Like many other pro Mac users I was very surprised and excited to hear that a new Mac Pro is in the works. I don’t think I actually believed the Mac Pro was dead, at least not deep inside. But I had certainly come to terms with never buying one again…until now.

Before the Retina iMac, I used pro Mac towers for almost 10 years. I used a Power Mac G5 from 2005 to 2010 and a Mac Pro from 2010 to 2014. If there’s anything I took away from the experience of using pro Mac towers, it was the incredible performance. When I upgraded to the Mac Pro in 2010 the dual PowerPC CPU’s in my Power Mac G5 still felt like they had more in the tank. Those Mac Pro’s are famous for their longevity - mine was still performing very well when my iMac arrived.

What I want out of a new Mac Pro is a return to that level of performance longevity. The old Mac towers were relevant for 5+ years after you bought one. They stayed relevant because they used the highest quality parts currently available and had some user-replaceable parts. In both towers I owned I upgraded the RAM several times after I bought them - eventually reaching max capacity as I could afford it and the system felt like it needed it. I upgraded the Power Mac’s GPU to an Apple-sanctioned optional X800. I upgraded the Mac Pro’s storage many times over the years before eventually installing PCI-e SSDs in the giant tower - a massive boost to storage performance.

When I moved away from the towers to the iMac I also moved all of my primary storage to external drive enclosures. That experiment was a success. Apple made a big bet on Thunderbolt for expansion. From my experience, that was the right move. My Mac Pro had 8 internal drives at the end (4 in the 3.5 bays, 2 in the optical bays, and 2 PCI-e slots). That setup was convenient, but it wasn’t necessary. Thunderbolt enclosures are more affordable and the available storage capacity of SSDs and cloud storage has risen significantly. There are plenty of options to choose from now to increase storage capacity and performance. I’m very happy with the Thunderbolt storage system that I’ve been using with my iMac.

The biggest concern I had with the Retina iMac was graphics. Unfortunately I think that concern was valid. The GPU industry is advancing at an incredible pace, and the lack of an ability to upgrade the GPU is going to limit how long my iMac stays relevant for performance graphics. I don’t blame the iMac for that - the iMac was never intended to have upgradable or full-size GPUs. But what I want from a new Mac Pro is exactly that: upgradeable industry-standard GPUs. The older Mac towers had upgradeable GPUs after a fashion, but it was clearly an edge case. I’d really like to see Apple focus on solving this particular problem for pro users.

The 2013 space-age cylinder Mac Pro cut a lot of features from the 2010 Mac Pro. Some of those include:

3.5” bays
Optical bays
PCI-e Slots
FW-800

As a long time Mac tower user, I agree with all of those cuts except for PCI-e. Optical drives are clearly dead, and Firewire support is easily gained through Thunderbolt hubs for legacy drives. Storage expansion through Thunderbolt is a very reasonable option for virtually everyone - and for the folks that don’t want to deal with spinning disk enclosures, the price of large SSDs is very close to affordable levels. But dropping PCI-e expansion was a step too far. PCI-e is a requirement for upgraded graphics, and is a great option for a lot of other expansion, including storage.

I’m 100% on board with the suggestion ATP hosts made in “Thermal Corner” regarding adding additional PCI-e SSD expansion ports to the new Mac Pro. That would be a great step forward and go a long way towards keeping these machines relevant for years after you buy one.

The other wish that I have for the new Mac Pro is this - keep at least two Thunderbolt 2 ports. I can see why Thunderbolt 2 might be on the chopping block for the new Mac Pro. USB-C may be the future, and I understand why Thunderbolt 2 was removed from the new MacBook Pro’s. But when Apple signaled the shift to Thunderbolt storage, a lot of pro users invested heavily in Thunderbolt storage setups for an iMac, 2013 Mac Pro, or MacBook Pro. Apple should make using these storage expansions as easy as possible for Mac Pro users, especially on a machine where storage expansion through Thunderbolt will be required.

