Apple Working on Redesigned Mac Pro With Smaller Form Factor and Apple Silicon Chip

[Maconplasma]

I have to wonder what they'll sacrifice to make it half the size? Probably ditch the AMD GPUs. Maybe even several PCIe slots, as well. I fear we'll see another trash can Mac Pro, and then Apple will have to relearn that some people want modular computers.

Love how you made up a full scenario for something that hasn't even happened. SMH

 

[brentsg]

True but you could get the base model and add RAM, drives, GPU, etc from an older Mac Pro that was upgraded or third party and get a solid machine for a fraction. i’m not talking a fully loaded machine as most of us don’t need a loaded Mac Pro. The base model 2019 Mac Pro is three times the price of the older base models mostly for AfterBurner support and a logic board that is custom to support high end film production, etc. A simple tower as before without be perfect. Think mid-tower system with a standard logic board and internal drive support and upgradable third party RAM, GPU.

Heck yeah. I bought a refurb Mac Pro in 2010 with a terrible quad core. Over the years I did a CPU swap, RAM upgrade, SSD's, new video card, SATA3 upgrade, new WiFi and Bluetooth.. it was fantastic. I used it almost 10 years before I started having some issues with USB. Honestly it might have been a software issue but I grabbed an i7 Mac Mini to sunset my time with OSX.

This reminds me that I need to get rid of the old gal as parts.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I am of two minds on this. I really wish I hadn't bought a Mac Pro because its a dead end already. But otherwise I love my Mac Pro - there's nothing that exists today that I'd want instead.

And, if you need the speed, it’s still the fastest Mac made. Will likely be so for at least another 6-8 months.

Given that 99.7 percent of businesses in the US are small to medium-sized, maybe Apple will finally focus on that market instead of enterprises. Or the huge freelance market. Whilst they're at it, release a non-6K version of the Pro XDR display.

Businesses pretty much across the board are going mobiles and portables. The freelance market as well, with a few (10 to 20% IF that) opting for iMacs.

 

[-BigMac-]

Wtf? Is it april fools already?
I thought Apple had finally woken up regarding its Mac Pro and they choose to go back to small form factor?
Trash can 2.0

 

[omenatarhuri]

The performance on these things is going to be so exciting to see.

It's very rare that we get to see something this novel come out.

 

[omenatarhuri]

Wtf? Is it april fools already?
I thought Apple had finally woken up regarding its Mac Pro and they choose to go back to small form factor?
Trash can 2.0

Don't really see a problem trying to find middle-ground. Not every needs a giant case, but also does not want to compromise like they need to with the mini. Good to have options right?

 

[Unregistered 4U]

One thing that’s important to remember is that the world is still pretty much the same world that Apple brought the new Mac Pro into. The vast majority of pro’s, defined by Apple as folks that use professional apps multiple times a month, do their work on MacBooks or MacBook Pro’s. Those that need more than that end up with iMacs or iMac Pro’s. The Mac Pro is there for folks that want more than the iMac Pro offers and I think any new Mac Pro, regardless of size, will try to fit into that same tiny niche.

 

[deconstruct60]

I would take one at half the size for $2999 if it spec'd out as the following:
8x DIMM slots max of 1TB RAM

If this is the "iMac zone" targeted Mac SoC. ( maybe iMac Pro replacement one). then I suspect won't see more than 4-6 DIMM slots.

2x GPU slots

The GPU slots are not likely to be decoupled from Thunderbolt below in this new system any more than they are in the Mac Pro 2019.

2x Full-Length PCI Express Ten 3 slots

PCI Express Gen 3 slots

Is that even keeping up with the Jones in mid-late 2021 in the workstation class? AMD is at Gen 4. Intel is going to at Gen 4 once "Ice Lake SP" trickles down to Xeon W or "Sapphire Ridge " does (but more likely in 2002).


four "full length" slots is getting back into the zone of the Mac Pro 2009-2012 chassis which is not even close to "half" the size of the Mac Pro 2019. The "GPU" slots and "full length PCI-e v3" slots are probably intersecting sets if Apple is trying hard to chop the volume in half. Two slots is still two more than what the Mac Pro 2013 ( and iMac Pro 2017 ) have.

For example, some minor variation of the MPX bay delivers both. Two PCI-e slots and/or a MPX GPU.
[Minor change in perhaps where the alternative 8-pin power feeds are placed so powering two double wide cards isn't quite the game of "twister' cable management.. Not that the MPX connector or general layout of the MPX bay shifts. ]

1x 512GB Apple SSD module base
4x Thunderbolt 3 ports

I strongly suspect Apple's SoC on this system will have in "Unified Memory" , integrated GPU. Perhaps that's how they'll decouple the Thunderbolt ports from being fed from the nominal MPX GPU in the PCI-e slot(s).

