Mac Pro is Apple's last Intel computer standing

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 17
Alongside the launch of the new M2 Mac mini, Apple has discontinued the Intel version, meaning that solely the Mac Pro remains available without Apple Silicon.




Apple's MacBook Pro and MacBook Air lineup had already transitioned to Apple Silicon, but despite there being an '';M1 Mac mini, there remained an Intel Mac mini model until today.

This leaves the 2019 Mac Pro as the sole Mac can that be bought with an Intel processor. At present, that Mac Pro has no Apple Silicon option at all.

It means that this Mac Pro is also the last machine that can run Boot Camp and thereby install Microsoft Windows.

The last Intel-based Mac mini remains listed on Apple's comparison page, but only with technical details. There's no longer an option to order it, outside of Apple's refurbished hardware page.

Apple adds power, cuts cost

That final-ever Intel Mac mini was a six-core i5, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, one. It cost from $1,099.

From today, the most affordable version of the Mac mini is the base M2 model with an 8-Core CPU and 8-Core GPU. It comes with 256GB Storage,
and 8GB unified memory.

This version retails for $599, or exactly $500 less.

Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    skippingrockskippingrock Posts: 183member
    Intel Outside, once again. 
    Alex1Ndanoxwatto_cobraradarthekatFileMakerFeller
  • Reply 2 of 7
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,482member
    Old biases die hard. Some here’s till want Apple to use AMD Ryzen or Intel in the Mac Pro and can’t let go of the slots, upgradeable memory, swappable GPU cards, discrete plugin components model. But even Linus from Linus Tech Tips (not the biggest Apple fan) posted a video some months ago by his colleague when the Mac Studio was released declaring that the SOC paradigm now championed by Apple is the future. The major manufacturers know it. They’re not stupid. The efficiency, the speed, the power requirements are too important to ignore. 

    So the new Mac Pro will be unveiled at some point and will be castigated by the slots crowd. Sure, it may have some slots but it won’t be what they want. But the new Mac Pro will be for real Pros, not prosumer tinkerers.
    edited January 17 badmonkwilliamlondonAlex1Ndanoxwatto_cobraradarthekatFileMakerFeller
  • Reply 3 of 7
    boboliciousbobolicious Posts: 1,082member
    ... the 'final-ever' Intel mini was also available in a 3.2 (4.6) Ghz i7 6 (12) cores and had upgradable ram to 64GB ...
    Add to that eGPU (multiple W6900X?) and up to 3 @ 4K monitors and this mac seemed to offer quite a bit of power, upgradability and future proofing...
    I understand that the Intel CPU core count generally starts to reach diminishing returns beyond 8 or so,
    and would be curious to know how the M macs compare, including perhaps alongside the 8 (16) core base mac pro...?
    edited January 17 williamlondonAlex1Nwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 7
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,561member
    lkrupp said:
    Old biases die hard. Some here’s till want Apple to use AMD Ryzen or Intel in the Mac Pro and can’t let go of the slots, upgradeable memory, swappable GPU cards, discrete plugin components model. But even Linus from Linus Tech Tips (not the biggest Apple fan) posted a video some months ago by his colleague when the Mac Studio was released declaring that the SOC paradigm now championed by Apple is the future. The major manufacturers know it. They’re not stupid. The efficiency, the speed, the power requirements are too important to ignore. 

    So the new Mac Pro will be unveiled at some point and will be castigated by the slots crowd. Sure, it may have some slots but it won’t be what they want. But the new Mac Pro will be for real Pros, not prosumer tinkerers.
    Thunderbolt 5 will eliminate the vast majority of the need for slots, and it's very likely it'll debut in the Mac Pro. The tinkerers will complain about the cost of TB5 devices compared to cards, but it won't be an issue for pros.
    williamlondonAlex1Nwatto_cobraradarthekatFileMakerFeller
  • Reply 5 of 7
    mikethemartianmikethemartian Posts: 856member
    lkrupp said:
    Old biases die hard. Some here’s till want Apple to use AMD Ryzen or Intel in the Mac Pro and can’t let go of the slots, upgradeable memory, swappable GPU cards, discrete plugin components model. But even Linus from Linus Tech Tips (not the biggest Apple fan) posted a video some months ago by his colleague when the Mac Studio was released declaring that the SOC paradigm now championed by Apple is the future. The major manufacturers know it. They’re not stupid. The efficiency, the speed, the power requirements are too important to ignore. 

    So the new Mac Pro will be unveiled at some point and will be castigated by the slots crowd. Sure, it may have some slots but it won’t be what they want. But the new Mac Pro will be for real Pros, not prosumer tinkerers.
    I guess all the enterprise grade 3D engineering applications that simulate Maxwell’s equations, fluid dynamics, structural engineering, etc. (and the licences of many cost more than a house) is all just for tinkering.
    williamlondonAlex1NDAalseth
  • Reply 6 of 7
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,561member
    mikethemartian said:
    lkrupp said:
    Old biases die hard. Some here’s till want Apple to use AMD Ryzen or Intel in the Mac Pro and can’t let go of the slots, upgradeable memory, swappable GPU cards, discrete plugin components model. But even Linus from Linus Tech Tips (not the biggest Apple fan) posted a video some months ago by his colleague when the Mac Studio was released declaring that the SOC paradigm now championed by Apple is the future. The major manufacturers know it. They’re not stupid. The efficiency, the speed, the power requirements are too important to ignore. 

    So the new Mac Pro will be unveiled at some point and will be castigated by the slots crowd. Sure, it may have some slots but it won’t be what they want. But the new Mac Pro will be for real Pros, not prosumer tinkerers.
    I guess all the enterprise grade 3D engineering applications that simulate Maxwell’s equations, fluid dynamics, structural engineering, etc. (and the licences of many cost more than a house) is all just for tinkering.
    Do those applications require special expansion cards? Or have they simply not been ported to Mac/Apple Silicon yet?

    If it's the latter, then complain to the company which created the software. Apple's hardware is more than capable of performing such computations with all sorts of hardware acceleration. Just because some software engineers only ever learned how to program for PC hardware and/or have management which only knows how to sell to the PC crowd isn't a real limitation.
    Alex1Nwatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 7
    9secondkox29secondkox2 Posts: 1,703member
    Can’t see this thing launching with an m2 Ultra. I’m thinking it could be the first m3 class computer all the way with m3 extreme (or an m2 extreme at 3nm) on the same day as m3 (or m2 at 3nm) iMac. 

    Or even better, a desktop specific chip without efficiency cores that ramps up frequency and transistor count. New nomenclature as well. 

    As the old school way of modular upgrading goes the way of the dodo, perhaps apple has developed a new modular approach to expand ability by offering a new, system-wide “fabric” that allows multiple SOCs to be slotted in after purchase. For example, let’s say the Mac Pro comes with an M3 ultra. You can configure two ultras at point of purchase, or you can upgrade to  up to 8 ultras as desired later on. The amount of processing and graphics power as well as ram capacity would be massive. 

    Still, I’m thinking the best way for apple to crown the king is with a desktop specific, massively multicore clock speed monster with massive addressable RAM capacity all as one SOC without interconnects. Bin from there for lower models. Leave the M series for mobile and lesser desktops. 

    Let the SOC eat. It’s not a notebook, phone, or tablet. It’s a desktop powerhouse workstation. Let it rip. 
    edited January 17 watto_cobramuthuk_vanalingamradarthekatcornchip
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