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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

New MacPro predictions? Hopes? Fears?

I think they will update the iMac Pro about the same time, perhaps before, but it won’t be much of an update. We will see a bump to CPU and GPU to make them current. And it will probably be a mostly silent update.

As for the Mac Pro, hopefully Apple is listening this time. The previous attempt with the trash can Mac was a great concept, but not for the Mac Pro and the execution was not good. If they had released that little black cylinder with desktop class CPUs and more realistic GPU offerings while slashing the price by at least 40%, then just simply call it the new “Mac” and not “Pro” then I think the market would have ate it up. It got so much hate from the “Pro” market that too many people didn’t give it the chance it deserved to see that it’s actually a great little computer. But it’s not what the power-user “Pro” market wants or needs.
 
Hi Jeff -
so - do you think that if a new Mac Pro comes out, that Apple will let people change out the GPU cards that they can get on Amazon, B&H, Newegg, etc. - or will it be locked down ?
Same question with RAM upgrades, additional internal drives, etc. Based on the Mac mini and iMac Pro, I assume the new Mac Pro will have native 10G ports. Think Apple will ever support Nvidia ever again ? Because RED is certainly doing lots of stuff with Nvidia now !

Bob Zelin
 
I’m envisioning the new Mac Pro to be very similar to the bigger and badder “enterprise” concepts that Intel has for their NUC line. So what this means is that we will see more entries to the Intel CPU + AMD GPU hybrid architecture like Intel is serving up in the Hades Canyon NUC. I’m thinking new generation Xeon CPU paired with AMD Navi GPU on the same card. 8 x DDR4 RAM sockets for up to 512GB. One, perhaps two, PCIe v4 X16 slot. Quad Thunderbolt 3, possibly introducing Thunderbolt 4, a couple USB 3.x ports, HDMI shared off a TB port, and dual 10GE, WiFi 802.11ax, Bluetooth 5...

Don’t expect much in the way of internal HDD space. I think we’ll see dual, possibly support for 3 or 4, M.2 sockets for internal storage — user upgradeable, as will be the RAM. They may give us room for one, maybe two 2.5” storage devices, but I’m actually doubting it, mass storage will be preferred to go external.

In theory, we can drop any off-the-shelf GPU into the system just fine. However, Apple will probably have it locked down to only support AMD GPUs and/or only GPUs that go through their certification process. I am not expecting to see anything from nVidia because as I’ve said in this thread and elsewhere, Apple and nVidia are not getting along as they’re pursuing competing tech for AI and machine learning and are constantly poaching engineers from each other.

Of course, this is all hypothetical... It’s just where I think I see it ending up. I’m not sure if they will offer dual CPU configurations, or even if there would be enough market for it. The PC industry is moving away from dual CPU for workstations. I don’t build them for my own use anymore - best overall workstation performance I’m getting here comes from a single bomber CPU with 12~18 cores, lots of fast RAM and the best GPU (or two...) I can throw in the box.

If by some chance Apple does open up their GPU support in a system like this, I think nVidia would provide drivers for their cards.
 
It might be as early as March:

https://www.macrumors.com/2019/02/12/apple-event-march-25/

I don't know what will be announced on March 25, but there's no way Apple would hold an event for a mere news service.

Perhaps the Mac mini holds some indirect clues as to what the Mac Pro will be like.
 
Karim D. Ghantous said:
It might be as early as March:

https://www.macrumors.com/2019/02/12/apple-event-march-25/

I don't know what will be announced on March 25, but there's no way Apple would hold an event for a mere news service.
Click to expand...

My guess is it's to showcase Apple's new content. It's investing a lot in that.

Perhaps the Mac mini holds some indirect clues as to what the Mac Pro will be like.
Click to expand...


Given the direction Apple's been directing its engineering lately, you might well be right on the mark.
 
In 2020 - looks like there will be another kid on the Server-CPU block.

106740.png


With ARM projecting additional yearly 30% incremental performance jumps (for two years) - I wonder if Apple will take a walk into the Neoverse (when they eventually switch to ARM) and craft an in-house CCX accelerator, or if they’ll stick to a beefed up multi-core Vortex design?

Here’s the full AT article : https://www.anandtech.com/show/13959/arm-announces-neoverse-n1-platform

AJ
 
The Bloomberg article is from April 2nd, 2018. Apple moving to their own chips has been the hot rumor for longer than that. From a RedUser perspective, the ability to decode on nVidia GPUs without pegging the CPU is the critical development. In 2019, the Apple/nVidia feud appears to be the hang up for those of us who prefer OSX.

Does it make sense for Apple to push out a MacPro with Intel/AMD silicon in 2019 if their end game is moving everything to the successor(s) of the A12X?

