First look: Mac Pro and Apple Pro Display XDR [u]

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited July 2020
After unveiling the new Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR onstage at WWDC 2019, Apple provided AppleInsider a closer look at the shiny, ultra-powerful hardware designed to sate the most voracious professional users.

Mac Pro


Apple's Mac Pro was unveiled at Monday's WWDC 2019 keynote after initially telling the public that they were working on it more than two years ago. In its latest iteration, that is about the same size of the "cheese-grater" Mac Pro, Apple can cram in up to a 28-core Xeon Processor.





The higher-end configurations can support up to 2TB of RAM, with the 12-core and 16-core "limited" to 1TB. The machine eschews hard drives in favor of up to 4TB of Flash storage, encrypted by the T2 chip.




Apple has also returned to PCI-E, having stayed away from the slot since that older cheese-grater. In total, there are eight PCI-E 3.0 slots in the machine, with two of them set aside for the MPX module.

That MPX module can contain the new AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo, containing two Vega GPUs, each with 64 compute units, and a total of 64GB of HBM2 memory. This will deliver up to 28.2 teraflops at single-precision, or 56.4 at half-precision.




The new Onboard Infinity Fabric Link can chain up to two of these cards at up to 84GB per second of data migration. Each card has four Thunderbolt 3 ports to connect the new Apple Pro Display XDR, and one HDMI 2.0 port.

Configurations will start from $5,999. We don't yet know how expensive they will get.


Apple Pro Display XDR

After years of absence, Apple has returned to the display market. The Apple Pro Display XDR is a 6K display, at 6016 x 2284 resolution on a 32-inch screen.




To manage reflected light, the Pro Display XDR has an anti-reflective coating. It also has an optional matte option that the company calls nano-texture, with glass etched at the nanometer level for low reflectivity and less glare. Bezels are 9mm thick.

The display can indefinitely display 1000 nits of brightness, with a peak of up to 1600 nits. And, this is on top of a 1,000,000 to 1 contrast ratio.

Using the MPX modules, a Mac Pro can drive up to six of these displays at one time.




The Pro Stand resembles the iMac G4 display arm in functionality, with the addition of rotation, and is an additional $999 purchase. A VESA adapter is $199. The display does come with a basic stand.

The display itself starts at $4,999. The nano etched version retails for $5,999.

Updated with video.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 134
    boboliciousbobolicious Posts: 1,175member
    ...does anyone actually like the industrial design...?

    Does even something as simple as the lack of taper on the stand belie both functional need and structural expressiveness, as well as use more of the high embodied energy aluminum than may be needed, given Apple's claim of focus on sustainability...?
    edited June 2019 philswilliamlondon
  • Reply 2 of 134
    ensoniqensoniq Posts: 131member
    I don't HATE the design...although it's so surprising that they went with the "cheese grater" design of the old Mac Pro tower system.  I assume this was their only way to allow for proper cooling without the ridiculous fan noise of PC workstations.

    What left me annoyed, even as a casual user who would never buy one of these, was the 256 GB SSD included as standard storage in the base model.  I'm sorry...but if I am spending $6000 for an Apple workstation, designed for pro level work, anything less than 512 GB standard is just a slap in the face.  It's an immediate required upgrade for anyone who would spend the money for one of these.  And for Apple to not just suck up the extra $200 they would lose on that upgrade is highway robbery.

    The new modular Mac Pro is going to ruffle a lot of feathers for a variety of reasons.  Apple being stingy about base storage on a $6000 computer is what annoyed me.
    read-libertylarz2112kestrallorin schultzphilsCarnagexixooseamedysamoria80s_Apple_Guy
  • Reply 3 of 134
    netroxnetrox Posts: 1,507member
    ensoniq said:
    The new modular Mac Pro is going to ruffle a lot of feathers for a variety of reasons.  Apple being stingy about base storage on a $6000 computer is what annoyed me.
    Please stop this non-sense. There is a PC version of that machine and it costs $8000!!! Seriously, this is a Mac Pro we're talking about, it is a very expandable Mac machine and it comes with a premium price. Hardly stingy.
    Metriacanthosaurusgregoriusmlollivermac_dogStrangeDaysMisterKitn2itivguymike1fotoformatlkrupp
  • Reply 4 of 134
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,453member



    I thought I was looking at a hotel luggage or catering cart for a second here. I'm so confused by this...frame? Anyone else think the feet are weird?
    edited June 2019 read-libertylarz2112kestralphilsCarnagemike54williamlondon
  • Reply 5 of 134
    boboliciousbobolicious Posts: 1,175member
    ...and at $200 is the vesa adapter both questionable in need (vs four threaded holes) and more than the cost of many stands and arms ? There are four high capacity Ergotron arms in this studio and they were all less than $200 US and came with multiple adapter plates, albeit one must turn (undo) four knurled knobs to detach... Would magnetic attachment be better as a BTO option or kit vs all in ?
    edited June 2019 dysamoriawilliamlondon
  • Reply 6 of 134
    ElCapitanElCapitan Posts: 372member
    The display is a design only an ex-Compaq employee could love! It is hideous. 
    The_Martini_Catlarz2112kestralphilsCarnagexixowilliamlondon
  • Reply 7 of 134



    I thought I was looking at a hotel luggage or catering cart for a second here. I'm so confused by this...frame? Anyone else think the feet are weird?
    With wheels this thing would look like a walking aid. 
    frantiseklarz2112fastasleepkestraln2itivguyphilsCarnage
  • Reply 8 of 134
    tmaytmay Posts: 6,455member
    ...does anyone actually like the industrial design...?

