It looks like Apple’s Mac Pro line is not dead after all. The Cupertino company recently upgraded its existing Mac Pro, and announced that they are working on a “completely rethought” Mac Pro scheduled for after this year. On top of that, Apple also said that they are working on Apple-branded pro displays to go with the Mac Pro.
First up, Apple has upgraded its current Mac Pro. The cheaper variant has been upgraded to a 6-core Intel Xeon processor, and dual AMD Fire Pro D500 with 3GB GDDR5 VRAM each. The higher-end one is now equipped with an 8-core Intel Xeon processor, and dual AMD FirePro D700 with 6GB GDDR5 VRAM each. The price remains the same at RM12,999 and RM16,999 respectively. The 6-core option is available for purchase right now, while the more expensive 8-core one is listed as “currently unavailable”.
If you are not in a hurry to buy a Mac Pro, then the best option is to wait. Apple said in an interview that they are working on a “completely rethought” Mac Pro, with a modular design that can accommodate high-end CPUs and GPUs, allowing users to upgrade it on a regular basis. Apple admits that the original Mac Pro, which was released in 2013, was “fundamentally flawed”. Instead of completely ditching the device, Apple says that they will work hard on something truly different.
“With regards to the Mac Pro, we are in the process of what we call “completely rethinking the Mac Pro”. We’re working on it. We have a team working hard on it right now, and we want to architect it so that we can keep it fresh with regular improvements, and we’re committed to making it our highest-end, high-throughput desktop system, designed for our demanding pro customers.
As part of doing a new Mac Pro — it is, by definition, a modular system — we will be doing a pro display as well. Now you won’t see any of those products this year; we’re in the process of that. We think it’s really important to create something great for our pro customers who want a Mac Pro modular system, and that’ll take longer than this year to do.”
Sadly, as mentioned in the quote, you will not see the new Mac Pro this year. Apple did not provide any timeline, but let’s keep our fingers crossed that “take longer than this year to do”, means that we can see it sometime next year.
(Source: Daring Fireball via: 9to5Mac)
