As a longterm video editor on Mac, today’s WWDC announcements are more than welcome. Pure computational horsepower and generous I/O is all that matters for professionals and that’s exactly what you get with the Apple silicon version of the 2023 Mac Pro.
The Mac Pro looks to be settling into its current chassis and that gives content creators and other pros confidence to invest in Apple’s professional line.
Mac Pro now comes with speed of the M2 Ultra processor, plus the versatility of PCIe expansion. The Intel-based Mac Pro started with an 8-core CPU and could be configured up from there, every Mac Pro has Apple’s most powerful 24-core CPU, an up to 76-core GPU, and starts with twice the memory and SSD storage.
The new Mac Pro can also be configured with up to a massive 192GB of memory with 800GB/s of unified memory bandwidth. Now every Mac Pro has the performance of not just one but seven Afterburner cards built in. It also features the same industry-leading media engine as Mac Studio with M2 Ultra. Both can play an unprecedented 22 streams of 8K ProRes video.
Intel-based Mac Pro v Mac Pro with M2 Ultra:
• Empowers demanding real-world pro workflows like video transcoding and 3D simulations to run up to 3x faster.3
• Enables video engineers to ingest 24 4K camera feeds and encode them to ProRes in real time, all on a single machine, when using six video I/O cards.
PCIe EXPANSION
The new Mac Pro brings PCIe expansion to Apple silicon for pros who want the performance of M2 Ultra and rely on internal expansion for their workflows. Mac Pro features seven PCle expansion slots, with six open expansion slots that support gen 4, which is 2x faster than before, so users can customise Mac Pro with essential cards.
From audio pros who need digital signal processing (DSP) cards, to video pros who need serial digital interface (SDI) I/O cards for connecting to professional cameras and monitors, to users who need additional networking and storage, Mac Pro lets professionals customise and expand their systems.
SO MANY PORTS!
The wide array of connectivity in Mac Pro gets even better with eight built-in Thunderbolt 4 ports — six on the back and two on the top — which is twice as many as before. It supports up to six Pro Display XDRs, along with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, which come to the new Mac Pro for fast wireless connectivity.
Additionally, Mac Pro includes three USB-A ports, two higher-bandwidth HDMI ports that support up to 8K resolution and up to 240Hz frame rates, two 10Gb Ethernet ports, and a headphone jack that enables the use of high-impedance headphones.
PRICING AND AVAILABILITY
Available in both tower and rack-mounted enclosures, Mac Pro (Tower Enclosure) starts at RRP A$11,999 inc. GST and RRP A$11,309 inc. GST for education. Mac Pro (Rack Enclosure) starts at RRP A$12,999 inc. GST and RRP A$12,129 inc. GST for education. Additional technical specifications and configure-to-order options are available at apple.com/au/mac-pro.