However driving XDR solely with an iGPU would be a stretch for several workloads so probably an MPX GPU as an feed. The iGPU is there for the users that 'evict' all the MPX GPU options from the device and still have a complete Thunderbolt v3 standard feeds ( Thunderbolt v4 more strictly requires video be present. )

I think that is part of the "chop it down in half" aspect. Just one MPX bay and those who need generic cards more than MPX GPU ... just lean on the integrated GPU.

2x 10Gb Ethernet ports

If the SoC is aimed more at the mainstream desktop Macs, I suspect going to run out of PCI-e v3 lanes to feed two 10GbE ports.


The price point though... yeah $2,599-2,999 range, but probably closer to what a "headless" iMac Pro is about now.

 

[-BigMac-]

Don't really see a problem trying to find middle-ground. Not every needs a giant case, but also does not want to compromise like they need to with the mini. Good to have options right?

I dont quite understand who on earth a smaller Mac Pro would be for..
Mac Pro is either for professionals (expandability, cooling, space for dedicated gpus), or its a Powerful Mac Mini - which is a consumer item not prosumer.
But i’m happy to be proven wrong when it comes

 

[Altivec88]

What people have to realize is that the "Pro" market is very diverse. Just because you need something doesn't mean everyone else does. I have no problem with the trash can MacPro because I don't need the PCIe slots. I have 12core xeon powerhouse that is super light and portable, that I can take home with me every day. Try that with the current MacPro.

If they are going to make only one MacProish type computer, then of course, they should stick with the newer large modular format they have. But I would love them to have a lower cost second tier machine that is half the size for us pro's that don't belong to Fortune 500 companies and don't have 50k to spend on a single machine. Something powerful with a bit of expansion (couple of ssd drives, swappable graphics card and a few empty ram slots)

 

[jccrtv]

So much for my spending a ton last year on the NEW standard that will be upgradable for years! Yeah.

 

[RumorConsumer]

Heres the thing. It is going to be need to be absurdly fast and better. Like for this whole transition to work its going to need to be a hands down amazing value proposition. I think they will do it. I cannot see us getting to that keynote and seeing the same year over year intel sized increases were used to. They are gonna have to bring the heat. Or the cool. You know what I mean.

 

[Mago]

Maybe a trashcan reinstall loaded with upto 8x A14x SOC (upto 64 cores), it depends on Apple developing the Bridge to interconnect all those SOC like AMD does with its Threadripper

 

[deconstruct60]

A smaller form factor means no room for expansion, so more than happy I bought the 2019 model for GPU rendering.

One MPX bay with a "half" width MPX GPU module would still have one empty PCI-e slot. The entry system would ship with an empty slot. (move the 8-pin aux power sockets a bit and that could be an pretty easy "add" to do). There would be room for some expansion. Not 2-5 cards, but one more is still probably going to be way better than the rest of the Mac line up (which will be at zero without looping in a Thunderbolt PCI-e expansion box).

The "one big GPU" that has "highest" power mindset only needs access to a slot to buy the "lastest bleeding edge" card with a working driver to keep swapping out cards every 2-3 years.

 

[Malus120]

Coming in 2025... wait make that 2030. “Can’t innovate my ass”

 

[edanuff]

How likely is it that Apple is going to support off-the-shelf GPUs or even MPX modules on Apple Silicon? None of the WWDC docs even hint at that possibility.

 

[Creator74]

I still like my late 2013 Mac Pro
12 core ,dual D700 video,128 Gb Ram,1 tb SSD running with dual 27” Apple Thunderbolt Display
It does the job more then I need

 

[deconstruct60]

So much of the Mac Pro is thermal management, cooling. So much of that can just ... disappear

The Mac Pro 2019 has three major thermal zones. CPU , MPX Bay 1 , and MPX Bay 2 ( well four if count 'backside' of RAM , SSD, and the power supply. ). If Apple SoC replaces the CPU then that is only one out of 3. ( granted 4 can drop out of the 1.4K power supply done and perhaps back down to 600-900 range ).

But Apple hasn't done much about the top end MPX GPUs that went into those bays. Apple pruning out the lower two , 'half width' MPX modules with something of their own design. Maybe. Apple leaping to the top of the high end GPU market in a single bound.... that's fairly unlikely. They didn't do that in the CPU space. They are even further behind the top end in the GPU space in term of computational horsepower.

More likely talking about slots disappearing. Less 3rd party stuff then less thermal management to do. Just not as extreme as the Mac Pro 2013 or iMac Pro.

 

[atomic.flip]

Will this one also be $60 thousand fully loaded?

 

[deconstruct60]

or you use it to further kick performance ...

Which they aren't going to do....

Apple Transitioning Macs to Custom Chips With 'Incredible' Performance Starting Later This Year

Apple today confirmed its widely rumored plan to switch to custom processors for its Macs, promising "incredible" performance and features. ...

www.macrumors.com

From the presentation that Apple did. That power consumption area where "Mac" Desktops are generally. Dark Black. Where Apple is going is in 'blue'. One of Apple's main objectives is to shift desktops to the left on that graph. More left than "up".


