Apple's 2019 Mac Pro is now three PCIe revisions behind
The PCI Express 6.0 standard has officially made its debut, meaning that Apple's Mac Pro -- released in 2019 -- is now several generations behind what's currently available.
Apple's 2019 Mac Pro
On Tuesday, PCI-SIG -- the organization responsible for PCIe -- announced the official release of PCIe 6.0. The new revision brings a multitude of updates and new features to the expansion bus standard.
New features of the specification include a 64 GT/s raw data rate, mechanisms to mitigate bit error rate, updated packet layout in Flit Mode, and Pulse Amplitude Modulation with 4 levels. PCIe 6.0 is also backwards compatible with previous generations of the technology.
Apple's Mac Pro features PCIe expansion slots for graphics modules, I/O cards, and other upgrades. However, the Mac Pro remains on PCIe 3.0 -- a specification that was first made available in 2010.
Since then, the PCIe 4.0 revision became ready to use by hardware manufacturers around June 2017. PCIe 5.0 was made available in November 2019, and the draft PCIe 6.0 specification was first announced in February 2020. As of January 2022, the specification should now be ready to include in hardware.
Apple is largely thought to be working on a Mac Pro update that moves the line over to custom Apple Silicon. Reportedly, the professional workstation could sport a 32-core M-series processor.
Additionally, Apple is also reportedly developing a smaller Mac Pro model.
It's not yet clear if either model will have PCIe slots. There are PCIe drivers available for some upgrade cards for Apple Silicon, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Drivers are what's preventing eGPU compatibility with Apple Silicon, as the cards and eGPU enclosures are recognized by Apple Silicon Macs over Thunderbolt.
Although the PCIe 6.0 specification is now available, it will take time before it's adopted by computer manufacturers and makes its way to consumers. If the timeline for previous revisions holds true, the first PCIe 6.0 hardware will arrive at about this time in 2023.
Read on AppleInsider
Apple's 2019 Mac Pro
On Tuesday, PCI-SIG -- the organization responsible for PCIe -- announced the official release of PCIe 6.0. The new revision brings a multitude of updates and new features to the expansion bus standard.
New features of the specification include a 64 GT/s raw data rate, mechanisms to mitigate bit error rate, updated packet layout in Flit Mode, and Pulse Amplitude Modulation with 4 levels. PCIe 6.0 is also backwards compatible with previous generations of the technology.
Apple's Mac Pro features PCIe expansion slots for graphics modules, I/O cards, and other upgrades. However, the Mac Pro remains on PCIe 3.0 -- a specification that was first made available in 2010.
Since then, the PCIe 4.0 revision became ready to use by hardware manufacturers around June 2017. PCIe 5.0 was made available in November 2019, and the draft PCIe 6.0 specification was first announced in February 2020. As of January 2022, the specification should now be ready to include in hardware.
Apple is largely thought to be working on a Mac Pro update that moves the line over to custom Apple Silicon. Reportedly, the professional workstation could sport a 32-core M-series processor.
Additionally, Apple is also reportedly developing a smaller Mac Pro model.
It's not yet clear if either model will have PCIe slots. There are PCIe drivers available for some upgrade cards for Apple Silicon, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Drivers are what's preventing eGPU compatibility with Apple Silicon, as the cards and eGPU enclosures are recognized by Apple Silicon Macs over Thunderbolt.
Although the PCIe 6.0 specification is now available, it will take time before it's adopted by computer manufacturers and makes its way to consumers. If the timeline for previous revisions holds true, the first PCIe 6.0 hardware will arrive at about this time in 2023.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
Just an amateur question.
Thunderbolt 3/4 is compatible to carry PCIe of what specification or lower at this moment?
And is Thunderbolt 3/4 capable of carrying this new PCIe 6.0 specification at this moment hardware-wise, or needs some better hardware like Thunderbolt 5 in the future?
And also the same question with Apple M1 CPU architecture able to handle PCIe 6.0 hardware-wise, just with software tweaks, or need to wait for new and better Apple CPU of the future?
Just interested.
Thanks.
Just a note here, The M1 CPU is PCIe 4.
These are not volume products, but priced at the level you need to exchange your first born to obtain. It should want for nothing, be a test bed for extreme capabilities that may eventually trickle down to products most people use. A Mac Pro should be like formula one is for the car industry, or space technology is for, well everything.
Apple announces something new with much fanfare, which will be cutting edge, probably niche, "courageous", and almost a tech demo, for a high price which people here try to justify as "not for the masses" whilst claiming Apple doesn't cater to niche markets so they won't release an "xMac". The product isn't really what customers wanted, and doesn't fit with anyone's budget because they don't want to pay through the nose for a computer which will be the fastest available for about 6 months. So Apple is then disappointed that their huge investment didn't reach some astronomically overestimated sales figure, therefore it languishes at the introductory price for years. Eventually parts become obsolete so Apple is forced to update just to claim they are listening to "pros" and aren't iPhone only. And then repeat. HomePod was similar. Great hardware, way overpriced, crap interface. HomePod mini should have been first, then HomePod Pro.
That's not at all how standards like this work. The spec was just released. Now companies take that spec and make sure their designs actually conform to it. There's also time for other companies to start validating PCIe 6 components - not just things major like CPUs and SSDs - but all of the little chips on motherboards and devices that are part of connecting devices. Apple doesn't make those seemingly insignificant bits.
Quick to response, but lack any knowledge of how things work.