It’s not a good time to be a fan of Apple’s Mac Pro. The past few weeks have seen one bad story follow another, and now advanced users are venting their frustrations with Apple’s future plans.
Just yesterday, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman claimed that the next update of Apple’s powerful computer will not have user-editable graphics options. It follows rumors that the next Mac Pro will come without an M2 Extreme chip, upgraded memory, or a new design. And it is safe to say that users are not happy.
Responding to Gurman’s latest news on Twitter, photographer Enrico Teofilo claimed that the lack of users’ updated photos would be “all wrong,” before adding “PCIe support and large user-upgradable RAM amounts are a must for those looking to buy a $50k rack-mountable Mac.”
The problem is that every Apple silicon chip that will be included in the Mac Pro is a so-called system-on-a-chip, which combines the CPU, GPU and memory in one unit. That means that none of the products can be updated after the purchase, which can be a problem in an industry where the products are working quickly and the computers are required update quickly.
Teofilo’s memory concerns are based on previous reports that claimed the Mac Pro could “top up” 192GB of RAM – a far cry from the 1.5TB the current Mac Pro can use. Even with the faster integration provided by Apple silicon chips, the gap is still huge.
“Dead in the Water”
Dutch Dimension, meanwhile, is false, saying that the next Mac Pro will be “dead in the water” are the rumors proven true. The account compares Apple’s graphics cards to those of Nvidia, asking why pro users would spend so much money on a computer that can’t keep up with competitors.
The issue of price is another point of contention. Twitter user Alice_comfy has speculated that the Mac Pro’s M2 Ultra chip could provide graphics functionality around the level of Nvidia’s RTX 3090, perhaps twice as fast as the graphics in Mac Studio’s M1 Ultra chip. “Not seen as a big winner at 5 prices,” they noted.
Other users have little hope, too consultant Joe Okubo suggests that one solution to the graphics shortage would be for Apple to provide an eGPU expansion card to boost performance. Currently, however, there is little in the way of eGPU options for the Mac Pro, and it is not yet known if these solutions will work with Apple’s silicon chips. .
Perhaps the most direct answer was put forward by @goodo1dday, who said that no detailed pictures would be available “defeated the point” on the modular Mac Pro. “Bring back the trash can,” they said. After all the hate it received, we never thought we would see someone fighting to return the 2013 cylindrical and utterly non-modular Mac Pro, yet here we are.
Recommendations of the Editors
