Apple has finally started selling the Mac Pro, although – with prices starting at £5,499/$5,999 and rising to £47,079/$52,199 if you max it out with all the build-to-order options – it’s unlikely that many people will be rushing to buy one.
That price doesn’t even include the wheels, which cost another £360/$400 if you want them.
If you are one of the few who have been patiently awaiting the launch of the new Mac Pro you can order your Mac Pro from Apple here.
The company is also set to start selling a rack mount version, which is listed as “Coming Soon”.
Below we have all the details you need to know about the new Mac Pro. Including a complete pricing breakdown and details of the various components you can get.
Back in June 2019 Apple announced that the new Mac Pro would go on sale this autumn. That’s just over two years after Apple said it would start selling a new Mac Pro, and six years after introducing the previous version of the professional-grade Mac.
We have a first look at the Mac Pro here.
2019 Mac Pro release date
The new Mac Pro officially went on sale on 10 December, although we had heard reports that some customers had been able to get their hands on the Mac Pro slightly earlier than that.
That’s not to say you would be able to get your hands on a Mac Pro straight away. The earliest you can get a Mac Pro delivered is 27 December to 3 January (and that’s not listed as free delivery). Alternatively, free delivery is between 2 – 7 Jauary (if you were to order at the time of writing). Pickup from Apple Stores isn’t available at all.
Back when the 2013 Mac Pro launched (on 19 December 2013) there were some significant delays in actually getting hold of the pro machine so hopefully this time Apple won’t experience the same problems.
The new Apple Display is also on sale – you can add one to your order for £4,599/$4,999 (with standard glass) or £5,499/$5,999 (with nano-texture glass).
2019 Mac Pro price
The new Mac Pro starts at £5,499/$5,999 for the 8-core Intel Xeon 3.5GHz model, with 32GB RAM, 256GB SSD, and Radeon Pro 580X graphics card, but there are multiple build-to-order options and configurations available with up to 1.5TB of RAM, two Radeon Pro Vega II Duo graphics and a 28-core Xeon W.
In addition there will be additional units and expansion modules that can be purchased separately, including the Mac Pro Expansion Module (MPX Module) and Afterburner. ,and wheels (which we assume will be sold in packs of four). More on the extras you can buy separately below.
This is a computer with a high price that will appeal to very few people.
Here’s how the pricing for the processor options lines up:
- 8-core, 16 threads, 3.5GHz, 4.0GHz TB, 24.5MB cache included
- 12-core, 24 threads, 3.3GHz, 4.4GHz TB, 31.25MB cache + £900/$1,000
- 16-core, 32 threads, 3.2GHz, 4.4GHz TB, 38MB cache + £1,800/$2,000
- 24-core, 48 threads, 2.7GHz, 4.4GHz TB, 57MB cache + £5,400/$6,000
- 28-core, 56 threads, 2.5GHz, 4.4GHz TB, 66.5MB cache + £6,300/$7,000
Here’s the pricing for the memory options:
- 32GB (4x8GB) of DDR4 ECC memory included
- 48GB (6x8GB) of DDR4 ECC memory + £270/$300
- 96GB (6x16GB) of DDR4 ECC memory + £900/$1,000
- 192GB (6x32GB) of DDR4 ECC memory + £2,700/$3,000
- 384GB (6x64GB) of DDR4 ECC memory + £5,400/$6,000
- 768GB (6x128GB) of DDR4 ECC memory + £12,600/$14,000
- 768GB (12x64GB) of DDR4 ECC memory + £9,000/$10,000
- 1.5TB (12x128GB) of DDR4 ECC memory + £22,500/$25,000
Note, the 1.5TB memory option requires a 24-core or 28-core processor.
