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Apple's Last M4 Mac: What's Rumored for the Mac Pro
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How many real professionals that make actual money with a computer they bought with just the right spec will bother tinkering with upgrades afterwards?
The tinkering kind are almost always (wannabe) semi professionals and hobbyists.
0.00000001% of Mac users need a MacPro and you are obviously not one of them.
From what I've see the most they will do is put the amount of RAM in they want as it's cheaper going this party, and then any extra storage they have. Then they just use it for work.
Extra storage isn't a real problem, PCIe carrier cards do work. If a real professional really wants his files locally that is.
Extra RAM would require Apple designing a brand new chip which won't reach the same bandwidth as on package RAM.
Not gonna happen for an ultra niche product.
Only 192GB max RAM. I am crestfallen. My first LCII had 4MB! As Mr Moore walks off in a grey flannel suit, muttering….
I don't feel the need for a Mac Pro myself, but always nice to see what they can make out of it.
But if someone had told me in, say 2010, that a future Mac Pro would not have upgradable RAM I would not have believed them.
But if someone had told me in, say 2010, that a future Mac Pro would not have upgradable RAM I would not have believed them.
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Oh how stupid am I? Of course, I was thinking of the Intel chip models in regards to a Pro user fitting more RAM.
I gotta say I just don't get the Pro, I mean so far its chip is the exact same as the Studio, it doesn't really offer any higher specs, it doesn't have a higher performing Ultra or anything, and the cards that will work with it are extremely limited. But I'm not its target audience not by a long shot.
But I think the Studio must have stolen a lot of the Mac Pro customers who need that power. Especially at its cheaper price. If they can get around the expansion cards not being needed that is. I think many had the Pro for the fastest chip.
....
.... ah, who would've thought
The MP is for:
- people with far more money than common sense wanting bragging rights
- people who need something Mac with extra I/O that can't be done over USB/ThunderBolt/network
....
.... ah, who would've thought
The MP is for:
- people with far more money than common sense wanting bragging rights
- people who need something Mac with extra I/O that can't be done over USB/ThunderBolt/network
Yes but the niche who need the extra I/O are more niche then Mr niche himself lol! I would argue music production could use it but it seems you see in studios Mac Studios and MacBook Pro's just as much? And the older Intel Mac Pro too. I don't think any GPU card works with it. And I'm not sure what extra power or features the Mac Pro offers video production?
It would be nice perhaps if they gave the Pro a bit of a redesign, reduce the card slots to say 2, and then give it a special more powerful chip then any other Mac.
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I honestly don't think Apple’s not going to bother with an M4 Ultra for the Mac Pro. It’s pretty clear by now that not every chip generation is going to get an Ultra version, and the M4 Max doesn’t even support UltraFusion. So forget M4 Ultra. And they’re not going to use the M3 Ultra either—if that was the plan, they would’ve launched the updated Mac Pro alongside the Mac Studio just a few weeks ago.
What Apple will do is build a completely new chip for the Mac Pro—let's just go with that M5 Extreme naming. It’ll be a standalone, high-performance chip that doesn’t rely on fusing two Max chips together. It’ll be the top of the line, no compromises. Apple will likely update it every 3–5 years, which is perfectly fine for the Mac Pro’s niche. But when it drops, it’ll crush everything else in their lineup, including the Ultra chips in the Mac Studio for years.
My bet is they’ll announce it at WWDC this year, alongside refreshed Pro Display XDR and Studio Displays. Then, a couple of years down the line, we’ll get the M5 Ultra—a cut-down version of the Extreme—for the Mac Studio. That’s how they’ll stagger their chip tiers going forward.
This would finally solve the long-standing issue of the Mac Pro being left behind. It puts the Mac Pro back at the top, where it belongs, and keeps the Mac Studio in a solid middle tier with regular Ultra upgrades every other year.
This is the only move that makes sense in my opinion. If Apple’s serious about differentiating the Mac Pro, they need to give it a real performance lead—not just recycled silicon that is glued to another chip.
