Similar to how Apple jacked up the 2023 Mac Pro by $1k knowing that demand is softening due to changing use cases and most preferring the Mac Studio for a pro desktop.
The MP 2023 price is higher in order to adhere to Apple's rigid BTO component pricing.
i. The base RAM is up because the M2 Ultra 'floor' on RAM capacity is 64GB instead of the 32GB for MP 2019. ( Apple's 32GB -> 64GB pricing is + $400 ). [ + $400 ]
ii. The base SSD for the M2 Ultra is 1TB instead of the 0.5TB for MP 2019 . ( Apple's SSD capacity pricing is $400/TB, or $100/0.256TB. So 0.512TB is $200 ). [ + $600 ]
iii. the Base GPU for the M2 Ultra is better than a W5700X instead of the 580X or 5500X for MP 2019. That too was about $400 add-on. [ + $1,000 ]
The 'floor' of the SSD , GPU , and RAM are higher , so the price is higher. Has little to do with demand and FAR more to do with Apple being consistent with their sky high pricing for BTO options across all the Mac products (not just the Mac Pro); as if those prices are 'normal' (and a 'bargain').
The base line Xeon W-3225 listed for $1,319.
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...eon-w3225-processor-16-5m-cache-3-70-ghz.html
$5,999 - 1,319 = $4,680 the MP 2019 with no CPU was just plain expense. People are complaining about the $3K more for PCI-e slots. That has been basically true since 2019; it isn't really 'new' at all. It already had a 'low volume' tax on it.
The only chance Apple had with their pricing structure to keep the $5,999 pricing would have been to do a "max" Mac Pro. That probably had technical challenges like provisioning the PCI-e output ( no UltraFusion in the package ) to make the two input PCI-switch work right . It also a bit problematical to permanently stick the Mac Pro with 1/2 the RAM and smaller GPU for the long term. Also would have problems versus a Max Mac Studio in an xMac enclosures for just a couple of cards. (e.g., if stuck with just x8 PCI-e v4 over the slots ... that gap isn't as big, Also likely to draw even more 'hate'. ). Even the Thunderbolt sockets count would drop ( like Max MS).
Apple putting a higher RAM 'floor' on models is not a "response to lower demand". That is just Cupertino kool-aid.
If need a bigger GPU then also have to buy more RAM and CPU cores ... again not lower user demand driving that.
It is more so Apple targeting customers who have more 'up front' money. Not folks who are 'revenue poor' and looking to cobble together a 'bigger' system over a 3-4 years. Is the 'up front' market smaller than both of those two combined. Sure. Demand is really a matter of who they are actually targeting. Apple left most of the folks looking for an 'affordable box to fill later' back in 2019 , if not 2013. It has been a while. There is no huge new shift with the MP 2023.