Monday, June 3rd 2019

Apple Announces Groundbreaking Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR

Apple today introduced the all-new Mac Pro, a completely redesigned, breakthrough workstation for pros who push the limits of what a Mac can do, and unveiled Apple Pro Display XDR, the world's best pro display. Designed for maximum performance, expansion and configurability, the all-new Mac Pro features workstation-class Xeon processors up to 28 cores, a high-performance memory system with a massive 1.5TB capacity, eight PCIe expansion slots and a graphics architecture featuring the world's most powerful graphics card. It also introduces Apple Afterburner, a game-changing accelerator card that enables playback of three streams of 8K ProRes RAW video simultaneously.

Pro Display XDR features a massive 32-inch Retina 6K display with gorgeous P3 wide and 10-bit color, an extreme 1,600 nits of peak brightness, an incredible 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and a superwide viewing angle, all at a breakthrough price point. Together, the new Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR are the most powerful tools Apple has ever put in the hands of pro customers and will change pro workflows forever.
"We designed Mac Pro for users who require a modular system with extreme performance, expansion and configurability. With its powerful Xeon processors, massive memory capacity, groundbreaking GPU architecture, PCIe expansion, Afterburner accelerator card and jaw-dropping design, the new Mac Pro is a monster that will enable pros to do their life's best work," said Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "Pro Display XDR is the world's best pro display and the perfect companion to the all-new Mac Pro. With Retina 6K resolution, gorgeous color, extreme brightness and contrast ratio, and a highly functional design, Pro Display XDR delivers the most comprehensive set of features ever offered on any display at this price point."

Tremendous Processor Power and Massive Bandwidth
Designed for customers who demand the ultimate in CPU performance - for workflows like production rendering, playing hundreds of virtual instruments or simulating an app on a dozen iOS devices at once - Mac Pro features powerful Xeon processors up to 28 cores, with 64 PCI Express lanes for tremendous performance and massive bandwidth. It also provides over 300W of power along with a state-of-the-art thermal architecture to allow the processor to run fully unconstrained all the time.

Enormous Memory Capacity and Expansion
For pros working with the largest projects, analyzing huge data sets or running multiple pro applications, Mac Pro provides enormous memory capacity to meet needs as they grow. Featuring a six-channel memory architecture and 12 physical DIMM slots, the new Mac Pro allows for a massive 1.5TB of memory, the most ever available in a Mac. And with eight PCI Express expansion slots, which is twice that of the previous-generation Mac Pro tower, pros can customize and expand their system in ways never before possible in a single workstation.

World's Most Powerful Graphics Architecture
For pros animating 3D film assets, compositing 8K scenes and building complex 3D environments, graphics performance is more important than ever. That is why Mac Pro features the world's most powerful graphics card and up to 56 teraflops of graphics performance in a single system. Its groundbreaking graphics expansion architecture, the Apple MPX Module, features Thunderbolt integration and over 500W of power, both firsts for any graphics card. And for super quiet operation, the MPX Module is cooled by the Mac Pro system thermals.

Mac Pro graphics options start with the Radeon Pro 580X. Mac Pro debuts the Radeon Pro Vega II, featuring up to 14 teraflops of compute performance and 32GB of memory with 1TB/s of memory bandwidth, the highest of any GPU. Mac Pro also introduces Radeon Pro Vega II Duo, which features two Vega II GPUs for an incredible 28 teraflops of graphics performance and 64GB of memory, making it the world's most powerful graphics card. Mac Pro can accommodate two MPX Modules so customers can use two Vega II Duos for a staggering 56 teraflops of graphics performance and 128GB of video memory.

Introducing Apple Afterburner, a Game-Changing Accelerator Card
The new Mac Pro debuts Afterburner, featuring a programmable ASIC capable of decoding up to 6.3 billion pixels per second. With Afterburner, video editors using high-quality cameras that require the conversion of native file formats into proxies for easy editing can now use native formats right from the camera and decode up to three streams of 8K ProRes RAW video and 12 streams of 4K ProRes RAW video in real time,1 virtually eliminating proxy workflows.

Stunning Modular Enclosure with 360-Degree Access
The design of the new Mac Pro starts with a stainless-steel space frame with an aluminum housing that lifts off for 360-degree access to the entire system. The frame provides a foundation for modularity and flexibility, and incorporates smooth handles for easily moving Mac Pro around the studio. The housing also features a stunning lattice pattern to maximize airflow and quiet operation. For customers who want to rack mount their Mac Pro in edit bays or machine rooms, an optimized version for rack deployment will be available this fall.

