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Not to be confused with iMac Pro or MacBook Pro.

Mac Pro
2023 "Cheese Grater" Mac Pro
DeveloperApple Inc.
Type
Release date
  • August 7, 2006; 18 years ago (2006-08-07) (tower)
  • December 19, 2013; 11 years ago (2013-12-19) (cylinder)
  • December 10, 2019; 5 years ago (2019-12-10) (lattice tower/rack)
  • June 13, 2023; 18 months ago (2023-06-13) (Apple silicon)
Operating systemmacOS
System on a chipApple M2 Ultra (current)
CPUIntel Xeon (2006–2023)
PredecessorPower Mac G5, Xserve
RelatediMac, Mac Mini, Mac Studio, iMac Pro
Websiteapple.com/mac-pro

Mac Pro is a series of workstations and servers for professionals made by Apple Inc. since 2006. The Mac Pro, by some performance benchmarks, is the most powerful computer that Apple offers. It is one of four desktop computers in the current Mac lineup, sitting above the Mac Mini, iMac and Mac Studio.

Introduced in August 2006, the Mac Pro was an Intel-based replacement for the Power Mac line and had two dual-core Xeon Woodcrest processors and a rectangular tower case carried over from the Power Mac G5. It was updated on April 4, 2007, by a dual quad-core Xeon Clovertown model, then on January 8, 2008, by a dual quad-core Xeon Harpertown model.[1] Revisions in 2010 and 2012 revisions had Nehalem-EP/Westmere-EP architecture Intel Xeon processors.

In December 2013, Apple released a new cylindrical Mac Pro (colloquially called the "trash can Mac Pro"[2]). Apple said it offered twice the overall performance of the first generation while taking up less than one-eighth the volume.[3] It had up to a 12-core Xeon E5 processor, dual AMD FirePro D series GPUs, PCIe-based flash storage and an HDMI port, but lacked PCIe expansion slots. Thunderbolt 2 ports brought updated wired connectivity and support for six Thunderbolt Displays. Reviews initially were generally positive, with caveats. Limitations of the cylindrical design prevented Apple from upgrading the cylindrical Mac Pro with more powerful hardware.

The 2019 Mac Pro returned to a tower form factor reminiscent of the first-generation model, but with larger air cooling holes and a new opening mechanism. It has up to a 28-core Xeon-W processor, eight PCIe slots, AMD Radeon Pro Vega GPUs, and replaces most data ports with USB-C and Thunderbolt 3.

The 2023 Mac Pro carried over the design of the 2019 model and is based on the Apple M2 Ultra chip. It is the first model with an Apple silicon chip. Its introduction completed the Mac transition from Intel to Apple processors, first announced in June 2020 and started in November that year.

First tower series (2006–2012)

[edit]
A first-generation Mac Pro, showing the aluminum case derived from the Power Mac G5

Apple said that an Intel-based replacement for the 2003's PowerPC-based Power Mac G5 machines had been expected for some time before the Mac Pro was formally announced on August 7, 2006, at the annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).[4] In June 2005, Apple released the Developer Transition Kit, a prototype Intel Pentium 4–based Mac housed in a Power Mac G5 case, that was temporarily available to developers.[5] The iMac, Mac Mini, MacBook, and MacBook Pro had moved to an Intel-based architecture starting in January 2006, leaving the Power Mac G5 as the only machine in the Mac lineup still based on the PowerPC processor architecture Apple had used since 1994. Apple had dropped the term "Power" from the other machines in their lineup and started using "Pro" on their higher-end laptop offerings. As such, the name "Mac Pro" was widely used before the machine was announced.[6]

The first generation of the Mac Pro featured an aluminium case that was derived from that of the Power Mac G5, with the addition of a second optical drive bay and a new arrangement of I/O ports on both the front and the back.

The Mac Pro is in the Unix workstation market as its operating system is based on Unix.[7] Although the high-end technical market was not traditionally an area of strength for Apple, the company had been positioning itself as a leader in non-linear digital editing for high-definition video, which demands storage and memory in excess of a general desktop machine. Additionally, the codecs used in these applications are generally processor intensive and highly threadable, which Apple's ProRes white paper describes as scaling almost linearly with additional processor cores. Apple's previous machine aimed at this market, the Power Mac G5, has up to two dual-core processors (marketed as "Quad-Core"), but lacks the storage expansion capabilities of the newer design.[6]

Original marketing materials for the Mac Pro generally referred to the middle-of-the-line model with 2 × dual-core 2.66 GHz processors. Previously, Apple featured the base model with the words "starting at" or "from" when describing the pricing, but the online US Apple Store listed the "Mac Pro at $2499", the price for the mid-range model. The system could be configured at US$2299, much more comparable with the former base-model dual-core G5 at US$1999, although offering considerably more processing power. Post revision, the default configurations for the Mac Pro includes one quad-core Xeon 3500 at 2.66 GHz or two quad-core Xeon 5500s at 2.26 GHz each.[8] Like its predecessor, the Power Mac G5, the pre-2013 Mac Pro was Apple's only desktop with standard expansion slots for graphics cards and other expansion cards.

Apple received criticism after an incremental upgrade to the Mac Pro line following the 2012 WWDC conference. The line received more default memory and increased processor speed but still used Intel's older Westmere-EP processors instead of the newer Xeon E5 series.[9] The line also lacked then-current technologies like SATA III, USB 3, and Thunderbolt, the last of which had been added to every other Macintosh at that point. An email from Apple CEO Tim Cook promised a more significant update to the line in 2013.[10]

Apple stopped shipping the first-generation Mac Pro in Europe on March 1, 2013 after an amendment to a safety regulation left the professional Mac non-compliant. The last day to order was February 18, 2013.[11] The first-generation Mac Pro was removed from Apple's online store following the unveiling of the redesigned cylindrical Mac Pro at a media event on October 22, 2013.

