, 2006 - link

    Right, a total ripoff... you sound like a broken record. Look at Anand's review here:
    http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=2040&p...">http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=2040&p...

    It was introduced in April of 2004... almost a full year after Apple introduced their PowerMac G5 in June of 2003. The case design, with the cooling zones, grill face, and inverted motherboard all debuted in an Apple design and then was copied by Lian Li. This has nothing to do with being a fanboy and everything to do with being right.

    You believe Apple ripped off the Lian Li... fine, link the Lian Li that preceeded the PowerMac G5 case!

Log in

Don't have an account? Sign up now