Apricorn With Mac Array for Mac Pro

Apricorn, Inc. announced the Mac Array, a solution for increasing Mac Pro’s processing power.

Designed for Apple Mac Pro systems, the Apricorn Mac Array internal SSD RAID bridges the gap between computer’s high capacity yet slow hard drive and system’s RAM, acting as virtual memory, for a performance increase of up to 10 times. The Mac Array is a tool for high performance applications such as video editing, animation and image processing, providing a performance increase that can slash render times to a mere fraction of the usual time.

Built around four 128GB solid state drives on Apricorn’s specially designed SATA PCIe Host Card, the Mac Array’s unique form factor adds a total of 512GB of virtual memory to your system, yet uses one internal full length PCIe X4 slot, keeping the other slots and drive bays free for expansion. Fully configurable, the Mac Array can be used singularly or for the ultimate boost – in tandem with a second or even third Mac Array for even greater performance.

When tested with Disktester, the Mac Array increased read rates by 10x and write speeds by 6.8x over a traditional 7200 RPM SATA hard drive. When used in tandem with a second Mac Array, the speeds increased yet again to 18x read speed and 13.5x write speeds.

80% Reduction in Video Render Times
For high definition video rendering, Apricorn’s Mac Array has been shown to slash rendering times by 80% in real world tests when used with Final Cut Pro.

360% Increase in Image Processing Performance
For graphic artists and photo editing, when used as a scratch disk with Adobe Photoshop the Mac Array showed performance increases of up to 360%, making it a tool for fast image editing.

"Designed specifically for those in the creative industry, the Mac Array provides an affordable, turnkey solution for those looking to boost their Mac Pro’s processing power," said Mike McCandless, VP of Sales & Marketing at Apricorn. "By greatly decreasing rendering and processing times, the Mac Array quickly pays for itself in recouped hours and increased throughput. With the ability to add additional Mac Arrays to the same system, users are able to configure their system to meet their processing needs."

Easy to Install
The Mac Array takes minutes to install and comes pre-configured with the Mac BIOS and RAID 0 (striping) for maximum performance. Remove your Mac Pro’s side panel, slide the Mac Array into an available PCIe X4 slot, replace the side panel and install the included driver. Your system will instantly recognize the newly installed drives – with the drives already formatted.

Availability and Pricing
Apricorn’s Mac Array is available from Apricorn’s website fitted with four MLC 128GB SSDs (total capacity 512GB) – $1,499.00

Warranty
One year limited

System Requirements
Compatible with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard 32-bit systems. Works with Apple Final Cut Pro, iMovie, iPhoto, ProTools, Adobe Premiere, Aperture, Photoshop, Lightroom, Sony Vegas, Avid Liquid, etc.