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MP 7,1 CPU upgradable in the new Mac Pro 7,1?
- Thread starter Think77
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Thanks. So, as I understand it, we’re still mostly making (qualified) guesses? I do find it odd that in a ‘modular’ desktop you wouldn’t be able to upgrade even the boot drive. On the CPU front, let’s wait and see what the hands-on reviews will reveal about upgradability? Unless someone has a definite answer?
The only way you're getting a CPU answer in the immediate future is if someone with a ton of money to blow AND access to the higher end CPU upgrades purchases a minimum spec machine as an upgrade experiment. Wouldn't count this out for a YouTube video, or for any of those "bloggers" that got free machines, but people who buy for professional use aren't going to tinker with the CPU for at least 2-3 years after purchase, especially if it's under warranty. (If the machine was a lot cheaper, that may change.)
Internal storage is what it is. If you don't like it, don't buy it. No Apple computer sold in 2018/2019 has user serviceable system drive storage and most are soldered in. At least it SHOULD be swappable by Apple if there is a failure and does not need full logic board replacement because it's basically screwed in place. Upgrade to 1TB, use this for bootable system drive and put everything else on NVMe, PCIe, TB3, or USB3.
RAM is user upgradeable, as documented by Apple.
GPU is user upgradeable, as documented by Apple.
Internal storage is what it is. If you don't like it, don't buy it. No Apple computer sold in 2018/2019 has user serviceable system drive storage and most are soldered in. At least it SHOULD be swappable by Apple if there is a failure and does not need full logic board replacement because it's basically screwed in place. Upgrade to 1TB, use this for bootable system drive and put everything else on NVMe, PCIe, TB3, or USB3.
RAM is user upgradeable, as documented by Apple.
GPU is user upgradeable, as documented by Apple.
MP7,1 boot drive is the same as iMac Pro, it's just NAND blades controlled and managed by T2 and it's not user serviceable or upgradeable. It's a screwed on module, but totally proprietary and we won't see any 3rd party replacements, only Apple can replace or upgrade it.
Use a PCIe M.2 adapter for your storage needs.
Thanks for the very informative answer! I didn’t know that the boot drive is tied to the T2 chip like that and has a proprietary form factor - and therefore can’t be replaced after factory production? So, one has to assume that most users will bto/upgrade from 256 gb to at least 512 gb in order to have enough space for applications.
512 isn't a BTO option. 1TB is only $400 though. My team relies primarily on networked storage so the internal drive is almost meaningless yet for $400 it's such a minor cost impact I bumped them all to at least 1TB. Who knows, maybe some time they'll want to pretend it's a laptop and hibernate the thing
Photographs of the CPU with heatsink removed show that the CPU is clipped in, not soldered. There is no reason to think that it couldn't be physically swapped out.
However, when compiling the Mac Pro CPU upgrade guide I ran into many cases of CPUs that were physically socket-compatible, but nevertheless still incompatible with the Mac Pro. Typically these incompatible CPUs were newer CPUs in same the family but released later. In some cases even the same model CPU would not work because it was a different, newer "stepping". This is because differences in the newer CPU's microcode were unsupported in Apple's older firmware. Some times an updated Apple firmware would include the newer microcode compatibility, enabling the newer processors to be used. Some times not. And there is no guarantee of Apple firmware updates.
My personal belief is:
- You will almost certainly be able to upgrade to any CPU model and stepping offered by Apple for the 7,1.
- You will likely be able to update to any CPU in the same family within the same release time frame.
- Any other CPU, especially exotic CPUs and CPUs released on a later schedule, are a huge gamble until someone has tried it, on a case-by-case basis, for each model and stepping of a CPU.
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Considering the lineup of CPUs in the W32xx series, I wonder why they skipped a W-3255 20-core CPU? Such a unit would fit in perfectly in the lineup. Perhaps coming in the future?
I feel the same way. Very curious to find out. My MP comes Monday but I'm not sure if I keep it or return it for a 12-Core now (in case CPU swapping isn't possible).
also no 3295 but that may have been due to die size limits. Who knows why they didn't include the 3255.