Mac Pro Index

Apple introduced the first Mac Pro with two dual-core 2.0, 2.66, or 3.0 GHz Intel Xeon CPUs in August 2006 with 1 GB of RAM, a 250 GB hard drive, and Nvidia GeForce 7300 GT graphics. Bluetooth and AirPort Extreme were both optional on the original Mac Pro.

An 8-core version with two quad-core CPUs was added in April 2007.

Mac ProThe second generation Mac Pro was released in January 2008, and every configuration used quad-core Intel Xeon CPUs. A single quad-core 2.8 GHz CPU entry-level model was available alongside a dual quad-core 2.8 GHz model and a 3.2 GHz one. Bluetooth became a standard feature, but AirPort Extreme remained an option.

The third generation Mac Pro was released in March 2009; every configuration uses quad-core Intel “Nehalem” Xeon CPUs. A single quad-core 2.66 GHz CPU entry-level model is available alongside a dual quad-core 2.26 GHz model, and there are a host of build-to-order options.

The 2010 Mac Pro was released in July 2010; the single-CPU model uses quad-core Intel “Nehalem” Xeon CPUs running at 2.8, 3.2, or 3.33 GHz. The dual-CPU model uses Intel’s newer “Westmere”, a version of Nehalem that uses a 32nm die (vs. 45nm) for higher speed, lower power consumption, and reduced heat. The base dual-CPU Mac Pros use two 2.8 GHz 4-core CPUs, and 6-core CPUs running at 2.66 and 2.93 GHz are options, creating the first 12-core Macs. Westmere CPUs have new instructions to better support encryption and are designed to reduce latency when used for virtualization. As always, there are a lot of build-to-order options.

The 2012 Mac Pro was a speed bumped version of the 2010 model. CPU options were a 3.2 GHz quad-core and one or two 2.4 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon processors.

2013 Mac Pro

Mac Pro, 2013 – June 2019

In 2013, Apple completely revamped the Mac Pro, building the whole computer in a 9.9″ tall 6.6″ diameter cylinder with no hard drive bays and no PCIe expansion slots. Upgrading system memory is about the only thing a user can do internally; all other upgrades must be external. 10 points for style and speed; 0 for expandability.

The 2019 Mac Pro was announced in WWDC 2019 and released December 10, 2019. The prior model spent 6 years on the market with little to no changes in price or specifications. The seventh generation Mac Pro 7,1 marked a return to the tower form factor with another redesign, and is the final Intel-based Mac Pro. This time, there is a stainless steel frame that also makes up the handles, and legs. Wheels are optional. Featuring 8 PCIe expansion slots, this is the most amount of expansion slots in a Mac in over 2 decades. The previous record holder being the Power Macintosh 9600/350, way back in February 1997.

The 2023 Mac Pro was announced on WWDC 2023, continuing the trend of making Macs designed for professionals needing powerful performance for demanding tasks. Piggybacking off the Apple Silicon transition, It features a 5nm 24-core 60W ARM M2 Ultra chip, offering impressive CPU and GPU capabilities, along with a unified memory architecture that can support up to 192GB of RAM.

The Apple Silicon Mac Pro looks nearly identical identical on the outside to the 2019 Mac Pro. It doesn’t use MPX modules, does not support any additional GPUs and no kext will load if a GPU is plugged in. Driver support is hit or miss on the AS Mac Pro. Devices made by companies with larger user bases, especially those leaning toward professional use cases, will tend to work fine. The lack of 3rd party driver support is, perhaps, a two-fold reverberation of prior forces in motion: The proliferation of dongles/external expansion solutions with a wide level of acceptance, while users sought other devices in the time between the Mac Pro 6,1 and 7,1.

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