MP 7,1 7,1 Processor Upgrade Due?

[mythos]

Been a Mac user since 1991 and about to grab a new Mac Pro, but before hitting 'buy" I thought I'd check in here to see if there were any informed opinions on the possibility of a processor bump soon?
I haven't been able to figure out if/when anything Intel has would be announced as a speed bump but feel than rather than buy right now I should see if anything is upgraded around the WWDC.

(Yea, I'm reading all the ARM talk etc, but it's time I invested in a new Pro so I can use it now, just want to make sure I'm not missing any imminent speed bump)

Thanks.

 

[flowrider]

Mac Pro CPU Compatibility List

Your thermals look good for idle , with factory SMC fan rotationals . Looks like your CPU heatsinks were properly re-installed . We should also do this while your Mac has all it CPU cores and memory at full load / usage . Run this for three minutes , take a screen grab of the thermals while...

forums.macrumors.com

Read down toward the end of the linked page. You are not missing anything.

Lou

 

[mythos]

Read down toward the end of the linked page. You are not missing anything.

Ah... I missed that thread, thanks for the link Lou.

So there's no reason to wait as there's nothing coming for the 7,1? (just to clarify)

B.

 

[tsialex]

Ah... I missed that thread, thanks for the link Lou.

So there's no reason to wait as there's nothing coming for the 7,1? (just to clarify)

B.

Unless Intel change plans announced even before Apple released the new Mac Pro, 2019 Mac Pro processors will not change. As it stands, no new processors will be ever released with the 2019 Mac Pro socket.

Apple can throw a bone and use faster clocked CPUs, like they did from mid-2010 to mid-2012 or when they changed the price of late-2013 back in 2016/2017. Maybe bigger SSDs, like with the recent Mac mini 2018 change?

Anyway, if I waited until now, I'd wait until the WWDC keynote before buying anything, at least to know what Apple will do with future Intel support.

 

[mythos]

Thanks @tsialex

- and thanks for your contribution as a whole on here, your posts are really helpful.

 

[CWallace]

Been a Mac user since 1991 and about to grab a new Mac Pro, but before hitting 'buy" I thought I'd check in here to see if there were any informed opinions on the possibility of a processor bump soon?

Intel released the Xeon W-3200 series used in the current Mac Pro last June and they usually run multiple years between generations so very unlikely Intel has a "W-3300" series waiting in the wings that Apple could use on a 2020/2021 Mac Pro.

 

[mythos]

Ah, good point @CWallace - I'm usually busy using the Mac vs keeping track of these things unless I'm in the market to upgrade, and at such times time on this forum really helps me catch up.
I'm going to go and order the 16 core now.
Thanks!

 

[eflx]

All these rumours are just rumours. Apple clearly put a lot of resources into the Mac Pro, and has recently released the W5700X as well as the SSD upgrade capability.

The Mac Pro will be around for a while, even if Apple announces something surrounding ARM. I'm not convinced they are moving the entire lineup over anytime soon. It'd be a complete waste to release an expensive Mac Pro in late 2019 to then suddenly switch somehow to ARM, with 0 software support.

Unlikely.

 

[DFP1989]

It'd be a complete waste to release an expensive Mac Pro in late 2019 to then suddenly switch somehow to ARM, with 0 software support.

I agree with your take. There would be a substantial amount of workflows and apps that will not accept a move to ARM at this time, or in the near future. Combine that with the substantial resources and development that would have gone into the new Mac Pro, and it makes no sense to essentially throw that away so quickly.

I'd expect Apple to make this transition gradually, starting with machines like the MacBook Air and perhaps the smaller iMac, before moving up their range.

But then again, they could pull an Apple and do whatever they like, so ?‍♂️

 

[eflx]

I think that would be too much Apple, even for Apple lol

 

[JesterJJZ]

iMac Pro didn't get a bump for two years. MacPro will probably on a similar two year update cycle.

 

[tsialex]

Intel released today the Cooper Lake Xeons (4 and 8 processors versions) with the new new LGA 4189 socket (Cooper Lake & Ice Lake) that replaces the LGA 3647 socket (Skylake & Cascade Lake) used by 2019 Mac Pro.

Later this year, Intel will release the Ice Lake processors, for up to two processors workstations and servers, these can be used by an updated Mac Pro, if Apple ever release it using Intel processors. Ice Lake supports PCIe v4.0.

