Apple Unveils New Mac Pro With M2 Ultra Chip and More

[Anaxarxes]

EPIC FAIL. Apple cant even make Pro computers anymore. Since M2 Ultra is not even close to RX 3090, that's a joke.

Just one M2 Ultra
No RAM upgradbiliy
No 5.0 PCIe slots
No GPU upgradability
Way more expensive than Mac Pro 2019
$1000 more for less

That is not even a workstation, it's just another Mac Studio with PCIe slots.

*facepalm*

Get over the RAM upgradability when you have a hundred and ninety-two gigabytes of it. Not even mentioning the RAM allocation of Apple silicon being significantly more efficient compared to x86 architecture.

There are NO PCIE 5.0 cards available in the market from nvidia and AMD yet. It's not the interconnect speed that limits the performance of the GPUs.

No GPU upgradability is not yet been mentioned. With drop of MPX in favor of PCIe, Apple may be moving to 3rd parties who wish to upgrade the GPUs.

 

[Joe The Dragon]

The $6999 base Apple Silicon Mac Pro configuration will likely include memory (64GB) and storage (1TB) capacities that are a $1000 BTO upgrade for the base $5999 Intel Mac Pro configuration (which is 32GB/256GB).

why push the base storage so high (at apples pricing) when most pros will want low basic storage and there own storage devices?

 

[Dozer_Zaibatsu]

What!? So no support for external GPUs whatsoever? Well that’s the end of my Mac Pro journey then. I'm kinda speechless.

Perhaps Apple owns a whole bunch of Nvidia stock. And they decided to just throw this so that they can be sure high-end rendering and super-computing goes to Nvidia's data-center offerings.

 

[CWallace]

why push the base storage so high (at apples pricing) when most pros will want low basic storage and there own storage devices?

Because if it came with 256GB like the Intel one did, the howling on this thread would be even louder.

 

[CWallace]

Perhaps Apple owns a whole bunch of Nvidia stock. And they decided to just throw this so that they can be sure high-end rendering and super-computing goes to Nvidia's data-center offerings.

They did that with the 2019 Intel model... Heck, they did it with the 2013 model...

Apple clearly is fine with people who want to use nVidia for gaming and ML to buy PCs.

 

[ddhhddhh2]

Alright, so Computex just wrapped up, right? We all saw Nvidia's killer presentation, and the future of AI and machine learning looks crazy promising. (Kinda brings me back to when S.J said Flash was on its way out, and HTML5 was the rocket on the rise. But like, has Apple really hopped onto that rocket yet?). And, of course, there's the here and now, and the future, with these increasingly sophisticated AI-specific "GPU" expansion cards (we all know most ain't real GPUs), plus all the AI training and applications that can be done with standard GPUs.

Now all this hinges on one thing – besides needing PCI-E, your "pro computer" also has to be able to use these "brands", right? So, maybe Apple thinks people using M1/M2/M3...GPUs and their built-in chips is enough to ride out this wave, or maybe Apple reckons Mac Users don't need this? Or maybe...and I'm kinda hoping for this one: Apple steps it up, pours in more resources into their own GPU to catch that rising rocket? That's what I'm rooting for, honestly.

If not, I really don't see what's so special about this MP model that could make Mac Studio users switch up, or even pull in more potential customers.

 

[StellarVixen]

This…

…this is it? Seriously, Apple? Just kill the Mac Pro and end this agony.

 

[seabasstin]

*facepalm*

Get over the RAM upgradability when you have a hundred and ninety-two gigabytes of it. Not even mentioning the RAM allocation of Apple silicon being significantly more efficient compared to x86 architecture.

There are NO PCIE 5.0 cards available in the market from nvidia and AMD yet. It's not the interconnect speed that limits the performance of the GPUs.

No GPU upgradability is not yet been mentioned. With drop of MPX in favor of PCIe, Apple may be moving to 3rd parties who wish to upgrade the GPUs.

so even though its clear that the pcie slots are for things other than gpus (audio, ssd, fiber, etc) and in a $7k computer that needs to last a minimum of 5y for ROI, you think that using outdated tech is acceptable?
what a joke. also 192GB of ram is a joke no matter how you paint it. even the M series processors benefit from more in most graphic and video workloads. that you don’t “feel” it’s important does not acrually mean anything

 

[droman]

To your point, why have a Mac Pro at all then? The Mac Pro is supposed to be the expensive, upgradeable, expandable workstation - CPU and GPU options, 256+ GB of RAM, dozens of TBs of storage, add-on cards for networking, a/v acceleration, etc

This one is a Mac Studio set in a larger case, for no reason, with the same limitations.