Dumping slots , lowering overall system power consumption , and lower greenhouse emissions with a lighter box are entirely things Apple will get up on stage and brag about.

Apple isn't going after the 100's of application cores plus multiple 350W GPU card in a single box market at all.
macOS doesn't cover more than 64 cores. Probably not going to for a very long time ( as that is completely decoupled from the iPhone market and the iPhone and mobile solutios is the basic requirements driver here. )

This "half size" Mac Pro notion means probably capping at just one 300-400W GPU card coverage. Probably get some incrementally better performance (relative to an iMac Pro ) out of this half Mac Pro, but Apple is mainly targeting less power from the wall socket with a slight performance gain as their main objective.

 

[buckwheet]

Since it’s smaller, can it have a unicycle wheel to save on costs?

Unicycle wheel and a system of magnets to keep it upright. The wheel and magnet assembly is $1499.00 USD.

 

[Alan Wynn]

Third redesign in a row with no updates in between? Great job, Apple.

Hmm.... Not sure I saw the release of this new rumored product. When did it happen?

However, I did see a few updates so far in the graphics cards and other components. Given the transition to Apple Silicon, I am not sure what you are seeking. Are you saying that you want them to stick with this case design even if the new thermal profile of the Apple Silicon system does not need most of that size? Are you arguing that they should neglect the Pro market and not release an Apple Silicon Mac Pro? That machine is the last of its line, so other than a possible CPU upgrade and another new GPU or two, I have no idea what one would expect.

I really don't know where their heads are at with the Macs these days. Why can't they make a modular desktop with internal expansion capabilities (drive bays, PCI slots, and memory) and a CHOICE OF GRAPHICS CARD VENDOR that doesn't cost an arm and a leg? Seriously, $6k for a nearly empty chassis??

As has been mentioned before, Apple, as it always has, builds a limited set of machines. That means that if they build an expandable machine it needs to serve the whole range. That means that the entry machines and the highest end are rarely the sweet spot. I expect that you will get a choice of graphics card vendors for the next system:

Apple and AMD.

If you mean nVidia, I would be surprised to see that until they change a number of their policies (including supporting Metal and providing source to their drivers) which is not very likely.

The Mac Pro used to be a be-all-do-all machine. An enthusiast could get one for an attainable amount ($2500 to $3k for a mid-range, anyone?)

The entry price for both of the previous two machine was $2,500 and $3,000, so I am not sure how far back you are going to have a mid-range machine at $3,000.

and know they could upgrade a component in a couple years to keep it relevant, while a pro (or a rich person) could configure one out the wazoo and have the fastest computer in their county for the next six months. Further, they could be configured for any use case -- gaming, music production, video production, 3D rendering, high performance CPU, or any combo of those.

Macs have not been relevant for gaming for quite some time. If Apple Silicon performs as well as it might, and Apple can produce competitive GPUs that they can sell for competitive prices, that might change. The current machine is great for music and video production and many machine learning applications, it is just not the right machine for hobbyists and those who want to tinker with their machine.

So frustrating. This is why I haven't updated since my cMP 4,1 (flashed and CPU upgraded).

It does not sound like Apple makes machines that are right for you nor is it likely they will anytime soon. Unless the game industry decides to actually support the Mac or, at a minimum, port to Windows on ARM that might run on ASi Macs, these will not be gaming machines. These machines will not run AMD64 versions of Windows, so they will not make sense for any high performance Windows based software (like 3D Studio Max), meaning that they will only be interesting for people if Apple is able to build systems that are compelling enough to get some of those vendors to port to macOS.

If they are compelling and priced competitively, they have a real chance. In a world where they a stuck with the same CPUs and GPUs that everyone else has, they would never be competitive for (as you said) more than a few months. In the Apple Silicon world, they may be able to remain comfortably ahead for much longer (witness how well one and two year old iPhones stack up against current flagships Android devices).

 

[deconstruct60]

I usually use rEFInd to install any OS but the lack of Windows support will be a no go.

Pretty good chance that it won't just be lack of boot raw Windows support. Not going to be a rEFIind at all either if Apple is completely dumping UEFI. All of the other UEFI tools and alternative intermediate loaders are out also.

Core issue seems to be not Window but UEFI being tossed out ( or any other standard or semi-standard boot layer. OpenFirmwaer , EFI , UEFI ... all of those.)

 

[Joe The Dragon]

Maybe they will sell the expansion slots in a separate chassis to those who want them, like the iPhone power adapter.

at TB3 speeds so they will suck

 

[Unregistered 4U]

So frustrating. This is why I haven't updated since my cMP 4,1 (flashed and CPU upgraded).

But, doesn’t that just mean that folks with cMP’s have their needs met with those older systems? As a result, there’s less of a need for a new version of it to be released.