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Apple Confirms Mac Pro Is Dead, No Future Models Planned

iDento said:
With Apple silicon “inside”, what kind of upgrade can you do anyway? Beside what PCI slots can?
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Yeah. And these modern Macs are speedy little demons. Mac Studios can be chained, and external throughput is so fast these days - though I'm loathe to admit it, as I was definitely a Power Mac/Mac Pro user - may not be necessary anymore. Makes one wonder at the necessity on the part of the competition, frankly. These modern systems are incredibly fast and power efficient, and three stacked Mac Studios with add-ons would still have a smaller footprint than the last Mac Pro. I think we have left not just the Mac Pro era, but the tower era altogether.
 
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Someone mentioned a very important thing for serious professional use - the Mac Studio doesn't have ECC memory. This will discriminate against Macs and remove them from any serious medical, banking, or military applications.

As the legendary Linus Torvalds said: "I have no interest at all in computers that don't have ECC memory."

Apple is becoming a consumerist company and instead of putting a little effort into professional machines, they're throwing shovelfuls of money into the experimental Vision Pro. If they had invested even a fraction of that into updating the Mac Pro series and lowering the price, it would still be the computer of choice for every professional video and music studio.

Just remember how good the Mac Pro 3,1 and 5,1 series were in terms of price/performance. Many of the last 5,1 Mac Pro machines are still successfully working today in various design agencies, music studios and printing houses.

I speak from experience because I service these machines. These are the best and most reliable Macs ever made.
 
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BillyJoeJimBob said:
It's really a shame, this war on personal computing. It seems that the users of personal cimputing devices are being slowly funneled into a kind of dystopian model of things where the devices are designed primarily for societal/lifestyle-choice reinforcement and shopping rather than the kind of rugged DYI compute-driven art and science that made Apple's bones. I don't believe that a same-spec Studio is as powerful as a same-spec Mac Pro when it's really pushed, just because of the thermals. The Studio would certainly be noisier. That's a problem in a recording studio. This was the year I was going to buy an M5 Mac Pro. I guess I will buy nothing and just keep my OpenCore hackintosh, the most powerful, stable, and quietest Mac that I've ever owned.
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Having said everything I said in praise, I don't disagree with your comment either: everything from computers to phones are becoming simple appliances, like a blender or a microwave is an appliance; there isn't even any curiosity on the part of the consumer to look inside or dig deeper.

I dunno - maybe it signals a comeback for the real nerds? 😂

Regardless, I remember the days when even an iPhone was user-serviceable in that regard (used to work for an Apple Authorized Service Provider), and this is not that. Still, the modern hardware is impressive, and MacBook NEO seems to be at least a very small mea culpa, though not nearly enough of one.
 
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CarAnalogy said:
My thought was that they finally ran out of the original manufacturing run of cases they made in 2019.

The writing has been on the wall for this ever since they “completed the Apple Silicon transition” by making this last abomination.

Someone at Apple has always hated the Mac Pro and has been trying to kill it for a long time. So they did this to it so no one would buy it, and then said look no one’s buying it.

Just as the prophecy foretold.
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That could very well be.
 
Honestly I bet they discontinued it because Apple Silicon just isn’t suitable for Mac Pro. To top out the range it would require dual M5 Extreme chips AND expandable memory along with the ability to use graphics cards. With the demise of Mac Pro Apple is admitting their failure.
 
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MisterAndrew said:
Honestly I bet they discontinued it because Apple Silicon just isn’t suitable for Mac Pro. To top out the range it would require dual M5 Extreme chips AND expandable memory along with the ability to use graphics cards. With the demise of Mac Pro Apple is admitting their failure.
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I don't particularly disagree with this, either, just that modern architectures seem to be moving away from that model altogether, and I'm not necessarily even saying that is a good thing as there is certainly potential for great development in the tangential components. I do know the new machines are plenty speedy, though, particularly if software is properly optimized - though that harkens back to the Power PC days, when the same was true (software optimized for the architecture was insanely efficient), and it was a question of whether or not developers or markets would inspire that, and then, the lowest common denominator said unequivocally, 'No.'. Not for the better.

Could be history repeating itself, but no denying Apple's processors are impressive, all things considered.
 
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Pezimak said:
Here's a theory, Apple kills off the 'Pro' branding for its computers? I mean the flagship desktop is now called Studio, so what if they ditch the Pro moniker and call the max models Ultra instead? It would fit with the other branding then... Studio Ultra, MacBook Ultra?
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That would be the end of people being all weird about the "It's a PRO. It's for PROs!" thing LOL.
 
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Frixo Cool said:
Someone mentioned a very important thing for serious professional use - the Mac Studio doesn't have ECC memory. This will discriminate against Macs and remove them from any serious medical, banking, or military applications.

As the legendary Linus Torvalds said: "I have no interest at all in computers that don't have ECC memory."
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Agreed. Real (tm) computers have ECC. But, attempting to channel Apple for a minute, do clients of real computers need ECC? Apple was openly asking that question 15+ years ago when they started the long process of focusing mainly on client computers.

I think Apple should maintain at least a top tier of ECC PCIx rackmount/tower systems for groups that want to maintain a mainly Apple shop. I would. I think it would pay for itself in increased sales of client systems into enterprises. But, IIRC from 15 years ago, the general belief was that supporting enterprises as Apple once did would slow down innovation, so there was more to it than just the cost of a higher-end product line. Would Apple have been able to dive in with AS the way it did if x86-biased enterprises had a lot of input?

