It’s no secret that Apple products are preferred by digital creative professionals. The Cupertino giant’s ecosystem is just built for that lifestyle. There’s simply a congruence between hardware and software that just draws them in.
I’m not saying that all creatives are on Mac or iOS or that it is a superior system for content creation. It’s just a statement of fact that there are a lot of digital creatives such as YouTubers, digital artists, and photographers have expressed that they use Apple’s ecosystem in their creative process.
However, if you're a professional who requires the latest and greatest in terms of processing power, you'd be hard pressed to find a Mac Pro for you. That's because it had not been updated since 2013. Sure, it was cutting edge back in the day but today, it’s already showing its age.
Generally speaking, it was a flawed system. It had thermal issues which prevented it from being used under heavy load for a long period. It bet on Thunderbolt 2 which didn’t exactly become the standard in peripherals. It worked for some but the flaws just got bigger and bigger as the system aged. So, the recent announcement that a new Mac Pro is set to arrive from Apple is a welcome development.
From what we’re hearing from rumour mills, there’s going to be a lot to like about this one.
What Needs to Change for the Current Generation Mac Pro
Design
The design, albeit it was well-received back then, is also wearing thin on some of the creatives that patronize it. While the circular design looked nice when it was released, now it just looks like a really expensive garbage bin. It’s going to be difficult to remain inspired when you have that on your desk.
This design also makes it impossible for Apple to install a full-sized workstation GPU. As a remedy, they installed two smaller GPUs instead. This results into what Apple’s chief of marketing describes as a “thermal corner”. The two GPUs got so hot that it had to throttle after a certain period of usage. For a device made for professionals who work 8-hour days, this has become a problem for Apple.
Hardware
For prosumers, the hardware is the pivotal point of assessment. If you're buying a brand-new professional-grade device in 2019 and expect quite a bit of work to be done on it, the specs should at least be modern.
The 12-core Xeon was indeed powerful and even up to today, 6 full years after the current generation Mac Pro was launched, it can still handle tasks well. However, purchasing one right now in the midst of TVs and monitors, and even consumer-grade video cameras being upgraded to 8K, it may show some signs of wear. So, buying one now might be an exercise short-sightedness.
This is one of the most complained about aspect of the current Mac Pro. It's powerful and, by all means, it's a capable workstation especially when used with Apple's suite of software for digital creatives. But the fact of the matter is, the hardware is on the edge getting euthanized. It's so outdated that other processors have become just as powerful yet energy efficient. The Mac Mini, for example, overtakes the Mac Pro in video exporting times which is absurd coming from a higher-end device.
IO
Apple isn’t the most progressive when it comes to modern IO adoption. The Mac Pro might be the culprit. They went all out with 6 Thunderbolt 2 ports on the 2013 version but not a lot of peripherals went with them on that journey. Sure, there was a handful but that legacy port did not have its time in the sun like Thunderbolt 3 ports are having right now.
There were also 4 USB-A ports that are plenty by some standards. But, that can only do so much for a prosumer who needed to plug in a lot of powerful peripherals.
Updated Hardware Specs… Finally!
It goes without saying that the Mac Pro 2019 will come with modern specs. So, expect the latest workstation processor to come out of the box. Whether it’s going to be from AMD or from Intel is yet to be confirmed. If we were to use historical data to predict which one though, I would put my money on Intel’s latest 10-nanometer Xeon Chips nicknamed Sunny Cove.
Much Anticipated Modularity
The most significant development that’s set to arrive for the new Mac Pro is not in what’s inside it. It’s in how you can expand it. According to marketing head Paul Schiller himself, the new Mac Pro is going to be modular.
This means you can expand the base system in any direction that Apple allows.
In this light, it is almost certain that there is going to be a GPU module to be made available for the device. So, if the work that you plan on doing with the Mac Pro is GPU intensive, you can add that to your system. However, if it’s not something that you’d need, there’s no reason to spend extra just to get a feature that you’re not going to need anyway.
Whether Apple makes specific modules for the specific professional requirement is still unknown.
Depending on how you look at it, the modularity can either be a boon or a drawback to making the system more competitively priced. On one side, you can see it as Apple giving consumers the choice to pay only for the features they want and not for the ones that they don’t. On the other side, you can see it as Apple hiking up the prices for higher-end features by adding the cost of housing and connectivity to each planned module.
What’s for certain is that people who buy this will be able to future-proof their Mac Pro. This, in itself, is something that a lot of prosumers would love.
The most exciting possibility, however, is if Apple opens up their walled-garden to modules from other developers. For example, there can be an audio module for audio professionals that have all the ports that they need. For content creators can also benefit a lot from this vision.
