what I don’t get is if they are pushing AR, then why dont they have anything better than Reality Composer? creatives aren’t app developers…..
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Gurman: All-New Mac Pro Still in Testing, But 'M2 Extreme' Chip Likely Canceled
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I'm having trouble finding where to put my BlackMagic capture card and additional drives in a Studio.
Architecture; and wait to see what Apple produces in a MP using 3nm process with many more transistors. The Studio is a superb desktop solution but it is easy to see how a MP type box could provide much more.
I meant ’affordable’.…….
its the same for me, and where do I put my rtx 4090. Got a pc for that instead of waiting for Apple and made the decision not to rely on them to deliver productivity machines as such. No regrets tbh
I wouldn't even call the Studio an affordable Mac Pro at all.
I was a former pimped out Mac Pro user. Dual X5690, 64GB of Ram and every SATA and PCIe slot full. I've since switched completely to Windows since I NEED to reference "legacy" software, need plenty of storage, TONS of USB ports and an actual GPU.
I may not have a 4090 like you (I only have a paltry P4000) but I too have no regrets. Apple is no longer a computer company to me.
EDIT: P not K
Still thinking of Apple using UNIX clustering, where multiple AS Mac Pros can work like as one. In that regard it becomes more modular where units can be added or switched out. Could see things racked or stacked maybe.
Very disappointing Mac Rumor!
Apple continues to test an all-new Mac Pro with an M2 Ultra chip, but the company has likely abandoned plans to release a higher-end configuration with a so-called "M2 Extreme" chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In the latest edition of his newsletter today, Gurman said the Mac Pro with the M2 Ultra chip will be available with up to a 24-core CPU, up to a 76-core GPU, and at least 192GB of RAM. Like the current Mac Pro, he expects the new model to remain expandable, allowing for additional memory, storage, and other components to be inserted.
The higher-end model with the M2 Extreme chip would have been available with up to a 48-core CPU and up to a 152-core GPU, according to Gurman, but he believes that this configuration was scrapped due to cost and manufacturing complexities.
"Based on Apple's current pricing structure, an M2 Extreme version of a Mac Pro would probably cost at least $10,000 — without any other upgrades — making it an extraordinarily niche product that likely isn't worth the development costs, engineering resources and production bandwidth it would require," he wrote.
The current Intel-based Mac Pro was released in December 2019 and starts at $5,999 in the United States. Barring any further delays, the new model will presumably launch at some point in 2023, but Gurman did not provide an updated timeframe.
Article Link: Gurman: All-New Mac Pro Still in Testing, But 'M2 Extreme' Chip Likely Canceled
I’ve posted at length here before about how ludicrous GPU expansion, RAM expansion, and multicore CPUs well beyond the M1 Ultra Studio’s capabilities were all essential parts of the promises made at the Mac Pro’s relaunch in 2019. They said “we are committed” to this niche high-end Hollywood 3D rendering workstation market at a time when Apple Silicon was well into development and about to launch.
A projected starting price of $10,000 for an M2 Ultra Duo would not be a deterrent to this top tier corporate creative customer, as high end configs of the current Intel Mac Pro can go into the $50,000 range today.
If Gurman’s reporting is true, I’d have to conclude that the Hollywood type customer Apple wanted to win back in 2019 didn’t really show up in big enough numbers to justify a continued commitment to that market, whatever promises they made in 2019.
Or, as Gurman suggests, they simply tried their best but were not able to make the tech work as they hoped, and the expandable Mac Studio is a compromise of their vision that they’re settling for this generation. Sure won’t make many current 2019 Mac Pro customers happy.
In that scenario I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple continued to sell an Intel Mac Pro option alongside the Apple Silicon version. I’m currently working at one of those creative companies that buys a lot of Mac Pros and was surprised to discover that the latest October 2022 version of Avid Media Composer is still Intel-only code running in Rosetta on Apple Silicon Macs. (The industry-standard feature film / television editing suite.) Adobe Premiere is a little bit ahead of Avid but still only just ported crucial AAF export capability to Apple Silicon. I don’t know the 3D rendering / VFX world but I imagine it’s similar. Intel Macs are still the standard or ideal for many pro creative workflows. Slow to change.
Only matters if the "Extreme" yields are really low or if the Extreme sell much better than common sense would dictate.
Pretty sure even today Apple ends up divorcing plenty good Ultras to satisfy the much larger demand for M1Max in the MBP and Studio.
Mac Desktops
The entry level Mac desktop is the Mac Mini, and it is affordable. The next Mac desktop level up is the Mac Studio, and it too is affordable for the performance it provides. Now we await the top end of the Mac desktop line the Mac Pro which will likely compete with $100k workstations. "Affordable" is a variable dependent upon what one expects to achieve in a desktop box.