What Apple will do is build a completely new chip for the Mac Pro—let's just go with that M5 Extreme naming. It’ll be a standalone, high-performance chip that doesn’t rely on fusing two Max chips together. It’ll be the top of the line, no compromises. Apple will likely update it every 3–5 years, which is perfectly fine for the Mac Pro’s niche. But when it drops, it’ll crush everything else in their lineup, including the Ultra chips in the Mac Studio for years.
My bet is they’ll announce it at WWDC this year, alongside refreshed Pro Display XDR and Studio Displays. Then, a couple of years down the line, we’ll get the M5 Ultra—a cut-down version of the Extreme—for the Mac Studio. That’s how they’ll stagger their chip tiers going forward.
This would finally solve the long-standing issue of the Mac Pro being left behind. It puts the Mac Pro back at the top, where it belongs, and keeps the Mac Studio in a solid middle tier with regular Ultra upgrades every other year.
This is the only move that makes sense in my opinion. If Apple’s serious about differentiating the Mac Pro, they need to give it a real performance lead—not just recycled silicon that is glued to another chip.
Video and audio studios have long past gone the need for PCIe slots.
Back in PowerMac G5 and early MacProIntel times, sure you'll find plenty of those on ebay that have some aftermarket input card installed, but today?
Hook it all up to one basic box, connect to that box via USB or over the net and your golden for any realistic need.
Neither did the M3Max
Dunno, maybe they are just waiting for another domino to fall into place.
I just ordered an M3 Ultra yesterday. So, of course, the speculation about something better has to be put in my face.
Had an interesting conversation with our Apple rep this week.
As you know, Apple have AI servers crunching their LLMs using Apple silicon, apparently running a special version of iOS.
I jokingly asked if they were xserves! But they are some bespoke server.
I wouldn’t think they’re rack-mounted Mac Pros… they could be I suppose…but wouldn’t it be better and more efficient all round to go with a “slot in” M4? A few SoCs to a unit? Perhaps ultra fusion has evolved into a socket?!
As you know, Apple have AI servers crunching their LLMs using Apple silicon, apparently running a special version of iOS.
I jokingly asked if they were xserves! But they are some bespoke server.
I wouldn’t think they’re rack-mounted Mac Pros… they could be I suppose…but wouldn’t it be better and more efficient all round to go with a “slot in” M4? A few SoCs to a unit? Perhaps ultra fusion has evolved into a socket?!
That would not be ultrafusion.
But.... it is plausible that they use custom silicon in those servers that as such isn't used in any consumer product.
It also not completely out of the question that the MacPro we know is dead and eventually comes back later as a dedicated AI workstation with just those chips.
Could be "slow" at running normal apps (if thats even an option) but crush it on purpose build SW.
Just one of the many far out possibilities on the future of the MacPro with the other extreme an M3Ultra one being silently dropped within the next few weeks.
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Years ago before the silicon transition, I always aspired to have one of these Mac Pros but I agree with many on here. After the Mac Studio was announced, it doesn’t make much sense to get the Mac Pro unless you need the PCIe slots for special purposes.
Across 2024 and the early months of 2025, Apple refreshed all of its Macs with next-generation M4 chips, with the exception of the Mac Pro. The Mac Pro is still waiting for an update, but it is supposed to get an overhaul later this year.
M-Series Chip
The current version of the Mac Pro can be purchased with Apple's M2 Ultra chip, which came out in June 2023. It might seem logical for the Mac Pro to get the equivalent M4 chip, the M4 Ultra, but it turns out Apple might not have an M4 Ultra in the works.
When the Mac Studio was updated earlier this month, Apple announced a version with the M4 Max chip, and a version with an M3 Ultra chip, with no M4 Ultra unveiled. Apple told Mac Studio reviewers that not every generation of M-series chips will include a higher-end "Ultra" tier, so there may simply be no M4 Ultra that exists for the Mac Pro.
There's now a question over what chip Apple will use in the Mac Pro, and there are a few possibilities.
