Ars reviews Mac Pro, scores 9 of 10

These machines look fantastic and of course there are features or lack of (bluetooth, fax modem) that seem like silly choices on Apple's part. I agree the size makes these models for pro's only, we have all gotten use to compact technology and a box this size seems like something from another generation of hardware.

I think the wireless stuff was removed to hit the $2499 price point. Although if they left them in and charged $2599, I'll bet nobody would complain.

Although if they left them in and charged $2599, I'll bet nobody would complain.

Look at how much whining went on when Bluetooth and Airport Extreme was included in the Core Solo/Duo Mini and the price higher than the previous G4 systems.

MB/MBPro probably inheirited their whine from a portion of the Mac user base. (^0^)

What does hitting some price point matter. I thought the greatest thing about these machines was the configuration, to go as low as $2124 (still $125 higher then before) all the way up to $20000 or more.

Complaints about airport, to me at least, is silly, since these are pro machines. Pros aren't going to be using crappy wireless network access. That's just plain stupid. The only ones complaining about that is the couple of dozen people who can afford to buy these for their home. And even then, do you want to limit their speed and power by using crappy wireless networking?

Now the bluetooth doesn't make any sense. If these are for pros, then I guess that wireless hardware isn't? And it would be different if you could buy the bluetoooth/airport separately later on, but you can't (at least you never could before).

And why is anyone complaining, anyways. For just a few more dollars than their other offerings, you can get a mac that you can actually expand and upgrade over the years (which, for the price point, you're really going to want to do). Hopefully the processors are upgradable too.