External RAM controller talking to DIMM slots like on Intel Macs?
Keep the on-package RAM to feed the SoC at maximum performance and if you need more (>256GB) than you start stuffing DIMM slots (and accept the performance hit).
Nah. Most leaks like Gurman are in reality just part of Apple marketing to keep folks interested and talking. Not a bad thing.
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What if the 2024 M3 Ultra MacStudio gets the new 80Gbps TB5/usb4_v2.0 port tho…one could add a pcie expansion box for the BlackMagic card and additional drives…back to the 2013 MacPro theory, but now with 80Gbps instead of 20Gbps.
Bye.
BTW the Mac Studio is not an affordable Mac Pro, it is a Mac Studio. Mac desktops go from Mini to Studio to Mac Pro.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Can't speak for OP but it seems what he means is he wants an affordable, customizable & (internally) expandable Mac Pro- neither of which is possible with the "affordables" you reference.
It was not so long ago when anyone could buy a Mac "Pro" (Powermac) tower with many slots for under $3K. Now the rumor is $10K. I suspect his longing is to be able to buy one without spending 3X what he probably bought a PowerMac for not so long ago.
I had one of those "affordable" PowerMacs as my first Mac. And now I have a Studio Ultra that has a spare slot already inside that can fit Apple's customized SSD card... but, alas, can't actually use the one slot already in place unless ONLY Apple grants such use at some point... and I'm not exactly holding my breath for that.
The Mini and the Studio each have their own heat limitations. Apple will want to discourage users from forcing usgaes that exceed the inherent heat management capabilities of each different level of desktop Mini-Studio-Pro.
Sure, but computing hardware has evolved and Mac desktop hardware has been evolving too. The OP also mentioned entry level Mac Pro, and the Mac Pro has not been Apple's entry level box for quite a while.
That all sounds great until you realize you are stuck with 16GB of ram on the MBA lol.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Interesting overall post. I can see how this could make some logical sense for serving THAT market with an expandable and customizable Mac for markets that need dedicated cards, etc.
However, imagine the marketing challenge: what is presented at the MOST POWERFUL MAC EVER would NOT have Apple Silicon. What is presented as the Mac with the most capable graphics ever would NOT have Apple Silicon graphics. It seems Apple would be very tangibly conceding that Silicon is NOT as powerful as Intel and graphic cards because their most powerful offering still uses the "old" technology. I'm not sure even this fan crowd here can spin PPW hard enough to fully reconcile that one... with Apple themselves tangibly endorsing the Intel platform as "our most powerful Mac ever."
My guess is that Mac Pro will arrive based upon Silicon and internal expansion will basically be equivalent to having internal Thunderbolt ports vs. external "as is" on Studio. In other words, imagine bigger Studio case with some of the lanes and/or thunderbolt jacks on the inside to support cards in slots.
This concept seems it will HAVE to address flexible RAM expansion too but I suspect that is going to be spun as fastest RAM on the silicon and then slightly slower RAM in a card or RAM slots on the board. Something like Grand Central will automatically manage what needs fastest RAM vs. slightly slower RAM and/or app developers can code their apps to call for slightly slower RAM when they need more than what is onboard (packaged with silicon)... much like using a HDD or SSD for spare RAM when there is not enough actual RAM on board.
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I traditionally wait a few years to get a tower Mac used or refurbished and save some money (I need expandability more than anything in my desktops, so a lot else power is ok). However, since 2012, Apple has gone so long between upgrades (and I don’t count the 2013 Mac Pro, since it wasn’t a tower with expansion slots), that in still running a 2010 Mac Pro (and patching it to run 10.15), and, at this time, the 2019s are not affordable at the used price, and a bad investment (with the advent of Apple Silicon). I’m probably going to compromise and get a Mac Studio in January, but it’s not the Mac I want, will require me in move some data from internal drives to a RAID, and buy lots of hubs with internal drive bays and additional USB ports. All because I have a Mac tower, that makes sense to buy, won’t be in my price range until 2027, at the earliest.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Again, by "entry," I suspect he's seeking PRICE not hardware/tech positioning. (I think) He wants an affordable Mac Pro again... like PowerMacs from about 16-20 years ago.
For a Studio Ultra, I paid well over 2X what I paid for a PowerMac back then and I have ZERO expansion options inside. There is one slot but I can't use it without Apple doing something to make it possible to put more storage inside. I would have much preferred a Studio with (standard) internal slots... aka Power Mac-like... aka the xMac dream many have longed for for all the time I've been using Macs.
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HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Try a google search for Apple PowerMac G4 ads. Apple once offered "our most powerful Mac ever" with plenty of internal expansion for under $3K. I owned one as first Mac and it was great. Apple even made it idiot-easy to open and easily get to the slots when one wanted to add anything. It was a great tower.
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