The Mac Pro reborn... and it
really is for pros
You may not be able to afford it, but the Mac is back on the workstation map
CLEVER AS 2013’S cylindrical
Mac Pro was, ľexibility was
limited, and by 2017 Apple
was talking about its replacement.
That in itself suggested a willingness
to listen, and the machine Ľnally
unveiled by Tim Cook at WWDC
really is what pro users had
demanded: a traditional modular
tower — with a few twists. The
industrial “cheesegrater” grille on
the front and back of the one–piece
aluminium sleeve, reportedly based
on an older Apple prototype, unites
the Mac Pro and its companion ApplePro Display XDR while solving
airľow challenges for both.
Angular steel hoops form handles
at the top — a nod to previous Mac
Pros — and feet at the bottom lift
the case oļ the ľoor. While aiding
heat dissipation and avoiding dust,
this does make for a slightly
ungainly impression. Castors will be
an option, and a rack–mount version
was mentioned.
The chassis, accessible from all
sides with the cover oļ, has eight
PCIe slots, four suitable for standard
graphics cards. (Apple alsoannounced DriverKit, a framework
for third–party device drivers.)
Alternatively, you can install two–
slot MPX modules that combine
PCIe, Thunderbolt and power, and
can each hold up to two GPUs, with
passive cooling. Apple says the Mac
Pro’s three large front fans will run
as quietly as an iMac Pro.
Storage comes as NVMe SSDs;
Ľngers crossed these are standard,
allowing third–party drives at keener
prices than Apple’s. Promise has
announced MPX modules with up to
32TB of hard disk space, somethingThe three–dimensional
vents are machined
on both internal and
external surfaces to
maximize airflow.
Feature
22 AUG 2019 maclife.com