Mostly, to the production houses that prefer the macOS world with expansion (without TB expansion). Audio production houses are big on Pro Tools and their PCIe HDX cards that have these machines rack mounted.

Skywalker studios, to name one, has an entire data room filled with these machines, which power all of their Pro Tools systems, etc.

I see the point of the Mac Pro being the most expansive system, but I think Apple is gearing their primary user base at the Audio/Video studios. Which usually opt for storage and networking expansion first.
Some 3D studios but most are likely running PCs.

I would have loved to see Apple pull of the MPX M module concept idea. But who knows, maybe they will introduce that as an upcoming upgrade in the future? Doubt it, but cool idea.

Also, was hoping to see an XDR display update

 

[mjsmith1568]

Why is the new Mac Pro three times faster than the fastest Intel Mac Pro, and the new Studio six times faster than the fastest intel Mac Pro?

 

[CWallace]

Alright, so Computex just wrapped up, right? We all saw Nvidia's killer presentation, and the future of AI and machine learning looks crazy promising. (Kinda brings me back to when S.J said Flash was on its way out, and HTML5 was the rocket on the rise. But like, has Apple really hopped onto that rocket yet?). And, of course, there's the here and now, and the future, with these increasingly sophisticated AI-specific "GPU" expansion cards (we all know most ain't real GPUs), plus all the AI training and applications that can be done with standard GPUs.

Now all this hinges on one thing – besides needing PCI-E, your "pro computer" also has to be able to use these "brands", right? So, maybe Apple thinks people using M1/M2/M3...GPUs and their built-in chips is enough to ride out this wave, or maybe Apple reckons Mac Users don't need this? Or maybe...and I'm kinda hoping for this one: Apple steps it up, pours in more resources into their own GPU to catch that rising rocket? That's what I'm rooting for, honestly.

If not, I really don't see what's so special about this MP model that could make Mac Studio users switch up, or even pull in more potential customers.

If you are doing Machine Learning with Apple's tools, then Mac Studio might very well be all you would need.

It is for things like audio and video content creation with equipment that uses PCIe interconnects that Mac Pro is for.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

That chassis is incredibly empty. I feel like they're going to move very few of these.

VERY very few. Like hundreds of thousands. And, that’s actually the point. They never sell many of these.

 

[seabasstin]

The $6999 base Apple Silicon Mac Pro configuration will likely include memory (64GB) and storage (1TB) capacities that are a $1000 BTO upgrade for the base $5999 Intel Mac Pro configuration (which is 32GB/256GB).

exactly a total joke!!! hahaha 64GB DDR5 ram = $300
1TB 8000MB/s SSD = $200

 

[Dozer_Zaibatsu]

No MPX slots means that they are probably not ever planning on supporting third party GPUs even as compute accelerators.

Watch. In the update in five years, MacOS VanNuys, Craig will be "so excited" to bring you the news that they will support the ability to connect a GPU expansion card to the MacPro to offload duties for high-end computing like video rendering and AI computation.

They will rave about how innovative this is and the audience will wonder why nobody ever had this idea before.

 

[kingtj1971]

Mostly, to the production houses that prefer the macOS world with expansion (without TB expansion). Audio production houses are big on Pro Tools and their PCIe HDX cards that have these machines rack mounted.

Skywalker studios, to name one, has an entire data room filled with these machines, which power all of their Pro Tools systems, etc.

I see the point of the Mac Pro being the most expansive system, but I think Apple is gearing their primary user base at the Audio/Video studios. Which usually opt for storage and networking expansion first.
Some 3D studios but most are likely running PCs.

I would have loved to see Apple pull of the MPX M module concept idea. But who knows, maybe they will introduce that as an upcoming upgrade in the future? Doubt it, but cool idea.

Also, was hoping to see an XDR display update

I understand this "niche" customer for these systems. But it still seems like a ridiculously overpriced solution for a problem that could be solved other ways. Every one of these PCIe audio cards I've seen could be designed to work just as well as a stand-alone device that plugged into a Thunderbolt port.

At that point, you'd really have no good reason to pay $6000+ for a Mac Pro vs. a Studio. (If you're saying you'll pay a premium of thousands just because it's more rack-mount friendly? Well, I guarantee rack ears can be made to put a Mac Studio in real nicely for less than that.)

