References to Intel's Latest Ice Lake SP Processors in Xcode 13 Beta Hint at Forthcoming Mac Pro Update

[MacRumors]

New Intel chips appropriate for a refreshed Mac Pro have been spotted in the Xcode 13 beta, and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has confirmed that Apple is indeed preparing an updated version of the Intel-based Mac Pro.

The chip data added to the beta is for Intel's third-generation Xeon Scalable processor, Ice Lake SP, which Intel announced back in April. According to Intel, the chip offers "advanced performance, security, efficiency, and built-in AI acceleration to handle IoT workloads and more powerful AI."

Bloomberg in January said that Apple is developing two versions of the new Mac Pro, one that's a direct successor to the 2019 Mac Pro and one that offers a smaller form factor that's about half the size.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1402330560656252936

Apple is working to transition its entire Mac lineup to Apple silicon, and the smaller Mac Pro will feature Apple silicon chips, but it appears Apple is planning to keep at least one Intel Mac Pro available for the time being.

Some of the high-end Apple silicon chips that Apple is developing feature 20 or 40 computing cores with 64 or 128 core GPUs, but it is not clear if the earliest versions of Mac Pro chips will be able to compete with Intel's Xeon processors for heavy duty professional workloads.

This Intel-based Mac Pro may be one of the last Intel machines as Apple has already started transitioning the iMac, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and MacBook Air lines to Apple silicon. Apple this year plans to release 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with higher-end "M2" Apple silicon chips, and there's also a larger Apple silicon iMac in development.

Article Link: References to Intel's Latest Ice Lake SP Processors in Xcode 13 Beta Hint at Forthcoming Mac Pro Update

 

[farewelwilliams]

hot take: Apple will probably reuse the trash can mac pro design for the Apple Silicon chips because Apple Silicon solves the thermal issue which was the reason they gave for pivoting back to the tower design.

 

[ruka.snow]

It would be sensible to keep the Intel Mac Pro running for a few generations. Big companies invested into the promise to make pro software on its release and users of these machines may not be able to dump their software in the blink of a eye. I also still rather doubt that Apple can take on dedicated AMD GPU's yet.

 

[fwmireault]

I wonder who would buy this really expensive computer knowing that Apple Silicon Mac Pro is less than a year on its way? Even if you absolutely need Intel based mac, the 2019 Mac Pro is a more than decent machine. I don’t get the point of giving it a successor

 

[MoJoRo]

Ahhhhh yeah, it has been a joke that the Mac Pros haven't included the Intel Scalable processors. About time.

 

[Eso]

So 1 year into the "2-year Apple Silicon Transition" we've gotten one chip and a rumor of updating the top end Mac with Intel. Ok.

 

[Darth Tulhu]

Wouldn't this mean that Apple WON'T be all Apple Silicon by 2022?

 

[iModFrenzy]

I get why they’re doing it but anything Intel disappoints me now

 

[KPOM]

Max Tech made this prediction about a month ago.

 

[CWallace]

Interesting in that the 2019 Mac Pro uses Cascade Lake-W, not Cascade Lake-SP.

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Update - Per MrAndrew, Intel is basing Ice Lake-64L Xeons on the same architecture as SP. And they will use a different socket and revised chipset than the Cascade Lake-W CPUs so it would mean a new motherboard.

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Xeon-SP is designed for multiple-socket (2-8) applications so is Apple considering going toe-to-toe with the likes of Dell and HPE and offering 2/4/8 CPU Mac Pros for datacenter applications?

Could we see a bi-furcation of the product line where ASi Mac Pros are single-CPU models (with high core counts) and then Intel Mac Pros are multi-CPU models?

Another poster mentioned they had heard Apple was working on multi-CPU interconnections. I presumed they would be for connecting multiple ASi SoCs (perhaps for Jade2C / Jade4C), but maybe this is for multiple Intel Xeon-SP CPUs...

 

[Acidsplat]

People complaining about this are not the target demographic.

 

[JosephAW]

Yes but macOS 12 now has features only for the M1 chips, Apple has already begun to throw Intel under the bus.

 

[MacsRgr8]

There were rumours, and the recently announced AMD W6000 series seem to add up... but I find it difficult to imagine investing lots of money (minimum of $10K assured...) in a new Mac, when it's pretty obvious Intel-based Macs are a dying breed...
The write-off is going to be quick.

