New Mac Pro Confirmed to Have Removable CPU

[Mill321]

But the connector they needed for the thermal core design didn't exist. What were they supposed to do? Stick to the same old design. That is just not how Apple works. This design is not just about being smaller or lighter. It is about efficient quiet cooling.

I suspect will see more GPU options in the future and Apple may even offer in-store upgrades. Once that happens, I am sure you will see 3rd party upgrades. I would not expect 3rd party upgrades to ever be officially supported, but they will exist.

+1, this thing seems better and better the more I read about it

 

[dabirdwell]

I am not AnandTech and I can't explain the inner workings of SSDs. The only benchmark I could find in a quick way was this one showing less than half the write speed in a current rMBP with only 128 GB compared to its 256 and 512 GB siblings. I don't know the reason for this effect, but my notion is to generally avoid all SSD with 128 GB because of write performance issues.

Image​

If I had to guess, I'd say there might be some in-chip parallel addressing of blocks of memory, much like a RAID array with two drives. If kits are based on 128MB chunks, a 128MB SSD will give the expected performance, but with two 128s making up a 256 by working in tandem, or two 256s making up a 512, you could generate results like this. Maybe. Just a thought.

 

[N64]

you mean the hobbyists who want to upgrade their cards aren't going to care about that excuse?

i don't know, i'm not some IT dude working around gazillions of pro computers but i'm amongst a decent enough sized group of peers using mac pros or mbp in professional/creative environments.. and from what i see, none of them (including myself) are clamoring for the latest/greatest gpu updates..
at some point, hardware is irrelevant.. it's the ideas which are important.. as in- i'd way rather draw a good idea on a powerbook with 64MB vram using an outdated version of sketchup (or whatever) than drawing a crap idea on the newest tech..

Then your friends don't do advanced graphics processing. Some professionals do. For a machine targeted at video editors, graphics processing sounds important.

Also, I'm not using my Mac for any high-power computing work, but I was glad I could put in a cheap new GPU from 2013 instead of using the ATI 2600 from 2008 (probably even older in fact) that was noisy and lagged on games and new versions of Mac OS. Even Xcode with its storyboard layout for iPhone wouldn't work properly on the old GPU.

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Just saying, Apple is laughing at their critics all the way to the bank.

Image

I doubt we can convince them, that they are doing anything wrong.​

If you're trying to imply that it proves the quality of their product, so is Microsoft with their Windows, and we all know how "great" Windows is.

 

[pitoukhmer]

- 3.5GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon E5 with 12MB of L3 cache: +$500

I couldn't find this speech like you mention:

- 3.5GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon E5 with 12MB of L3 cache: +$500

where did you get it?

 

[flat five]

Then your friends don't do advanced graphics processing. Some professionals do. For a machine targeted at video editors, graphics processing sounds important.

then what do they do? beginner graphics processing?

can you show me an example of what you would consider advanced graphics processing?

 

[orisonmarden]

How can you replace GPU without a HSF attached on it?


All high end GPUs i know have big monstrous size of HSF.

 

[objc]

pro workstations are not purchased w/ CPU updatability in mind, i assure you. we buy workstations, we use them for a number of years, and then we retire them. we are not sitting here dorking around w/ DIY CPU upgrades...thats an activity for enthusiasts.

I knew somehow CPU upgradeability would be a bad thing; I just wasn't sure how. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[AppMann]

Warranty

My question is if you replace the CPU will you void your warranty.?

 

[wiz329]

Well, the CPU isn't using proprietary connectors. In a few years, a CPU upgrade on this specific Mac Pro model will be cheaper as the CPUs it uses go out of date, or at least that's what happened with my 2008 Mac Pro.

I was referring to the GPU and SSD.

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But unfortunately you can't build it WITHOUT the "dope" GPUs making the price much cheaper for people who don't need GPU. Who needs OpenCL if you don't use FCPX? Audio users are just as "pro" as video users. Logic X doesn't even care about OpenCL.

I'd only buy this machine for the max RAM (what is it? 64GB? 128GB?). If there was a new Mac Mini that could take 32GB I'd much rather have that than a MP @ $$$.

I don't even think BitCoin miners would care for this machine


.

Nope, BitCoin miners use special ASIC chips.

And patience with OpenCL. It will take time for everything to support it. Writing and supportint software is no easy task.

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I don't think it's confirmed that we can replace the GPU. CPU, SSD, and RAM, yes. GPU? We don't know yet.

Nope. Did you check out the OWC article?

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My question is if you replace the CPU will you void your warranty.?

See the comments section in the linked article. OWC Larry answers this question.

Likely you will need to pay careful attention to max electrical specs before installing a new CPU. More information likely to follow from OWC.

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Are those compatible (except for form factor) with those Apple uses?
Why even develop SATA Express when this solution does the job?
Do you suggest that this is the standard everyone and Apple should adopt?

I didn't find your truck versus car analogy helpful either. For what was that... in order to...

