it’s really confusing as it conflicts with Apple’s OpenCL support.
In particular, it says the OpenGL and OpenCL are supported even for Mac Pro 2019.
Well, it’s compatible as long as you don’t use the latest version of OSX, that is the logic. The hardware is compatible, not the software.
but Mac Pro 2019 is shipped with the latest macOS, so??? 
“Just downgrade it and you can use openCL” great logic for a workstation with a propietary ssd conector.
The SSD is also fully upgradable but yout can’t buy any SSD with the input connector of the machine they sell you (you can still use a PCIE card with a ssd though).
seems like it’s the time to say goodbye to Mac and switch to a Ubuntu machine… 
unfortunately most vendors are distributing their machines with Windows but not Ubuntu? any good vendor to suggest?
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Both HP and Dell sell workstations with ubuntu and their hardware is quite nice. Even if they sell it with ubuntu you can do a dual boot system and install linux as well… Both HP and Dell discount you the operating system form the total cost of the machine if you don’t want to pay the windows tax.
In any case, if OpenCL is something you would want, write an email to apple! I did it. If hundreds of users do it maybe they might care (like the ESC key from the macbook pro which is comming back).
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actually I purchased an expensive Dell Precision T7910 (with Ubuntu) several years ago… but it’s so disappointing: the machine keeps crushing because of various problems in RAM, CPU, cooler, SSD, motherboard etc. Almost every part of the original machine was replaced in a two year period until it finally worked. A real nightmare for me.
It’s the big reason for me to have high hope on Mac, but now Apple is not using Nvidia and OpenCL
I guess you can allways have bad luck… We have the same machine in the lab working with 2 fpgas (24/7) and we have had no issues.
I have a mac pro 2013 and I had to change the CPU and motherboard twice because of RAM issues. Moreover, I’ve had a bad customer service experience (contrary to the mantra that the customer satisfaction is the best one). Probably I just had bad luck.
life is difficult…even when u purchased a supposed-to-be top machine
@Tamas_Papp and everyone: any suggestion of a reliable and powerful machine that runs Ubuntu? (not Dell please) thanks.
Got a pretty good msi machine (prestige) that can run ubuntu with a discrete gpu card. In addition it can be found without any OS.
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thanks. certainly helps if a link could be provided. 
found on the web a company called System76.com that sells high-end Ubuntu machines. Anyone tried it?
MSI USA | 404 Not found (I was not able to find the exact model (outdated) I took neither the version without OS)
actually I purchased an expensive Dell Precision T7910 (with Ubuntu) several years ago… but it’s so disappointing: the machine keeps crushing because of various problems in RAM, CPU, cooler, SSD, motherboard etc. Almost every part of the original machine was replaced in a two year period until it finally worked. A real nightmare for me.
That must be bad luck… I’ve been on windows my whole life, and my hardware regularly outlived several macs in my friend circle. Additional bonus: seems when a Mac breaks down it’s also a big horror story, or at least very expensive, to get it back into shape…
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“Reliable” is a very vague term, and depends on your tolerance for downtime and data loss. Of course we all hate when either of those happen, but in practice a 99.9% uptime is more than enough for a workstation since downtime from maintenance etc will be comparable.
Use redundancy (RAID), ECC RAM if you can afford it (though some argue that it is not necessary for most applications), a reasonable motherboard (eg mid-range Asus or similar), a reliable PSU (I personally like BeQuiet, there are other great options there), quality RAM (mid-range Kingston or Crucial, no need for their fastest).
Don’t overclock, make sure airflow is OK, backup regularly, and then you are all set. All components of course can fail, catch fire, be struck by a meteorite, etc. Nothing is 100% reliable.
If you really want pre-assembled and pre-installed for a workstation, you should investigate options from these lists, depending on your location:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuPre-installed
(EDIT: we had pretty good experience with Dell though.)
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thanks for the suggestions.
unfortunately my Dell T7910 had < 75% uptime during the first two years of purchase. Basically I could never completed any job that runs over several days. Completely unacceptable.
btw, I have to declare that I’m in Hong Kong, and the Dell components (e.g. motherboard) were shipped from their China ShenZhen factories. FWIW, do NOT buy any serious thing made in China!
Whether you want hardware with a support contract from a company like Dell or commodity parts assembled with your very own screwdriver depends on various things, like
- what you institution allows (if applicable)
- how comfortable you are with putting together hardware and diagnosing problems
- if you are the only user of this machine, or if not, how others will tolerate downtime when you are not available
In academia, it is becoming more and more common for a couple of people to band together and assemble a neat little server. It usually provides the best value for money, and can lead to very little unplanned downtime but requires some commitment, and investment of time.
However, faulty hardware that can be difficult to diagnose can happen to just about anyone. CPU and burn-in tests are usually revealing, and so is SMART monitoring, but they do not catch 100% of the problems. People sometimes underestimate the importance of the PSU (though mid-range motherboards can handle minor fluctuations better these days), and a small UPS that can bridge power cuts that last less than 5 minutes.
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To me, the choice of computer is mainly about ergonomics and software. Paying a $1000-$1500 ‘Apple premium’ is irrelevant for a work computer that is supposed to last >5 years. If it makes me even a fraction of one percent more productive, it’s worth it. In fact, probably the cost of switching OS and getting everything set up for my workflows will probably be nearly as much over the first week.
(Also, I absolutely hate the way the Dell Precision (the main alternative for me) looks, with gigantic, 1990s-style bezels. It’s incredibly disctracting when I look at my colleagues’s laptops. Why could they not make a screen similar to the XPS?)
My concern now is whether choosing a Mac means I’m completely closing the door on doing any gpu-processing (from Python and Julia). My understanding so far is that if can switch to linux for those particular cases, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
To the question about using other GPUs with AMDGPUnative, no, you cannot. We only do codegen for the AMDGPU LLVM target, although it honestly wouldn’t be hard to do codegen for other targets while retaining most of the compiler infrastructure. But it’s not a near-term possibility right now.
Regarding Apple’s foolish decision to remove OpenCL support: while I will not be implementing Metal support myself, I will accept PRs for integrating a hypothetical MetalRuntime.jl as a backend, if such a thing is possible. All of the codegen must occur in AMDGPUnative, though (we won’t call into Metal or HIP to do codegen, if that is required).
I heavily recommend going with a Linux machine given this news about OpenCL, though.
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Do you mean any machine that runs Linux, including Macs? Or do you foresee issues with support for drivers on Mac, even under Linux?
(Sorry for the asking possibly obvious questions, I just want to make sure I understand correctly before making an investment.)
Yes, that also works (assuming you can get Linux installed successfully). Macs are otherwise standards-compliant x86_64 systems, and use vanilla AMD GPUs to my understanding, so that should work fine as long as you’re running Linux bare-metal (not via a VM).
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