Apple is now taking orders for its updated line of Mac Pro mini-tower computers. The series can now be ordered in single or double Intel Quad-Core (4/8) Xeon “Nehalem” processor configurations up to 3.2 GHz, or with new dual “Westmere” Six-Core CPUs for up to 2.93 GHz 12-core operations.

In addition, the new Mac Pros feature new and faster graphics cards: the ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 128-bit 1 Gb memory or the ATI Radeon HD 5870 with 256-bit 1 Gb memory. Both offer two Mini DisplayPorts plus one dual-link DVI port.

All dual-CPU units can be configured with up to 32 Gb DDR3 RAM (6 Gb standard), while single-core unit can house up to 16 Gb (3 Gb standard).

Four hard drive bays can each accommodate 1 or 2 Tb 7200 rpm SATA drives or 512 Gb high-speed solid-state units. They can also be outfitted with one or two 16x Apple SuperDrive optical bays.

Standard input devices consist of the full-sized Apple keyboard with numeric keypad and the Apple Magic Mouse. The new Apple Magic Trackpad can specified as well.

Each Mac Pro incorporates four FireWire 800 ports (two front/two back), five USB 2.0 ports (two front/three back), two 10/100/1000 BASE-T Ethernet ports (back), front and back headphone/speaker minijacks, as well as built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi wireless and Bluetooth 2.1 capabilities.

Prices for the new Mac Pro line begin at $2499.00 for the single 2.8 GHz Nehalem Quad-Core workstation, $3499.00 for the entry level 2.4 GHz Westmere Eight-Core, and $4999.00 for the Westmere 12-Core tower.

Apple is accepting orders for the new Mac Pro Workstations today, with shipping scheduled to start next week.