Mac pro use Apple silicon with discrete CPU and GPU will be cool
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Mac Pro Reportedly on 'Back Burner' and 'Largely Written Off' at Apple
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But as many have already stated, there are breakout boxes for that.
I think it's too much a commodity item. There's no unique software that would make it special. Any competent company can make one that would be as fast as the current generation of thunderbolt would allow.
There are a lot of products in the current lineup that need cutting, not just the Mac pro.
Not surprised. You can solve need for PCI-slots with breakout boxes. If you need serious power to train ML-models that is way beyond a Studio, then cloud services or a Nvidia cluster is the answer. It is mainly nostalgics like myself that still want to hold on to a big box built like a tank. To cheer me up, I bought a MP 6.1 as a hobby project.
Can anyone on this thread give some examples of modern day PCIe cards use cases? What specific cards are used by the pros in what fields? And why would you need them in the same box as your main CPU?
An Apple Seedbox, well that's a thought.there’s such a missed opportunity there for the studio to have been called the “Apple Seed” and a breakout box the “Apple Branch” with each PCIE slot a “leaf”
Most power-users will be satisfied with the current MacStudio, but it does serve Apple well to have a product positioned at the absolute high end of the market. So maybe the smart move would be for Apple to release a rack-mountable version of the MacStudio, configured with Apple's highest-end M?-Ultra chips and optimized for cluster computing. Practically nobody would buy it, but people buying the lesser Apple configurations would have confidence that they were buying into an ecosystem that encompasses both the simplest and most complex use cases.
Damn. We really could have used a workstation with terabytes of memory for Local LLMs. Every startup is doing something with LLMs, both for training and inference.
Kinda disappointed that Apple gave up on the AI developer market so easily. They had all the parts in place: GPUs, systems, etc. they could have been a strong contender.
Kinda disappointed that Apple gave up on the AI developer market so easily. They had all the parts in place: GPUs, systems, etc. they could have been a strong contender.
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An 19.1" rack with curved edges, I could see that.
Why this product line wasn't discontinued with the introduction of the Mac Studio I'll never understand...
I’d argue there was a window between 2008 and 2012 where that wasnt true, where a combination of pricing, platform, and capabilities made the MP 3,1 somewhat and then especially the MP 4,1/5,1 (which are essentially the same) the longest legged, most upgradable, best bang/buck towers Apple has ever made - and that because they had such long legs here at MR people tend to forget that those machines were a bit of an anomaly in Apple’s history.
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I think he'd mostly resigned himself to getting a Studio at some point anyhow.
Honestly, reports like this might be better for him as it nudges him closer to clarity and might get him to finally jump and move on.
It's kind of amazing an ATP host is still on an Intel Mac with 2026 upon us.
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it is a redundant product line UNLESS you need the internal expansion slots. It made sense with the last intel model because you could greatly expand the ram later on and add a better gpu.
They could make daughter cards for even higher performance in tandem with apple silicon but god knows how much something like that would cost.
The Mac Pro was always an aspirational Mac for me when I was younger but the Mac Studio feels like the successor to the Mac Pro original vision from 2013.
They could make daughter cards for even higher performance in tandem with apple silicon but god knows how much something like that would cost.
The Mac Pro was always an aspirational Mac for me when I was younger but the Mac Studio feels like the successor to the Mac Pro original vision from 2013.
Personally I think the studio is the perfect desktop computer. Well near perfect, user replaceable storage that is sanctioned by Apple would make it perfect
The Mac Pro as it stands offers nothing more, except yet is significantly more expensive
The Mac Pro as it stands offers nothing more, except yet is significantly more expensive
I really don't understand why the Studio doesn't have socketed, replaceable storage, as an actual touted feature.
The "Pro" demographic is exactly who that should be targeted at.
Sell overpriced first party modules too!
Some will still only but from Apple and it's nice for them to have the option to upgrade storage later.
It also gives base spec machines more longevity, as they can be upgraded down the line as well.
The only way to make a Mac Pro make any sense with Apple Silicon would be if you had a true high wattage package well and truly over and above the current Ultras. All the expansion is meaningless, it’s just Thunderbolt or network attached now. The form factor only makes sense if you actually need to dissipate 650W+ of heat.
I doubt it’d make any sense to build such a chip with the unlikely exception of it overlapping with the PCC Silicon exactly. Any other combo wouldn’t be worth bothering with.
I doubt it’d make any sense to build such a chip with the unlikely exception of it overlapping with the PCC Silicon exactly. Any other combo wouldn’t be worth bothering with.
The 2019 Mac Pro design exist because in 2013 the Mac Pro user complained of the lack of PCI-Express in 2013 Mac Pro, witch already has 6 thunderbolt 2 port.
Today the people don’t buy the Mac Pro because Mac Studio exist with this 4 Thunderbolt 4 port (up to six), so the 2013 Mac Pro was just ahead of its time.
But the naming scheme of Apple is not very good today, why the Mac Studio isn’t just the Mac Pro and the Mac Mini the Mac ? Why MacBook Air and not just MacBook ? Why Apple Watch Utra and not Apple Watch Pro ?
Today the people don’t buy the Mac Pro because Mac Studio exist with this 4 Thunderbolt 4 port (up to six), so the 2013 Mac Pro was just ahead of its time.
But the naming scheme of Apple is not very good today, why the Mac Studio isn’t just the Mac Pro and the Mac Mini the Mac ? Why MacBook Air and not just MacBook ? Why Apple Watch Utra and not Apple Watch Pro ?
The professional software industry bears the primary responsibility for the failure to support dual GPUs in the 2013 Mac Pro. The industry’s assumption that single GPUs with hundreds of watts of power were necessary led to Apple’s admission of being cornered into a thermal predicament.
However, the demand for such large and cumbersome computers has diminished.
However, the demand for such large and cumbersome computers has diminished.
Maybe they can focus on AI inference chips for the mac pro? Could be a good fit for datacenters.