Apple upgrades 2013 Mac Pros with more cores & faster GPUs

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited April 2017
Simultaneous with teasing redesigned Mac Pros due next year, Apple on Tuesday announced modest upgrades to existing 2013 models, increasing the performance of stock configurations.




The base $2,999 model is being boosted from 4 cores to 6, and from twin AMD FirePro D300 cards to a pair of D500 units. The $3,999 model is growing from 6 cores to 8, and switching its twin GPUs from the D500 to the D700.

The upgrades should go into effect later today, but are not yet reflected on Apple's online store.

Apple has left the Mac Pro largely unchanged since 2013, creating problems for professionals who want to use a Mac for performance-intensive tasks such as 3D rendering or high-resolution video editing. Other Macs use mobile graphics cards and more conventional CPUs which may not be able to keep up.

Indeed the new Pros are otherwise unaltered, missing technologies like USB-C or Thunderbolt 3. As a result they don't support the LG UltraFine 5K display, which actually does work with the less expensive 2016 MacBook Pro.

The 2018 Mac Pros will have modular designs, making them easier to upgrade, and ship alongside a new Apple-branded "pro display."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 60
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Stopgap.
    edited April 2017
  • Reply 2 of 60
    Most like AMD told them they are no longer able to keep providing these old display cards.
  • Reply 3 of 60
    gerry ggerry g Posts: 39member
    given what might be available processor wise in the next twelve months I'd hate leap too soon and upgrade to this
  • Reply 4 of 60
    brucemcbrucemc Posts: 1,541member
    lkrupp said:
    Stopgap.
    Sure.  But should they have not done the update and just waited until the new models in 2018?  Best of a bad situation I would say.
    randominternetpersonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 60
    adamcadamc Posts: 583member
    gerry g said:
    given what might be available processor wise in the next twelve months I'd hate leap too soon and upgrade to this
    Isn't it strange, many complaint that Apple has not update their Mac Pro and now they did, you said you wouldn't be buying it. Make up your mind.
    SoliGeorgeBMacchiapscooter63brucemcMacsplosionwatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 60
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,625member
    adamc said:
    gerry g said:
    given what might be available processor wise in the next twelve months I'd hate leap too soon and upgrade to this
    Isn't it strange, many complaint that Apple has not update their Mac Pro and now they did, you said you wouldn't be buying it. Make up your mind.
    Well, damned if you do and damned if you don't but Apple is entirely to blame. They dropped the ball, and 2018 is hardly around the corner.
  • Reply 7 of 60
    indiekidukindiekiduk Posts: 381member
    This title is misleading, they haven't upgraded it at all, they just made the old mid-spec now the cheap spec. Still ancient GPUs and CPUs, what a joke.

    Schiller: “In the meantime, we’re going to update the configs to make it faster and better for their dollar. This is not a new model, not a new design, we’re just going to update the configs. We’re doing that this week.”
    tallest skil
  • Reply 8 of 60
    Well, at least Apple did something. Hopefully, they'll cut the cost of some of those refurbished models they're currently selling. I'd really like to know if MacPro sales lived up to Apple's expectations or was it a complete bust of a product. I also wish there was a way to compare each level MacPro with Apple's high-end iMac so if I ever did decide to buy a MacPro I wouldn't be stuck with a model less powerful overall than the top iMac. I don't do video editing but I could use something fast for encoding mp4 to mkv files. I'm not sure if I need more threads or better GPUs.
  • Reply 9 of 60
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    adamc said:
    gerry g said:
    given what might be available processor wise in the next twelve months I'd hate leap too soon and upgrade to this
    Isn't it strange, many complaint that Apple has not update their Mac Pro and now they did, you said you wouldn't be buying it. Make up your mind.
    Yeh,  Apple devotees want dramatic, spectacular, innovative new products -- but then complain when incremental upgrades aren't made -- but then complain when they ARE made!
    ... Sucks to be you Apple...

    The fact is the most mature tech market of all is the desktop.   There's only so much even Apple can do...
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 60
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    adamc said:
    gerry g said:
    given what might be available processor wise in the next twelve months I'd hate leap too soon and upgrade to this
    Isn't it strange, many complaint that Apple has not update their Mac Pro and now they did, you said you wouldn't be buying it. Make up your mind.
    This isn't an upgrade.  There is nothing available today that wasn't available yesterday (it seems at least, still waiting for the store to update).  Only the base configurations have been altered, to make them better value for money.
    edited April 2017 indiekidukSoli
  • Reply 11 of 60
    With Apple telegraphing they are abandoning this form factor and the lame specs of the speed bump, who exactly would shell out the Dollars for this thing?

    Apple needs to stop trying to reinvent the wheel with each new product release. The Workstation form factor is a necessity for some and a preference for others. For once, maybe Apple can conform to industry standards and design a Mac whose purpose is not as an object of art or industrial design- but as a form follows function tool that is versatile, maintainable over more than 24 months, user upgradeable and highly reliable.

    A slightly smaller version of the Mac Pro Workstation with modern internals and connectivity would be just the ticket.
    williamlondonavon b7
  • Reply 12 of 60
    bloggerblogbloggerblog Posts: 2,462member
    How about a MacBook Pro with a SIM card, HDMI, SD, USB A and C? That'll be a perfect all around Pro device. You can make USB-C only MacBooks, but pros need to be flexible and not have to twiddle in their bags looking for dongles and external drives.
    avon b7williamlondon
  • Reply 13 of 60
    How about a MacBook Pro with a SIM card, HDMI, SD, USB A and C? That'll be a perfect all around Pro device. You can make USB-C only MacBooks, but pros need to be flexible and not have to twiddle in their bags looking for dongles and external drives.