Here’s how the pricing for the graphics card options lines up:
- Radeon Pro 580X with 8GB of GDDR5 memory included
- Radeon Pro Vega II with 32GB of HBM2 memory + £2,160/$2,400
- Two Radeon Pro Vega II with 32GB of HBM2 memory each + £4,680/$5,200
- Radeon Pro Vega II Duo with 2x32GB of HBM2 memory + £4,680/$5,200
- Two Radeon Pro Vega II Duo with 2x32GB of HBM2 memory each + £9,720/$10,800
Two more graphics options are coming soon, price TBC:
- Radeon Pro W5700X with 16GB of GDDR6 memory Two Radeon Pro W5700X with 16GB of GDDR6 memory each
Here’s how the storage pricing options lines up:
- 256GB SSD storage included
- 1TB SSD storage + £360/$400
- 2TB SSD storage + £720/$800
- 4TB SSD storage + £1,260/$1,400
Extras:
- Apple Afterburner card + £1,800/$2,000
- Wheels + £360/$400
Where is the Mac Pro being built?
In its quarterly earnings call on 30 July, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook said that “We’ve been making the Mac Pro in the US. We want to continue to do that. So we’re working and investing currently in capacity to do so, because we want to continue to be here”.
The 2013 Mac Pro was built by Flex Ltd in Austin, Texas and was stamped with “Assembled in the USA”. An Apple spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that the new Mac Pro is designed and engineered in the US and includes US-made components, emphasising that “Final assembly is only one part of the manufacturing process”.
There had been reports that the Mac Pro assembly would be moving to Quanta’s Shanghai factory in China, with the Austin, Texas factory closing, as per this Wall Street Journal report from June.
2019 Mac Pro Design
The new Mac Pro is completely redesigned by actually looks a lot more like the old ‘cheese grater’ Mac Pro tower than the previous trashcan-like generation did, which was perhaps a bigger mistake for Apple than the G4 Cube was back in 2000 – for those of you who’ve been in the game long enough to remember that.
The 2019 Mac Pro looks like the powerhouse that Apple is claiming it to be. It features a stainless steel frame and an aluminium housing which can be lifted off with a twist of a handle to offer “360-degree access to every component” according to Apple.
You can even buy wheels that can be added to the Mac Pro so you can wheel it around the studio. We don’t yet know the price of the wheels. The Mac Pro also has handles for ease of moving, and will be rack mountable, using Apple’s rack deployment.
The new Mac Pro dimensions (base configuration) are as follows:
- 52.9cm x 45cm x 21.8cm (20.8in x 17.7in x 8.58in)
- 18kg (39.7lb)
Older Mac Pro dimensions:
- The 2013 generation Mac Pro was 5kg, and 25.1cm high.
- The previous Mac Pro was 18.7kg (41.2lb), and 51.1cm high (20.1in)
2019 Mac Pro Spec
The new Mac Pro can be configured with a workstation-class Xeon processor with 28 cores, up to 1.5TB of high-performance memory, eight PCIe expansion slots and the world’s most powerful graphics card.
The new Mac Pro is so powerful that Apple has had to equip it with a 1.4KW power supply and in order to keep the system cool it requires three impeller fans and a separate blower coupled with a massive heat sink with pipes that direct the hot air away from the chip, dispersing it along aluminium fin stacks.
Processor
The new Mac Pro features an Intel Xeon W processor with the following specs:
- 8-core, 16 threads, 3.5GHz, 4.0GHz TB, 24.5MB cache, up to 1TB 2666MHz memory
- 12-core, 24 threads, 3.3GHz, 4.4GHz TB, 31.25MB cache, up to 1TB 2933MHz memory
- 16-core, 32 threads, 3.2GHz, 4.4GHz TB, 38MB cache, up to 1TB 2933MHz memory
- 24-core, 48 threads, 2.7GHz, 4.4GHz TB, 57MB cache, up to2TB 2933MHz memory
- 28-core, 56 threads, 2.5GHz, 4.4GHz TB, 66.5MB cache, up to 2TB 2933MHz memory
RAM
The new Mac Pro will feature up to six channels of superfast ECC memory and up to 12 physical DIMM slots. There’s up to 140GB/s memory bandwidth.
Options include:
- 32GB with four 8GB DIMMs
- 48GB, six 8GB DIMMs
- 96GB, six 16GB DIMMs
- 192GB, six 32GB DIMMs
- 384GB, six 64GB DIMMs
- 768GB, six 128GB DIMMs
As outlined above, the entry-level model supports up to 1TB 2666MHz memory, while the 12-core and 16-core models support up to 1TB 2933MHz memory, and the 24-core and 28-core models support up to 2TB 2933MHz memory.