Performance to Transform the Pro Workflow
With up to 28 core Xeon processors, 56 teraflops of graphics performance and the groundbreaking Afterburner card, the new Mac Pro delivers performance that will transform pro workflows. A number of pro app developers are seeing amazing results that have never been possible in a single workstation.
  • Blackmagic Design brings full CPU and multi-GPU accelerated 8K real-time editing, effects and color correction in ProRes 4444 for the first time on any system.
  • Avid can enable support for up to six HDX cards, resulting in more IO, increased voice count and two times the real-time DSP processing than any other system can achieve in Pro Tools.
  • Maxon's Cinema 4D is seeing 20 percent faster GPU render performance when compared to a Windows workstation maxed out with three NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 graphics cards.
Pro Display XDR Features Largest Retina Display Ever
Featuring a 32-inch LCD panel with a 6016 x 3384 Retina 6K resolution with more than 20 million pixels, Pro Display XDR delivers a super-sharp, high-resolution viewing experience with nearly 40 percent more screen real estate than a Retina 5K display. With a P3 wide color gamut and true 10-bit color for over 1 billion colors, pros will have a more true-to-life viewing experience - critical for video and photo editing, 3D animation or color grading. Pro Display XDR also features the industry's best polarizer technology, delivering a superwide, color-accurate, off-axis viewing angle, so now multiple people can view more accurate content simultaneously. To manage reflected light, Pro Display XDR has an industry-leading anti-reflective coating and offers an innovative new matte option called nano-texture, with glass etched at the nanometer level for low reflectivity and less glare.

Extreme Dynamic Range Brings Content to Life
To better reflect what the eye can see in the real world, Pro Display XDR takes high dynamic range to a whole new extreme. Pro Display XDR uses a direct backlighting system with a large array of LEDs that produce 1,000 nits of full-screen brightness and 1,600 nits of peak brightness, far surpassing that of a typical display. With an advanced thermal system that uses its aluminum lattice pattern as a heat sink, Pro Display XDR can sustain 1,000 nits of full-screen brightness indefinitely, something that has never been possible before on a display at this price point. And with an amazing 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, images will have the brightest specular highlights, super dark blacks and all the details in between.

Stunning, Flexible and Modular Design for the Way Pros Work
With edge-to-edge glass and narrow, 9-millimeter borders in a stunning, aluminum enclosure, Pro Display XDR features a highly functional and flexible design. The Pro Stand has an intricately engineered arm that perfectly counterbalances the display so it feels virtually weightless, allowing users to easily place it into position. The Pro Stand provides both tilt and height adjustment, and also allows Pro Display XDR to rotate into portrait mode, perfect for tasks like retouching photos, designing a web page or writing code. Easily removable, the Pro Stand quickly attaches and detaches so it is easy to take on location. For pros with unique mounting requirements, a VESA mount adapter is interchangeable with the Pro Stand. With a single Thunderbolt 3 cable, Pro Display XDR connects seamlessly to the Mac product line, including the new Mac Pro, which supports up to six displays for a breathtaking 120 million pixels.

Pricing and Availability
The all-new Mac Pro starts at $5,999 and will be available to order in the fall. Pro Display XDR starts at $4,999, the Pro Stand is $999 and the VESA Mount Adapter is $199. All will be available to order in the fall.
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67 Comments on Apple Announces Groundbreaking Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR

#1
Crackong
I am sorry but Apple please pick another designer, that front panel and the back of the monitor induces Trypophobia.
This whole thing looks like a rack server standing upright and somehow needs an handle in the middle instead of grabbing the two obvious steel bars ?
Posted on Reply
#2
xkm1948
dual Vega II with full fat 64CU clocked at 1.7GHz, 28Core Intel

I do wonder what exotic cooling they will be implementing to cool this scale of heat
Posted on Reply
#3
micropage7

i've seen this one on instagram where they got the idea
Posted on Reply
#4
dicktracy
xkm1948dual Vega II with full fat 64CU clocked at 1.7GHz, 28Core Intel

I do wonder what exotic cooling they will be implementing to cool this scale of heat
CPU is cooled by a tower heat sink with 4 heat pipes.
GPUs look like they're aircooled as well.
Posted on Reply
#6
lexluthermiester
btarunran incredible 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio
Native?

And really, who wants a cheese grater on their desk?
Posted on Reply
#7
windwhirl
lexluthermiesterNative?

And really, who wants a cheese grater on their desk?
Eh, I think it's kinda cool.