Intel Launches Cooper Lake: 3rd Generation Xeon Scalable for 4P/8P Servers

www.anandtech.com

 

[deconstruct60]

Intel released today the Cooper Lake Xeons (4 and 8 processors versions) with the new new LGA 4189 socket (Cooper Lake & Ice Lake) that replaces the LGA 3647 socket (Skylake & Cascade Lake) used by 2019 Mac Pro.

There is even a bit of variation of LGA 4189. ( Cooper Lake is a complete non option for Macs anyway. )

"LGA4189-5, for Cooper Lake, uses PCIe 3.0. LGA4189-4, which is for Ice Lake we were told, will be PCIe 4.0
.....We've since been told that the design of the socket is meant to make sure that Ice Lake Xeon processors should not be placed in Cooper Lake systems, however Cooper Lake processors will be enabled in systems built for Ice Lake. ..."

2021 will probably bring yet another socket change for Intel's "Sapphire Rapids" follow on to these two. ( the memory I/O bus is getting substantantively wider (and faster DDR5 ) and the PCI-e is jumping to v5. both of those probably mean the inter-chip-intrapackage and interpackage fabric is also changing also. )

Even if Apple were to jump to a Ice Lake, Xeon W variant in 2021 it still would be in same position of being "last gen on that socket". Intel

AMD has a socket change lined up too.

Pretty good chance Mac Pro product line isn't going anywhere in 2020 or 2021 in CPU changes.

Ice Lake Xeon W is probably more likely a iMac Pro target. iMac Pro range core counts should be much easier to do with Icee Lake Xeon. What Apple does with the regular iMac 27" will probably set stage for whether there is a speed bump for iMac Pro ( to W-2200 series ) or jump to what is probalby W-2300 series with Ice Lake foundation and logic board change.

Later this year, Intel will release the Ice Lake processors, for up to two processors workstations and servers, these can be used by an updated Mac Pro, if Apple ever release it using Intel processors. Ice Lake supports PCIe v4.0.

Just to make it explicit, the socket change means a new motherboard. There is a decent chance Mac Pro 2019 chassis probably would not get that new motherboard. Some update adjustments to the chassis made.

All of that "change" doesn't mean a 2019 Mac Pro CPU can't get work done in 2020-2024 .

 

[CWallace]

The iMac Pro should be updated this year with the Cascade Lake W-2200 series Xeons to replace the Kaby Lake W-2100 Xeons currently installed and AMD should have applicable RDNA 2.0 (Navi 22/Navi 23) GPUs available by this Fall to toss in, as well.

Mac Pro is already using the Cascade Lake W-3200 series and not sure what is currently planned to replace those. I am going to hazard a guess that the "W-3300" series will be Comet Lake 14nm chips as I do not believe Intel will have 10nm ready for high-TDPs anytime soon.

 

[deconstruct60]

The iMac Pro should be updated this year with the Cascade Lake W-2200 series Xeons to replace the Kaby Lake W-2100 Xeons currently installed and AMD should have applicable RDNA 2.0 (Navi 22/Navi 23) GPUs available by this Fall to toss in, as well.

The W-2100 is Skylake. ( Kaby and in between Cascade that series didn't do. a decent chunk of Kaby lake was really coupled iGPU tweaks which don't matter a lick if don't have an iGPU. )

Mac Pro is already using the Cascade Lake W-3200 series and not sure what is currently planned to replace those. I am going to hazard a guess that the "W-3300" series will be Comet Lake 14nm chips as I do not believe Intel will have 10nm ready for high-TDPs anytime soon.

W-3300 isn't gong to be Comet Lake; wrong baseline die design. W-3300 will likely be the HCC (high core count) die of the Ice Lake Xeon SP design baseline. ( just like the 3200 is the baseline die design from the Cascade Lake Xeon SP 2nd gen line. ).

There is no mainstream desktop 10nm but there certainly is a server one that is on track for Q4 2020 - Q1 2021. Whether Intel will just make very large ones, XCC ( 'extreme' core count with the highest price point) in 2020 is unknown. The margins are higher on those but the yields probably are not. [ f Intel is lashsing 20 core dies together to get 38 core Ice lake XCC processors (via EMIB ) then perhaps the volume of dies is just consumed by the bigger packages at first. ]. The 1 processor package Ice Lake SP is basically probably going to be the W-3300 solution (with some different die binning to get a higher range of clocks on somewhat lower number of cores. )