Apple introduced two pricy and powerful pieces of pro-targeted hardware at its developer conference last month: the modular desktop tower Mac Pro and the creative-focused Pro Display XDR. Although Apple said the devices would come this fall when discussing them during its keynote stage last week, the industry giant didn’t get any more specific than that. But an apparent mistake in the Apple Store may have narrowed down the date.
Earlier today, MacRumors and 9to5Mac discovered that, when you clicked on the option to “Notify Me” of availability for the products, they were presented with text that said “coming in September.” This was while other parts of the website all said “coming in the fall.” Since the news broke, Apple quietly changed the copy in the “notify me” panel to also say “coming in the fall.”
September would make sense as a narrower launch window. Apple often holds an event focused on the iPhone and Apple Watch around that time each year, so the company could announce final public availability of the Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR there.
Below: Photos of the Mac Pro taken at Apple’s event last week.
-
This is the new Mac Pro.Samuel Axon
-
And here’s a rear view.Samuel Axon
-
Let’s zoom in to see some of the ports in this configuration.Samuel Axon
-
There’s more to see at the bottom.Samuel Axon
-
On top, you’ll notice a couple more ports, a power button, and this handle. When you grab it, you can twist and pull the entire cover off in one motion for 360-degree access to the internals.Samuel Axon
-
This is what the frame looks like with nothing in it.Samuel Axon
-
These stands can be replaced with wheels, optionally.Samuel Axon
-
The cheese-grater design serves a cooling function, but it’s also a deliberate nod to the past.Samuel Axon
-
OK, from this angle, it really does look like an ultra-shiny cheese grater.Samuel Axon
For background, the Mac Pro is a desktop tower that borrows elements of the classic “cheese grater” design from Mac towers of yore—though the design also has a heat-management function. It offers a sort of half-measure for those who wanted a PC-style upgradeable desktop: you can replace many key components, but you’ll likely have to buy many of them from Apple or its partners directly. The Mac Pro offers up to 1.5TB of up to 2933MHz and up to a 28-core Intel Xeon CPU.
GPU options range from the fast-but-comparatively-modest AMD Radeon Pro 580X to the beefy, workstation-class AMD Radeon Pro Vega II—or even two of the latter. There are up to eight PCIe expansion slots. This monster starts at a whopping $5,999, ensuring it will live on pro video-editing bays and on 3D animators’ desks but not many other places.
Also niche is the Pro Display XDR, which addresses a market that has a lot of computer monitors focused on response time but not image quality. Priced at $4,999 and up (with a $999 stand), the Pro Display XDR is intended for use by a narrow set of professionals, such as those who do post-production color grading and HDR on film and TV content. Despite consumer demands, Apple did not launch a consumer display at the event last week.
Below: Our photos of the Pro Display XDR from WWDC.
Listing image by Samuel Axon
https://arstechnica.com/?p=1519883