Although if I had the money, I wouldn't spend it on a Mac Pro. Don't have the workloads to even consider it and by the price I could probably get something far more powerful.
Posted on Reply
#8
lexluthermiester
windwhirland by the price I could probably get something far more powerful.
Exactly.
Posted on Reply
#9
TheLostSwede
News Editor
CrackongThis whole thing looks like a rack server standing upright and somehow needs an handle in the middle instead of grabbing the two obvious steel bars ?
Spot on, if you'd watched the live stream, you would've seen that if you remove the legs, it's rack mountable.
xkm1948dual Vega II with full fat 64CU clocked at 1.7GHz, 28Core Intel

I do wonder what exotic cooling they will be implementing to cool this scale of heat
Three fans, plus a blower fan. Everything else is passive.
Below is the CPU heatsink.
Posted on Reply
#10
AsRock
TPU addict
Any extra for steel screws for the vesa mount ?.
Posted on Reply
#11
TheLostSwede
News Editor
AsRockAny extra for steel screws for the vesa mount ?.
It's apparently magnetic, at least the part that attaches to the display itself.
Posted on Reply
#12
Crackong
TheLostSwedeSpot on, if you'd watched the live stream, you would've seen that if you remove the legs, it's rack mountable.
I did not watch the live stream.
If it is rack mountable, then the ventilation holes aren't in the right position.
Posted on Reply
#13
TheLostSwede
News Editor
CrackongI did not watch the live stream.
If it is rack mountable, then the ventilation holes aren't in the right position.
It has three regular fans and a blower, so maybe that's enough? It's possible they have a different "cover" for the steel frame when it's rack mounted.
It also has optional wheels...
About 1h 20 minutes in www.apple.com/apple-events/june-2019/

Edit: Turns out the rack version is a separate SKU.

Posted on Reply
#14
Tsukiyomi91
top of the line iCheese Grater PRO, only at $29,999.99 MSRP.
Posted on Reply
#15
Frick
Fishfaced Nincompoop
windwhirlEh, I think it's kinda cool.

Although if I had the money, I wouldn't spend it on a Mac Pro. Don't have the workloads to even consider it and by the price I could probably get something far more powerful.
Depends really. Mac Pros in the olden days weren't that expensive when compared to other workstations. Same with the iMacs. When you considered the whole package they weren't nearly as overpriced expensive everyone said (unless you added RAM and such, they charged an ungodly amount of money for the options).

Me I'm just glad it's finally updated and it can be expanded to boot.
Posted on Reply
#16
HwGeek
My Turn:
Complete Solution By APPLE!
Posted on Reply
#18
medi01
Massive price.
Thanks.

Now, given that 65" inch 4k OLED TV's are at quite below 2000 USD, could someone sane produce 28" HD OLED monitor for about 500?
Posted on Reply
#19
Valantar
xkm1948dual Vega II with full fat 64CU clocked at 1.7GHz, 28Core Intel

I do wonder what exotic cooling they will be implementing to cool this scale of heat
Quad-slot passive coolers for the GPUs and a hefty fin stack with thick heat pipes for the CPU, with what looks like high-pressure 140mm fans in front of them. Ought to work fine - plenty of airflow and lots of surface area, yet the fin stacks are sparse enough to ensure air actually pass through them.
lexluthermiesterNative?
Yep, judging by their "exploded" promo images they're using one of those dual-layer LCD setups to improve contrast/avoid bloom from the FALD array. Well done achieving 1000 nits sustained/1600 peak with two LCDs to pass through, though. No wonder they need to make the entire back a heatsink (and still need a fan).
CrackongI am sorry but Apple please pick another designer, that front panel and the back of the monitor induces Trypophobia.
This whole thing looks like a rack server standing upright and somehow needs an handle in the middle instead of grabbing the two obvious steel bars ?
The steel bars are handles for lifting. The middle handle is the locking mechanism for removing the outer shell. Flip up, rotate, the entire aluminium casing lifts free.



The Apple Tax is back with a vengeance, though. Even going with a Xeon setup, you could get comparable performance to the base model for ... $1500? A lot less if you go Core i or Ryzen. Yes, their cooling setup looks good, and eight PCIe slots is ... above average, but holy balls this thing is expensive.

And yes, that double-mesh pattern is ... weird. Not pretty. Part cheese grater, part sewer grate? Can't say I'm a fan.
Posted on Reply
#20
Ferrum Master
They haven't got out the kitchen, do they? Trashcan, now grater?
Posted on Reply
#21
Easo
My mind will not understand the 1k USD for a monitor stand. Just no. NO.
Posted on Reply
#22
AsRock
TPU addict
TheLostSwedeIt's apparently magnetic, at least the part that attaches to the display itself.
Sorry was a bad dig as some times they supply aluminum screws for vesa mounts which is totally taking the piss.

EDIT:
Posted on Reply
#23
B-Real
That extra nano (matte) option for the display is an extra $1000, so with a stand, its $7000. LOL
Posted on Reply
#24
TheLostSwede
News Editor
B-RealThat extra nano (matte) option for the display is an extra $1000, so with a stand, its $7000. LOL
I take it you're getting three?
Posted on Reply
#25
erixx
iGrater plus iTrolley :)
Posted on Reply
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