The M1 Ultra, M2 Ultra, and M3 Ultra chips that Apple has released have essentially been two Max chips linked together through an "UltraFusion" connector. The M4 Max does not have the UltraFusion connector available, so the first possibility seems unlikely.
- Apple does have an M4 Ultra chip coming, and it's not ready yet.
- There's some version of a high-end M4 chip that is not technically an "Ultra" chip and is instead called something else like "M4 Extreme."
- The Mac Pro will use the M3 Ultra chip.
- The Mac Pro will get an M5 Ultra chip.
Apple could be making an M4 Ultra or Extreme chip that is standalone and not a doubled up variant of the M4 Max, but Bloomberg's Mark Gurman recently claimed that Apple doesn't want to create an M4 Ultra chip from scratch because of costs, production challenges, and low sales of high-end and expensive machines.
Apple could refresh the Mac Pro with the same M3 Ultra chip that it put in the Mac Studio, but if that's Apple's plan, it's likely the company would have just refreshed the Mac Pro alongside the Mac Studio. The Mac Pro could be held back for other development reasons, but there aren't really rumors of notable new features coming.
We might be getting the first Macs with M5 chips later this year, but there's also a chance M5 Macs won't come until early 2026. Even if Macs with M5 chips do launch in late 2025, there's no guarantee that an Ultra version of the chip will be ready to go.
As of right now, there's no clear indication of what's in store for the 2025 Mac Pro's Apple silicon chip.
Design
There aren't rumors of design updates for the next Mac Pro, so it's not likely that Apple has anything planned.
Ports
Apple added Thunderbolt 5 to the Mac Studio and MacBook Pro, so the Mac Pro will likely get Thunderbolt 5 ports too. Thunderbolt 5 will allow for more high-resolution displays to be connected to the Mac Pro.
RAM and SSD
The M3 Ultra chip supports up to 512GB RAM, so if the Mac Pro gets the M3 Ultra or something similar, it will support a lot more RAM. The current model is limited to 192GB.
Storage maximums will also double, as the M3 Ultra supports up to a 16TB SSD, while the Mac Pro is limited to 8TB.
Launch Date
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said last year that the Mac Pro will see a refresh toward the end of 2025, but given the chip uncertainty, Apple could be planning to hold it until 2026.
Article Link: Apple's Last M4 Mac: What's Rumored for the Mac Pro
I’m sure they can really push the Mac Pro by implementing the use of special modules because the majority of the entire chassis is empty anyways. Considering both the Mac Pro and Studio share the same specs (except m4 Max and m3 ultra obviously), it seems somewhat redundant and you’re paying a heavy premium just for slots.
I'm still surprised they went back to the previous design, I quite liked the smaller form factor and the funny thing is that the design now makes more sense than the large cheesegrater design.
Those are propreitary sized and shaped internal storage, not industry starndard sized and shaped internal storage that was used in literally every Apple desktop computer and every Apple laptop computer (except the MacBook Air) starting with the transition to hard drives with the Macintosh SE in 1987, up until shortly after Tim Cook became CEO. What does that say about Cook's corporate greed?
Those new Mac Pro proprietary internal storage upgrade kits are just another scam by Cook. He doesn't want users spending their money on third-party internal storage (which is standard sized and shaped) for their main SSD, which costs much less than what Apple charges for it, so he made proprietary SSDs so users would have no choice but to purchase it from Apple when they need more storage in their main SSD, and thus pay Apple's extortionate SSD prices.
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Yeah, I want to see Apple turn the Mac Pro into a computer that can do what this guy did with a bunch of Mac Minis.
The studio can easily be considered an equivalent to the trashcan version.
Professional doesn’t mean it s to have these parts replaceable. Professionals exist in many fields, most of which don’t necessitate replaceable parts. That said, I fail to see why this product exists whilst the studio exists, seems an expensive way to ‘just’ have drives within the case. So unless they do reintroduce replacing system components- it really seems like a massive waste of money in comparison.