System architecture

[edit]

According to an Apple developer note, the system architecture is based on a North Bridge and South Bridge design: The North Bridge has two front-side bus (FSB) connections, one for each processor. The North Bridge also drives one x16 PCI Express (PCIe) link, typically connected to a graphics card. The North Bridge connects to the South Bridge using an Enterprise Southbridge Interface (ESI) and a PCIe link. The South Bridge handles all other connections in the system, including SATA, USB, and networking.[12]

CPU

[edit]

All original tower Mac Pro systems were available with one or two central processing units (CPU). As of 2012, there had been models sold with 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 cores. As an example, the 8-core standard configuration Mac Pro 2010 uses two 4-core Intel Xeon E5620 CPUs at 2.4 GHz,[8][13] but could be configured with two 6-core Intel Xeon X5670 CPUs at 2.93 GHz.[14] The 2006–2008 models use the LGA 771 socket, while the Early 2009 and later use the LGA 1366 socket, meaning either can be removed and replaced with compatible 64-bit Intel Xeon CPUs.[15] A 64-bit EFI firmware was not introduced until the MacPro3,1, earlier models can only operate as 32-bit despite having 64-bit Xeon processors, however this only applies to the EFI side of the System, as the Mac boots everything else in BIOS Compatibility mode, and operating systems can take advantage of full 64 bit support. The newer LGA 1366 sockets utilize Intel's QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) integrated into the CPU in lieu of an independent system bus; this means the "bus" frequency is relative to the CPU chipset, and upgrading a CPU is not bottlenecked by the computer's existing architecture.

Memory

[edit]

The original Mac Pro's main memory uses 667 MHz DDR2 ECC FB-DIMMs; the early 2008 model uses 800 MHz ECC DDR2 FB-DIMMS, the 2009 and onward Mac Pro use 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC DIMMs for the standard models, and 1333 MHz DDR3 ECC DIMMs for systems configured with 2.66 GHz or faster CPUs.[16] In the original and 2008 models, these modules are installed in pairs, one each on two riser cards. The cards have 4 DIMM slots each, allowing a total of 32 GB (1 GB = 10243 B) of memory (8 × 4 GB) to be installed.[17] Notably, due to its FB-DIMM architecture, installing more RAM in the Mac Pro will improve its memory bandwidth, but may also increase its memory latency.[18] With a simple installation of a single FB-DIMM, the peak bandwidth is 8000 MB/s (1 MB = 10002 B), but this can increase to 16000 MB/s by installing two FB-DIMMs, one on each of the two buses, which is the default configuration from Apple. While electrically the FB-DIMMs are standard, for pre-2009 Mac Pro models Apple specifies larger-than-normal heatsinks on the memory modules. Problems have been reported by users who have used third party RAM with normal size FB-DIMM heatsinks.[19] (see notes below). 2009 and later Mac Pro computers do not require memory modules with heatsinks.

Hard drives

[edit]
An example of a Mac Pro's hard drive tray

The Mac Pro had room for four internal 3.5" SATA-300 hard drives in four internal "bays". The hard drives were mounted on individual trays (also known as "sleds") by captive screws. A set of four drive trays was supplied with each machine. Adding hard drives to the system did not require cables to be attached as the drive was connected to the system simply by being inserted into the corresponding drive slot. A case lock on the back of the system locked the disks trays into their positions. The Mac Pro also supported Serial ATA solid-state drives (SSD) in the 4 hard drive bays via an SSD-to-hard drive sled adapter (mid-2010 models and later), and by third-party solutions for earlier models (e.g., by an adapter/bracket which plugged into an unused PCIe slot). Various 2.5-inch SSD drive capacities and configurations were available as options. The Mac Pro was also available with an optional hardware RAID card.[20] With the addition of a SAS controller card or SAS RAID controller card, SAS drives could be directly connected to the system's SATA ports. Two optical drive bays were provided, each with a corresponding SATA port and an Ultra ATA/100 port. The Mac Pro had one PATA port and could support two PATA devices in the optical drive bays. It had a total of six SATA ports – four were connected to the system's drive bays, and two were not connected. The extra SATA ports could be put into service through the use of after-market extender cables to connect internal optical drives, or to provide eSATA ports with the use of an eSATA bulkhead connector.[21] However, the two extra SATA ports were unsupported and disabled under Boot Camp.

Expansion cards

[edit]
Early 2008 Early 2009,
Mid 2010+2012
Slot 4 4× PCIe Gen. 1.1 4× PCIe Gen. 2
Slot 3
Slot 2 16× PCIe Gen. 2 16× PCIe Gen. 2
Slot 1
(2 slots wide)

The 2008 model had two PCI Express (PCIe) 2.0 expansion slots and two PCI Express 1.1 slots, providing them with up to 300 W of power in total. The first slot was double wide and intended to hold the main video card, arranged with an empty area the width of a normal card beside it to leave room for the large coolers modern cards often use. In most machines, one slot would be blocked by the cooler. Instead of the tiny screws typically used to fasten the cards to the case, in the Mac Pro a single "bar" held the cards in place, which is itself held in place by two "captive" thumbscrews that can be loosened by hand without tools and will not fall out of the case.

On the original Mac Pro introduced in August 2006, the PCIe slots can be configured individually to give more bandwidth to devices that require it, with a total of 40 "lanes", or 13 GB/s total throughput. When running Mac OS X, the Mac Pro did not support SLI or ATI CrossFire,[22] limiting its ability to use the latest "high-end gaming" video card products; however, individuals have reported success with both CrossFire and SLI installations when running Windows XP, as SLI and CrossFire compatibility is largely a function of software.

The bandwidth allocation of the PCIe slots can be configured via the Expansion Slot Utility included with Mac OS X only on the August 2006 Mac Pro. The Early-2008 and later Mac Pros had PCIe slots hardwired as in the accompanying table.

External connectivity

[edit]
The backs of a Power Mac G5 (left) and a Mac Pro (right) show the differences in arrangement. Note the twin fans on the Power Mac and the single fan on the Mac Pro as well as the new I/O port arrangement.

For external connectivity, the Mac Pro included five USB 2.0 ports, two FireWire 400 and two FireWire 800 (Late 2006 until Early 2008), respectively four FireWire 800 (Early 2009 until Mid 2012) ports. Networking was supported with two built-in Gigabit Ethernet ports. 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi support (AirPort Extreme) required an optional module in the Mid 2006, Early 2008 and Early 2009 models, whereas in the 2010 model and later Wi-Fi was standard. Bluetooth also required an optional module in the Mid 2006 model, but was standard in the Early 2008 and newer models. Displays were supported by one or (optionally) more PCIe graphics cards. More recent cards featured two Mini DisplayPort connectors and one dual-link Digital Visual Interface (DVI) port, with various configurations of on-card graphics memory available. Digital (TOSlink optical) audio and analog 3.5 mm stereo mini jacks for sound in and out were included, the latter becoming available on both the front and back of the case. Unlike other Mac computers, the Mac Pro did not include an infrared receiver (required to use the Apple Remote). In Mac OS X Leopard, Front Row could be accessed on the Mac Pro (and other Macs) using the Command (⌘)-Escape keystroke.

Case

[edit]
Comparison of the internals of the Power Mac G5 (left) and the Mac Pro 2006 (right)

From 2006 through 2012, the exterior of the Mac Pro's aluminum case was very similar to that of the Power Mac G5, with the exception of an additional optical drive bay, a new arrangement of I/O ports on both the front and the back, and one less exhaust vent on the back.

