MP All Models Is the Apple SoC Mac Pro vaporware?

[DearthnVader]

Not seeing a Mac Pro from Apple yet I'm starting to wonder if they are not just going to scrap the idea.

I think the largest issue for Apple is the amount of RAM, it's going to be pretty hard to get at least 1.5TB of RAM for Apple SoC MP.

 

[avro707]

All the Apple Silicon crowd tell the Mac Pro owners repeatedly that 1.5TB RAM is not necessary.

I personally don't need that much but at least the machine I have here could take that amount if I upgrade the CPU (not hard to do). And it's something the owner can do themselves, you aren't locked in to the configuration you had at time of purchase.

 

[DearthnVader]

All the Apple Silicon crowd tell the Mac Pro owners repeatedly that 1.5TB RAM is not necessary.

I personally don't need that much but at least the machine I have here could take that amount if I upgrade the CPU (not hard to do). And it's something the owner can do themselves, you aren't locked in to the configuration you had at time of purchase.

May not be your use case to need 1.5TB of RAM, but there are use cases for it.

Will Apple simply abandon those "Pro" users that need what we may view as crazy amounts of RAM?

Really unless Apple has a chip in the pipeline made specific for the Mac Pro, I don't see this product ever coming to market with M1/M2 chips.

 

[Basic75]

Nobody outside of Apple knows, we can only wait and see whether they abandon the Mac Pro (again?), surprise us with same crazy new ARM-based chip or, as some of us have - half jokingly - suggested, they make an AMD Epyc Mac Pro.

 

[now i see it]

While all of the current and previous M chips only support embedded unified memory built into the SOC, there’s no rule stating that the new M chip for the next Mac Pro cant utilize memory sticks off the SOC just like all computers do and the Mac Pro did.
I suspect that RAM (or at least some of it) will still be upgradable in the next Mac Pro

 

[StuAff]

It's not vaporware. Patience hopefully will be a virtue…

 

[avro707]

May not be your use case to need 1.5TB of RAM, but there are use cases for it.

Will Apple simply abandon those "Pro" users that need what we may view as crazy amounts of RAM?

Really unless Apple has a chip in the pipeline made specific for the Mac Pro, I don't see this product ever coming to market with M1/M2 chips.

That was my point, I don’t need it, but should I ever have that change, then my 7,1 can be upgraded to suit that need. I don’t have to throw it away and buy a new machine.

An AMD based machine would be unusual and interesting, but doubtful.

 

[fakestrawberryflavor]

They just want to get it right, and that takes time. Plus, timing is everything.

 

[Basic75]

It's not vaporware.

It's a long announced and overdue product. That's the definition of vapourware. It'll lose that status once it's released.

 

[MisterAndrew]

You should not expect a Mac Pro unveiling before WWDC in June with December deliveries. We don't even know if they have their new Vietnam manufacturing facility producing them in volume. They are still producing the current model in Texas and China.

 

[StuAff]

It's a long announced and overdue product. That's the definition of vapourware. It'll lose that status once it's released.

Not quite. It hasn't been announced.

 

[Basic75]

Not quite. It hasn't been announced.

At WWDC 2020 they said they'd transition the entire Mac product line within about two years.

 

[StuAff]

At WWDC 2020 they said they'd transition the entire Mac product line within about two years.

'About' is not 'in'. And that was clearly an aim not a promise (which they could not make).

 

[randy85]

Putting my bets on the first M2 Mac Pro being a bit underwhelming (a Mac Studio with PCI-E slots) and Apple designing M3 to allow for the extra performance the Mac Pro is known for.

At this point its probably a decent plan as some people will be disappointed either way given that they won't be able to integrate PC components like user-upgradable RAM and AMD GPUs.

Say they meet the needs of 80% of Mac Pro users on the first go, it's only the niche users and tech nerds (who probably weren't ever going to buy one anyway) left to take care of.

