Apple working on re-engineered and smaller Mac Pro

Posted:
in macOS edited May 2021
The Mac Pro is a large desktop machine -- but if a report published on Monday is true, Apple could be reducing its size by as much as half in a future model.

A smaller Mac Pro could be on the way
A smaller Mac Pro could be on the way


Apple's Mac Pro is a large, modular desktop computer with and many expansion slots. Reportedly, Apple is working on a new, smaller model -- but what processors are inside, Intel or Apple Silicon, is not yet clear.

A report from Bloomberg says that on Monday alleged that a new, smaller Mac Pro is in the works. Also unclear, is when this unit would be announced, or if it would supplement or replace the existing Mac Pro design.

Reducing the size of the Mac Pro would likely lead to reduced internal configurability, and fewer PCI-E slots. This may not be an issue for some, however, as expansion can be made using external Thunderbolt equipment, or not be needed at all.

Apple is expected to launch all new Macs running Apple Silicon on November 10. High-end desktops are not expected at the event as reports indicate discrete GPU's and better processors won't be ready until later in 2021. Apple could introduce a 24-inch iMac and a 14-inch MacBook Pro, though recent rumors indicate Apple will keep the MacBooks at 13-inches.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 45
    Strange. The size is not the problem. The price is. 
    cpenzoneentropyswilliamlondonelijahgdewmelkruppprismaticsdarkvaderdysamoriavannygee
  • Reply 2 of 45
    zimmiezimmie Posts: 651member
    Bloomberg is also the company which gave us The Big Hack, which still has zero concrete evidence or independent corroboration, and they haven't issued any kind of retraction. It would be extremely generous to call their record on tech reporting "weak".

    Edited to fix a typo. Derp.
    edited November 2020 StrangeDaysRayz2016DAalsethdoozydozendysamoriaspock1234randominternetpersonwatto_cobrakillroy
  • Reply 3 of 45
    DuhSesameDuhSesame Posts: 1,278member
    Apple engineers are currently developing a new Mac Pro that looks like the current design at about half the size. It’s unclear if that Mac will replace the current Mac Pro or if it’s an additional model. Apple’s chip designs could help the company reduce the size of its computers due to increased power efficiency, but the current Mac Pro is large, in part, to fit components like additional storage drives and graphics chips.

    Why?  I don’t buy this either, not at least the “replacement” part.  Are they suggesting that Apple Silicon only have half of the PCIe lanes?

    watto_cobrakillroy
  • Reply 4 of 45
    Give it the Mini-me scaled case as rendered above and take out some of the “sky’s the limit” configuration and expansion and you will end up with a better price point. A headless Mac with iMac Pro caliber specs and a better thermals could be a win. 
    williamlondonelijahgbageljoeyh4y3sdoozydozendysamoriawatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 45
    plovellplovell Posts: 826member
    The last expandable Mini was the one from 2012, and I'm hanging on to mine.

    But I would really go for a Mac Mini Pro++ with space for a couple of internal SSDs, one slot, and expandable memory.

    That would be great.
    pulseimagescornchipwilliamlondonAI_liash4y3sdoozydozenwatto_cobrakillroy
  • Reply 6 of 45
    A Mac semi-Pro for normal people with Intel Core CPUs, non-ECC RAM and a decent GPU will be hit imo. All the advantages of Mac and have expansion options for the future. 

    Gimme. Quickly. 
    williamlondonAI_liasrandominternetpersonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 45
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,412member
    Strange. The size is not the problem. The price is. 