Frixo Cool said:
Apple is becoming a consumerist company and instead of putting a little effort into professional machines, they're throwing shovelfuls of money into the experimental Vision Pro. If they had invested even a fraction of that into updating the Mac Pro series and lowering the price, it would still be the computer of choice for every professional video and music studio.
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With things like Vision Pro and AI, it is difficult to tell if Apple really believes in it, or, that they just have to be seen to be doing these trendy things because otherwise analysts would write them off. Kind of like those dumb do-everything touch-screen things in new cars. Nobody I know wants or likes them, but, auto reviewers/critics refer to cars with buttons and knobs as old-fashioned.

Frixo Cool said:
Just remember how good the Mac Pro 3,1 and 5,1 series were in terms of price/performance. Many of the last 5,1 Mac Pro machines are still successfully working today in various design agencies, music studios and printing houses. I speak from experience because I service these machines.
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I haven't done the inflation calculations using CPI or GDP deflator, but, I do know that expectations have changed. If a junior engineer was making $30K/yr 18-20 years ago and bought a $3K MBP, that seemed reasonable. If a junior engineer is making $100K today, they could spend $10K on the MBP at the same ratio. But, I bet bosses freak out if it goes over $4k. Not trying t be precise here, but, I'm guessing most bosses expect thin client pricing and balk at spending relatively as much on user systems as they once did.
 
Legitimate question:

If your Mac Pro under warranty requires replacement what will Apple replace it with? A Studio? Or are they keeping a hoard of 2023 models for warranty replacements? Or will offer a refund for your purchase only?
 
Abydos said:
'a rose is a rose is a rose', the name is unimportant but the performance is. yes I miss the expansion slots, but I understand the need for minimal size and maximal bandwidth and the design constraints they imply. live with it
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...along with the increased noise and performance throttling because the box is too small.
 
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I still have my 4,1>5,1 downstairs, but it hasn't been fired up in three years. Guess I should go and see if it still works.
 
MisterAndrew said:
Legitimate question:

If your Mac Pro under warranty requires replacement what will Apple replace it with? A Studio? Or are they keeping a hoard of 2023 models for warranty replacements? Or will offer a refund for your purchase only?
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Any product that still under Apple Care Warrantee, Apple is required to replace or fix. The Mac Pro is now considered vintage.

Once it becomes Obsolete after 7 years, that's when its over. No repairs, no fix, just junk. Toss in the trash and move on
 
basehead617 said:
Also, there's no way the Mac Studio, especially the next Ultra is going to be a s silent as the Mac Pro with the same chip would have been. Mac Studio fans are loud.
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How loud is the current Max (as opposed to Ultra) Studio under normal operation? I recall the earlier versions were supposed to be quiet (except for the "coil whine", which I assume has been fixed), and specifically that they were quieter than the Pro Mini (which was one of reasons to spend a few hundred extra $ to get the base Max Studio rather than the upper-end Pro Mini)
 
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macsimcon said:
Can someone PLEASE fire Timmy and the Executive Team? They’re all too old, too rich, and too shortsighted. They fail to understand that you supply workstations, servers, wireless access points, printers, and monitors to get EVERY customer into the ecosystem, paying for monthly services, which is where the REAL money is.

Why did Bill Gates grasp this in 1980, but Timmy hasn’t figured it out almost half a century later? Some genius.
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I think Bill was grasping children on an island at the time in question...
 
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I would update my MacPro every 2-3 years. My 2019 MacPro is now 6-7 years old now. I have been waiting for an updated MacPro, to buy 2 new ones ASAP. I was hoping the WWDC MIGHT be a window to get a new one. I guess not now. My last purchase was $35,000 for 2 loaded MacPro’s. 2 displays. 2 stands.
I create music heard on radio around the world with Avid Pro Tools, which NEEDS PCI cards on the motherboard. I tried an expansion chassis, and it was a nightmare.
I create videos seen on TV with the power of video cards. I run all 15 of my corporations business on my MacPros. Now I have to struggle to find the last model made, and hope I can get 4-5 years out of them. Then hopefully Tim Cook goes away, and someone with a brain makes this MacPro again for the community that creates the foundation of the Apple ecosystem.
I think one of Tim’s biggest failures, is that he only sees value on a SKU if it only sells billions of units. Sometimes it is important to have products that fulfill the need of the ecosystem. In this case, the MacPro is that product. (same with smaller sized phones)
 
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KPOM said:
I think Apple concluded it wasn’t feasible to keep producing Ultra processors and that the vast majority of Mac customers are served by its existing lineup.
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I'm here to shed a tear for a great series of computers that really got my attention shortly before graduating high school.

But people have some weird attitudes about how computing ought to be.

Anyway, just the marketing question alone: "We want to build computers that are twice as expensive and powerful than average; who do we sell them to, and what for?"

I really like tools too. But this is what happens when you focus too much on tools, when the tool becomes the art.

Towards the end, the only thing different about a mac pros was plugging things inside of it. If there's no current demand for doing that, then yes of course get the damn thing off the market.
 
hovscorpion12 said:
Any product that still under Apple Care Warrantee, Apple is required to replace or fix. The Mac Pro is now considered vintage.

Once it becomes Obsolete after 7 years, that's when its over. No repairs, no fix, just junk. Toss in the trash and move on
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It isn’t vintage until 5 years after Apple stops selling it.
 
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