The Mac Pro is Apple’s most powerful Mac. Or at least that’s the intention. But since its release in 2019, Apple has released new MacBooks with powerful M1 Max chips that knock on the door of the $6,000 Mac Pro. That means an update is announced.
Thankfully, rumors and leaks suggest a new Mac Pro could be just months away. If you’re wondering what it might look like and how powerful it might be, you’ve come to the right place because we’ve collected all the Mac Pro news we can find in one place. To find out what’s on the horizon for Apple’s flagship desktop dominator, read on.
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price and release date
It’s often difficult to discern anything from Apple’s unfathomable crystal ball, but we’re fairly confident in predicting this: The next Mac Pro is coming in 2023. And there’s a simple reason for that belief.
In June 2020, Apple said at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) event that it would take about two years to fully transition to Apple silicon. This deadline was obviously missed. However, that gives us even more confidence that the next Mac Pro is around the corner, as Apple is now looking to launch it as close as possible to the end of that two-year window.
We now expect the Apple Silicon Mac Pro to launch sometime in 2023. There are strong rumors that Apple will be hosting a special spring event and this would be an ideal time for the company to launch the next Mac Pro. If that doesn’t happen, Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June would be the next strongest contender.
And what about the price? We’re probably looking at something similar to the current starting price of $5,999. There could be a slight price boost similar to other Macs in 2022, likely due to the ongoing economic circumstances.
design and functions
When it comes to exterior design, don’t expect major departures from the current Mac Pro body. In fact, Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman has claimed Apple will be using the exact same chassis on the next Mac Pro, so it looks like the cheese grater bowl – so recognizable and so adept at dissipating heat – isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Unfortunately, this means Apple won’t be releasing a thinner chassis, although the Mac Pro’s supposed Apple silicon chips are far more efficient (and therefore require less cooling) than the Intel chips in the 2019 model.
Inside, the current Mac Pro is known for its modular design based on Apple’s MPX modules, which allow you to easily swap out graphics cards, memory, and accelerator cards. This system will likely remain in place, but rumors suggest it will be severely curtailed.
This is mainly due to the nature of Apple silicon. Each of these chips is what is known as a system-on-a-chip, meaning the CPU, GPU, and memory are all integrated into a single unit. If that’s the case, you can’t upgrade any of these components at a later date without destroying the chip.
In fact, Mark Gurman has already confirmed that neither the memory nor the graphics in the next Mac Pro will be user-upgradable. That’s not too surprising given the nature of Apple’s silicon chips, but it means there will likely be a lot fewer MPX modules on sale. While the modular internal design remains, it will likely be a lot less bulky than what you get with the 2019 Mac Pro.
Super powerful performance
The idea of Apple launching an Intel-based Mac Pro seems increasingly distant after Apple launched several Pro-level chips of its own. Additionally, Mark Gurman has claimed that Apple will be outfitting the Mac Pro with an M2 Ultra chip, as well as an even more powerful piece of silicon called the M2 Extreme.
The Mac Pro is the only Apple computer that doesn’t offer at least one configuration with an integrated Apple silicon chip. We know that’s about to change – the Apple event hinted at it during WWDC 2022 – but there might be some disappointment with how capable these chips will be.
Earlier, Mark Gurman claimed that Apple would equip the Mac Pro with an M2 Ultra chip and an even more powerful piece of silicon called the M2 Extreme. The latter chips are said to be equipped with a 48-core CPU and a 152-core GPU.
Unfortunately, there is bad news: Gurman now believes that Apple has completely scrapped the M2 Extreme chip. There are several reasons for this – the incredibly high cost Apple would have to charge for it, the cost of research and development, and the difficulty of manufacturing the chip.
Instead, the Mac Pro 2023 may only offer a few variants of the M2 Ultra with a 24-core CPU and a 76-core GPU. Gurman thinks the Mac Pro’s M2 Ultra could top it with 192GB of storage, which falls far short of the current Mac Pro’s 1.5TB, even taking into account the benefits of Apple Silicon’s unified storage system.
However, you probably shouldn’t worry too much. According to benchmarks, the M1 Ultra chip in the Mac Studio beats the top-of-the-line 28-core Intel Xeon chip in the Mac Pro by a lot, including 21% in multi-core tests and 56% in single-core tests. Since the M2 Ultra will be an improvement in terms of chip generation over the M1 Ultra, we could see another leap in performance from the new Mac Pro. Apple will not want to accept less, and professional users will certainly not commit themselves on this point.
In terms of graphics, every Apple chip is configured as a SoC (system-on-a-chip), with a GPU integrated on the chip itself. Mark Gurman has reported that there won’t be any user-upgradable graphics options in the new Mac Pro (which probably means there won’t be any MPX graphics modules either), so Apple’s own chips will have to be very powerful to target the demanding professional audience to satisfy .
New monitors, including a fresh Pro Display XDR
When Apple launched the redesigned Mac Pro in December 2019, it also released a $4,999 32-inch companion monitor called the Pro Display XDR. This high-end device was designed to work with the Mac Pro and keep up with its incredibly demanding workloads. It came with 6K resolution, 500 nits of brightness, which Apple called Extreme Dynamic Range, and an incredibly expensive $999 monitor stand.
When Apple refreshes the Mac Pro in 2023, it’s almost certain that the Pro Display XDR will get a refresh too, as the two products are designed to work together. And there are indications that Apple is preparing at least one new monitor for the Mac Pro.
In December 2021, Twitter leaker Dylandkt suggested Apple has multiple monitors up its sleeve. According to Apple, it is working with LG on a handful of external monitors in three sizes: 24-inch, 27-inch and 32-inch.
The 27-inch and 32-inch models are said to feature mini LED panels with Apple’s ProMotion technology. Offering variable refresh rates of up to 120Hz, this is found in the new MacBook Pro and is rumored to apply to the forthcoming iMac Pro relaunch. The 32-inch model could also come with a custom Apple silicon chip, possibly an updated version of the timing controller chip that modulates the current Pro Display XDR’s LCD pixels and LED backlight. The 32-inch version looks likely to be an updated Pro Display XDR.
While the veracity of these leaks seems uncertain, Mark Gurman gave them some weight with his own report in December 2021. A year later, Gurman claimed that Apple was planning to update both the Pro Display XDR and the Studio Display. But the reporter, who revealed both monitors will come with Apple silicon chips, had no other information to share other than claiming that the Pro Display XDR could launch after the new Mac Pro, not alongside it. That’s because its development has reportedly lagged behind that of the Mac Pro.
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