The case could be opened by operating a single lever on the back, which unlocked one of the two sides of the machine, as well as the drive bays. All of the expansion slots for memory, PCIe cards and drives could be accessed with the side panel removed and no tools were required for installation.[23] The Mac Pro's Xeon processors generated much less heat than the previous 2-core G5s, so the size of the internal cooling devices were reduced significantly.

This allowed the interior to be re-arranged, leaving more room at the top of the case and doubling the number of internal drive bays. This also allowed the elimination of the large clear plastic air deflector used as part of the cooling system in the Power Mac G5. Less heat also meant less air to move out of the case for cooling during normal operations; the Mac Pro was very quiet in normal operation, quieter than the much noisier Power Mac G5,[24] and proved difficult to measure using common sound pressure level meters.[25] The front of the case, which has small perforated holes across its entire surface area, has caused Macintosh enthusiasts to refer to the first generation as the "cheese grater" Mac Pro.[26]

Operating systems

[edit]

The Mac Pro comes with EFI 1.1, a successor to Apple's use of Open Firmware (and the then wider industry's use of BIOS).[27]

Apple's Boot Camp provides BIOS backwards compatibility, allowing dual and triple boot configurations. The following operating systems are installable on Intel x86–based Apple computers:[28]

This is made possible by the presence of an x86 Intel architecture as provided by the CPU and the BIOS emulation which Apple has provided on top of EFI.[28] Installing any additional operating system other than Windows is not supported directly by Apple.[28] Though Apple's Boot Camp drivers are only for Windows, it is often possible to achieve full or nearly full compatibility with another OS by using third-party drivers.[28]

Specifications

[edit]

According to Apple, all of these models are obsolete.[a][29]

Model Mid 2006[30] Early 2008[31] Early 2009[32] Mid 2010[33] Mid 2012[34]
Component Intel Xeon Woodcrest Xeon Harpertown Xeon Bloomfield and Nehalem-EP Xeon Westmere-EP
Timetable Released August 7, 2006[35]
April 4, 2007 		January 8, 2008[36] March 3, 2009[37]
December 4, 2009 		July 27, 2010[38] June 11, 2012
Discontinued January 8, 2008 March 3, 2009 July 27, 2010 June 11, 2012 October 22, 2013
Models Model number A1186 (EMC 2113)
(EMC 2138, 2x 4-core option starting April 4, 2007) 		A1186 A1289
Model identifier MacPro1,1
MacPro2,1 (2x 4-core option starting April 4, 2007) 		MacPro3,1 MacPro4,1 MacPro5,1
Order number MA356 MA970 MB871 MB535 MC560 MC250 MC561 MD770 MD772 (Server) MD771
ROM EFI mode EFI32 EFI64
Kernel mode 32-bit 64-bit
Chipset Intel 5000X[39] Intel 5400 Intel X58[40] Intel 5520[40] Intel X58 for single CPU systems, Intel 5520 for dual CPU systems[40]
Processor Standard Two 2.66 GHz 2-core Intel Xeon Woodcrest (5150) Two 2.8 GHz 4-core Intel Xeon Harpertown (E5462) One 2.66 GHz 4-core Intel Xeon Bloomfield (W3520) Two 2.26 GHz 4-core Intel Xeon Gainestown (E5520) One 2.8 GHz 4-core Intel Xeon Bloomfield (W3530) Two 2.4 GHz 4-core Intel Xeon Gulftown (E5620) Two 2.66 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon Gulftown (X5650) One 3.2 GHz 4-core Intel Xeon Bloomfield (W3565) Two 2.4 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon Westmere-EP (E5645)
Cache 4 MB L2 12 MB L2 8 MB L3 12 MB L3 8 MB L3 12 MB L3
Option Optional 2.0 GHz (5130), 2.66 GHz or 3.0 GHz (5160) 2-core or 3.0 GHz (X5365) 4-core Intel Xeon Clovertown with 8 MB L2 cache Optional two 3.0 GHz (E5472) or 3.2 GHz (X5482) 4-core processors or one 2.8 GHz (E5462) Quad-core processor with 12 MB L2 cache Optional 2.93 GHz (W3540) or 3.33 GHz (W3580) 4-core Intel Xeon Bloomfield processors or two 2.66 GHz (X5550) or 2.93 GHz (X5570) 4-core Intel Xeon Gainestown processors Optional 3.2 GHz 4-core Bloomfield (W3565) or 3.33 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon Gulftown (W3680) processors or two 2.93 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon Gulftown (X5670) processors Optional 3.33 GHz 6-core Gulftown (W3680), two 2.66 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon Westmere-EP (X5650), or 2 3.06 GHz 6-core Intel Xeon Westmere-EP (X5675) processors
System bus Speed 1333 MHz 1600 MHz 4.8 GT/s (4-core models only) or 6.4 GT/s 4.8 GT/s (4-core models only), 5.86 GT/s (8-core models only) or 6.4 GT/s 4.8 GT/s (4-core models only), 5.86 GT/s (12-core models only) or 6.4 GT/s
Process Front-side bus QuickPath Interconnect
Memory Standard 1 GB (two 512 MB) of 667 MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered DIMM 2 GB (two 1 GB) of 800 MHz DDR2 ECC fully buffered DIMM 3 GB (three 1 GB) 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC DIMM 6 GB (six 1 GB) 1066 MHz DDR3 ECC DIMM 3 GB (three 1 GB) for 4- and 6-core models or 6 GB (six 1 GB) for 8- and 12-core models of 1333 MHz ECC DDR3 SDRAM 6 GB (three 2 GB) 1333 MHz ECC DDR3 SDRAM 8 GB (four 2 GB) 1333 MHz ECC DDR3 SDRAM 12 GB (six 2 GB) 1333 MHz ECC DDR3 SDRAM
Expansion Up 16 GB (Apple), 32 GB (Actual) Up to 64 GB Up to 16 GB (although up to 48 GB using third-party 3 × 16 GB DIMMs) Up to 32 GB (128 GB using third-party eight × 16 GB DIMMs, OSX 10.9/Windows) Up to 48 GB on 4-core models, and 64 GB in 8- and 12-core models (although up to 128 GB using third-party eight × 16 GB DIMMs, OSX 10.9 / Windows) Up to 64 GB (although up to 128 GB using third-party eight × 16 GB DIMMs, OSX 10.9/Windows) Up to 64 GB (although up to 128 GB using third-party eight × 16 GB DIMMs, OSX 10.9/Windows) Up to 64 GB (although up to 128 GB using third-party eight × 16 GB DIMMs, OSX 10.9/Windows)
Graphics
Expandable to four graphics cards 		Nvidia GeForce 7300 GT with 256 MB GDDR3 SDRAM (two dual-link DVI ports)
Optional ATI Radeon X1900 XT with 512 MB GDDR3 SDRAM (two dual-link DVI ports) or Nvidia Quadro FX 4500 with 512 MB GDDR3 SDRAM (stereo 3D and two dual-link DVI ports) 		ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT with 256 MB GDDR3 SDRAM (two dual-link DVI ports)
Optional Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT with 512 MB GDDR3 SDRAM (two dual-link DVI ports) or Nvidia Quadro FX 5600 1.5 GB (stereo 3D, two dual-link (DVI ports) 		Nvidia GeForce GT 120 with 512 MB GDDR3 SDRAM (one mini-DisplayPort and one dual-link DVI port)
Optional ATI Radeon HD 4870 with 512 MB GDDR5 SDRAM (one Mini DisplayPort and one dual-link DVI port) 		ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1 GB GDDR5 memory (two Mini DisplayPorts and one dual-link DVI port)
Optional ATI Radeon HD 5870 with 1 GB GDDR5 memory (two Mini DisplayPorts and one dual-link DVI port)
Secondary storage Capacity 250 GB with 8 MB cache
Optional 500 GB with 8 MB cache or 750 GB with 16 MB cache 		320 GB SATA with 8 MB cache
Optional 500, 750 GB, or 1 TB SATA with 16 MB cache or 300 GB Serial Attached SCSI, 15,000-rpm with 16 MB cache 		640 GB with 16 MB cache
Optional 1 TB or 2 TB with 32 MB cache 		1 TB SATA with 32 MB cache
Optional 1 or 2 TB SATA with 32 MB cache or 256 or 512 GB solid-state drives
Type 7200-rpm SATA Hard drive 7200-rpm SATA Hard drive or 15k-rpm SAS hard drive 7200-rpm SATA hard drive 7200-rpm SATA hard drive or solid-state Drive
Transfer SATA 2.0 (3 Gbit/s)
Optical drive 16× SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) 18× SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Connectivity Optional Wi-Fi 4 (802.11a/b/g and draft-n, n disabled by default)[41]
2× Gigabit Ethernet
Optional 56k V.92 USB modem
Optional Bluetooth 2.0+EDR 		Optional Wi-Fi 4 (802.11a/b/g and draft-n, n-enabled)
2× Gigabit Ethernet
Optional 56k V.92 USB modem
Bluetooth 2.0+EDR 		Wi-Fi 4 (802.11a/b/g/n)
2× Gigabit Ethernet
Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
Peripherals 5× USB 2.0
2× FireWire 400
2× FireWire 800
Built-in mono speaker
1× Audio-in mini-jack
2× Audio-out mini-jack
1× Optical S/PDIF (Toslink) input
1× Optical S/PDIF (Toslink) output 		5× USB 2.0
4× FireWire 800
Built-in mono speaker
1× Audio-in mini-jack
2× Audio-out mini-jack
1× Optical S/PDIF (Toslink) input
1× Optical S/PDIF (Toslink) output
Expansion slots 4× PCIe 1.0 slots (3 single-wide slots, 1 double-wide slot)[42] 2× PCIe 1.1 single-wide 4x slots,

