Tech Ink

The year 2020 was memorable for so many reasons, some of which are probably not worth repeating here. In technology however, Apple made some bold and immense changes both to their software and hardware offerings.

Now, this is not going to be one of those massively long overviews of what they did. To summarise in as few sentences as possible, in terms of hardware Apple lay down the gauntlet to the their hardware partners in the form of Intel and AMD by announcing their transition away from chips designed by those companies in Apple laptops and desktops and instead a move towards a future where Apple would use their own custom designs built on the ARM architecture. For software, macOS for their laptop and desktop computers would also undergo a massive redesign which included icons that would now resemble the ones found on iOS and iPadOS for their phones and tablet respectively.

By the end of 2020 Apple had released three computers running their new first generation in house developed system on a chip, or SOC, called the M1, together with the newly re-modelled macOS called Big Sur. The M1 pulled together components such as the CPU and GPU, usually found as separate chips inside a typical personal computer and their previous Intel based systems, and fused them together onto a single chip that sat neatly on a streamlined circuit board inside these new systems. The memory was also now accessible from a unified pool rather than being assigned as a capped amount to the CPU and GPU as is the case in traditional computer architectures.

The new computers went down a treat with tech journalists and users alike and things were only going to get better, and they did. By the end of 2021 Apple had launched the ‘Pro’ and ‘Max’ variants of the M1 with more CPU and GPU cores that were able to access even higher pools of unified memory. Due to the nature of the ARM basedSOCs, the power consumption was much lower compared to a traditional laptop with an Intel processor and so Apple Silicon based laptops were able to operate much longer than their competitors and even Apples previous generation Intel based systems and all this without compromising performance. By spring 2022 the Mac Studio had arrived with an even more powerful M1 ‘Ultra’ chips and the M2 then followed in a re-engineered MacBook Air in June of that year. To top it off, M2 Pro, M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips have all appeared in 2023 in various desktop and laptop models.

However, now comes the tricky part. The new Mac Pro, their highest end desktop computer, has been equipped with their most powerful SOC, an M2 Ultra with a peak CPU core count of 24 and GPU cores reaching 76. Tech websites and YouTube channels have or are reviewing this most powerful of machines and the verdict is mostly, why does it exist and who is it aimed at? The specification is identical to that found inside the higher tier Mac Studio desktop and the only key difference is the inclusion of six PCI-E expansion slots on the Mac Pro motherboard inside the rather attractive outer casing which incidentally is the same one used and introduced for the 2019 model. Memory can no longer be upgraded and not to forget, the price for the base model is a staggering £6999, making it around £3000 more expensive than a similarly configured Mac Studio.

Now, about those PCI-E slots and the crux of the matter. Although they offer the chance to use a variety of expansion cards needed in high end professional work flows, including faster storage, networking and audio cards, sadly, graphic cards or GPUs are a no.One of the biggest selling points about the 2019 Mac Pro was the ability to use a wide variety of GPUs from AMD and even Nvidia, the latter possible when running the Mac Pro with the Windows operating system in a dual boot type of configuration. Apple even went as far as to design a custom expansion solution, termed the MPX module, that neatly sat on the motherboard with no need to connect power cables as the connector for this was cleverly integrated onto the module and the motherboard slot to which it was joined. However, the MPX module is no more.

One of the key reasons why the 2023 Mac Pro will no longer have the ability to use GPUs is that they will not interface very well with the GPU cores built into the M2 SOC. The architecture of the M2 has infused these cores onto the same silicon occupied by the CPU together with other custom blocks such as the neural engine and secure enclave security hardware. This leads to another issue that is now surfacing after those with access to the machine have used and tested the GPU performance of an M2 Ultra chip inside the new Mac Pro. The consensus from these independent reviews is that the overall performance of even the highest end 76 core GPU across a wide variety of workflows pales in comparison to a PC running a newer generation AMD or in particular Nvidia 4000 series graphics cards.

Of course, there is a lot more to it than this. The Mac Pro will still appeal to a particular audience, but it is very small and their workflow is very niche. Examples cited include high end video editing in production workshops or music studios requiring custom audio equipment. Yet, the lack of GPU expansion capabilities could hinder other areas such as artificial intelligence and machine learning or complex 3D modelling. Checkout this excellent video from Marques Brownlee, a renowned tech YouTuber, for a measured and realistic assessment of the new Mac Pro. He also offers an interesting theory near the end of the video about what he thinks Apple might be doing with the Mac Pro in the future.

Prior to the launch of the 2023 incarnation, there was some speculation found in the midsts of online forum debates that the future Mac Pro would enable some form of expandability but notably the way Apple would want it done. One idea was that Apple would develop its own proprietary slot in card that would be a system on a chip itself in order to boost the capability of the base machine and its CPU and GPU whilst allowing for additional memory too.Alternatively, a GPU card developed by Apple could be added that allowed advanced features such as ray tracing. But this remains strictly speculation and there in no way to tell which direction theMac Pro will take in the future.

Indeed, some have even gone as far as to speculate that Apple has launched the 2023 model just to say their transition to Apple Silicon has now completed for all their computer systems. On top of this, they might be seeking to stop the Mac Pro product line altogether because the Mac Studio currently offers similar performance at a lower price and the Pro laptops are more than capable of meeting the demands of a wide range of workflows. This appears a bit far fetched though as Apple would not have invested large amounts or time and money to produce this machine only to finish it off and it is quite possible, as with the first generation M1 based systems, Apple is just waiting to put the finishing touches to a more contemporary aesthetic design with updated internals that will make it a big cut above the Mac Studio range in terms of performance and upgradeability options.

So, ultimately, this generation of Mac Pro, despite lacking an upgrade path for the GPU or memory, is a plenty capable machine throughly aimed at a very specific and small sector of the market, an audience that needs the PCI-E slots to plug in their various card, some of which are known to cost thousands of dollars, for their specialist workflow and for reasons only known to them as to why they have a preference to use macOS to carry out their tasks.

What Apple has in mind for future generations of their highest end desktop is all guesswork at this stage but you have to admit they have worked wonders with in-house custom silicon and gained both awe and respect from competitors and customers. Without a doubt, the laptop range using these SOCs are as popular as ever and this is bound to reach dizzying heights with the arrival of the 15 inch MacBook Air. Enjoy what’s available now but if you have an interest, as I do, in what Apple will do next then keep watching those Apple news pages and websites.