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

#26
Zareek
You gotta love Apple's marketing. They are so good, they make it sounds like they are almost losing money selling a 32" 6K monitor for $5,000! Oh and then you can accessorize your insanely expensive display with a $1000 stand or save a few bucks on a $200 VESA mount. WTF!!! People are still falling for this crap...

Unlike it seems most people here, I actually think it looks nice. Apple has designed their products form over function for years now. This thing looks decent and internally it is setup to properly cool itself. I think that might be a first for Apple.
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#27
windwhirl
erixxiGrater plus iTrolley :)
"Hey! It doesn't have wheels!"

"Those are optional. It's 200 USD extra if you want them"
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#28
RH92
windwhirl"Hey! It doesn't have wheels!"

"Those are optional. It's 200 USD extra if you want them"
You forgot to add an extra 0 there :roll::roll:
Posted on Reply
#29
kapone32
With a 28 core Xeon processor, 2 Vega II cards and the amount of pixels a 6K screen must require you will not even have to turn your furnace on in the winter, with the amount of heat the cooling array will fail to keep in check.
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#30
Zareek
kapone32With a 28 core Xeon processor, 2 Vega II cards and the amount of pixels a 6K screen must require you will not even have to turn your furnace on in the winter, with the amount of heat the cooling array will fail to keep in check.
At full load, turn this thing around and you have a nice space heater! You might need to give it a dedicated circuit too, I bet it will pull 10-12 amps on 110v at the wall.
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#31
kapone32
ZareekAt full load, turn this thing around and you have a nice space heater! You might need to give it a dedicated circuit too, I bet it will pull 10-12 amps on 110v at the wall.
Yep and make sure you get a certified electrician to run a 20 AMP circuit connected to the panel. YOu might not even be able to use a toaster while this thing is on
Posted on Reply
#32
Unregistered
Impressed by the geometry used to create the high airflow & low noise required by Apple. Enough airflow to accommodate up to 1.2 kilowatts continuous use at full speed while keeping a low noise profile.

Works with the rack mount case option too, so less components to manage.
#33
Valantar
ZareekAt full load, turn this thing around and you have a nice space heater! You might need to give it a dedicated circuit too, I bet it will pull 10-12 amps on 110v at the wall.
They say it has a 1400W PSU (though the same slide says it's rated for ~1250W continuous output, which is ... not 1400). The Vega II Dual cards are 500W each. The CPU is a 255W Xeon (with a purportedly 300W-capable heatsink, so it might turbo above 255W). So yes, a kitted out version of this will pull at least 10-12A on 110V. Though frankly, if you can afford a kitted-out version of this, you can afford to remodel your office every second week. That configuration is likely to be mid-five digits territory. Remember that the base config ($6000) has a 256GB SSD and an RX580-ish GPU.
Posted on Reply
#34
kapone32
ValantarThey say it has a 1400W PSU (though the same slide says it's rated for ~1250W continuous output, which is ... not 1400). The Vega II Dual cards are 500W each. The CPU is a 255W Xeon (with a purportedly 300W-capable heatsink, so it might turbo above 255W). So yes, a kitted out version of this will pull at least 10-12A on 110V. Though frankly, if you can afford a kitted-out version of this, you can afford to remodel your office every second week. That configuration is likely to be mid-five digits territory. Remember that the base config ($6000) has a 256GB SSD and an RX580-ish GPU.
So it will cost you about 14,000 for the top model then?
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#35
juiseman
Seems like they should have included a 1600w-1800w PSU then??

At the wall measurements would surprise you.
It was always lower than what i was expecting.
kapone32So it will cost you about 14,000 for the top model then?
I would say more; a lot more if i had to guess....
Posted on Reply
#36
kapone32
juisemanSeems like they should have included a 1600w-1800w PSU then??

At the wall measurements would surprise you.
It was always lower than what i was expecting.




I would say more; a lot more if i had to guess....
So basically you could buy about 5 4 year old used cars for one of these
Posted on Reply
#37
Valantar
kapone32So it will cost you about 14,000 for the top model then?
Five digits is 10 000 - 99 999. Mid-five digits is thus ~50 000 (well, technically ~55 000). Given that they're charging $6000 for what amounts to a ~$1500 config (that's if you DIY it with a Xeon, more like $900-1000 if you go Ryzen with matching specs), it's to be expected that anything using a $10 000 28-core Xeon and four Radeon VII 32GB Vega II Pro GPUs alongside ... what was it, 1.5TB of ECC DDR4 is going to cost a ridiculous amount of money. Even if we lower the Apple tax from its baseline level of ~4x price as seen above, a $10 000 CPU + four ~$1000 GPUs (likely more, given the Pro labeling and likely addition of pro-level driver support, not to mention the added price of doubling the VRAM from the VII), quite a few thousand dollars of RAM, and all the bells and whistles - this is going to cost a pretty penny. At a 2x Apple Tax from equivalent off-the-shelf parts, you'd likely be looking at $40 000, if not more.
juisemanSeems like they should have included a 1600w-1800w PSU then??

