Apple first announced its two-year transition from Intel-based chips to its in-house M-series chips in 2020. However, the Mac Pro has notably been missing in Apple’s transition.
Luckily, industry sources predict that the long-awaited Apple Silicon Mac Pro will arrive this year with the M2 Ultra chip. According to a new report, the Apple Silicon Mac Pro will feature the same design as its 2019 predecessor. In addition, it will not offer user-upgradeable RAM.
Mac Pro with M2 Ultra chip coming this year
In the latest edition of his “Power On” newsletter for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman reveals that the upcoming Apple Silicon Mac Pro will feature the same design as its 2019 Intel-based predecessor. In addition, the device will not allow users to manually upgrade its RAM.
As another disappointment, the new Mac Pro will look identical to the 2019 model. It will also 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.
Gurman has previously reported that Apple was working on a Mac Pro with the M2 Extreme chip. The chip would have offered 48 CPU cores and 152 graphics cores. However, Apple ended up scrapping the chip due to issues with the cost and complexity of producing such a processor. There was also a concern about how expensive the machine could get for consumers.
The M2 Ultra chip will still offer impressive performance. The chip will reportedly feature 24 CPU cores, 76 graphics cores, and support for 192 gigabytes of memory.
According to Gurman, Apple has several other exciting product launches planned for 2023. In addition to an Apple Silicon Mac Pro, the tech giant plans to release a refreshed MacBook Pro and a 15-inch MacBook Air. A big HomePod is also expected to be launched this year. However, the headlining launch from Apple this year will be its long-awaited AR/VR headset.