    The USB-A part of your complaint is silly.  If you have USB-A devices, you buy a $5 adaptor and stick it on the end of your USB-A cable and never think about it again.  At least that's what I did.  For example, I have a USB thumb drive on my keyboard; since I got my MacBook Pro it's become a USB-A thumb drive thanks to a tiny adaptor.  Having legacy USB-A slots on brand new PowerBooks would be a mistake.
    StrangeDayschiaMacsplosionwatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 60
    $2,999.00, and only 16GB of ram?  Should have done more with both pricing and specs, IMO.
    williamlondon
  • Reply 15 of 60
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    adamc said:
    Isn't it strange, many complaint that Apple has not update their Mac Pro and now they did, you said you wouldn't be buying it. Make up your mind.
    This is just as much (read: not at all) of an "upgrade" or "refresh" to the Mac Pro as the model they released between the 2006 and 2008 versions. It was only the ADDITION of a new processor option with nothing else changed. MacRumors had the gall to consider it an entire refresh.
    indiekiduk
  • Reply 16 of 60
    brucemcbrucemc Posts: 1,541member
    adamc said:
    gerry g said:
    given what might be available processor wise in the next twelve months I'd hate leap too soon and upgrade to this
    Isn't it strange, many complaint that Apple has not update their Mac Pro and now they did, you said you wouldn't be buying it. Make up your mind.
    Yeh,  Apple devotees want dramatic, spectacular, innovative new products -- but then complain when incremental upgrades aren't made -- but then complain when they ARE made!
    ... Sucks to be you Apple...

    The fact is the most mature tech market of all is the desktop.   There's only so much even Apple can do...
    Apple needs to innovate!  They are falling behind
       =>  Apple produces the new MBP - innovations across the board (Touch Bar, TouchID, powerful & multi-purpose ports, trackpad, screen, speakers, cooling)
             => The Internet complains that this is not what they want - they want same chassis, same ports, more RAM, upgraded CPU

    Users like Apple's Cinema displays, but complain that they are not upgraded nearly often enough, are too expensive, and tired of paying 50% more because it looks good
      =>  Apple partners with LG, to aid *LG* in developing a 5K display that works with specs of new MBP.  Product is very functional* and cheaper than Apple would sell.
             => Internet complains that it "looks cheap", doesn't match to how MBP looks - bemoans Apple abandoning the market.


    * yes, the product was found to have a legitimate shielding issue, but this was a) after all the complaining per above, and b) this is LG's product, not Apple's.
    lostkiwiStrangeDayschiawatto_cobraGeorgeBMac
  • Reply 17 of 60
    polymniapolymnia Posts: 1,080member
    How about a MacBook Pro with a SIM card, HDMI, SD, USB A and C? That'll be a perfect all around Pro device. You can make USB-C only MacBooks, but pros need to be flexible and not have to twiddle in their bags looking for dongles and external drives.
    Replace the word "Pros" with "I" and you will make an objectively accurate statement.
    williamlondonStrangeDayschiaMacsplosionwatto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 60
    gerry ggerry g Posts: 39member
    adamc said:
    gerry g said:
    given what might be available processor wise in the next twelve months I'd hate leap too soon and upgrade to this
    Isn't it strange, many complaint that Apple has not update their Mac Pro and now they did, you said you wouldn't be buying it. Make up your mind.
    Have two already, am no intention of jumping on a minor upgrade with no Thunderbolt 3or type C support, next year will be different however, feel I've done my bit thanks all the same, how many you got ?
    lorin schultz
  • Reply 19 of 60
    polymniapolymnia Posts: 1,080member
    Well, at least Apple did something. Hopefully, they'll cut the cost of some of those refurbished models they're currently selling. I'd really like to know if MacPro sales lived up to Apple's expectations or was it a complete bust of a product. I also wish there was a way to compare each level MacPro with Apple's high-end iMac so if I ever did decide to buy a MacPro I wouldn't be stuck with a model less powerful overall than the top iMac. I don't do video editing but I could use something fast for encoding mp4 to mkv files. I'm not sure if I need more threads or better GPUs.
    I can offer some anecdotal observation of how well the Mac Pro has be accepted by creative ad design agencies. I am a freelancer who comes and goes through several different agencies regularly. I have seen very few Trashcan Mac Pros. I've also see then Cheesegrater towers thin out quite a bit, except at one place where they have an IT guy who is obsessed with upgrading RAM, swapping video cards, etc, yet the end result is their machines are consistently the crappiest ones I use.

    What I see are LOTS of iMacs, closely followed my MBPs connected to large displays.

    At least in the graphic design field, all the points made in the press meeting are validated by my own observation.

    The Mac Pro used to be standard issue. It hasn't been in quite some time. iMacs and MBPs HAVE picked up a lot of the slack (I know nerds will argue with me on this point, but it's true in my business) and Apple has a lot of catching up to do if they want to reestablish the Mac Pro in the creative field.
    edited April 2017 williamlondon
  • Reply 20 of 60
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    Now that Apple has explained why they just couldn't add any upgraded component into this design due to thermal issues, is anyone going to apologize for repeatedly stating over the past 2+ years that all Apple had to to put in new chips?
    lostkiwiStrangeDaysericthehalfbee
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