apple

Sonnet Rack Mount for new Mac Pro/Mini

This is pretty brilliant:

[The] new xMac Pro Server is a 4U rack-mountable enclosure that holds a 2013 Mac Pro, includes three standard PCI Express expansion slots that hook up to the Mac Pro’s Thunderbolt ports, and has enough extra room leftover to fit two 5.25-inch rack peripherals (examples include tape drives or SSDs used for backup purposes).
— Ars Technica

The same company also makes a 1U rack mount for a Mac Mini that-

uses the Mini’s Thunderbolt port to add support for up to two external PCI Express expansion cards.
— Ars Technica

Seems to me a great solution if you're looking to upgrade to a new Mac that doesn't come with PCI card slots - video/audio pros come immediately to mind. ProTools HD users with existing PCIe Core/Accel cards wouldn't have to trade in for a Thunderbolt Native interface. Seems like a great idea to me.

See the products on Sonnet's website:

http://www.sonnettech.com/product/xmacproserver.html
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/xmacminiserver.html

 

Logic Pro X

Apple released Logic Pro X, the newest version of the pro audio software that is my go-to tool for writing and recording music. 

Here's a thoughtful first-look review from Jim Dalrymple of The Loop:

Logic Pro X is the best music software release I’ve seen from Apple in a while. They added a lot of pro features, but at the same time managed to make the app more approachable—that’s a difficult thing to do.

... 

Overall, Logic Pro X is a great release and for $199, you can’t go wrong.

I'm a little disappointed there is no discounted upgrade pricing, but $200 for pro audio software as feature-rich as Logic Pro is, ultimately, hard to be too mad about.