Just wondering if this version of the M4 “Hydra” chip would be exclusively available just for the new M4 Mac Pro? An M4 version that run too hot for a Mac Studio enclosure. Add a bit more processing capability distinction between the Mac Pro and the upper-end Mac Studio
When imagining hypothetical chips, anything is possible. And while we're at it, more imagination can resurrect liquid cooling or similar to not let it run too hot.
I generally buy rumors about a dedicated Ultra chips (no longer 2 MAXes linked together). For a product like Mac Pro, why not slot 2 or 4 of those, not necessarily directly (hardware) linked with some new version of a "grand central" to parse the tasks out over multiple Ultras? Conceptually, that should allow the spin of 2X Ultra or even 4X Ultra (4 chips). There would be a lot of redundancy but a 2X ultra Mac Pro could launch with more Thunderbolt ports too, run many more monitors in a multi-monitor setup, etc. as it could be viewed like 2 or 4 Studios in one case.
In other words, this WOULD pile up a lot of tangible unique benefits of Mac Pro over Mac Studio vs. the "as is" which mostly differentiates with only "slots" (seemingly very, VERY expensive slots). If a Studio can handle- what is it- 3-5 monitors, a duo ultra Mac Pro could handle 6-10 and a quad could handle 12-20. If a Studio can have 4 Thunderbolt ports, a duo could have up to 8 and a quad could have up to 16 ("up to" because I presume some of those channels would be siphoned off for the internal slots). Pro would have slots. Etc. In marketing more technicals, multiple Ultras would come with far more core counts, far more graphics cores, far more Apple RAM upside, far more Apple SSD upside, etc. Basically, there would be very clear differentiation between Mac Pro and Mac Studio and Pro would be for the high power users who basically need 2+ Ultras in
one case.
While we're in imagination mode, why not build in an Intel setup too, so that Pro would be the only Mac still able to be a true 2-in-1 (macOS and PC in one platform), maybe with the ability to share RAM & SSDs & external graphics on cards up in the slots (shared slots???)? Personally, I greatly valued the 2-in-1 benefit of Intel Macs (it was a substantial benefit to have BOTH macOS and Windows with me when I visited clients and no, ARM Windows is not full Windows). Part of the rationalization for the "Apple premium" was that I was putting money that would otherwise need to buy a PC towards the same box. Now that's gone (unless ARM Windows
is enough for some). So this would be
another very tangible benefit of a hypothetical Pro vs. all other Macs.
Among other things, this idea would flip the hackintosh concept with now Apple building the beast. And since Apple wants a relative fortune for Mac Pro, part of the rationalization of paying up for it would be the bonus of also buying a PC Tower too... vs. the "as is" where to get pretty much the same one might pay way up for Studio Ultra for the maximum Mac side and then a loaded PC tower to get full Windows and slots. In this 2-in-1, maybe Mac Pro macOS could leverage the PC hardware like an added coprocessor for some tasks too? Hardware focused on power instead of PPW has some processing benefits and a desktop should not be overly influenced by concepts related to maximizing battery life in a battery it does not have.
Build
this Mac Pro and I get more interested than basically Mac Studio with some slots in a big case that Pro is now. As is, I went the "separate worlds" way by buying a PC for the first time in 20+ years. I opted to step up that PC with lots of SSD storage, more RAM, gaming graphics card such that I put about $2K towards it alone. Then, since I needed a monitor for 2 computers, I bypassed the Apple-branded one with one input for another with more inputs. Thus, Apple lost the added revenue for PC and monitor I would have paid for another 2-in-1 Mac: about $4K that could have gone towards Apple products if they could handle these wants... as all Macs used to be able to do. In the above concept,
this Apple Hackintosh would certainly work with an Apple monitor which then might keep more money flow going to Apple. Apparently Apple Inc likes maximizing revenue per unit sold. Make Mac Pro more useful along such lines (a classic added value mix of benefits) and money that went to others could go to Apple instead. 💰💰💰
And the trick is if you weigh loaded Studio Ultra PLUS about $4K towards a fairly loaded PC plus third party monitor, you get right into the range of a Mac Pro and Apple monitor... especially if that combo would price an ASD more like iMac 27" pricing MINUS some value assigned to what was removed: entire Mac + keyboard + mouse... instead of seeking full price for that monitor alone.
