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MP 7,1 Is something happening with the 7.1mp...?

MarkC426

MarkC426

macrumors 68040
Original poster
May 14, 2008
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UK
Noticed today on UK Apple store:

All iMac's, M1 or Intel are available within a day (base model).
BTO specs within 7 days.

All Mac mini's, M1 or Intel are available within a day (base model).
BTO specs within 7 days.

Mac Pro, any spec tower or rack, minimum 7 weeks.
 
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I don't know the real reason for this, but right now it's impossible to buy any power management and power control ICs, even scalpers are out of it. All semi companies that make PMICs you look are 2023/2024 back-ordered and 2019 Mac Pro logic board use a lot of PMICs.

The supply chain problems started even before the pandemic, PMICs need mature process nodes like 45nm or even older that are being phased out by the cutting edge/high output foundries and unless Apple had the PMICs for the 2019 Mac Pro (it's not the same PMICs used on the other Intel desktops) long pre-contracted with firm deliveries, they are probably having lot's of headaches sourcing it right now.

Edit:

Just remembered some late last year posts from people that needed replacement logic boards for 2019 Mac Pros having to wait 45+ days. Some people with AppleCare+ even had the full Mac Pro replaced because of the missing replacement logic board. So, the production problems are happening for some time already.
 
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I thought I would check and see if they had bumped the base specs slightly, like they did with the mini storage.
Seeing as it's 2 years old now, 256gb SSD is still embarrassing.
 
They might bump the specs for the refresh, but hard to say. The 8,1 may or may not be coming this year based on what tsialex said about the supply chain issues.
 
MisterAndrew said:
They might bump the specs for the refresh, but hard to say. The 8,1 may or may not be coming this year based on what tsialex said about the supply chain issues.
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Again, I don't have any info on the specifics of the 2019 Mac Pro supply chain. I track the semiconductor market news and the supply chain issues for PMICs started happening since at least the second half of 2019, the pandemic aggravated it and now it's impossible to source. GPUs were greatly affect by it too, lot's of power ICs on the GPU PCBs. PS5, cars…

Apple usually contract with firm orders, even paying in advance, what will be needed for a production run. Since Mac Pro 2019 probably was a interim low scale product that would have a refresh when the substitute of the Skylake Xeon was available, Apple contracted what they thought that was needed with some margin for the availability of repairs, but Intel delayed Ice Lake and then the pandemic happened. By now, Apple probably used all of the contracted components and even the reserve/spares for the expected repairs and now we are in a unforeseen situation - without the refresh for the 2019 Mac Pro and can't even buy the 2019 model without having to wait two months.

Hardware designers are changing designs since at least the end of 2020 to lessen the dependence on unobtainium power CIs. This is also happening with some microcontrollers, some hardware designers that I follow on Twitter even went back to DIP/thru-hole chips from the late 90's/early 2000s to have some availability of components and keep products on the shelves - for example, the STM32 family of microcontrollers are not available for a year now. Some are even designing PCBs that could work with different types of chip encapsulation or even alternate chips, just to keep the production going.

Anyone that have a product with a strict BOM is having lot's of headaches for at least a year by now.
 
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It took ~5 weeks to ship me a replacement power cable for my Pro Display XDR. Guessing certain parts are made to order at this point.
 
It's the not knowing aspect that bugs me.
If the AS MacPro doesn't provide much/any user upgrade options, I would probably get a 7.1/8.1
 
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You must be almost due, 9 weeks (including xmas/new year delays).....fingers crossed ?
You could get a slightly higher spec than the base model for the same cost from the refurb store, next day in the UK.
 
MisterAndrew said:
I feel the same way. Also, the fact that some of the top people working on AS have left Apple makes me feel less comfortable about its long-term viability. Sticking with Intel is probably best.
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There are some interesting threads in the Apple Silicon forum and one of the regular posters there is a former AMD chip maker. From their posts, the amount of churn isn't anything to worry about and its pretty common.
 
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