So will I buy a new Mac Pro? I think I will. My iMac will be about 4-5 years old at that point, and out of Apple Care. I wasn’t kidding about the graphics not holding up on the iMac. The iMac used to run Blizzard games at high settings when it was released, but lately I’ve had to reduce all of the settings to fairly low levels. The CPU is still one of the fastest that Apple has shipped in a computer, and the display is still amazing, but I think the graphics performance could be enough to convince me to upgrade.

When I first heard about CocoaConf Yosemite I couldn't believe there was a conference designed around three very different things that I love: Apple, Photography, and the outdoors. I enjoyed the experience so much that I went back for seconds this year and had an even better time. The conference is returning for 2017, and I'm very much hoping to attend next year.

It's hard not to feel inspired in Yosemite National Park. Spending time outdoors has always been a great way for me to recharge, but the serenity you can experience in Yosemite Valley is quite unique. There really is nothing else like it. If this were just a tech conference then Yosemite would still be a very special setting that people would get a lot out of. But CocoaConf Yosemite is more than that. It's a place to focus on the human side of working in the technology industry and why what we do with technology matters to other people.

When I came to Yosemite last year I spent some time after the conference exploring the park. I had a chance to hike around by myself, which was a unique experience for me: I almost never go out hiking on my own. But it lead to some of the most amazing things I've had happen to me on the trail, like getting snowed in above Yosemite Valley!

Snow! I woke up around 6am with a foot of snow outside my little backpacking tent.

Getting out and hiking by myself was actually pretty far outside my comfort zone. But that also fits the theme of the conference, which really focuses on learning more about yourself. Pushing myself lead some amazing experiences, including witnessing the most amazing sunset I've ever seen, above Half Dome. A picture of the sunset from Cloud's Rest is my favorite picture that I've ever taken. But it's not just the picture I like, it's the experience that it represents. Talking to people in the valley to get ideas on where to hike to. Planning the hike and determining if I could make it safely to where I needed to go. Being totally isolated, knowing I was the only one witnessing this in person up in the snow, but being able to share the experience with people later through photographs. And knowing the whole time that I was out there doing something new that I enjoyed. Such is the power of exploring the outdoors, that just one sunset can mean so much to you.

Sunset from Clouds Rest, overlooking Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.

While I was exploring Yosemite that first year I had a few books with me. I read Becoming Steve Jobs by Brent Schlender, as well as Creativity Inc. by Ed Catmull. Both books taught me a great deal about leadership that I don't think I would have understood as well outside of a place like Yosemite. The conference and the environment were the perfect backdrop for listening to these types of stories.

This year leadership was a central theme at the conference, as well as another trait I wasn't expecting: vulnerability. I had started reading Daring Greatly by Brené Brown before the conference and I kept marveling at the similarities between what was being discussed in the conference talks and the themes of Brené's book.

Daring to be mediocre. The only thing between you and what you want to do is doing it. Be a little wild because we are in the wilderness. Be your own replacement. Challenge yourself. Having empathy for the point of view of others.

Many speakers told stories of using 31 day challenges as a way to coach yourself into doing something you were interested in but not comfortable getting started with. It takes courage to start something new, especially something you don't know you'll be good at. Daring to be mediocre helps you take a step towards something you want to achieve but are having trouble getting started with.

But the biggest takeaway I had from Yosemite this year was community, and how important it is. Sometimes it's easy to forget in the interregnum between WWDC's just how special the community is around the technology industry. The tech community is one that I think can be of immense service to others. I was so impressed by the talk Christa Mrgan gave on Civil Comments, a tool that is actually helping change people's behavior and positively influence the nature of discussion online. That's the type of impact we can have on the world, and I think it's a perfect example of why CocoaConf Yosemite is so great. It's about inspiring you to make a difference, in your team, in your company, in your community, in the world.

CocoaConf Yosemite is the best experience I've had at a conference. If you haven't been I highly encourage you to go. I'm hoping to return again next year.