<p>No it wouldn't.</p>

<p>Mining with CPU or GPU is worthless, and if your goal is buying some non-standalone ASIC, your best bet is a PC which uses as few energy as possible.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-02T03:46:29.617Z
I know mining with CPU is waste of time, but GPU mining should be pretty good, isn't it? Although I am not sure if 2011 Macbook Pro has a good GPU.
Alexander
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-11T14:16:52.820Z
@Alexander no, still worthless.
o0'.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-31T15:42:58.090Z
Mining Litecoin or other scrypt currency is only done on GPUs at the moment.  The MacPro with the D700 GPUs would probably be awesome, though you probably won't recapture the $3400 cost. In which case, consider it a gaming/workstation system that also makes you money.
Richard Żak
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-01-01T19:28:40.430Z
@RichardŻak not exactly. Mining is an intensive use, so the mining hardware wears much faster than it would if you weren't mining. Hence, you should never mine with expensive hardware: keeping it idle is still a better investment.
o0'.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-01-10T03:13:00.467Z
@Lohoris I don't doubt the wear & tear on the hardware, I was asking about performance.
Richard Żak
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-01-10T10:01:33.947Z
@RichardŻak performance = amount of $ gained vs. amount of $ spent.
o0'.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-01T22:34:14.370Z
2013-12-01T23:09:43.727Z
2013-12-01T23:09:43.727Z
o0'.
<p>@Lohoris did not stress it enough. Do not invest on CPU/GPU hardware with the intent of mining Bitcoin. What you'll spend on electricity will be several times more than the return in Bitcoin (yes, that's how little BTC you will make).</p>

<p>Even low-end ASICs (which are several orders of magnitude more Hash/Watt efficient than CPU/GPU miners) are barely breaking even, even after the price reached 1000USD+. I know because I have one!</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-02T01:59:17.290Z
2013-12-02T01:59:17.290Z
ktorn
<p>If you're asking if it's worth buying one just for mining? Absolutely not. For mining purposes there's nothing special about the MP.</p>

<p>When it comes to mining the simplest way to express how fast you can mine is that ASICs are faster than GPUs which are faster than CPUs. There is of course variation within those categories, but in general that's what you're looking at.</p>

<p>Now, when you are trying to figure your return on investment if your question was "I have to buy a mac pro for some other purpose, would it be worth mining on it?" then maybe, assuming there's some software supporting the GPU set in it. Then all you'd have to do is compare the difference between the wattage it consumes while you're mining with what your return is.</p>

<p>If you were asking because you have $3000 burning a hole in your pocket and you're thinking that the MP will still be useful if bitcoin valuation plummets or someone releases some low-cost mining hardware out of nowhere - no, still probably not. Because you could simply pick up some lower cost ASIC hardware that would do just as well as the MP for $300 and then still have the opportunity cost of that other $2700.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-01-01T19:29:40.480Z
If you factor in the wear on this expensive hardware, it will be almost certain it is better to just not mine.
o0'.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-02T03:30:25.757Z
2013-12-02T03:30:25.757Z
Don
<p>Would it be worth buying a Mac Pro (higher end model) and using that to mine BitCoin? If so then what should I expect in return as far as mining goes?</p>

<mining-pools><mining-profitability><mac>
Using Mac Pro for Mining
Hector Lopez
# Using Mac Pro for Mining

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-12-01)

Would it be worth buying a Mac Pro (higher end model) and using that to mine BitCoin? If so then what should I expect in return as far as mining goes?

**Tags:** mining-pools, mining-profitability, mac


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2013-12-01. Score: 3

No it wouldn't.

Mining with CPU or GPU is worthless, and if your goal is buying some non-standalone ASIC, your best bet is a PC which uses as few energy as possible.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: I know mining with CPU is waste of time, but GPU mining should be pretty good, isn't it? Although I am not sure if 2011 Macbook Pro has a good GPU.  
> **username_1**: @username_2 no, still worthless.  
> **username_3**: Mining Litecoin or other scrypt currency is only done on GPUs at the moment.  The MacPro with the D700 GPUs would probably be awesome, though you probably won't recapture the $3400 cost. In which case, consider it a gaming/workstation system that also makes you money.  
> **username_1**: @username_3 not exactly. Mining is an intensive use, so the mining hardware wears much faster than it would if you weren't mining. Hence, you should never mine with expensive hardware: keeping it idle is still a better investment.  
> **username_3**: @Lohoris I don't doubt the wear & tear on the hardware, I was asking about performance.  
> **username_1**: @username_3 performance = amount of $ gained vs. amount of $ spent.  

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### Answer by username_4 on 2013-12-02. Score: 2

@Lohoris did not stress it enough. Do not invest on CPU/GPU hardware with the intent of mining Bitcoin. What you'll spend on electricity will be several times more than the return in Bitcoin (yes, that's how little BTC you will make).

Even low-end ASICs (which are several orders of magnitude more Hash/Watt efficient than CPU/GPU miners) are barely breaking even, even after the price reached 1000USD+. I know because I have one!


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### Answer by username_5 on 2013-12-02. Score: 0

If you're asking if it's worth buying one just for mining? Absolutely not. For mining purposes there's nothing special about the MP.

When it comes to mining the simplest way to express how fast you can mine is that ASICs are faster than GPUs which are faster than CPUs. There is of course variation within those categories, but in general that's what you're looking at.

Now, when you are trying to figure your return on investment if your question was "I have to buy a mac pro for some other purpose, would it be worth mining on it?" then maybe, assuming there's some software supporting the GPU set in it. Then all you'd have to do is compare the difference between the wattage it consumes while you're mining with what your return is.

If you were asking because you have $3000 burning a hole in your pocket and you're thinking that the MP will still be useful if bitcoin valuation plummets or someone releases some low-cost mining hardware out of nowhere - no, still probably not. Because you could simply pick up some lower cost ASIC hardware that would do just as well as the MP for $300 and then still have the opportunity cost of that other $2700.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: If you factor in the wear on this expensive hardware, it will be almost certain it is better to just not mine.  

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