    Really?! Didn't seem to be for the actual professionals who need the capability.
    williamlondonStrangeDaysRayz2016doozydozenJinTechwatto_cobraDetnatorkillroy
  • Reply 8 of 45
    mubailimubaili Posts: 454member
    I hope they learned the lesson and won’t back themselves into another thermal corner
    williamlondondysamoriawatto_cobrakillroy
  • Reply 9 of 45
    Sounds great as an "additional" model but plenty of people like the large size. Mine has two MPX modules for gpu/video and two 16TB NVMe cards. Including the original I/O card I only have one available slot left.
    watto_cobrakillroy
  • Reply 10 of 45
    zimmie said:
    Bloomberg is also the company which gave us The Big Hack, which still has zero concrete evidence or independent corroboration, and they haven't issued any kind of retraction. It would be extremely generous to call their record on tech reporting "week".
    Or "weak" :smile: 

    dysamoriawatto_cobrakillroy
  • Reply 11 of 45
    DuhSesameDuhSesame Posts: 1,278member
    lam92103 said:
    A Mac semi-Pro for normal people with Intel Core CPUs, non-ECC RAM and a decent GPU will be hit imo. All the advantages of Mac and have expansion options for the future. 

    Gimme. Quickly. 
    I don’t think it would be an xMac come true.  I know Apple said they don’t “afraid to cannibalize their own products,” but that’s only for a new idea to challenge the existence.

    In that case, the iMac vs. a “custom PC.”  Not even the iMac Pro in this regard.  That only leaves either a lower-end sibling, or a full replacement.  Either way it doesn’t makes sense to me.
    edited November 2020 watto_cobrakillroy
  • Reply 12 of 45
    Strange. The size is not the problem. The price is. 
    I'm thinking this might help alleviate some of the cost but it seems like a step backward towards non-expandability.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 45

    crofford said:
    Sounds great as an "additional" model but plenty of people like the large size. Mine has two MPX modules for gpu/video and two 16TB NVMe cards. Including the original I/O card I only have one available slot left.
    WHOA. Can you say a little bit about what you do with the much computer? That sounds like an absolute beast.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 45
    What I want is a mid-tower mac with a desktop grade processor and a decent video card.

    16GB RAM in slots, Core i7 or maybe even i9, some RX 6000 series GPU, NVME slot, and a price tag around $2,000

    I don't want a Xeon with 64 cores, I just want a mid to high end consumer mac that can actually hold a candle to the PCs in that price range.
    edited November 2020 CheeseFreezedysamoria
  • Reply 15 of 45
    elijahgelijahg Posts: 2,831member
    Perhaps this is the long fabled xMac that has been desired for so long by many prosumers in the Mac world!
    dewme
  • Reply 16 of 45
    Since we have iPhone, iPhone Mini, iPhone Pro and Pro Max / iMac 21, 27 and Pro / MacBook Air, Pro 13 and Pro 16 (and 1000 iPads) we should definitely have a similar lineup for desktop Macs.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 45
    bageljoeybageljoey Posts: 2,008member
    We got the Mac Mini and the Mac Pro already. Why not a third choice, the Mac. Bigger than the Mini with some expansion options but not Pro priced or Pro sized. 
    People have wanted it for years, maybe it’s coming!!

    i would be so down!!  I hate tossing decent screens when my iMacs age out...
    dewmeCheeseFreezeh4y3sdysamoriawatto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 45
    mattinozmattinoz Posts: 2,452member
    Would assume the dimension needed to reuse the MPX modules in both models would remain the same leaving a machine that can only really be shorter.
    mdriftmeyerwatto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 45
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,684member
    elijahg said:
    Perhaps this is the long fabled xMac that has been desired for so long by many prosumers in the Mac world!
    Would be interesting to say the least. Even something that is about as functional as an iMac but with a certain amount of end-user accessibility, end-user upgradability, and modularity would be awesome. No, it doesn't have to be equal in performance or expandability to the Mac Pro, it just has to be less sealed-up than the Mini and the iMac.

    I really like my iMacs, but every one has required servicing and every service issue requires a trip to the Apple Store, the loss of the computer for several days, and they always come back with smudges and bubbles under the bezel where the poor technicians had to pry the darn thing apart. And as others have said, it always seems like a waste to have to recycle an iMac that still has a beautiful screen on it even if its computing internals are scrambled. 
    elijahgdysamoriawatto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 45
    mcdavemcdave Posts: 1,927member
    Cube?         
    watto_cobra
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