New Mac Pro 2018 latest & Release date, UK price, features & specs
Apple announces a radical revamp to the Mac Pro
for 2018 - "our highest-end, high throughput desktop system, designed
for our demanding pro customers" - and a price drop to the existing
hardware in the meantimeApple is finally responding to the concern of Mac Pro
users, and wants to tell them it hasn't forgotten about them. The
company on Tuesday held a roundtable discussion at its headquarters with
an extremely select number of publications, with the aim to communicate
its intentions to Mac Pro users.
Mac pro
The company had two aims - first, to reassure users that it is indeed developing a brand new Mac Pro, and second, to soften the blow for the news that the new Mac Pro would only release next year.
We've had a long wait for the new Mac Pro. The current Mac Pro model was announced at WWDC in June 2013, shipping that December, and, for a top-of-the range system, it's looking pretty long in the tooth,
although Apple has just announced that it is bringing the high-end Mac
Pro options down to lower price points. So, for $2,999 you will now get a
6-core Intel Xeon processor, dual AMD FirePro D500 GPUs and 16GB of
memory, and for $3,999, you will now get an 8-core processor and dual
D700 GPUs.
That price drop is unlikely to make much of a difference to
the desire of the Mac Pro's traditional
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creative professional audience
to buy a machine. These videographers, designers, photographers, and
other creative pros have either hung on to their ancient towers that
predate the 2013 redesign because their old Mac Pros, which could be
customised, offered more flexibility and power; or these prod have moved
to the iMac, or they have moved away from the Mac alltogether.
In this article we weigh up all the news and clues
concerning the next Mac Pro update, including the early-April
announcement that Apple is working on a major redesign for 2018 (and a
smaller update - essentially a price drop - in the near future).
For more discussion of upcoming Apple launches, take a look at our big roundup of Apple predictions for 2017. And if you're considering buying one of the current Mac Pro models, read Where to buy Mac Pro in the UK and our Mac buying guide 2017.
When will the new Mac Pro be released?
Not until 2018. (Although Apple has announced a change to the pricing/specs structure for 2017.)
The present Mac Pro was unveiled at WWDC 2013. That's nearly
four years ago (although the Mac Pro didn't actually ship until that
December - and supply was so restrained that most users didn't get
theirs until the following spring). It's about time, then, for an
update.
Analysts often raise the question of whether Apple will turn
its back on the Mac, with the iPhone becoming such a significant part
of its business; a pundit you might have heard of called Steve Jobs once
predicted that the desktop's days were numbered. (He was talking about
how the iPad would revolutionise computing. Sales figures for that line,
while not disastrous, suggest that this hasn't entirely gone to plan.)
Mac Pro tech specs
Previously you could get a Quad-Core and Dual GPU: 3.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon E5 processor;
12GB 1866MHz DDR3 ECC memory; Dual AMD FirePro D300 with 2GB GDDR5 VRAM each;
and
256GB PCIe-based flash storage for $2,999 or £2,999, this model will no longer be available.
Previously you could 6-Core and Dual GPU: 3.5GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon E5 processor; 16GB 1866MHz DDR3 ECC memory;
Dual AMD FirePro D500 with 3GB GDDR5 VRAM each; 256GB PCIe-based flash storage for $3,999 or £3,899. THis model is now $2,999.
Dual AMD FirePro D500 with 3GB GDDR5 VRAM each; 256GB PCIe-based flash storage for $3,999 or £3,899. THis model is now $2,999.
What processor will Apple use in the new 2018 Mac Pro
It seems likely that Apple will update the Mac Pro with the
next-generation Intel Xeon E5 processor, we may also see more RAM in the
entry-level version, now that the 15-inch MacBook Pro range ship with 16GB as standard. We'll go into more detail below.
Display & Os Features
We've already seen some evidence that a new Mac Pro (one with 10 USB 3 ports) is in the pipeline - some code in Mac OS X El Capitan referenced
a machine with the codename AAPLJ95,1.
The current generation of Mac Pro was codenamed AAPLJ90,1. Mind you, El Capitan has now been superseded by macOS Sierra so maybe that was just an anomaly in the code. (More on this code below).
The current generation of Mac Pro was codenamed AAPLJ90,1. Mind you, El Capitan has now been superseded by macOS Sierra so maybe that was just an anomaly in the code. (More on this code below).
Why did Apple ignore the Mac Pro for so long?
- Speaking at a briefing with a select few journalists, Apple appologised for the long wait for a new Mac Pro. The reason for the wait: Apple's engineering team has been attempting to come up with a design for a system that can easily and efficiently be upgraded. The lack of customisation options is the biggest issue most have with the current Mac Pro.
- "If we’ve had a pause in upgrades and updates, we’re sorry for that" said Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller adding: "What happened with the Mac Pro – and we’re going to come out with something great to replace it."
The company is re-thinking the entire machine, it would seem.
"We designed ourselves into a bit of a corner," revealed Craig Federighi, Apple's SVP of Software Engineering.
