The Mac Pro used to be one of the only machines in the Mac lineup that didn’t use Apple silicon chips – but WWDC 2023 put that to rest, with a brand new model being announced with M2 Ultra inside.
Massive RAM configurations and bonkers amounts of storage are all here, ready to go for a cool $7199, and it doesn’t come with wheels anymore.
The Mac Pro (2023) makes the move to M2 Ultra
The move to Apple silicon is one that had long been expected and the Mac Pro was the last Mac to move away from Intel and into something a little more speedy.
The newest Mac Studio now comes with an M2 Ultra chip, so you can essentially see this as a low-end Mac Pro before you decide that it’s time to upgrade to something even more powerful.
For this Mac Pro, the chip has a 24-core CPU, with a 60-core GPU to boot alongside a 32-core Neural Engine, and for an extra $1000, you can upgrade to another M2 Ultra that has a 76-core GPU.
This is going to be one of the best Macs that Apple has ever made in sheer horsepower. From editing videos to coding apps for visionOS, you’ll have a Mac that will last years and years.
This new model has been long awaited. Back at WWDC 2022, Apple mentioned that there was ‘one last Mac to make the switch, but that will be another time.’
Well, that time was WWDC 2023, but it’s been a long-standing rumor of what it would include.
In December 2022, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman started to cast doubt on the idea of the M2 Extreme, saying that “the high-end machine has been held up for a number of reasons, including multiple changes to its features, a significant shift in the company’s plans for high-end processors and a potential relocation of its manufacturing.”
By January, 2023, however, Gurman said that the new Mac Pro is only expected to feature the M2 Ultra chip and that Apple has abandoned the idea of a chip even more powerful like the rumored “M2 Extreme.”
With this new Mac Pro having the M2 Ultra, it looks as though Apple decided on what it would include, and seemingly unveiling the last chip in the M2 series.
The Mac Pro (2023) loses interchangeable RAM
According January 2023 report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the new Mac Pro will “lack one key feature from the Intel version: user-upgradeable RAM. That’s because the memory is tied directly to the M2 Ultra’s motherboard. Still, there are two SSD storage slots for graphics, media, and networking cards.”
That was confirmed, with the only way to choose the RAM is at checkout on the Apple Online Store.
Same design, different internals for Mac Pro (2023)
We were expecting Apple’s new Mac Pro to look largely the same as the one that’s currently on sale, and that’s how it turned out. There’s a lot of space in this model too, thanks to the M2 Ultra chip taking up most of what the previous Mac Pro had to contain.
Instead, much of the empty space may be used for a GPU in time, but Apple haven’t released details about this just yet.
How much will the Mac Pro (2023) cost?
While the Intel Mac Pro began at $5,999, the M2 Ultra model now costs $6,999 – but with this being almost eight times faster, the $1000 increase could be justified here.
There’s also a ‘rack’ model, which makes it easier for businesses to use these as a server if they choose to, which starts at $7,499.
When will the Mac Pro (2023) be released?
The M2 Ultra Mac Pro can be pre-ordered now, with a release date of June 16, 2023.