I’m not saying that all creatives are on Mac or iOS or that it is a superior system for content creation. It’s just a statement of fact that there are a lot of digital creatives such as YouTubers, digital artists, and photographers have expressed that they use Apple’s ecosystem in their creative process.
However, if you're a professional who requires the latest and greatest in terms of processing power, you'd be hard pressed to find a Mac Pro for you. That's because it had not been updated since 2013. Sure, it was cutting edge back in the day but today, it’s already showing its age.
Generally speaking, it was a flawed system. It had thermal issues which prevented it from being used under heavy load for a long period. It bet on Thunderbolt 2 which didn’t exactly become the standard in peripherals. It worked for some but the flaws just got bigger and bigger as the system aged. So, the recent announcement that a new Mac Pro is set to arrive from Apple is a welcome development.
From what we’re hearing from rumour mills, there’s going to be a lot to like about this one.
What Needs to Change for the Current Generation Mac Pro
Design
The design, albeit it was well-received back then, is also wearing thin on some of the creatives that patronize it. While the circular design looked nice when it was released, now it just looks like a really expensive garbage bin. It’s going to be difficult to remain inspired when you have that on your desk.
This design also makes it impossible for Apple to install a full-sized workstation GPU. As a remedy, they installed two smaller GPUs instead. This results into what Apple’s chief of marketing describes as a “thermal corner”. The two GPUs got so hot that it had to throttle after a certain period of usage. For a device made for professionals who work 8-hour days, this has become a problem for Apple.
Hardware
For prosumers, the hardware is the pivotal point of assessment. If you're buying a brand-new professional-grade device in 2019 and expect quite a bit of work to be done on it, the specs should at least be modern.
The 12-core Xeon was indeed powerful and even up to today, 6 full years after the current generation Mac Pro was launched, it can still handle tasks well. However, purchasing one right now in the midst of TVs and monitors, and even consumer-grade video cameras being upgraded to 8K, it may show some signs of wear. So, buying one now might be an exercise short-sightedness.
This is one of the most complained about aspect of the current Mac Pro. It's powerful and, by all means, it's a capable workstation especially when used with Apple's suite of software for digital creatives. But the fact of the matter is, the hardware is on the edge getting euthanized. It's so outdated that other processors have become just as powerful yet energy efficient. The Mac Mini, for example, overtakes the Mac Pro in video exporting times which is absurd coming from a higher-end device.
IO
Apple isn’t the most progressive when it comes to modern IO adoption. The Mac Pro might be the culprit. They went all out with 6 Thunderbolt 2 ports on the 2013 version but not a lot of peripherals went with them on that journey. Sure, there was a handful but that legacy port did not have its time in the sun like Thunderbolt 3 ports are having right now.
There were also 4 USB-A ports that are plenty by some standards. But, that can only do so much for a prosumer who needed to plug in a lot of powerful peripherals.
Updated Hardware Specs… Finally!
It goes without saying that the Mac Pro 2019 will come with modern specs. So, expect the latest workstation processor to come out of the box. Whether it’s going to be from AMD or from Intel is yet to be confirmed. If we were to use historical data to predict which one though, I would put my money on Intel’s latest 10-nanometer Xeon Chips nicknamed Sunny Cove.
Much Anticipated Modularity
The most significant development that’s set to arrive for the new Mac Pro is not in what’s inside it. It’s in how you can expand it. According to marketing head Paul Schiller himself, the new Mac Pro is going to be modular.
This means you can expand the base system in any direction that Apple allows.
In this light, it is almost certain that there is going to be a GPU module to be made available for the device. So, if the work that you plan on doing with the Mac Pro is GPU intensive, you can add that to your system. However, if it’s not something that you’d need, there’s no reason to spend extra just to get a feature that you’re not going to need anyway.
Whether Apple makes specific modules for the specific professional requirement is still unknown.
Depending on how you look at it, the modularity can either be a boon or a drawback to making the system more competitively priced. On one side, you can see it as Apple giving consumers the choice to pay only for the features they want and not for the ones that they don’t. On the other side, you can see it as Apple hiking up the prices for higher-end features by adding the cost of housing and connectivity to each planned module.
What’s for certain is that people who buy this will be able to future-proof their Mac Pro. This, in itself, is something that a lot of prosumers would love.
The most exciting possibility, however, is if Apple opens up their walled-garden to modules from other developers. For example, there can be an audio module for audio professionals that have all the ports that they need. For content creators can also benefit a lot from this vision.