2× PCIe 2.0 16x slots (1 single-wide, 1 double-wide)

4× PCIe 2.0 slots (2 single-wide 4x slots, 1 single-wide 16x slot, 1 double-wide 16x slot)
Dimensions 20.1 in (51.1 cm) height x 8.1 in (20.6 cm) width x 18.7 in (47.5 cm) depth
Weight 42.4 lb (19.2 kg) 39.9 lb (18.1 kg) (quad-core)
41.2 lb (18.7 kg) (8-core)
Operating system Minimum Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Mac OS X 10.7 Lion
Latest release Mac OS X 10.7 Lion if at least 2 GB RAM installed, otherwise Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard OS X 10.11 El Capitan macOS 10.14 Mojave if upgraded with a Metal-capable GPU, otherwise macOS 10.13 High Sierra[43]

Reception

[edit]

Ars Technica reviewed the 2006 Mac Pro, calling it a solid "multiplatform device" and rating it 9 out of 10.[44] CNET praised the design and value, although did not think it provided the flexibility of other systems. They gave it an 8 out of 10.[45]

Sound on Sound, an audio recording technology magazine, thought it was a "great machine" for musicians and audio engineers.[46] Architosh, an online architectural design magazine focused on mac technology, would have scored it a perfect five except for a few issues with software compatibility and the high price for FB-DIMM memory.[47]

Cylindrical Mac Pro (2013)

[edit]
A 2013 Mac Pro, with its aluminium exterior removed

Apple senior vice president of marketing Phil Schiller presented a "sneak peek" of the completely redesigned Mac Pro during the 2013 Worldwide Developers Conference keynote. The video revealed an overhauled case design, a polished reflective aluminum cylinder built around a central thermal dissipation core and vented by a single fan, which pulls air from under the case, through the core, and out the top of the case. The only finish available is black, though a single red-finished unit was produced with Product Red.[48] Apple states that the cylindrical Mac Pro achieves twice the performance of the last model.[3] The model was assembled in Austin, Texas, by Apple's supplier Flextronics on a highly automated line.[49] The announcement six months prior to release was unusual for Apple, which typically announces products when they are ready for market.[50] It was released on December 19, 2013.

The cylindrical thermal core was unable to adapt to changing hardware trends and left the Mac Pro without updates for over three years, leading Apple to make a rare admission of a product's failure in April 2017 when it detailed the issues surrounding the design and promised a totally redesigned Mac Pro. The design of the cylindrical Mac Pro has received mixed reviews, and has been compared to a trash can,[b] rice cooker, R2-D2, or Darth Vader's helmet.[52][53] On September 18, 2018, the Mac Pro surpassed the Macintosh Plus's production life record for an unchanged Mac model, with the Plus having remained on sale unchanged for 1,734 days. It was discontinued on December 10, 2019, after being on sale unchanged for a record 2,182 days.[54]

Hardware

[edit]

