The new Mac Pro could still be an M2-powered beast

The new Mac Pro could still be an M2-powered beast

It seems increasingly likely that Apple will miss its projected 2022 deadline to complete the transition to using its own silicon processors across the entire Mac product line, with the enterprise-grade Mac Pro the latest to follow.

As Bloomberg's Mark Gurman pointed out (opens in a new tab), the road to Mac Pros powered by Apple's custom M-series chip, which would allow iOS apps to run natively on macOS and otherwise Otherwise, it would result in greater performance gains and reduced power consumption, has been difficult.

Reasons given for the delay include manufacturing relocation to avoid additional tariffs on China-made products, the ongoing redesign of M chips to include an "Extreme" variant, and spiraling cost fears for customers.

Mac Pro M2 Lag

As Gurman pointed out, Apple's plans to move its high-end workstation lineup to Apple Silicon began with the introduction of its M1 chip in 2020.

Plans were drawn up for a single processor that, in two configurations of the Mac Pro product, would combine the power of either two or four M1 Max chips, the most powerful chip available in the Macbook Pro line at the time.

However, the Mac line of computers did not benefit from simplicity, and the dual-chip M1 Max, known as the M1 Ultra, eventually launched with Mac Studio, a line marketed to creatives and the like. processes. .

An M2 Ultra chip is reportedly in development that promises further performance gains, but another M2 Extreme chip seems to be in the offing, which Gurman says would likely offer "up to 48 CPU cores and 152 graphics cores" when being four M2 chips. Max stuck, according to him, to be dead in the water.

The main barriers to running Mac Pros seem to be cost of production and customers.

The complex nature of Apple's most powerful silicon architecture, which would give Mac Pros their unique selling point, is expensive enough that production was moved to Texas during the Trump presidency.

The two main reasons for the move were that Apple was evading increased tariffs on Chinese imports and maintaining a public commitment to growing the US economy.

Gurman says that an M2 Extreme version of a Mac Pro would "probably" cost "at least" $10,000 per unit, which wouldn't be profitable even despite the ongoing recession.

Guesswork aside, the Mac Pro is in a tough spot as a product. It should offer better performance than all other Macs, which is complicated by the existence of Mac Studio, but it's a niche offering, especially relevant for enterprise customers who need more power.

At this time, only Intel-powered Mac Pros remain available. There's likely another entry in the lineup, but it may not appear for some time and won't yet be powered exclusively by Apple's own silicon.