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Silver Tower Mac Pro (Dual Optical) Q&A - Updated May 29, 2013
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How much noise does the original Mac Pro make compared to the Power Macintosh G5?
The original Mac Pro models are quiet. In an excellent review, MacInTouch [no longer online] remarked that:
The Mac Pro is also whisper-quiet. The subtle sound of ours was drowned out by an eMac ten feet away, and adding three internal hard drives didn't seem to increase fan noise appreciably. The dual-core Power Mac G5 we used for comparison is a pleasantly quiet machine, but the Mac Pro is even quieter.
How much noise does the "Early 2008" (Harpertown/Penryn) Mac Pro make compared to the original Mac Pro?
The "Early 2008" Mac Pro models are even quieter than the original Mac Pro, which itself was quiet when compared to the Power Macintosh G5 models that the Mac Pro line replaced.
For more information, please refer to the always excellent BareFeats, which has a special report detailing the noise level and power consumption of the "Early 2008" Mac Pro compared to earlier models.
How much noise does the "Early 2009/Nehalem" Mac Pro make compared to earlier models?
The "Early 2009/Nehalem" Mac Pro models are quiet.
In its review, the Engadget blog reported:
We're happy to say that even when taxed, our test system never got overly raucous or forced us to flip on the air conditioning. In fact, we were shocked at just how quiet it remained until we really pressed it in Final Cut Pro; we had to seriously stress it in order to get those fans to be super audible, which is a great, great thing.
In a series of tests, the always superb BareFeats also commented on the ATI Radeon HD 4870 video card available via build-to-order, and noted:
The Radeon 4870, unlike the 3870, does not rev up when stressed. Other than the initial whoosh when Starting Up or Re-Starting, it was quite subdued with a low rpm, low frequency fan. I repeat, it's nothing like the 3870 in terms of noise. It is as quiet as the GeForce 8800 GT. With decibel meter 6 inches from the heatsink fan, we never saw higher than 44 decibels even under a load.
Those interested in using an "Early 2009/Nehalem" Mac Pro for audio production work should be quite pleased.
How much noise do the "Mid-2010" and "Mid-2012" Mac Pro models make compared to earlier lines?
The "Mid-2010" and "Mid-2012" Mac Pro models -- which essentially are the same from an architecture and design standpoint -- are extremely quiet.
In fact, as part of a longer piece testing the performance of the "Mid-2010" Mac Pro, the always excellent BareFeats documented:
The 2010 6-core and 8-core are in our lab with the Radeon 5870 and 5770 respectively. Our decibel meter only goes down to 40 dB. Below that the LCD screen reads "LOW." On the other hand, the 2009 Mac Pro with the 4870 graphics card registers 46 dB at idle.
That's definitely quiet -- about as quiet as anyone could hope for a desktop computer.
What are the capabilities of the "SuperDrive" provided by the Mac Pro?
All Mac Pro models ship -- or shipped -- with one 18X double layer DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW SuperDrive capable of reading and writing both single and dual-layer DVDs.
Also see: How do you install a second optical drive or replace the primary one in the Mac Pro models? What options are available for the second Mac Pro "optical drive bay"?
What AirPort and Bluetooth capabilities are provided by the Mac Pro models?
All Mac Pro models are capable of supporting versions of both AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth although both connectivity standards were optional in some models:
Mac Pro Subfamily | Model ID | AirPort Extreme | Bluetooth |
Original (2006) | 802.11a/b/g/n (Opt) | 2.0+EDR (Opt) | |
Original (2007) | 802.11a/b/g/n (Opt) | 2.0+EDR (Std) | |
Early 2008 | 802.11a/b/g/n (Opt) | 2.0+EDR (Std) | |
Early 2009 | 802.11a/b/g/n (Opt) | 2.1+EDR (Std) | |
Mid-2010 | 802.11a/b/g/n (Std) | 2.1+EDR (Std) | |
Mid-2012 | 802.11a/b/g/n (Std) | 2.1+EDR (Std) |
The always excellent XLR8YourMac also has posted a "hack" on how to install an older Bluetooth 1.1 module in the original Mac Pro. Please note that EveryMac.com does not recommend unsupported hacks.
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