Enhance Your Productivity with the Apple Mac Pro and Intel Xeon Quad-Core Processors
The Mac Pro is a series of workstations and servers produced by Apple since 2006. These high-end desktop computers can be connected directly to your business network and provide additional functionality for professional workers. Most models of the Mac Pro are equipped with an Intel Xeon quad-core processor.
What is the Intel Xeon processor?
The Xeon is a line of x86 processors aimed at businesses that use workstations and servers. The Xeon processors have a similar architecture as their desktop counterparts; however, they tend to emphasize different aspects such as more raw processing power.Xeon is equipped with the following features:
- High Core Count: Thanks to the higher core count, Xeon processors can run more programs and perform more work in parallel.
- High Cache Memory: The cache memory is a small pool of speedy memory embedded on the CPU. It allows the processor to access important data with minimal delay.
- ECC Memory: ECC stands for error-correcting code, which can detect and correct different types of data corruption.
- Intel QuickPath Interconnect: Replacing the front-side bus architecture, QuickPath Interconnect forms faster point-to-point connections between different parts of the processor.
- Intel Turbo Boost: Turbo Boost allows all cores to be clocked above the base clock speed as long as heat generation and power usage are maintained below a certain threshold.
- Hyper-threading: This allows a single core to act as two distinct cores, so you can run more programs simultaneously.
Which Mac Pro models feature a quad-core processor?
There are two generations of Mac Pro computers. The first generation was released between 2006 and 2012. Most of these original Mac Pro models come with the option of either one or two quad-core Intel Xeon processors. The first generation is equipped with multiple hard drives, five USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400 and/or FireWire 800 ports, a SuperDrive optical drive, and several different expansion slots. Wi-Fi connectivity, Gigabit Ethernet ports, optional Bluetooth 2.0, and a 56k modem are all included as well. The second generation was released in 2013. It features a single four-core "Ivy Bridge" Xeon processor. In addition to most of the first generation features, the second generation adds USB 3.0, HDMI 1.4, and Thunderbolt 2 ports. The hard drive is replaced with a solid-state flash storage drive. The Mac Pro computers have different variants, so ostensibly the exact same model may feature six-core or eight-core processors instead of just four.
Which operating system does the Mac Pro run on?
The Mac Pro runs on various versions of the Mac OS X operating system, with the 10.13 "High Sierra" being produced in 2017. The Apple BIOS also allows you to boot up two or three operating systems at the same time, so in addition to Mac OS X, you can run Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, 7, and various Linux distributions.