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Are you interested in a Mac Pro if the rumors are true and RAM and GPU are non-upgradable?


  • Total voters
    29
  • Poll closed .

marty1980

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 22, 2011
742
654
With rumors swirling about non-upgradable components in the upcoming Mac Pro, I am curious how many real-world Mac Pro users are still interested in the Mac Pro if this is the direction Apple is going.

I’m a MacBook user and not in the market for a Mac Pro. I am not part of the target audience for this device. Being a tech enthusiast with a powerful DIY PC, I find Apple’s potential approach to be a waste of time, but since I am not in this game it’s best to get opinions from people who are.

What non-upgradable component is the dealbreaker for you?

Are you going to be happy with this type of configuration and what is your use case?
 

PowerMike G5

macrumors 6502a
Oct 22, 2005
556
245
New York, NY
I don't think I would be. I recently swapped out my Radeon Pro Vega II MPX module for an off the shelf RX 6800 XT GPU because I wanted increased compute performance with some of my heavier GPU-based tasks. Yet I am fine with my current CPU performance, so left that.

That's the main point and differentiator of a Mac Pro - the fact that you can expand based on the modularity to your needs over the life of the computer. Apple saw the importance of this to this user base in building out the 7,1, hence the inclusion of things like 8 PCIE slots, massive cooling, etc. AS is already showing its issues to some power users, where folks are happy with CPU performance but not with GPU performance. In its current iteration, you just have to suck it up and compromise. That is the compromise of the SOC design. Not so with the Mac Pro (of course, within the limitations of the tech its based on at the moment).

Fundamentally, the type of user that gravitates toward the Mac Pro are professional power users, tech enthusiasts, etc. that value this type of expansion. This simply doesn't go away just because AS provides incredible performance per watt. None of this lives in a vacuum. A non-expandable Mac Pro will probably be superseded by the raw performance of whatever chip comes next and makes its more susceptible to being cannibalized by a lower tier product (Mac Studio), so it makes questioning the value of going up to Mac Pro more prominent, should it not have the expandability you mentioned. If PCIE slots are gone, then definitely its a no, and makes this largely a bigger Mac Studio.
 

prefuse07

Suspended
Jan 27, 2020
895
1,073
San Francisco, CA
@marty1980 I don't understand your 2nd option -- "I'll stick with Mac Studio"... :rolleyes:

Hopefully you DO realize that the Mac Studio is in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM, nor was it ever, a replacement (or even a fill-in) for a Mac Pro...

Thus, as @MisterAndrew has pointed out -- the correct answer should be instead "I'll stick with my Intel Mac Pro" ... and that Mac Studio crap should be removed altogether.

Cheers
 

mattspace

macrumors 68040
Jun 5, 2013
3,346
2,977
Australia
@marty1980 I don't understand your 2nd option -- "I'll stick with Mac Studio"... :rolleyes:

Hopefully you DO realize that the Mac Studio is in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM, nor was it ever, a replacement (or even a fill-in) for a Mac Pro...

Yes, as I and others have noted, the Mac Studio is the replacement for the discontinued 27” iMac, not a Mac Pro.
 
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MisterAndrew

macrumors 68030
Sep 15, 2015
2,895
2,390
Portland, Ore.
I think the Mac Studio poll option is trolling from the viewpoint of Apple fanboys with slave minds who think Intel is dead in 'Mac space' and can't wrap their head around the idea that people are still using Intel Macs. Wouldn't surprise me at all if the performance difference between AS and x86 grows over the next few years to the point where Apple drops this experiment and goes back to x86. The latest Intel and AMD chips already blow AS out of the water... At that point the same people will be making fun of everyone who bought AS Macs.
 

avro707

macrumors 68020
Dec 13, 2010
2,277
1,678
I think the Mac Studio poll option is trolling from the viewpoint of Apple fanboys with slave minds who think Intel is dead in 'Mac space' and can't wrap their head around the idea that people are still using Intel Macs. Wouldn't surprise me at all if the performance difference between AS and x86 grows over the next few years to the point where Apple drops this experiment and goes back to x86. The latest Intel and AMD chips already blow AS out of the water... At that point the same people will be making fun of everyone who bought AS Macs.

Of course it is, and aren't we due for our "Mac Pro is dead to Apple" dose of trolling again.

We can see already that 2019 Mac Pros with RX6900XT benchmark a lot higher than Apple Silicon Mac Studio machines - and that's just a simple consumer card, not a expensive pro workstation graphics card.

I'll select "Keep my Intel Mac Pro" option.

+1 also to that option.

I won't ever have a Apple Silicon based machine because they don't run windows. I don't want to have a PC just to run Windows. The 7,1 does both Windows and MacOS fine.
 
Last edited:
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marty1980

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 22, 2011
742
654
@marty1980 I don't understand your 2nd option -- "I'll stick with Mac Studio"... :rolleyes:

Hopefully you DO realize that the Mac Studio is in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM, nor was it ever, a replacement (or even a fill-in) for a Mac Pro...

Thus, as @MisterAndrew has pointed out -- the correct answer should be instead "I'll stick with my Intel Mac Pro" ... and that Mac Studio crap should be removed altogether.

Cheers
The idea behind the option was that the Mac Studio is enough for someone’s workload. Maybe could have been “switch” instead of “stick.” The “No!” option is suitable for someone keeping their Intel Mac Pro. It means you’re not interested in the 2023 Mac Pro based on current rumors.
 
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