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Apple Working on Two New Mac Pro Desktops, One of Which Will Be Reminiscent of Power Mac G4 Cube
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I’ve still got my cube.
I’d buy a re-engineered ARM cube in a heartbeat.
I’d buy a re-engineered ARM cube in a heartbeat.
A very welcome rumor.
Glad to hear that are considered both intel and Apple Silicon options.
Mac mini, Mac Pro and 2 "minor" Mac Pro iterations should definitely satisfy a broad range of "Pro" users.
Glad to hear that are considered both intel and Apple Silicon options.
Mac mini, Mac Pro and 2 "minor" Mac Pro iterations should definitely satisfy a broad range of "Pro" users.
Apple Silicon powered Cube? Shut up and take my money.
Apple is developing two versions of the Mac Pro to succeed the Mac Pro that was first released in December 2019, according to a new report from Bloomberg.
The first updated Mac Pro is a direct successor to the current Mac Pro and it will use the same design. It may also be equipped with Intel processors rather than Apple silicon chips, and it could be one of the sole machines in the Mac lineup to continue to rely on Intel technology. Rumors suggest that most other machines are transitioning to Apple silicon.
The second machine will use Apple silicon chips and it will be less than half the size of the current Mac Pro, putting it somewhere between the existing Mac Pro and the Mac mini. It will feature a mostly aluminum exterior, and Bloomberg suggests that it could "invoke nostalgia" for the Power Mac G4 Cube.
Apple is testing Apple silicon chips with as many as 32 high performance cores for its desktop computers, and 16 to 32-core graphics options are also in the works. For its highest-end machines, though, Apple is developing more expensive 64 and 128-core GPUs, which would be several times faster than the graphics options Apple uses from AMD.
There is no word on when the two new Mac Pro models might come out. Apple is working on transitioning its Mac lineup to Apple silicon chips, a process that is expected to take up to two years to complete. In a prior report, Bloomberg said that the Apple silicon Mac Pro was planned to launch by 2022.
Article Link: Apple Working on Two New Mac Pro Desktops, One of Which Will Be Reminiscent of Power Mac G4 Cube
Darth Tulhu
macrumors 68020
I know! That mythical creature known as the mini tower may actually exist!
Putting 128 ARM cores in a Mac Pro will let it run some kinds of software very fast but not everything can be split into 128 parts that work in parallel.
I suspect that all of the Apple software, like Final Cut will be re-written to have 128+ threads but third-party software would not be re-written for the very small Mac Pro user base.
What Apple needs if they are going to continue selling high-end computers is an ARM core that is faster, Simply adding cares will not work in all cases.
On the other hand, Apple might just abandon the professional market and stall with only consumers. Why would they bother with a low-volume product? Would they abandon an entire segment? Yes. they abandoned Aperture and gave away the entire pro photography market to Adobe. They might do the same with the pro film editing market. remember Apple was "all in" and promoting Aperture until that last second, then switched. Apple will take about the future of Final Cut until one second they don't.
I suspect that all of the Apple software, like Final Cut will be re-written to have 128+ threads but third-party software would not be re-written for the very small Mac Pro user base.
What Apple needs if they are going to continue selling high-end computers is an ARM core that is faster, Simply adding cares will not work in all cases.
On the other hand, Apple might just abandon the professional market and stall with only consumers. Why would they bother with a low-volume product? Would they abandon an entire segment? Yes. they abandoned Aperture and gave away the entire pro photography market to Adobe. They might do the same with the pro film editing market. remember Apple was "all in" and promoting Aperture until that last second, then switched. Apple will take about the future of Final Cut until one second they don't.
The only reason for the Intel version to exist is to make Intel look obsolete.
Proper heat thermals for starters
Don't get too far ahead of the market.
I've been very happy with my M1 mini. But I could be tempted by a mini Pro model, depending on the specs and price. Apple always dangles carrots in front of my face....
The first consumer-upgradable Mac? Not even close, the Performas, the Quadras and some of the PowerMacs were all consumer level upgradable machines. At one point, the PowerMac G4 started at $1299.
The graphics drivers for a Mac OS in parallels are absolutely horrible. Any game/program that requires 3D graphics fails in a virtualized Mac OS in parallels.
They put all their effort into making Windows work well, and nothing into making an older Mac OS work well
A cube-like Mac Pro feels totally out of place if all the other rumors are correct. Considering the addition of extra ports to the MacBook Pro, Magsafe, redesigned iMac with slim bezels and even a new standalone display this feels weird. All people want is more expandability inside their Mac Pro, but this will be less.
Nah. The original rumor of a smaller Mac Pro was from Mark Gurman and now he is back with additional information that there will still be an intel version. Legit article, both referencing the same source. This isn't circular/recycled rumors.
Really, the Mac Pro Mini will be about cards, not storage. With TB3/4 the benefit to internal storage is the lack of wiring, not bandwidth. I have like 25TB hooked up to my Mini M1, and the back is a mess of wires and hubs...and the drive noise is kind of annoying....but not annoying enough to blow another $1k on a box.
A 5.25” bay will never happen (I know you recognize that). Few Windows-based PCs are coming with them and there’s zero chance Apple will include one. It’s too backwards-looking of a need for most people.
So many Mac rumors today! This is awesome. 
I can see this being a system based entirely around one powerful CPU and GPU. Pretty much like a Mac mini on steroids!
Only the RAM and SSD will be user-replaceable, while the current Mac Pro will retain full modularity.
Only the RAM and SSD will be user-replaceable, while the current Mac Pro will retain full modularity.
I can see it to be the last to migrate to Mx silicon, but not stay on it ... but it also offers a level of upgradability (1.5 TB RAM etc) that I think Apple I till working on for their own silicon and might not be as far as they want ...