The cylindrical Mac Pro takes up less than one-eighth the volume of the immediately previous model, being shorter at 9.9 inches (25 cm), thinner at 6.6 inches (17 cm) and lighter at 11 pounds (5.0 kg). It supports one central processing unit (CPU) (up to a 12-core Xeon E5 CPU), four 1866 MHz DDR3 slots, dual AMD FirePro D series GPUs (up to D700 with 6 GB VRAM each), and PCIe-based flash storage. There is a 3× MIMO antenna system for the unit's 802.11ac WiFi networking interface, Bluetooth 4.0 to facilitate close-range wireless functions such as music transfer, keyboards, mice, tablets, speakers, security, cameras, and printers. The system can simultaneously support six Apple Thunderbolt Displays, or three 4K resolution computer monitors.[55]

Trash can Mac Pro setup

The cylindrical Mac Pro has a redesigned configuration of ports. It has a HDMI 1.4 port, dual Gigabit Ethernet ports, six Thunderbolt 2 ports, four USB 3 ports, and combined digital Mini-TOSlink optical / analog 3.5 mm stereo mini jack for audio output. It also has a headphones mini jack (the two are distinctly selectable within the Sound System Preference panel, Output tab). There is no dedicated port for inputting audio. The system has a low-fidelity internal mono speaker. The Thunderbolt 2 ports support up to thirty-six Thunderbolt devices (six per port) and can concurrently support up to three 4K displays. This design requires two GPUs to support the seven display outputs (HDMI and six Thunderbolt). The I/O panel illuminates itself when the unit senses it has been moved to make it easier for the user to see the ports. Unlike the previous model, it has no FireWire 800 ports, dedicated digital audio in/out ports, a SuperDrive, DVI port, 3.5-inch drive bays for replaceable storage drives, or changeable internal PCIe slots. Instead, there are six Thunderbolt 2 ports to connect high-speed external peripherals, including enclosures for internal PCIe cards.[55]

Apple's website mentions only RAM[56] and flash storage[57] as user-serviceable, though third party tear-downs show nearly all components can be removed and replaced. However, special tools only available from Apple are necessary for proper dismantling and reassembly.[58] Apple has also specified mandatory and recommended tightening torque values for nearly every screw, with the most important being those securing the GPUs and CPU riser card to the thermal core.[59] According to Apple, not tightening screws to the mandatory torque values may result in damage or malfunction.[60] A lock switch on the aluminum housing allows for easy access to the internals, as well as fitting a security lock with its own cable, and components are secured with Torx screws. The flash storage and GPUs use proprietary connectors and are specially sized to fit into the enclosure.[61] The CPU is not soldered to the riser card and can be replaced with another LGA 2011 socket processor, including processor options not offered by Apple.[62] The type of RAM modules that Apple supplies with the late-2013 Mac Pro in the default configuration are ECC unbuffered (UDIMM) on the up to 8 GB modules (shown on each module as PC3-14900E). Apple offers as an optional upgrade 16 GB modules are ECC registered (RDIMM) modules (shown on each module as PC3-14900R). The higher-capacity 32 GB modules that some third-party vendors offer are also RDIMM. The UDIMM and RDIMM module types cannot be mixed. Apple publishes recommended configurations to use.[63][64]

Operating systems

[edit]

Apple's Boot Camp provides BIOS backwards compatibility, allowing dual and triple boot configurations. These operating systems are installable on Intel x64-based Apple computers:

Specifications

[edit]
Model Late 2013[65]
Component Intel Xeon E5-1600v2/E5-2600 v2 Ivy Bridge-EP
Timeline Announced June 10, 2013[66]
Released December 19, 2013[67]
Discontinued April 4, 2017 December 10, 2019
Obsolete Discontinued
Models Order number ME253 MD878 MQGG BTO
Model number A1481
Model identifier MacPro6,1
Performance EFI mode EFI64
Kernel mode 64-bit
Chipset Intel C602J
Processor
(LGA 2011[68]) 		3.7 GHz 4-core Intel Ivy Bridge-EP Xeon (E5-1620 v2) with 10 MB L3 cache 3.5 GHz 6-core Intel Ivy Bridge-EP Xeon (E5-1650 v2) with 12 MB L3 cache 3.0 GHz 8-core Intel Ivy Bridge-EP Xeon (E5-1680 v2) with 25 MB L3 cache 2.7 GHz 12-core Intel Ivy Bridge-EP Xeon (E5-2697 v2) with 30 MB L3 cache
System bus DMI 2.0 2 × DMI 8.0 GT/s
Memory 12 GB (three x 4 GB) of DDR3 ECC at 1866 MHz (up to 60 GB/s) 16 GB (four x 4 GB) of DDR3 ECC at 1866 MHz (up to 60 GB/s) 12 GB (three x 4 GB) or 16 GB (four x 4 GB) of DDR3 ECC at 1866 MHz (up to 60 GB/s)
Expandable to 64 GB (four x 16 GB) from Apple, expandable to 128 GB using third-party 1600 MHz modules (128 GB configuration does not run at full speed)[69]
Graphics Dual AMD FirePro D300 with 2 GB of GDDR5 VRAM each Dual AMD FirePro D500 with 3 GB of GDDR5 VRAM each
Optional Dual AMD FirePro D700 with 6 GB of GDDR5 VRAM each
Secondary storage 256 GB flash storage
Optional 512 GB or 1 TB flash storage PCIe SSD
Interfaces Connectivity Built-in Wi-Fi 5 (802.11a/b/g/n/ac), up to 1.3 Gbit/s
2× Gigabit Ethernet
Bluetooth 4.0
Peripherals 4× USB 3.0
6× Thunderbolt 2
HDMI 1.4
Audio Built-in mono speaker
Audio output/optical digital audio output
Headphone mini-jack
Appearance Dimensions 9.9 in (25.1 cm) height  ×  6.6 in (16.8 cm) diameter
Weight 11 lb (4.99 kg)
Operating System Installed OS X 10.9 Mavericks
Maximum macOS 12 Monterey

Reception

[edit]

Reception of the cylindrical Mac Pro was mixed, initially receiving positive reviews, but more negative in the long term, due to Apple's failure to upgrade the hardware specs. The performance had been widely lauded, especially handling video tasks on the dual GPU units, with some reviewers noting the ability to apply dozens of filters to realtime 4K resolution video in Final Cut Pro X.[70] Drive performance, connected via PCIe, was also widely mentioned as a strong point. Technical reviewers praised the OpenCL API under which the machine's powerful twin GPUs and its multi-core CPU can be treated as a single pool of computing power. However, in late 2013 through early 2014, some reviewers had noted the lack of internal expandability, second CPU, serviceability, and questioned the then-limited offerings via Thunderbolt 2 ports.[71][72] By 2016, reviewers started to agree that the Mac Pro was now lacking in functionality and power, it having not been updated since 2013, and it was past time for Apple to update it.[73] Apple later revealed in 2017 that the thermal core design had limited the ability to upgrade the Mac Pro's GPUs and that a new design was under development, to be released sometime after 2017.[74]