 

[Rudy69]

It would be sensible to keep the Intel Mac Pro running for a few generations. Big companies invested into the promise to make pro software on its release and users of these machines may not be able to dump their software in the blink of a eye. I also still rather doubt that Apple can take on dedicated AMD GPU's yet.

Technically that's FOUR AMD GPUs too, not just one. Mind you the performance is far from 4X

 

[MoJoRo]

I wonder who would buy this really expensive computer knowing that Apple Silicon Mac Pro is less than a year on its way? Even if you absolutely need Intel based mac, the 2019 Mac Pro is a more than decent machine. I don’t get the point of giving it a successor

People who need to do some serious computations using tools that are not compatible with Apple Silicon (I am fairly certain they don't support AVX, and also if you are doing serious GPU computing Apple Silicon is probably not an option; I'm talking about people who need systems with multiple high end GPUs).

Also the 2019 Mac Pro uses the Xeon W chips, which won't even be in the same ballpark as these 3rd gen chips in the Scalable family.

 

[citysnaps]

Expect a 4.3% improvement in performance. Yay!

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

hot take: Apple will probably reuse the trash can mac pro design for the Apple Silicon chips because Apple Silicon solves the thermal issue which was the reason they gave for pivoting back to the tower design.

Nah. The 'trash can' was just a poor design full stop. It's all very well judging how nice it looks and admiring its size, but the concept was ultimately flawed. You can't combine a CPU, two GPUs, a power supply and the remaining components onto a single aluminium (not even copper) heatsink and expect the thermal capacity to be adequate for all under full-load.

 

[SSDGUY]

hot take: Apple will probably reuse the trash can mac pro design for the Apple Silicon chips because Apple Silicon solves the thermal issue which was the reason they gave for pivoting back to the tower design.

I'd be surprised. That thing was a PR flop. Tough to get people to think positively about that design again. I'd expect a Mini Pro form factor if anything.

 

[sublunar]

You'd suspect that the smaller version will be the one that the ARM based replacement gets compared to - it might even inherit the case too.

 

[Freida]

Not a chance. Apple doesn't work like that especially with a product that was seen as "failure"

hot take: Apple will probably reuse the trash can mac pro design for the Apple Silicon chips because Apple Silicon solves the thermal issue which was the reason they gave for pivoting back to the tower design.

 

[Adreitz]

I wonder who would buy this really expensive computer knowing that Apple Silicon Mac Pro is less than a year on its way? Even if you absolutely need Intel based mac, the 2019 Mac Pro is a more than decent machine. I don’t get the point of giving it a successor

After years of having one-off redesigns, I think we should applaud Apple for doing what they should have been doing all along -- just updating the designs they already have with the new parts that are available! They can go reinventing the wheel all they want as long as they do minor refreshes to stay relevant while we wait.

Remember, after the Mac Pro with the M1X/1Z/2/whatever comes out, there will always be another update waiting in the wings that will be better and faster. If you wait to buy until there is nothing new in the pipeline, then you're never going to buy (or it's a signal that our technological civilization has died).

 

[now i see it]

Xeons are battle tested and proven CPUs. If I was in the market to buy another $20K workstation, I sure wouldn't gamble my livelihood or profession on a M2 Mac Pro.
Some year down the line sure - but not yet. It's too soon

 

[PBG4 Dude]

hot take: Apple will probably reuse the trash can mac pro design for the Apple Silicon chips because Apple Silicon solves the thermal issue which was the reason they gave for pivoting back to the tower design.

No way they’ll revive a form factor with so much baggage. Same reason they’ll never revive the cube.

 

[daveedjackson]

Absolute ? way to piss off every Mac Pro 2019 owner. Even as one of the first customers to order it, I didn’t receive it until feb 2020. So just over a year old and they are talking about another release. WOW what a way to get pros to spend 10k and then release an update so soon. SHOCKING. A way to basically make sure the nail is in the coffin.

 

[G5isAlive]

Max Tech made this prediction about a month ago.

Is that the YouTuber who shaved his 'goatee' yesterday because he predicted without a doubt, 100% confident, that a 16 inch silicon based MacBook Pro was going to be released at WWDC? I find he predicts with utmost confidence a LOT of things that do not happen. but right.