Because the Mac Pro utilizes a two-sided logic board, it will be easy to access memory for upgrades.
Storage
The Mac Pro ships with flash storage. The entry-level model offers an 256GB SSD and is configurable to a 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB SSD.
Security
All data on Mac Pro will be protected by the Apple T2 Security Chip with its Secure Enclave coprocessor. This will encrypt storage and offer secure boot capabilities.
Graphics
Graphics options include the Radeon Pro 580X at the entry-level and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II, which features up to 14 teraflops of compute performance and 32GB of memory with 1TB/s of memory bandwidth, the highest of any GPU, according to Apple.
That AMD Radeon Pro Vega II can also be provided in duplicate as the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo. Here you’ll find Two Vega II GPUs, each with 64 compute units, up to 28.2 teraflops, 64GB of HBM2 memory and 1TB/s memory bandwidth.
There are many more options for those who want extreme graphics capabilities if you look at the Mac Pro Expansion Module or the Afterburner option detailed below.
Expansion Options and ports
It is is the “most configurable and most expandable Mac ever made,” according to Apple CEO Tim Cook. This is all thanks to the Mac Pro’s modular design that makes it possible for Apple’s customers to add the components they need.
It’s a lot easier to upgrade than the older trash-can Mac Pro was. The small and compact design of the 2013 Mac Pro essentially made it impossible to upgrade graphics cards and other components (even Apple couldn’t upgrade it).
With the new Mac Pro comes multiple options for expansion thanks to eight PCI Express expansion slots (twice that of the previous-generation Mac Pro tower). There are four double-wide slots, and three single-width slots.
There’s also a half-width slot where Apple plugs in its own I/O card that comes with two Thunderbolt 3 ports, two USB-A ports, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
That’s a total of 64 PCI Express lanes for massive bandwidth in and out.
There are also up to 12 Thunderbolt 3 ports, with two conveniently located on the top for quick and easy access.
Mac Pro Expansion Module
Also known as the MPX module, this extra unit has an PCI Express connector, graphics card, additional PCIe lanes integrate Thunderbolt, up to 500 watts power. Apple says it has the “power capacity equivalent to that of the entire previous-generation Mac Pro.”
The MPX can ship with TWO Radeon Pro Vega II Duo GPUs. Yes, it can be configured with four Radeon Pro Vega II cards, with the four GPUs combining to add up to 56 teraflops and 128GB of high-bandwidth memory. Apple explained how the two Duo GPUs are connected through the Infinity Fabric Link, which allows data transfer up to 5x faster between the GPUs.
The company says the MPX Module is designed as an integrated component of Mac Pro. Its form factor enables a larger heat sink, which works in concert with the machine’s internal airflow to quietly dissipate heat. Without a noisy bolted-on fan, heat and decibel levels are kept remarkably low.
The specs for the MPX are as follows:
- Radeon Pro Vega II Duo – two MPX Modules – 4 GPUs 56.8 teraflops single precision, 112.8 teraflops half precision, 128GB of HBM2 memory
- Radeon Pro Vega II – two MPX Modules – 4 GPUs 28.4 teraflops single precision, 56.8 teraflops half precision, 64GB of HBM2 memory
- Radeon Pro 580X – One MPX Modules – 1 GPU 5.6 teraflops single precision, 8GB of GDDR5 memory, 256GB/s memory bandwidth
Afterburner
Apple’s also offering Afterburner, an accelerator card that will make it possible for the Mac Pro to handle up to three streams of 8K ProRes RAW video at 30 fps, or 12 streams of 4K ProRes RAW at 30 fps, or 16 streams of 4K ProRes 422 at 30 fps.
Pro Display XDR
If all those additional options weren’t enough, there is also a new 32in display you can buy to use alongside the Mac Pro. We have more information about the Pro Display XDR here. Like the Mac Pro the new display isn’t cheap, it starts at $4,999 and that isn’t even including the price of the Pro Stand – that costs another $999.