An Apple Silicon version of its Mac Pro desktop is en route, with the company also being rumored to have an updated Mac mini in the works for this year.
Apple is pushing to release Apple Silicon hardware to replace Intel-based Macs as part of an aggressive two-year transition schedule. It seems that 2022 will see Apple complete the shift, with it finally offering a high-end Mac aimed at enterprise users.
Per Mark Gurman’s “Power On” newsletter on Sunday, an Apple Silicon Mac Pro will launch later this year. Gurman has theorized that the unit will be a smaller counterpart to the current Mac Pro design, while also seeing considerable performance gains from the Apple Silicon processors.
Gurman has stated that the Mac Pro Apple Silicon desktop will include a chip with up to 40 cores in the CPU, along with a 128-core GPU. Previously, Bloomberg claimed the Apple Silicon Mac Pro would use 20-core or 40-core CPUs, as well as 64-core and 128-core GPU options.
It was also claimed by Gurman in August 2021 that Apple will “barely hit its two-year timeline” for the Apple Silicon transition.
Early leaks put the size of the updated Mac Pro as being smaller than a G4 Cube, with the compute unit on the bottom and a heat sink on the top. However, there have been few other claims about its design other than its size.
Port options are thought to include a mix of USB 4 and USB-A, Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI, and a magnetic circular power connector. An upgrade of chip from the M1 is also anticipated, to either an M1 variant like the M1 Pro or M1 Max, or to a new generation such as the “M2.”
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via AppleInsider and Bloomberg