At the wall measurements would surprise you.
It was always lower than what i was expecting.
Few workloads tax both CPU and GPU concurrently at 100% over time, so 1250W sustained is likely perfectly fine even with two "500" GPUs and a 255W CPU. Heck, the motherboard and PSU are both fully custom, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if it all just throttled slightly to keep within safe power limits. Apple doesn't mind throttling, after all.
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#38
Blueberries
Big oof.

As much as I'd love a 6k Retina display I'd probably settle for a 4k 120hz panel at the 5 large they're asking.
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#39
Tsukiyomi91
true productivity wise you don't need a 6K square screen with design cues from a few years ago... I rather settle with a 5K 32:9 monitor that LG or Dell is currently offering. Those are more worthy investment imo.
Posted on Reply
#40
Valantar
BlueberriesBig oof.

As much as I'd love a 6k Retina display I'd probably settle for a 4k 120hz panel at the 5 large they're asking.
Pretty sure you could get around 2-2.5 of those for that price.
Tsukiyomi91true productivity wise you don't need a 6K square screen with design cues from a few years ago... I rather settle with a 5K 32:9 monitor that LG or Dell is currently offering. Those are more worthy investment imo.
Depends on your needs - if you want non-scaled 4k for your preview window, the monitors you're describing can't do that. (They're 2x 2560x1440, right?) I think Apple are right in framing this as a replacement for >$20 000 reference monitors - in that case, the value is astounding. For most other users, it'll be a let-down.

Also, do TB3 monitors require TB3, or do they accept DP-in over type-C alt mode? Would this accept a signal from a VirtualLink port?
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#41
r.h.p
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.
yeah i must agree i like it . till the Cheesie box was bought up i never saw it ...damn anyway that duel Radeon card seems good
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#42
ensabrenoir
.....say what you wanna....but the specs on this thing is ridiculous. I find it hard to consider it a consumer product, its a professional level machine......and because its apple.....someone is gonna buy it. Long live the desk top
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#43
AltCapwn
lol 5k$ for a 32 inch monitor, is that a joke?
erixxiGrater plus iTrolley :)
for only 1k$
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#44
SL2
altcapwnlol 5k$ for a 32 inch monitor, is that a joke?
You missed the other specs, i.e the very reason why it cost that much. (besides being Apple)
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#45
Zareek
MatsYou missed the other specs, i.e the very reason why it cost that much. (besides being Apple)
You mean we missed what Apple says makes it ground breaking! Apple is the king of technology marketing, they make unsubstantiated claims more than anyone in any industry. That being said, I'm sure it is beautiful but until a few third parties crown it as the most beautiful display the world has ever seen, I will laugh at the people willing to buy it. Oh wait, I will still laugh at the people buying it because there is no way in hell I would ever pay that much for a 32" monitor. For $5000 it better come equipped with a steering wheel!
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#46
ironwolf
ZareekFor $5000 it better come equipped with a steering wheel!
Like the fancy schmancy stand, probably a $1000 addon. :laugh:
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#47
Devon68
The Legend has it : That the stand is made from vibranium and it will last at least 1000 years.

That back grate on the monitor looks ridiculous but I hope at least it helps with cooling.
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#49
Valantar
ZareekYou mean we missed what Apple says makes it ground breaking! Apple is the king of technology marketing, they make unsubstantiated claims more than anyone in any industry. That being said, I'm sure it is beautiful but until a few third parties crown it as the most beautiful display the world has ever seen, I will laugh at the people willing to buy it. Oh wait, I will still laugh at the people buying it because there is no way in hell I would ever pay that much for a 32" monitor. For $5000 it better come equipped with a steering wheel!
Apple are great at marketing, yes, but those specs beat any monitor out there (though not in refresh rate or response times, obviously). The marketing here is mainly just a spec sheet plus some adjectives. And, frankly, Apple's monitor history (unlike their PC history) is quite impeccable even if they failed to update their old cinema display for ages. Of course people should wait for reviews, but there's very little doubt this will be an amazing display for its intended applications - and even great value for those doing color-critical work, if it can match or beat reference monitors like they say.
Posted on Reply
#50
SL2
ZareekYou mean we missed what Apple says makes it ground breaking! Apple is the king of technology marketing, they make unsubstantiated claims more than anyone in any industry.
No.
Specs.
The person who is solely looking at the diagonal size is clearly missing the point.
That doesn't mean that I think it's worth it.
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