    Does even something as simple as the lack of taper on the stand belie both functional need and structural expressiveness, as well as use more of the high embodied energy aluminum than may be needed, given Apple's claim of focus on sustainability...?
    Interestingly enough, there is a new paradigm in structural design for mechanical engineers, and most of the major MCAD players are providing it.

    Here's an example of Generative design from Autodesk Fusion 360;



    As you can see, it can be very organic, and lends itself to additive, ie, 3D print processes.

    We don't know what other criteria went into the Mac Pro structure, but we do know that the same configuration on the Apple Pro Display XDR provides finless cooling functionality. I would suspect that on the Mac Pro, it would provide something beyond structure, as an example, fan noise reduction, but, who knows. 




    edited June 2019 fastasleepwatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 134
    netrox said:
    ensoniq said:
    The new modular Mac Pro is going to ruffle a lot of feathers for a variety of reasons.  Apple being stingy about base storage on a $6000 computer is what annoyed me.
    Please stop this non-sense. There is a PC version of that machine and it costs $8000!!! Seriously, this is a Mac Pro we're talking about, it is a very expandable Mac machine and it comes with a premium price. Hardly stingy.
    The only reason they include that “low end” model, is for people to buy their ssd and ram elsewhere. If not this trillion dollar co is very stingy indeed.
    edited June 2019 kestral
  • Reply 10 of 134
    Hey! 256 SSD is probably enough if you are a gig photographer, you edit the photos (which BTW would be um, super fast?) and then archive them off.  If something happens to your machine, it is super replaceable, probably 1 in stock at the local Apple store.  You spend the two grand you save on an iPad you attach with Sidecar, or ink. For video editing, sure you need more (and I would get more, but then I'm not a gig photographer).🍸👨‍🎨
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 134
    boboliciousbobolicious Posts: 1,175member
    tmay said:
    ...does anyone actually like the industrial design...?

    Does even something as simple as the lack of taper on the stand belie both functional need and structural expressiveness, as well as use more of the high embodied energy aluminum than may be needed, given Apple's claim of focus on sustainability...?
    Interestingly enough, there is a new paradigm in structural design for mechanical engineers, and most of the major MCAD players are providing it.

    Here's an example of Generative design from Autodesk Fusion 360;

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6bDLMWlS98

    As you can see, it can be very organic, and lends itself to additive, ie, 3D print processes.

    We don't know what other criteria went into the Mac Pro structure, but we do know that the same configuration on the Apple Pro Display XDR provides finless cooling functionality. I would suspect that on the Mac Pro, it would provide something beyond structure, as an example, fan noise reduction, but, who knows. 




    ...ahhh the quantification of design - I am familiar with and have 3D rapid prototyped as well as some aspects of structural and mechanical engineering - are aesthetics harder to AR/AI...? Design by spreadsheet ? Kind of like computer generated music...? As a tool maybe, but as ultimate justification ? No thanks. I enjoyed the softness of the aqua interface and the 30" cinema display, irrespective of specs...

    A reminder from long ago...? https://www.computerworld.com/article/2471632/steve-jobs-on-microsoft---they-just-have-no-taste--.html

    edited June 2019
  • Reply 12 of 134
    longpathlongpath Posts: 401member
    I’m waiting to see what color calibration options will exist for the new display. If color calibration turns out to be solid, I can see a number of these replacing Sony broadcast monitors in our Graphics group, and possibly on some of our Avids.
    gregoriusmfastasleepmcsandbergwelshdogwatto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 134
    wlymwlym Posts: 102member
    I LOVE the design!
    lollivermac_dogStrangeDaysn2itivguyRadio_Signalaegeanmdriftmeyerwilliamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 134
    The design is Strange..... but we will get used to it.
    Does anybody have information on how many ssds we can put in there? Is it really only one slotted? It does not have any 3.5 drive slots right? Why is it as huge as my old 5,1 Mac Pro, when it does not use the space for drives?

    the display is beautiful though, but why isn’t it adjustable in the height?!
    are you one hundred percent sure that the normal Stand comes with it? Everybody laughed at the price of 999$. It is really ridiculous.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 134
    mattinozmattinoz Posts: 2,488member
    Is the round detail just screw connection for stand/mount or can the display be set vertical mount?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 134
    It’s hilarious to read how misunderstood this product is. 
    gregoriusmmac_dogStrangeDaysMisterKitn2itivguyRadio_Signaljax44pscooter63Soliwilliamlondon
  • Reply 17 of 134
    jccjcc Posts: 336member
    So ugly!!! Ugh! Clearly Ive is out to lunch. Plus with all the departures of his team recently have all contributed to this horrendous design. 
    philsCarnagewilliamlondon
  • Reply 18 of 134
    jccjcc Posts: 336member
    wlym said:
    I LOVE the design!
    You have no taste...
    philsCarnagewilliamlondon
  • Reply 19 of 134
    mobirdmobird Posts: 759member
    This is the Mac Pro that I will be able to afford...
    JustSomeGuy1gregoriusmleehericksIreneWdecoderringchristophbRadio_SignalCarnagexixodysamoria
  • Reply 20 of 134
    Who wrote this?!? It's rife with errors.

    - Price of the Mac is wrong (correct start price is $5999).
    - Max RAM is 1.5TB, not 2TB. (Tells us something interesting about the Xeons being used, they're the first M series)
    - Description of the MPX is inaccurate and/or speculative. Each one takes up two double-wide slots, two will take four slots. We don't yet know if the infinity fabric will link the cards (you'd think so but I see no evidence).
    - Pro display nano-etching is an option, for $1k more.
    - "84GB per second of data migration"?? Who thinks up these things?
    - "The display does come with a basic stand." Really? You could be right about this, but I've seen no evidence of this. Source?
    dysamoriamike54mdriftmeyerwatto_cobra
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