Problems

[edit]

On February 5, 2016, Apple identified problems with FirePro D500 and D700 GPUs manufactured between February 8, 2015 and April 11, 2015. Issues included "distorted video, no video, system instability, freezing, restarts, shut downs, or may prevent system start up."[75] Customers who owned a Mac Pro exhibiting those issues could take their affected machine to Apple or an authorized service provider to have both GPUs replaced for free. The repair program ended on May 30, 2018. Customers who owned Mac Pros with FirePro D300 GPUs also complained about problems, but those GPUs were not included in the repair program until July 2018.[76] Customers with FirePro GPUs not manufactured between those dates have complained of issues including overheating and thermal throttling.[77] It is believed Apple has not enabled a satisfactory cooling fan profile in order to properly remove heat from the system. Users have had to resort to using third-party apps to manually increase the fan speed to prevent the GPUs from overheating.[78]

Lattice tower or rack (2019)

[edit]
Mac Pro (2019) with wheels
The Mac Pro (2019) on assembly line

In April 2018, Apple confirmed that a redesigned Mac Pro would be released in 2019 to replace the 2013 model.[79] Apple announced this new Mac Pro on June 3, 2019 at the World Wide Developers Conference.[80][81] It returns to a tower design similar to the Power Mac G5 in 2003 and the first-generation model in 2006. The design also includes a new thermal architecture with three impeller fans, which promises to prevent the computer from having to throttle the processor so that it can always run at its peak performance level. The RAM is expandable to 1.5 TB using twelve 128 GB DIMMs. It can be configured with up to two AMD Radeon Pro GPUs, based on RDNA architecture, which come in a custom MPX module, which are fanless and use the chassis's cooling system. Apple's Afterburner card is a custom add-on, which adds hardware acceleration for ProRes codecs. Similar to the second generation, the cover can be removed to access the internals, which features eight PCIe 3.0 slots for expansion, making this the first Mac with six or more expansion slots since the Power Macintosh 9600 in 1997.[82] It can also be purchased with wheels and in a rack mount configuration. Feet and wheels are not stated by Apple to be user-replaceable and require sending the machine to an Apple Store or authorized service provider, though teardowns show the feet are simply screwed on.[83][84] It was announced alongside the Pro Display XDR, a 6K display with the same finish and lattice pattern.

The 2019 Mac Pro is capable of lights-out management.[85] It is also the first Macintosh computer to feature 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports equipped as standard in all configurations.

After initial reports that the Mac Pro would be assembled in China, Apple confirmed in September 2019 it would be assembled in Austin, Texas, at the same facility as the previous-generation Mac Pro, making it the sole Apple product assembled in the United States. The production was the subject of a tariff dispute with US president Donald Trump in late 2019.[86][87] Trump toured the Mac Pro assembly line in November 2019.[88]

Radeon Pro W5700X and W5500X graphics cards were added as options in April and July 2020, respectively. In August 2021, options for RDNA 2–based Radeon Pro cards (W6800X, W6800X Duo and W6900X) were added. In March 2022, Apple upgraded the base model configuration with the Radeon Pro W5500X and 512 GB SSD, replacing the Radeon Pro 580X graphics and 256 GB SSD previously offered.[89]

The 2019 Mac Pro was discontinued in June 2023 following the announcement of the Apple silicon Mac Pro. The 2019 Mac Pro was the last Intel-based Mac sold by Apple.[90]

Design

[edit]
An opened Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR are shown by Apple CEO Tim Cook to U.S. president Donald Trump in 2019.

The 2019 Mac Pro returns to a tower form factor and features a prominent lattice pattern on its front and rear. The lattice design was purportedly originally developed by Jony Ive for the Power Mac G4 Cube in 2000.[91] It comes bundled with a new Magic Keyboard with black keys in a silver chassis, and a black Magic Mouse 2 or Magic Trackpad 2 with a silver underside.

Reception

[edit]

Initial reviews were generally positive. The only pre-release review models of the Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR were provided to YouTube tech vloggers Justine Ezarik, Marques Brownlee, and Jonathan Morrison, rather than reviewers from traditional news outlets.[92]

iFixit gave it a repairability score of 9/10, noting that every part of the machine is user-replaceable. The SSD can also be replaced via Apple official parts, but require an Apple Configurator restore to re-pair it with the T2 chip.[84][93]

Specifications

[edit]
Model 2019[82]
Component Intel Cascade Lake-based Xeon W-3200
Timetable Released December 10, 2019[94]
Discontinued June 5, 2023
Unsupported Still supported
Models Model numbers A1991 (Desktop),[95] A2304 (Rack Mount)[96]
Model identifier MacPro7,1
Apple order number All models are built-to-order
ROM EFI mode EFI64
Kernel mode 64-bit
Chipset Intel C621
Processor 3.5 GHz 8-core Intel Xeon W-3223 ("Cascade Lake") with 24.5 MB cache 3.3 GHz 12-core Xeon W-3235 ("Cascade Lake") with 31.2 MB cache 3.2 GHz 16-core Xeon W-3245 ("Cascade Lake") with 38 MB cache 2.7 GHz 24-core Xeon W-3265M ("Cascade Lake") with 57 MB cache 2.5 GHz 28-core Xeon W-3275M ("Cascade Lake") with 66.5 MB cache
Memory (RAM) Standard 32 GB (four 8 GB)
Expandable to 768 GB (six 128 GB DIMMs or twelve 64 GB DIMMs) by Apple 		32 GB (four 8 GB)
Expandable to 1.5 TB (twelve 128 GB DIMMs) by Apple
Type DDR4 ECC at 2933 MHz included, but runs at 2666 MHz DDR4 ECC at 2933 MHz
Graphics AMD Radeon Pro W5500X with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory (available July 2020, standard since March 2022)
Radeon Pro 580X with 8 GB of GDDR5 memory (discontinued March 2022)
Single or dual Radeon Pro W5700X with 16/32 GB of GDDR6 memory (Available April 2020)
Single or dual Radeon Pro Vega II with 32/64 GB of HBM2 memory
Single or dual Radeon Pro Vega II Duo with 64/128 GB of HBM2 memory
Radeon Pro W6600X with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory (available March 2022)
Single or dual Radeon Pro W6800X with 32/64 GB of GDDR6 memory (available August 2021)
Single or dual Radeon Pro W6800X Duo with 64/128 GB of GDDR6 memory (available August 2021)
Single or dual Radeon Pro W6900X with 32/64 GB of GDDR6 memory (available August 2021)
Secondary storage Standard 512 GB flash storage
256 GB flash storage (available before March 2022)
Optional 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB, or 8 TB flash storage
Type PCIe SSD, up to two modules, without hot-swapping feature
Security Chip Apple T2
Connectivity Wi-Fi Built-in Wi-Fi 5 (802.11a/b/g/n/ac), up to 1.3 Gbit/s
Ethernet 2× 10 Gigabit Ethernet with Lights Out Management
Bluetooth Bluetooth 5.0
Peripherals Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C 3.1 Gen 2) supporting DisplayPort
2× top of case, 2× rear I/O card (all models)
Additional 4× rear (single W5700X, Vega II/Vega II Duo) or 8× rear (dual W5700X, Vega II/Vega II Duo)
3× USB-A 3.0 (2× rear I/O card, 1× inside case)[97]
HDMI 2.0
2× (580X, W5500X, dual W5700X, Vega II/Vega II Duo)
1× (single W5700X, Vega II/Vega II Duo)
2× SATA ports inside case
Expansion slots 8× PCIe 3.0 slots (3 double-wide x16 slots, 1 double-wide x8 slot, 1 single-wide x16 slot, 2 x8 single-wide slots, 1 half-length x4 slot preloaded with I/O card on all models)[98]
Display support Six 4K displays, two 5K displays, or two Pro Display XDRs (580X)
Four 4K displays, one 5K displays, or one Pro Display XDRs (W5500X)
Six 4K displays, three 5K displays, or three Pro Display XDRs (W5700X)
Six 4K displays, three 5K displays, or two Pro Display XDRs (Vega II)
Eight 4K displays, four 5K displays, or four Pro Display XDRs (single Vega II Duo)
Twelve 4K displays or six Pro Display XDRs (dual Vega II Duo)
Audio 3.5 mm headphone jack, Built-in mono speaker
Dimensions 20.8 in (52.9 cm) height x 8.6 in (21.8 cm) width x 17.7 in (45 cm) depth
8.67 in (22.0 cm) or 5U height x 19.0 in (48.2 cm) width x 21.2 in (54 cm) depth. (rack mount)
Weight 39.7 lb (18 kg)
Operating System Initial macOS 10.15 Catalina
Maximum macOS 15 Sequoia

