Home > Consumer Reviews > Apple Mac Pro MA356LL/A Desktop (Two 2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon Processors, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, SuperDrive)

Great Mac. The four CPU cores really make this thing shine for professional work, as the ability to accomodate a lot of RAM (My job typically requires 5GB to avoid memory swapping slowdowns, andd you can have more if necessary.) Upgrading is easy and even fun, because the Mac is rugged and beautiful evenon the inside.

The only thing it needs is additional RAM. Only 1GB is not suitable for a Mac this powerful.

I love this MacPro, I now have no more beachballs for anything. However, this computer is configured WITHOUT Airport or Bluetooth - and if you need those items it isn't an easy install, while it can be done by the consumer you have to be comfortable with tiny screws and trying to fit things into tight spaces. I skipped the Airport connection and used the LAN Ethernet port on my Airport Extreme Base Station, but if you need it think about the hassles before buying here.

All that said, this was the best price and with Amazon Prime I got it overnight for only $4 more!

This is probably the most expensive computer I ever spent my hard earned money on...It was worth every cent of it.

This is my first pure Mac desktop. I am loving every second I spend with this computer. As soon as I got the machine, I immediately added 2 more gigs of memory and flashed a PC 1900xt to mac 1900xt so that it'll boot in MacPro which works fine.

I strongly recommend an extra gig or 2 more when you get this system. I bought mine from OCW, great company and their memories are top quality. 1 gig is not enough and does not show justice to this machine, the OSX loves more memory and the more memory you add, the more responsive and instant it becomes.

OS Leopard will make this machine scream since the kernel itself has been optimized for Intel processor and multithreading operations. The scheduler has been redesigned and optimized, so even if you think OS X Tiger is fast on MacPro, you are going to be in awe when running Leopard on it.


This machine while it is so fast and powerful, it is surprisely very quiet. I almost pissed my pants because as soon as I turned on the machine, i did not hear anything. I thought the computer was DOA but imagine my surprise when I turned to my monitor and the OS X desktop was ready for me to start playing with it.

I don't need to add to the positive reviews of this computer. It's a great machine. However the first one I received had a faulty logic board which drove me crazy for a couple of weeks. Apple was useless and did not help me with the problem at all. Amazon was wonderful and sent me a replacement overnight with no shipping charges. Thank you Amazon custumer service.

My previous Mac was a Dual 2.7. A very fine machine with occasional loud fan noise and occasional power supply chirping. With my new Macpro 2.6 quad I've never heard a fan come on and no chirping. Having four hard drive bays is a plus because I edit video which requires plenty of space. Overall for most of the applications I use I percieve no increase in speed of the Dual 2.7 duo but for video applications there is an improvement. I wish I could have afforded the 8 proc. model but for now I'm very happy with my purchase.