 

[bcortens]

Watch. In the update in five years, MacOS VanNuys, Craig will "so excited" to bring you the news that they will support the ability to connect a GPU expansion card to the MacPro to offload duties for high-end computing like video rendering and AI computation.

They will rave about how innovative this is and the audience will wonder why nobody ever had this idea before.

I hope so. I hope this is just a fallback product because they couldn't get the M2Extreme working.

 

[theluggage]

If you have workflows that require non-GPU PCIe cards, then yes. If not, then no.

You can get external thunderbolt-to-PCIe enclosures for the Studio. You can get a bracket to neatly mount a Studio + PCIe cards in a rack for under $2000. We'll have to see what the specs, bandwidth etc. of the MP's PCIe slots are to know how much better it is going to be than such a setup. But then, this isn't something that Apple spent a fortune on developing so they don't have to fly off the shelves - whereas developing a Xeon/Threadripper-killer version of Apple Silicon would have been a huge investment.

 

[sunny5]

*facepalm*

Get over the RAM upgradability when you have a hundred and ninety-two gigabytes of it. Not even mentioning the RAM allocation of Apple silicon being significantly more efficient compared to x86 architecture.

There are NO PCIE 5.0 cards available in the market from nvidia and AMD yet. It's not the interconnect speed that limits the performance of the GPUs.

No GPU upgradability is not yet been mentioned. With drop of MPX in favor of PCIe, Apple may be moving to 3rd parties who wish to upgrade the GPUs.

LOL, efficiency has nothing to do with the size and 192GB can NOT beat 1.5TB of RAM.

There ARE PCIe 5.0 workstations.

 

[Choco Taco]

LOL, efficiency has nothing to do with the size and 192GB can NOT beat 1.5TB of RAM.

There ARE PCIe 5.0 workstations.

Yeah. This is a massive fail for the Mac Pro.

 

[ddhhddhh2]

If you are doing Machine Learning with Apple's tools, then Mac Studio might very well be all you would need.

It is for things like audio and video content creation with equipment that uses PCIe interconnects that Mac Pro is for.

To be real, all of our AI development folks in the company use Linux/Win PC platform, and everyone knows Nvidia is the way to go, and yeah, recently there's that darn GPT added to the mix. You know, they're easy to expand, reasonably priced, got a good life span, and hell, you can even play D4 on 'em when they're done serving. I really ain't in a position to convince them to develop on Mac, so yeah...

 

[thehunted]

i feel like there is so much wasted space inside since its just a giant mac studio

 

[crsh1976]

Mostly, to the production houses that prefer the macOS world with expansion (without TB expansion). Audio production houses are big on Pro Tools and their PCIe HDX cards that have these machines rack mounted.

Skywalker studios, to name one, has an entire data room filled with these machines, which power all of their Pro Tools systems, etc.

I see the point of the Mac Pro being the most expansive system, but I think Apple is gearing their primary user base at the Audio/Video studios. Which usually opt for storage and networking expansion first.
Some 3D studios but most are likely running PCs.

I would have loved to see Apple pull of the MPX M module concept idea. But who knows, maybe they will introduce that as an upcoming upgrade in the future? Doubt it, but cool idea.

Also, was hoping to see an XDR display update

Sure, but a hard limit of 192 GB of RAM and it's soldered? In a machine that starts at $7k?

 

[grrrz]

"who is it for?"
the same few people who bought a mac pro last time and will pretty much be able to keep their current setup and just have a faster cpu. not that many people but if you have a studio with a racked mac pro and a bazillion PCIe card and you don't want to entirely redesign your studio and your workflow and just the upgrade; that will be for you. this was and will remain an extremely niche product.

 

[weckart]

Not always. It's becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy, though, with insane prices and very little capability gained.

There is almost no new engineering involved here. Why did it take so long to be released? It feels like Apple had some other solution in mind, but weren't able to get it working and gave up. And so they hocked this loogie up to say they kept their promise.

Apple had to put out something in order to fully dump Intel support in the future. That is what this product is for; not that it has a purpose of its own.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Why is the new Mac Pro three times faster than the fastest Intel Mac Pro, and the new Studio six times faster than the fastest intel Mac Pro?

I think they said the new Studio is six times faster than the fastest Intel iMac...

But I could be wrong... it was an hour ago. I'll have to go back and watch the keynote again later.