"We've asked the team to go and re-architect and design
something great for the future that those Mac Pro customers who want
more expandability, more upgradability in the future', added Schiller.
It's not the first time that Mac Pro customers have had to
wait an unacceptable amount of time for an update to what is supposed to
be the ultimate Mac.
What processor will Apple use in the new 2018 Mac Pro
It seems likely that Apple will update the Mac Pro with the
next-generation Intel Xeon E5 processor, we may also see more RAM in the
entry-level version, now that the 15-inch MacBook Pro range ship with 16GB as standard. We'll go into more detail below.
What Processor: Intel Kaby Lake or AMD RYZEN 7
- Those Intel Xeon E5 V3 chips were being used in Dell's new Xeon Precision Tower (5810, 7810 and 7910) - find out more on Dell's website. These Dell workstations use the Intel Xeon E5-2600 v3 processor series featuring either 14 or 18 cores per processor.
- The processors in the current Mac Pros are configurable up to 3.5GHz for a six-core option, 3.0GHz for an 8-core option, and 2.7GHz for a 12-core option. We may see a slight boost in these numbers, but we could equally see the same clock speeds, with the processors themselves being faster.
- It is possible that the new Mac Pro will, like the Dell above, offer an option of 14 or 18 cores.
- It's likely that we see brand new Xeon processors in the Mac Pro. It's expected that we see a late Skylake (Xeon E3-1585 v5) or the new Kaby Lake ( Xeon E3-1205 v6) processors included. The Intel Skylake processor features a base clock of 3.5GHz, four cores and eight threads - it has 8MB of cache and features the Iris Pro Graphics P580 - a powerful in-built GPU that will help low-profile renders.
What ports will the 2018 Mac Pro have?
There's also 4 USB 3 ports; Dual Gigabit Ethernet; and an
HDMI 1.4 UltraHD, as well as a combined optical digital audio
output/analog line out mini-jack; headphone mini-jack with headset
support; HDMI port supports multi-channel audio output and a built-in
speaker.
What Graphics will the 2018 Mac Pro have?
The 2013 Mac Pro features dual workstation-class GPUs. The
Dual AMD FirePro D300 with 2GB GDDR5 VRAM each in the Quad-Core version,
and Dual AMD FirePro D500 with 3GB GDDR5 VRAM each in the 6-Core model.
There’s also a build-to-order option of the Dual AMD FirePro D700 GPUs
with 6GB of GDDR5 VRAM each (an extra £540).
AMD showcased new its new FirePro W-series at Siggraph in
August 2014. The FirePro W7100, W5100 may find their way into the new
Mac Pro.
Alternatively, there are significantly faster graphics based on AMD's Fury platform that may be destined for the new Mac Pro.
How much storage will the 2018 Mac Pro have?
Currently you will find 256GB PCIe-based flash storage as
standard in both standard Mac Pro models, with an option to add 512GB
SSD for £180 or 1TB SSD for £540.
We'd like to see more storage as standard on the Mac Pro, as
the target audience tend to be working with very large files. An option
for 2TB flash storage would be nice.
How much RAM will the 2018 Mac Pro have?
The new Xeon E5 V3 Grantley chips are said to have DDR4
memory controllers, so you can expect even faster memory in this year's
new Mac Pro.
The current models offer 12GB RAM in the Quad-Core model,
and 16GB in the 6-Code model as standard. You can add 32GB RAM at point
of purchase for £360, or a massive 64GB RAM for £1,080. As we mention
above, the 15-inch MacBook Pro now comes with 16GB RAM as standard, so
we would hope that the updated entry-level Mac Pro would match that.
64GB RAM might sound like a lot to you, but some of these
Dell workstations can accommodate up to 1TB of DDR4 RAM. We hope that
the next generation of Mac Pros will be configurable to more than 64GB
(four slots of 16GB).
Will the 2018 Mac Pro have a new design?
Given the fact that Apple has found it necessary to go back
to the drawing board with the Mac Pro it seems likely that we can expect
a whole new design for the 2018 Mac Pro.
Since Apple has revealed that it was the unique triangular
design of the Mac Pro’s thermal core that proved to be the limiting
factor in offering updates to the Mac Pro this seems likely to change in
the new model.
During the briefing with journalists about the plans for the
new machine Federighi revealed that, while Apple set out do so
something that was new and different with the Mac Pro, "we didn’t start
with a shape and say, ‘well, here’s the fastest machine we can put in
that box.’ We actually started with a target for performance and came up
with what I think was a very clever design of that thermal core and
thermal architecture to accommodate what we thought was the right power
architecture."
Unfortunatly it seems that the shape was what limited Apple
when it came to building a Mac that met the actual needs of the pro
audience.
Here's one last titbit that may offer clues about the Mac
Pro of the future. Apple has been granted a patent for the Mac Pro,
specifically for the structure and organisation of internal components
and external interfaces for a compact computing system, according to a report on Patently Apple.
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