Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

[MacRumors]

Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup.

The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of the Mac Pro's components were mounted around a central thermal dissipation core, cooled by a single fan that pulled air from under the case, through the core, and out the top. The fan could spin more slowly than smaller fans and keep the Mac extremely quiet, even during intense operations.

Apple announced the radically redesigned Mac Pro at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in 2013. During the announcement, Apple's Phil Schiller infamously remarked "Can't innovate anymore, my ass." The comment was directed at critics who pointed at the previous Mac Pro's lack of updates and claimed Apple had largely abandoned its pro user base and was out of ideas.

Phil Schiller unveiling the redesigned Mac Pro in 2013​

Apple said that the new Mac Pro offered twice the overall performance of the previous generation while taking up less than one-eighth of the volume, thanks to its unified thermal core. The Mac Pro twinned Intel Xeon processors with dual AMD FirePro workstation GPUs, enabling it to deliver seven teraflops of computing power.

While the striking design was undoubtedly ambitious, users were unhappy with the way that almost all expansion had to be served externally by Thunderbolt 2 ports. Many professional users who were reliant on powerful hardware could not get past the Mac Pro's lack of internal slots to add graphics cards and memory.

The result was a device that was unable to adapt to changing hardware trends. Even Apple seemed unsure how to offer a meaningful hardware update for the Mac Pro; as recently as 2019, it was possible to buy a brand new trashcan Mac Pro from Apple, with no upgrades coming to the device during the preceding six years.

This led Apple to make a rare admission of the product's failure during a meeting with reporters in April 2017, explaining in detail why the device didn't succeed in the way it had hoped. In 2019, Apple's full mea culpa came in the form of yet another Mac Pro redesign, which took the machine back to a highly modular tower form factor with eight PCIe slots and three impeller fans.

Yet in many respects, what the 2013 Mac Pro set out to achieve—a small, powerful computer for professionals, with external expansion only—lives on and has been executed more effectively by the Mac Studio.

Article Link: Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

 

[karnac]

I picked up the 12 core D700 model for $300 on Facebook marketplace. Took it apart and redid all the thermal paste. It’s a solid secondary machine and also the coolest Mac I own. I think it’s a really unique and aesthetically pleasing computer. Gives me joy to see it every time I walk into my office.

 

[Keebler]

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I liked it. I bought one a couple years later and it was fantastic for editing photos and video. It was super quiet. I never had any problems with mine.

 

[CalMin]

This was a design that needed Apple silicon before Apple silicon existed. It was still form over function - but I remember being really excited about it until saw the price. And even then - if I had the need I would have bought one.

 

[rizzo41999]

I got one off Ebay a couple of years ago. Nice to have around

 

[macvicta]

11 years already? Man, time flies. And the older you get, the faster it moves.

 

[Agent4797]

I really wish this form makes a comeback with apple silicon, it is so gorgeous and unique

 

[DHagan4755]

And now, 11 years later, look at where we are. We have an amazing Mac mini! Boy, Apple was seeing things they wanted to create that they were limited in doing with 3rd party silicon.

 

[kwikdeth]

I've been saying it for years, it would have been more successful if they launched it as a new product line instead of a Mac pro replacement. Like the spot the Mac Studio holds now.

 

[Siliconguy]

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I liked it. I bought one a couple years later and it was fantastic for editing photos and video. It was super quiet. I never had any problems with mine.

It was a nice graphics/video workstation, but that was all it could do. Nowhere to add drives or IO upgrades, and the video cards were odd too.

 

[H. Flower]

It was a nice graphics/video workstation, but that was all it could do. Nowhere to add drives or IO upgrades, and the video cards were odd too.

Yep. It could never do what I needed it to do.

 

[mox358]

Like others I snagged one from eBay a couple years ago and it has been an awesome secondary Mac. It handles everyday tasks like a champ and looks so cool.

 

[wheelhot]

If the Mac Pro can't be expanded anymore due to Apple Silicon Design, I hope they bring this back. I own one and it's easily the most beautiful device on my desk.

 

[hieranonymous]

We’re marking eleventh anniversaries now? 🥲

 

[ThomasJL]

The "trashcan" Mac Pro was an awful design, but at least it had upgradable memory and upgradable storage. Tim Cook, being the greedy MBA degree holding corporate suit that he is, has since removed upgradable memory and upgradable storage from all Macs, both desktop and laptop, to pressure customers to buy new Macs when they need more memory or more storage. That way, Cook can continue to increase profits for shareholders by giving less and less to customers.

 

[257Loner]

It's beautiful. The Darth Vader R2-D2 of computers.

 

[cmichaelb]

I love mine. Easy user upgradable RAM and NVME storage. I just retired mine to second backup system and replaced it as my daily driver a M4 Pro Mac Mini.

Still, the 2013 Mac was gorgeous and cool as hell (love the port illumination) and I can't imagine getting rid of it.

 

[cmichaelb]

It's beautiful. The Darth Vader R2-D2 of computers.

I always thought of mine as Darth Vader's computer if he owned a Mac. lol

As miserable a bastard as he was, he had to be using windows

 

[green_diyos]

2013 Mac Pro is the predecessor of the Mac Studio.

Apple should've continued selling the Mac Pro with 2012 form factor.

 

[neuropsychguy]

I prefer to call it the turbine Mac. That’s basically what the design is. The new Mac Mini appears to take internal design cues from it (i.e., fans). I think it would make an awesome Apple Silicon Mac Studio.

 

[minik]

I'm still using the stock model and no thermal issue. It is a lovely Mac and fit my workspace.

 

[Gloor]

that design was absolutely stunning and genius. The triangle setup was perfect. The only issue was that it was targeted at wrong crowd. Dual GPU wasn't a good call when most rendering was still CPU based and overall it shouldn't be a Mac Pro but a different product like others mentioned. I think that design is timeless and I wish we still had it around.

 

[davidg4781]

Maybe a few more years and I can buy one for cheap to add to my collection.

 

[svish]

Such a long time ago!! It was a very different and nice product though it had its fair share of problems. Looking forward to seeing the next Mac Pro.

 

[skellener]

Still have mine running Sierra and some old unsupported but good software.