Apple silicon (2023)

[edit]

On June 5, 2023, Apple announced a Mac Pro based on the Apple M2 Ultra chip, the first model with an Apple silicon chip. Externally, the M2 Ultra Mac Pro uses the same chassis as the 2019 Intel model. Internally, it features a redesigned Apple silicon logic board that includes six internal PCIe 4.0 slots for expansion. It does not support discrete GPUs over PCIe.[99][100] The internal SSD is upgradeable, but the GPU and memory are not.[101][102] According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple developed a chip for the Mac Pro combining two M2 Ultra chips into one package but cancelled it because of cost and manufacturing concerns.[103]

Reception

[edit]

YouTuber Marques Brownlee found that the Mac Pro and Mac Studio performed almost identically in testing despite the Mac Pro's much larger cooling system.[104]

Specifications

[edit]
Model 2023[105]
Initial release operating system macOS 13 Ventura
Latest release operating system macOS 15 Sequoia
Cooling system Triple-axis-fan cooling system with heat sink attached on processor
Processor
Chip Apple M2 Ultra
Technology node 5 nm (N5P)
CPU
Total Cores 24
High-performance cores 16 x Avalanche
Energy-efficient cores 8 x Blizzard
Clock speed 3.69 GHz, 2.42 GHz
Online configuration —
Cache
L1 cache

High-performance cores: 192 KB L1i, 128 KB L1d
Energy-efficient cores: 128 KB L1i, 64 KB L1d

Shared L2 cache High-performance cores: 64 MB
Energy-efficient cores: 8 MB
System level cache 96 MB
GPU
Name Apple G14D
GPU family Apple GPU Family 8
Total cores 60 or 76
EUs and ALUs 240 (7680) or
304 (9728)
Hardware-accelerated ray tracing No
Metal support Metal 3
Online configuration 76-core GPU (From 60-core GPU)
Neural engine 32-core neural engine
(31.6 TOPS)
Unified memory
Type 1024-bit LPDDR5 3200 MHz (819.2 GB/s)
Capacity 64 GB
Online configuration 128 GB
192 GB
SSD
Type PCIe 4.0-based SSD with up to 7.4 GB/s read speed
Capacity 1 TB
Online configuration 2 TB
4 TB
8 TB
Audio
Speakers Yes
3.5 mm jack With advanced support for high-impedance headphones
Audio output from HDMI Yes
Connectivity
Wi-Fi (802.11) Wi-Fi 6E (802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax)
Maximum Wi-Fi speed 2.4 Gbit/s
Bluetooth Bluetooth 5.3
Ethernet Two ethernet with 10Gb speed
HDMI port Two HDMI 2.1
SDXC card slot No
USB-C/Thunderbolt port
Back Six Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports supporting charging and DisplayPort protocols among others
Front (Rack)/Top (Tower) Two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports supporting charging and DisplayPort protocols among others
USB-A port Two USB-A ports (External)
One USB-A port (Internal)
Serial ATA port Two Serial ATA ports
Expansion Slots
Half-length PCIe One x4 PCIe Gen 3 slot with Apple I/O Card installed
Full-length PCIe Two x16 PCIe Gen 4 slots and four x8 PCIe gen 4 slots
Transmission speed
Thunderbolt Up to 40 Gbit/s transmission speed (Thunderbolt 4 or USB4)
USB-A Up to 5 Gbit/s transmission speed (USB 3.0)
Seria ATA Up to 6 Gbit/s transmission speed
eGPU support No
External display support
Maximum display 3/6/8
Max. three display combination
  • 3 × 8K at 60Hz, or
  • 3 × 4K at 240Hz
Max. six displays combination
  • 6 × 6K at 60Hz (Thunderbolt), or
  • 5 × 6K at 60Hz (Thunderbolt) + 4K at 144Hz (HDMI)
Max. eight displays combination
  • 6 × 4K at 60Hz (Thunderbolt, one via daisy chain) + 2x 4K at 60Hz (HDMI)
Power
Power adapter 1280W at 108–125V or 220–240V
1180W at 100–107V
Dimensions
Height 20.8 in (53 cm) (Tower)
21.9 in (56 cm) (Tower with wheels)
8.67 in (22.0 cm) (Rack, 5U)
Width 8.58 in (21.8 cm) (Tower)
18.98 in (48.2 cm) (Rack)
Depth 17.7 in (45 cm) (Tower)
24.0 in (61 cm) to 42.0 in (107 cm) (Rack)
Weight 37.2 lb (16.87 kg) (Tower)
37.9 lb (17.19 kg) (Rack)
Total greenhouse gas emissions 1572 kg CO2e (32 GB memory and 512 GB storage)[106]
Model details
Model number A2786 (Tower)
A2787 (Rack)
Hardware strings Mac14,8
Part/order number Build-to-order for all models
Timeline
Announced Date June 5, 2023
Released Date June 13, 2023
Discontinued Date In Production
Unsupported Date Supported