First of all, Apple is using the PCIe bus where ever it is needed. All the heavy load goes over PCIe and even the external TB ports are some PCIe plus useful features. There is no faster and more versatile port than Thunderbolt anywhere. So if anyone has the trucks to move a mountain, it is the Mac Pro. And it is also the sleeker computer. So you can have a nice car that doubles as a powerful truck.

The only part of PCIe apple is not using are those dimensional standardized expansion card slots. What is so good about them, that they can't be phased out as obsolete technology? Backwards compatibility can't be an issue, if upgradeability is your goal. Surely you don't wanna replace your dual GPUs with older ones? And going into the future, why stick with what has become obsolete a long time ago?

Graphic card makers have already worked around the standard in using two slots for one card. And adding more fans because the positioning of the card is stopping the air flow, instead of leading it around the hot chip. Also these cards have become too heavy for holding in with one screw at the top, so the PCIe x16 slot needed a little plastic latch to avert the card from falling out by itself. And because of all these little fans the whole box needs to be noise-damped.

And if you do want to change your configuration, you have to shut down your computer, unplug it and screw it open. And don't forget to double check if all the pins fit correctly before you close it, put it back in its place and hope it's still booting. I don't get, how this experience can be better than plugging in a plug-and-play Thunderbolt peripheral? What are those use cases, when 20 Gbit/s are not enough and you need raw PCIe? You are making this up, just to disagree.

Not being IBM-compatible is the least of Apples problems. In the contrary, it's a huge benefit. Someone needs to not follow the compatibility madness. The new Mac Pro form factor was only possible because it does not support PCIe expansion cards. And you wanna give it all up, just because of third party pricing greed? No! If they are not yet copying Apple, they should start with it right now. I can't wait to see, when Intel claims to be the inventor of the UltraTrashcan.

I'll sum up here -- the fact that Thunderbolt is on a cord is great, but the fact that it's only a x4 2.0 link is what is more suspect.

Most users likely won't run into any problems, but if you're trying to hook up more than 4 SSDs or any large SAS arrays, you'll run into that 20 Gb/s (minus overhead) pretty quick.

 

[MachineShedFred]

It isn't perception, it's reality

Many of the upgrades to my MP tower would be impossible on a nMP:

CPU: yes
RAM: yes
Video card: no
USB ports: no
SATA ports: no, not even available on nMP
Ethernet: no
Fiber channel: no way
ODD: no, but not so relevant

Some of those upgrades aren't so important, but there's no question that the nMP is much less upgradable than the MP Tower.

It looks like the GPUs are probably just different layout reference GPUs from AMD, with a BGA connector rather than a PCI-E blade. Probably wouldn't take too much for an established video card company to mimic the reference layout with a different GPU, reverse engineer the BGA connector to find what signal is on what pin, and then outsource production to an established PCB assembly firm.

Are you kidding with the rest of that? Ever heard of USB hubs? There have been Thunderbolt products for two years that do SATA, 10-gig ethernet, and fiber channel. All of which work on 2011 or newer laptops, and NOT the MacPro5.

 

[wwinter86]

Graphic Cards

what do you mean? like internally?

what would be the point? Thunderbolt is inferior in speed to directly connecting to the PCI-e bus. it makes little sense to go from PCI-e -> thunderbolt -> GPU if you're all within the same chassis.

the same rules of Simplicity should be applying even here. K.I.S.S. Keep it simple stupid. (not calling you stupid, it's just a common saying)

I mean like how you can take out the ram or CPU and put in a new one.
E.G. You have a Mac Pro with D500 cards and at a later date you want to replace them with newer ones or say D700s.

 

[CodeJingle]

I am drooling waiting for an estimated ship date for my custom configured Mac Pro. I feel like I am 10 years old again still believing in Santa trying as hard as I can to fall asleep on Christmas Eve.

 

[Tech198]

I think this debate is pointless. If I'm not wrong, I don't remember ever in Apple history that there is manual that Apple point out that CPU is user replaceable.

The memory is user replaceable, the battery if user-replaceable (on some Macs)

Even on the 2012 Macbook Pro's Apple doesn't say it, but just by looking at it, its obviously replaceable.... Apple sells laptop batteries, so there's the hint.

It's the .... "you can do it, but will enforce out own stuff" type reasons, even though technically and obviously the CPU is socket-ed, which means of course you can replace it, Apple just doesn't want you too.

The same think with jailbreak, Apple just wants to control the user, despite the obvious differences.

 

[milo]

Is there an article along with the OWC teardown? Cool that they did it, but not as useful without any information or captions saying what they found or what the pictures are of.

Interesting design on the SSD with the two rows of connectors.

Nobody claimed the CPU would not be upgradable.

You obviously didn't read the same Mac Pro comments I have been reading for the past few months. Hell, in this very thread we have people asking if the RAM is upgradable. Same with the SSD which obviously in pictures released the day of the first announcement showed it in a socket held in by one screw.

