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When Apple made that statement I don't think they were anticipating the depths of the massive supply chain disruptions that would occur over the next two years, especially in the semiconductor industry. Either way you slice it I think they're doing pretty good with the hand they've been dealt in terms of getting these products out!
Covid had already hit by then so they should have anticipated serious supply change issues. Besides that’s supposed to be Tim Cook’s area of expertise.
 
Because they sell in penny numbers to a tiny number of professionals. Apple gets most sales from iPhones, iPads, earphones, Watches and Macs, probably in that order (dunno), not pro-grade computers costing more than their car.
That's not how halo products work my friend.
 
I have no evidence that such a configuration is possible, but I'd be really interested to see a Mac Pro with some sort of SOC expansion card architecture. Want more CPU, GPU, Memory ... slide in another card with an M2 Extreme on it. I hope this would allow Apple to keep offering highly variable CPU and Memory configurations maybe even up to the 1.5TB of RAM supported by the current Mac Pro.
I also have thought that would be interesting to see.
 
Ummm, don't you mean you have 320GB of RAM? What combination of video cards gives you that much VRAM, and is this a system not listed on your signature?

As far as I know, the most VRAM you can have under MacOS would be a 2019 Mac Pro with a pair of W6800x Duos, for 128GB of VRAM.
Not a Mac. I have a GPU server at work with 8x GPU’s each with 40GB
 


Thanks to various reports and the launch of the Mac Studio earlier this year, there is an increasingly clear picture of what to expect from Apple silicon Mac Pro configurations later this year.

mac-pro-mini-feature.jpg

The Mac Pro is one of the last Intel-based Mac models still on sale and the only remaining Mac product line with no Apple silicon chip options. An all-new model that finally brings Apple silicon to Apple's top-tier Mac for professionals has now been anticipated for over two years. At its "Peek Performance" event earlier this year, Apple even teased the launch of the Apple silicon Mac Pro, saying "that's for another day."

Previously, reports about a smaller Mac Pro model placed somewhere between the Mac mini and the Mac Pro made it difficult to know what to expect from the future of the high-end Mac Pro line, but it is now clear many of these rumors related to the Mac Studio, clarifying what is expected from the next-generation Mac Pro.

Multiple reports from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman about the Apple silicon Mac Pro's chip options and specifications provide a fairly straightforward picture of what to expect from the new flagship Mac. According to Gurman, users will reportedly be able to configure the new Mac Pro with "M2 Ultra" and "M2 Extreme" chip options. The device's configurations are likely to look as follows:


Mac Pro With M2 Ultra
  • 20-core CPU (16 high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores)
  • Up to a 64-core GPU
  • 32-core Neural Engine
  • 64GB or 128GB of unified memory


Mac Pro With M2 Extreme
  • 40-core CPU (32 high-performance cores and eight high-efficiency cores)
  • Up to a 128-core GPU
  • 64-core Neural Engine
  • At least 128GB or 256GB of unified memory


At present, the M1 Ultra is Apple's most powerful custom silicon chip available, featuring a 20-core CPU and up to a 64-core GPU, along with a 32-core Neural Engine. Sitting above the Ultra in the chip lineup, the M2 Extreme would presumably surpass these specs to become the top-tier Apple silicon chip for maximum performance.

According to these rumors, the M2 Extreme would surpass the top-tier Intel Xeon W CPU option with 28-cores offered in the current Intel-based Mac Pro. The M2 Extreme's known specifications effectively double the capabilities of the M1 Ultra in the Mac Studio, but if it is based on the more advanced 5nm fabrication process behind the current M2 chip, it is likely that there will be a range of other improvements in terms of core technologies, efficiency, and clock speed.

The M2 chip delivers an 18 percent faster CPU, a 35 percent more powerful GPU, a 40 percent faster Neural Engine, and 50 percent more memory bandwidth compared to the M1 chip. A similar performance delta between the M1 Ultra and M2 Ultra seems likely.

The current Mac Pro is available with up to 1.5TB of memory, a $25,000 configuration option available to $11,999 and $12,999 Mac Pro models with 24- and 28-core CPUs. Since Apple silicon Macs use a shared pool of unified memory rather than the conventional DDR4 ECC memory sticks used in the current Mac Pro, it seems probable that it will be available with considerably less memory.

Mac-Pro-tower-inside.jpg

The M1 family of chips follows a clear system for increasing unified memory options, with the M1 offering 8GB or 16GB, the M1 Pro offering 16GB or 32GB, the M1 Max offering 32GB or 64GB, and the M1 Ultra offering 64GB or 128GB. As such, it seems plausible that any new "Extreme" chip above the Ultra will offer 128GB and 256GB unified memory options. The M2 chip added a 24GB memory option so it is possible that Apple could offer even larger 192GB and 384GB amounts of unified memory with the new Mac Pro.