Supported operating systems

[edit]
Supported macOS releases
OS release Mid 2006 Early 2008 Early 2009 Mid 2010 Mid 2012 Late 2013 2019 2023
10.4 Tiger 10.4.7 — — — — — — —
10.5 Leopard Yes 10.5.1 10.5.6 — — — — —
10.6 Snow Leopard Yes Yes Yes 10.6.4 Partial[c] — — —
10.7 Lion 2 GB RAM or more. Yes Yes Yes 10.7.4 — — —
10.8 Mountain Lion patch Yes Yes Yes Yes — — —
10.9 Mavericks With supported graphics chip or ATI X1900 XT, and patch Yes Yes Yes Yes 10.9.1 — —
10.10 Yosemite With supported graphics chip and patch Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes — —
10.11 El Capitan With supported graphics chip and patch Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes — —
10.12 Sierra No patch patch Yes Yes Yes — —
10.13 High Sierra No patch patch Yes Yes Yes — —
10.14 Mojave No patch 5,1 firmware and a Metal-capable GPU/patch With Metal-capable GPU Yes — —
10.15 Catalina No patch Yes 10.15.1 —
11 Big Sur No patch Yes Yes —
12 Monterey No patch Yes Yes —
13 Ventura No patch Yes 13.4
14 Sonoma No patch Yes Yes
15 Sequoia No patch Yes Yes
Supported Windows releases
OS release 2006–2008 2009–2012 Late 2013 2019 2023[Note 1]
Windows XP
32-bit[Note 2][107][108] 		Yes No No No No
Windows Vista
32-bit[Note 3][107][108] 		Yes No No No No
Windows Vista
64-bit[Note 3][107] 		Yes No No No No
Windows 7
32-bit[Note 4][107][109] 		Yes Yes Yes No No
Windows 7
64-bit[Note 5][107][110] 		Yes Yes Yes No No
Windows 8
[Note 6][Note 7][107] 		No Partial, patch Yes No No
Windows 8.1
[Note 7][Note 8][110][111] 		No Partial, patch Yes No No
Windows 10
[Note 7][Note 9][110][112] 		No patch Yes Yes No
Windows 11
[Note 7][Note 10][110][112] 		No Bootcamp patch + TPM patch TPM patch TPM patch No
  1. ^ The 2023 Mac Pro uses an Apple silicon chip instead of an Intel processor, and cannot boot into Windows, though it can run it through virtualization.
  2. ^ Windows XP can only be installed on Macs with Boot Camp 3 or earlier. This includes Mac OS X 10.6 or earlier and copies of Mac OS X 10.7 that have not been updated to Boot Camp 4.
  3. ^ a b Windows Vista can only be installed on Macs with Boot Camp 3 or earlier. This includes Mac OS X 10.6 or earlier and copies of Mac OS X 10.7 that have not been updated to Boot Camp 4.
  4. ^ The 32-bit version of Windows 7 can only be installed on Macs with Boot Camp 3.1 to 6.0. This includes OS X 10.11 and earlier.
  5. ^ The 64-bit version of Windows 7 can only be installed on Macs with Boot Camp 3.1 or later, running macOS High Sierra or earlier. Later versions of macOS no longer support Windows 7.
  6. ^ Windows 8 can only be installed on Macs with Boot Camp 5.0 to 6.0. This includes OS X 10.11 and earlier.
  7. ^ a b c d Only 64-bit versions of Windows are supported for Windows 8 and later.
  8. ^ Windows 8.1 can only be installed on Macs with Boot Camp 5.1 or later, running macOS High Sierra or earlier. Later versions of macOS no longer support Windows 8.1.
  9. ^ Windows 10 can only be installed on Macs with Boot Camp 6.0 or later. It is the only supported version of Windows on macOS Mojave and later.
  10. ^ Windows 11 can be installed on Macs by adding a registry key to bypass the TPM 2.0 requirements.

Mac Pro Server

[edit]

On November 5, 2010, Apple introduced the Mac Pro Server, which officially replaced the Xserve line of Apple servers as of January 31, 2011. The Mac Pro Server includes an unlimited[8] Mac OS X Server license and an Intel Xeon 2.8 GHz quad-core processor, with 8 GB of DDR3 RAM.[113] In mid-2012, the Mac Pro Server was upgraded to an Intel Xeon 3.2 GHz quad-core processor. The Mac Pro Server was discontinued on October 22, 2013, with the introduction of the cylindrical Mac Pro. However, the OS X Server software package can be purchased from the Mac App Store.[114] The redesigned Mac Pro released on December 10, 2019 has a rack-mount version, available in the same configurations as the standard Mac Pro for a $500 premium.[115] The rack-mounted Mac Pro comes with mounting rails to mount it in a server rack, and fits in a 5 Rack Unit (or "U") space.[116] The Apple silicon Mac Pro also comes in a rack version.[117]

See also

[edit]
Timeline of Power Macintosh, Pro, and Studio models
Mac ProMac StudioMac ProMac StudioMac ProMac ProMac ProPower Mac G5Power Mac G5Power Mac G4Power Mac G5Power Mac G4Power Mac G4 CubePower Mac G4Power Macintosh G3#Blue and WhitePower Macintosh 9600Power Macintosh G3Power Macintosh 8600Power Macintosh 9500Power Macintosh 8500Power Macintosh 8100Power Macintosh G3Power Macintosh 7600Power Macintosh 7300Power Macintosh 4400Power Macintosh 7500Power Macintosh 7200Power Macintosh 7100Power Macintosh 6500Power Macintosh 6400Power Macintosh 6200Power Macintosh 6100Power Macintosh G3Twentieth Anniversary MacintoshPower Macintosh 5500Power Macintosh 5400Power Macintosh 5260Power Macintosh 5200 LC
See also: List of Mac models

Explanatory notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Apple products that have been discontinued for 7 years and no longer receive hardware support nor spare parts
  2. ^ The "trash can" nicknamed was later adopted by some Apple employees, who called the computer "the failed trash can".[51]
  3. ^ The 2012 model did not originally ship with 10.6, but does support booting with it by way of being an upgraded 2010 model.

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