Also, it's not a very good deal to upgrade a computer. I'll spend money to get just one part of the system slightly faster, which won't make your system faster. For true performance gains, you have to make the whole system faster in every way.

I can't agree with that as a blanket statement. One example is my old 2009 mac pro, when I added an SSD it was a huge performance improvement.

At any given time any given system may have one aspect that's a bigger bottleneck than everything else. If a system has just one specific weak spot then it may make perfect sense to upgrade and take away that weakness instead of improving the whole system.

if you successfully swap a cpu with 1 year left on applecare, you'll still have 1year applecare.. your warranty doesn't void out.

True although they may refuse to work on a machine that doesn't have the original CPU and insist you swap it back before they take it.

 

[Gudi]

If you're trying to imply that it proves the quality of their product, so is Microsoft with their Windows, and we all know how "great" Windows is.

No, I'm trying to imply that their business model works for them. What ever the "invisible hand" of the market wants, needs or demands from them, they don't need to care about it.

 

[Gudi]

Most users likely won't run into any problems, but if you're trying to hook up more than 4 SSDs or any large SAS arrays, you'll run into that 20 Gb/s (minus overhead) pretty quick.

Huh? Maybe that's why you have six TB ports on the new Mac Pro. So as soon as you hook up more than (6*4) 24 SSDs and transfer data to all of them at the same time, you'll run into limits pretty quick.

Gotta buy a second Mac Pro fothat.

 

[wiz329]

Huh? Maybe that's why you have six TB ports on the new Mac Pro. So as soon as you hook up more than (6*4) 24 SSDs and transfer data to all of them at the same time, you'll run into limits pretty quick.

Gotta buy a second Mac Pro fothat.

What if they're all in a single array?

Also, there are only 3 controllers, not 6.

 

[twoodcc]

this is nice, though i doubt i would ever replace the cpu.

 

[remingtonhill]

I'm sure people will be happy to hear this... Apple seems to be keeping the professionals in mind as far as upgradability goes..

Except true professionals don't mess around upgrading workstations and potentially adversely affecting stability using parts that haven't been tested and certified to work together.

Real professionals, using a professional workstation like a Mac Pro for actual work, use the workstations for a certain amount of years then retire them.

 

[wigby]

Except for the MacBook Airs, though I'm pretty sure you were referring to Desktop Macs.

You also forgot to mention iPods and iPads. This is a Mac Pro thread. Why would I be referring to Macbook Airs?

 

[Parasprite]

You also forgot to mention iPods and iPads. This is a Mac Pro thread. Why would I be referring to Macbook Airs?

I didn't know RAM was user replaceable in those, today I learned...

 

[Mums]

Needs or wants? It will drive any existing monitor that can hook up to it.

Yeah but the existing Apple monitors look dated compared to the new Mac Pro, and I don't really desire non-Apple monitors.

 

[Renzatic]

Real professionals, using a professional workstation like a Mac Pro for actual work, use the workstations for a certain amount of years then retire them.

Real professionals, like the average person, tend to do these things I'm saying they do, but not the things you're saying they do.

In other words, real professionals, like the average person, are the perfect argument stoppers for when you don't have any solid evidence to back up your claim, but still want to save some face.

 

[StyleWriter 2]

With the first new Mac Pro units having made their way to reviewers and even some early online orders arriving in the closing days of 2013, more details on the new machines are continuing to surface.

Other World Computing (OWC) has performed a quick teardown on one of the new machines, and while documentation currently consists of only a small set of photos, the company has confirmed that the Intel Xeon E5 processor found in the Mac Pro is indeed removable, allowing for future upgrades. All four available CPUs for the new Mac Pro use the same LGA 2011 socket standardized on the Mac Pro's motherboard.

The main processor is one of the most significant variables in the cost of the new Mac Pro, with the four available CPU options spanning $3500 in upgrade charges. Pricing relative to the stock 3.7GHz quad-core Intel Xeon E5 with 10MB of L3 cache is as follows:

- 3.5GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon E5 with 12MB of L3 cache: +$500
- 3.0GHz 8-core Intel Xeon E5 with 25MB of L3 cache: +$2000
- 2.7GHz 12-core Intel Xeon E5 with 30MB of L3 cache: +$3500

Using a removable socketed processor rather than the soldered processors found in most of Apple's Macs means that users may be able to upgrade their machines in the future as their needs change and/or chip prices decline.

Earlier this week, OWC also shared a photo showing the new Mac Pro driving a total of six 27-inch displays, each with a horizontal resolution of at least 2500 pixels. The new Mac Pro offers six Thunderbolt 2 ports for connectivity, allowing for a number of combinations of displays and other peripherals.

Article Link: New Mac Pro Confirmed to Have Removable CPU

 

[DeltaMac]

?
Thanks for reposting the OP of this thread
I had no idea that the thread was about removable CPUs in the new MacPro.

Turns out, the nMP is just not as versatile/upgradeable as those early posters were hoping.