 

[maflynn]

The title is certainly clickbait. An ARM based Mac Pro is certainly not Vaporware. They've missed their internal targets, I'm sure, they missed their stated promises of having all ARM based Macs but not vaporware.

I think the issue is what is a Mac Pro in 2023? The trashcan Mac was largely a failure because it lacked GPU upgrades, no drive bays, and was thermally restricted. Apple expected any and all drive expansion to be done externally via thunderbolt. Mac Pro users rebelled and many largely avoided the trash can Mac Pro. Apple rectified the situation, with the latest Mac Pro, but what will Apple do now?

Apple's current architecture is such that there's no mechanism for a discrete GPU, and no drive expansion, other then a second NVMe slot in the studio (that they prevent the consumer from using) and no ram expansion. Will they repeat the mistakes of the trashcan and offer a Mac Pro that has very little internal expansion options?

With a price tag starting at 6,000 dollars will professionals want or expect to have ram/storage/GPU upgrades?

 

[Basic75]

they missed their stated promises of having all ARM based Macs

An announced overdue product and nary a word from Apple. That's vapourware in my book. Unless you have insider information you can't even be sure it hasn't been cancelled or won't fit the requirements and descriptions generally associated with a "Mac Pro". We'll just have to wait and see if and when something is released.

 

[maflynn]

An announced overdue product

They did not announce the Mac Pro yet. What they did say is that they expect the transition to take 2 years. So far we have no announcement on a Mac Pro

 

[throAU]

May not be your use case to need 1.5TB of RAM, but there are use cases for it.

Will Apple simply abandon those "Pro" users that need what we may view as crazy amounts of RAM?

Really unless Apple has a chip in the pipeline made specific for the Mac Pro, I don't see this product ever coming to market with M1/M2 chips.

I suspect the Mac Pro SOC will use more channels via many slots to get speed via more slots. There’s no reason Apple can’t do this.

 

[enc0re]

"... but that's for another day." was an announcement that a Mac Pro is coming.

Current Mac Pro status is vaporware. I do have confidence that they will release one though.

 

[mattspace]

From the perspective that it's something announced as coming, but without sufficient details for prospective customers to make an informed "nope" and instead buy a competitor's products, but instead stay paralysed waiting to see what happens...

It's classic vapourware.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Apple has only been updating the Mac Pro every 3+ years. It's not surprising its taking them forever to update it this time, too. It's a market they don't really care about any more. They'll release a new one every few years as big corporate environments hit their upgrade cycles.

 

[Petri Krohn]

There is little need for the Apple Silicon Mac Pro to have RAM slots. Memory can be expanded with CXL memory module over the PCIe bus.

Using a PCIe Slot to Install DRAM: New Samsung CXL.mem Expansion Module

www.anandtech.com

 

[MisterAndrew]

There is little need for the Apple Silicon Mac Pro to have RAM slots. Memory can be expanded with CXL memory module over the PCIe bus.

Using a PCIe Slot to Install DRAM: New Samsung CXL.mem Expansion Module

www.anandtech.com

Can those be added to any system with PCIe slots or does the chipset/motherboard need to support it specifically?

Edit: It looks like Apple would need to support it. It appears it will be supported by the upcoming Sapphire Rapids Xeons and AMD Genoa. So this is probably not applicable to the 8,1.

 

[Pezimak]

Not quite. It hasn't been announced.

Actually it has, they officially made the statement when the Studio was launched that they had one more Mac to go to Apple Silicon and that was the Mac Pro, more on that later. That was during the Lucan of the Studio etc.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

Actually it has, they officially made the statement when the Studio was launched that they had one more Mac to go to Apple Silicon and that was the Mac Pro, more on that later. That was during the Lucan of the Studio etc.

That's still not quite an announcement...

Really, the only true vaporware from Apple in recent years is AirPower. That was announced, shown at an event, and never materialized.

As for whether the Mac Pro will end up being vaporware, I don't think so. I think they've run into difficulties, which is why their prediction of a "two year transition" didn't pan out, but it's not canceled yet.