The Mac Pro currently starts at $5,999, with the potential to price it up to over $52,000 in custom configurations. The base model Apple silicon Mac Pro with the M2 Ultra is almost certain to cost more than the high-end Mac Studio with the M1 Ultra, which starts at $3,999. It seems likely that the new base model Mac Pro will continue to start at a price point similar to the current model, but there is no further information about pricing at this time.

Beyond its basic specifications, little is currently known about the device's design, ports, and modularity. Apple is expected to introduce the Apple silicon Mac Pro later this year, and it could be followed by a "Pro" version of the Studio Display with a mini-LED panel and support for ProMotion in early 2023. For more information about the new Mac Pro, see our detailed guide.

Article Link: Apple Silicon Mac Pro Configurations: Everything We Know
IMO the Mac Pro needs to be and will be more than simply a stronger ultra chip configuration. Apple created the Studio for that place in the product hardware hierarchy. After waiting this long and Cook even teasing the new Mac Pro product, Mac Pro must be much more than just a stronger Studio the article and most comments suggest.
 
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First I've heard of this. What about the M1 Ultra is broken?

The GPU doesn't scale well (underperforms for the number of cores) and in many workflows performs nearly the same as the M1 Max.

The CPU side of things is all good though, if that is your jam.
 
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I sure hope that Apple logo isn't so tiny. How about edge-to-edge, or better yet, wrap-around! ;)#makethelogobig!
 
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Honestly, if the Mac Pro "only" doubles the power of the Mac Studio it's gonna be underwhelming.
Apple perhaps has designed a Mac Pro with stackable M Extreme.
Now imagine a Mac with 10x M Extreme, an equivalent to 20 times the power of the Studio. That would be really something.
 
Yeah but here's the problem. They could connect two M1 Max chips together because each M1 Max chip devotes an entire edge of its die to an interface that can pair up with another M1 Max chip.

How are they supposed to connect four Max chips to each other when each chip can only connect to one other chip?

And why isn't this the very first question that anybody is asking?
Same way they came up with a M1 chip that didn't initially have the feature to connect to another one like it, by adding a bridge.

If they can add one, they can presumably add two - it could be a M2 Max/Ultra feature that differentiates it from the M1 Max, allowing Apple to connect four M2 chips together (aka M2 Extreme).
 
But it's still just speculation. Nothing is 100% known. Like you said, it's just a guess based on the past. We got the same "What we know" articles about how we "know" the Apple Watch 7 will have flat edges and we all know how that turned out.
Scintillating!
 
Honestly, if the Mac Pro "only" doubles the power of the Mac Studio it's gonna be underwhelming.
Apple perhaps has designed a Mac Pro with stackable M Extreme.
Now imagine a Mac with 10x M Extreme, an equivalent to 20 times the power of the Studio. That would be really something.
cpu to cpu io likely will not let that happen.
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: In continuing Apple's drive to maximize integration across all elements of its devices, the wheels on the new Apple Silicon Mac Pro will be integrated with the CPU cores. Thus the number of required wheels (at $200 each) will be as folows:

Ultra: 20 wheels ($4000)
Extreme: 40 wheels ($8000)

Since these wheels are directly integrated with the CPU, they will be a mandatory option for both the standing and rack mount cases.
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: In continuing Apple's drive to maximize integration across all elements of the device, the wheels on the new Apple Silicon Mac Pro will be integrated with the CPU cores. Thus the number of required wheels (at $200 each) will be as folows:

Ultra: 20 wheels ($4000)
Extreme: 40 wheels ($8000)

Since these wheels are directly integrated with the CPU, they will be a mandatory option for both the standing and rack mount cases.
I would pay to hear Johny Srouji talk about these new Apple Silicon wheels.
 
How come these are never on display in Apple Stores?
Suprised to hear that. My local Apple store has one. It's attached to a Pro Display XDR. Then again, I'm in a city where there are a lot of people doing professional film and video work, so maybe it depends on the local market.
 
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Every single system I have disagrees with this so much. ;)
Hey, quick question, do you actually use those iMac G3's these days? or are they just nostalgia pieces for you?

Nevermind. I should have realized that someone else would ask. Thanks!
 
I hope not, given that the M1 Ultra is fundamentally broken and apparently unfixable. M2 Ultra should resolve this ASi misstep and, like for like, should be a massive improvement on the original Ultra.
Serious question: How is the M1 fundamentally broken, and what ASI misstep are you talking about? Fundamentally broken sounds like the computer won’t work, which it obviously does.
 
The GPU doesn't scale well (underperforms for the number of cores) and in many workflows performs nearly the same as the M1 Max.

The CPU side of things is all good though, if that is your jam.
That’s a software issue.
 
It would be hilarious if using M2 is so much more efficient it becomes the little Mac Pro in the picture
 
Honestly, if the Mac Pro "only" doubles the power of the Mac Studio it's gonna be underwhelming.
Apple perhaps has designed a Mac Pro with stackable M Extreme.
Now imagine a Mac with 10x M Extreme, an equivalent to 20 times the power of the Studio. That would be really something.
Is there anything on the market right now that doubles the power of the Studio?
 
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