The Apple Mac Pro Early 2008 is a personal computer that formed part of the Mac Pro line, designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple from 2008 to 2009. It was unveiled on January 8, 2008, with a starting price of $2,299.
Apple introduced this iteration of the Mac Pro with eight processor cores and a novel system architecture that boasted up to twice the performance of its predecessor. The system combined two of Intel’s new 45-nanometer Quad-Core Xeon processors, capable of running at speeds of up to 3.2 GHz.
This, along with potent graphics capabilities and potential internal storage of up to 4 TB, made it an ideal choice for creative professionals, 3D digital content creators, and scientists. The base configuration, featuring 8 cores, commenced at $2,799.
Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, commented on the release, stating, “The new Mac Pro is the fastest Mac we’ve ever made.” This assertion was supported by the Mac Pro’s impressive specifications, including 3.2 GHz 8-core Xeon processing, a 1600 MHz front-side bus, and 800 MHz memory, leveraging the fastest Intel Xeon architecture available at the time.
Key features of the Mac Pro Early 2008 included the latest Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5400 series processors, each boasting 12 MB of L2 cache for enhanced performance and power efficiency. The system also offered significant improvements in memory throughput, thanks to a new high-bandwidth hardware architecture, dual-independent 1600 MHz front side buses, and support for up to 32 GB of 800 MHz DDR2 ECC FB-DIMM memory.
Graphics capabilities were provided by the ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics card with 256 MB of video memory, with support for additional graphics cards via a new PCI Express 2.0 graphics slot. This enabled the Mac Pro to drive multiple displays simultaneously, making it suitable for advanced visualization and large display setups.
In terms of expandability, the Mac Pro boasted four internal hard drive bays, supporting cable-free installation of up to four 1 TB Serial ATA hard drives, with the option for high-performance SAS drives for tasks such as film and video editing. External connectivity options were abundant, with ports including USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and 800, optical and analog audio in and out, dual Gigabit Ethernet ports, and a headphone jack.
Every Mac Pro Early 2008 shipped with Leopard, the sixth major release of Apple’s operating system, known for its numerous features enhancing user experience and system performance. Additionally, the package included the new ultra-thin aluminum Apple Keyboard, with built-in Bluetooth 2.0 for wireless connectivity.
The base model of the Mac Pro Early 2008 featured a choice of 2.8 GHz, two 2.8 GHz, two 3 GHz, or two 3.2 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5000 series processors, 2 GB of RAM, a 320 GB or 500 GB hard drive, a 16x DVD-R/CD-RW “SuperDrive,” and 256 MB ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT graphics.
The production of the Mac Pro Early 2008 was discontinued on March 3, 2009. As of today, it marks 16 years since its initial release, signifying its enduring legacy in the realm of personal computing.
Mac Pro Early 2008 Details
| Introduced | January 8, 2008 – 16 years ago |
| Discontinued | March 3, 2009 – 15 years ago |
| Last Software Update | July 18, 2016 – 7 years ago |
| Time on the Market | 13 months (1 year) |
| Time of Support | 102 months (8 years) |
| Model Identifier | MacPro3,1 |
| Model Number | A1186 |
| EMC | 2180 |
| Order Number | MA970LL/A |
| Original Price | $2,299 $2,799 $3,599 $4,399 |
| Colors | Aluminum |
| Weight | 42.4 Ibs. 19.232 KG |
| Dimensions | 20.1” H x 8.1” W x 18.7” D 51.05 cm H x 20.57 cm W x 47.49 cm D |
Mac Pro Tech Specs
Processor
| Processor | Intel Quad-Core Xeon X5462 (2.8 GHz) Two Intel Quad-Core Xeon X5462 (2x 2.8 GHz) Two Intel Quad-Core Xeon X5472 (2x 3 GHz) Two Intel Quad-Core Xeon X5482 (2x 3.2 GHz) |
| Processor Speed | 2.8 GHz (1x Quad-Core) Two 2.8 GHz (2x Quad-Core) Two 3 GHz (2x Quad-Core) Two 3.2 GHz (2x Quad-Core) |
| Architecture | 64-bit |
| Number of Cores | 4 (1x Quad-Core) 8 (2x Quad-Core) |
| System Bus | Single or Dual 1.66 GHz |
| Cache | 12 MB L2 per processor (6 MB for each pair of cores) |
Storage & Media
| Storage | 300 GB 15000 rpm 320 GB 7200 rpm 500 GB 7200 rpm 750 GB 7200 rpm 1 TB 7200 rpm |
| Media | 1 – 16x DVD-R/CD-RW “SuperDrive” |
Memory
| Built-in Memory | 2 GB |
| Maximum Memory | 32 GB |
| Memory Slots | 8 – PC2-6400 240-pin DDR2 ECC DIMM |
| Interleaving Support | Yes |
Display
| Built-in Display | None |
Graphics
| Graphics Card | ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600 |
| Graphics Memory | 256 MB (ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT) 512 MB (NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT) 1.5 GB (NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600) |
| Display Connection | 2 – dual-link DVI and 1 – Stereo 3D port (NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600) 2 – dual-link DVI (ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT and NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT) |
| Display Modes | Dual display extended and video mirroring |
Expansion
| Expansion Slots | 2 – 16-lane PCI Express 2.0 2 – 4-lane PCI Express 1.1 |
| Bays | 4 – Internal 3.5″ Serial ATA drive bays 2 – Optical drive bay |
| Hard Drive Interface | 4 – 3 Gbps Serial ATA (SATA) controllers |
| Optical Drive Interface | 2 – Ultra ATA/100 |
| Internal RAID | Mac Pro RAID Card with 256 MB cache and 72-hour cache battery backup (Optional) |
Connections
| Ethernet | 2 – 10/100/1000BASE-T ports (support for jumbo frames) |
| Modem | Apple USB Modem MA03AZ/A (optional) |
| Wi-Fi | AirPort Extreme Card 802.11b/g/n (optional) |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR (optional) |
| USB | 5 – 480 Mbps (USB 2.0) |
| FireWire | 2 – 400 Mbps 2 – 800 Mbps |
| Fibre Channel | MB355G/A (Optional) MB356G/A (Optional) |
| Audio In | 1 – 3.5-mm analog input jack 1 – optical S/PDIF (Toslink) input |
| Audio Out | 2 – 3.5-mm analog output jack 1 – optical S/PDIF (Toslink) output 1 – Built-in speaker |
| Display | 2 – dual-link DVI and 1 – Stereo 3D port (NVIDIA Quadro FX 5600) 2 – dual-link DVI (ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT and NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT) |
Keyboard and Mouse
Software
| Original OS | Mac OS X 10.5.1 |
| Later OS | Mac OS X 10.5.2 Mac OS X 10.5.4 |
| Maximum OS | OS X 10.11.6 |
| Firmware | Intel Extensible Firmware Interface |
| Bundled Software | Mac OS X 10.5 iLife ’08 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, and GarageBand) |
Power
| Backup Battery | 3 V CR2032 Lithium |
| Maximum Continuous Power | Unknown |
| Line Voltage | 100 – 125 V AC or 200 – 240 V AC |