Cheers - #19
 
You're probably right Misha, but IMO it depends on timing. Best case, how soon could Apple push out a credible MacPro based on their own chips. If that answer is mid-2020 at best, with 2021 more likely, then waiting might scrape off the remaining Mac holdouts in verticals such as ours. OTOH, if they think they could get a legit workstation based on their chips on the shelf by the end of 2019...

The next question is whether the juice is worth the squeeze in terms of market size ratio to cost of developing and supporting the "last" Intel/AMD workstation?

Cheers - #19
 
Considering that this new Mac Pro is supposed to be modular it might be part of Apple's strategy
to provide a path to ARM configs for early adopters when they're available.

It's also worth noting that Apple's near term ARM processors may not initially be up to the level that power users require.
The incorporation of ARM across the Mac platform might be gradual and likely start from the low end up to mid and high end as ARM gets more powerful. That transition can take a few years.

Brian Timmons
BRITIM/MEDIA
 
 
Hmm, as I understood Mojave is prepared to support dual CPU Intel machines. Which would indicate that's what the new Mac pro will be.
 
For many years, long before I knew anything, it was clear to me that Apple's long term aspirations are to manufacturer all of their own hardware. That's been a growing trend and should be rather clear at this point. As to where and when more of those products show up, that's all in the category of unknown.

In the meantime, it would be nice for broader support for certain things, which they clearly know about as they generally do a decent job at listening, but of course how that fairs towards their mass customer base and company's intentions is a different journey.

Moving forward though, you will certainly see a couple expected and perhaps unexpected directions, i.e. a credit card. Especially as the general industry moves towards other things. Streaming is certainly happening for them, especially since they have one of the leading streaming devices out there. It will be interesting to see what entertainment they develop and produce from here on out. The first two shows didn't "spark much joy", but they have been combing and culling talent for a good while now and likely something pretty big/shocking if the whispers in LA are true.

Apple and Disney will add to the pile of streaming services and streaming services will only truly survive based on content people want to see. Disney owns a great deal of content and quality content producers at this point with it's library and last two decades of acquisitions. It will be interesting what Apple adds into the mix of a world ruled mainly by Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and YouTube TV.
 
Björn Benckert said:
Hmm, as I understood Mojave is prepared to support dual CPU Intel machines. Which would indicate that's what the new Mac pro will be.
Click to expand...

Can you expand your thinking on this, Björn?

Mac OS has always supported dual CPUs in terms of Xeon, but I read your post to imply that it might be possible to support dual 'Core' or mainstream family CPUs?

My first reaction is "no, that's not possible since that is one of the differences between CPU families from Intel". That it's a product segmentation decision from Intel.

And further rumors (coming out of Intel) are pointing to Apple starting a transition to ARM as soon as 2020 (likely with their smaller laptops first).

So, Apple pulling away from Intel might add tension to their partnership, but another way to look at it is that Intel might want to keep what part of their business they can and offer Apple custom CPUs that are a hybrid between Core and Xeon families for Apples higher end computers. Unfortunately, this would fit well with my thinking that Apple will make the Mac Pro upgradable, but mainly with components that you can only buy from Apple: custom CPUs and custom form factor GPUs. More generic components like RAM and storage might be compatible with 'over the counter' stuff.

Anyway, do you care to expand?
 
I'm not so sure dual CPU is really where it's headed... HP and other workstation vendors are moving away from dual CPU. Intel is pushing dual (multi) CPU for servers only now. The support in OSX, even the latest Mojave builds, is the same as it's always been. Nothing new there at all. In fact, everyone who has been digging through all the latest beta builds trying to determine newly supported CPUs and other hardware are coming up with nothing. There seems to be some bogus reports and fake/ Hackintosh reports or entries showing up on benchmark and overclock sites. The only new bits showing in any of the latest builds is support for AMD Navi GPUs. Support for dual / multiple CPUs has always been there and has not gone way. If Apple were to release a dual CPU Mac Pro, the only new bits we would see is proper support for the new platform/ chipset and named entries for this hardware. Also speaking of digging into this, the new Mac Pro will be based on a forthcoming Xeon platform that Intel has not officially announced yet. Not only that, we don't even know if it will be 10nm or other details. I'm expecting to see more of the Intel CPU + AMD GPU package configurations like Intel used for their Hades Canyon.

As Apple transitions to their ARM based Core series CPUs, Intel would have a lot to offer in terms of manufacturing. Also they're the ones to go to if Apple decides to build x86/A-Core hybrid CPUs. Intel has already been working on x86/ARM hybrids of their own.

Anyway, I think we'll get a first look at what's really coming here in a few months at WWDC.
 
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