There will be many challenges for Apple as it designs the next generation Mac Pro. It will have to present with Apple’s unique design language, but the form will also have to follow the function as a modular device. For the practical minded user. The low end will have to be affordable, but it will also have to support the very best CPU/GPU/ and bus architecture. Here’s a concept video that pays homage to the (2008-2012) Mac Pro, has a modest desktop footprint, and still looks like it would be big enough to contain kind of power we drool for. Amazingly, it reminds me of HP’s Z2 Mini as well.
A Very Nice Concept Video for Apple’s Next Mac Pro
As there is a working Cube sitting under my desk right now, it could be fun to see just how much you could get in.
Especially if you compare with the size of the Cube with a quad core Raspberry Pi 3 or the quad slot NAS drive that is next to the Cube. I have often thought about replacing the 1.5GHz G5 with the contents of a Mac Mini but the Cube is really too small to be properly future proofed.
And here’s my workings, dimensions of the current Pro lifted off Apple’s website as I don’t own one.
The overall volume of the Cube [20x20x25cm] is around twice that of the current Pro [25.1×16.7dia cm] , that includes the space at the bottom for the cables. If you just take the volume of the removable box its 20x20x18cm – 7200 vs 5500, so about 30% bigger, still NOT big enough, the slimline desktop PC the Cube sits on is 33x40x10cm, that probably is big enough to offer a decent lifespan without being the size of the aluminium G5/Intel Mac Pro chassis, especially with no spinning drives.
Lots of room for creative thinking and adopting the latest technologies :-).
OK, Apple, are you reading these comments?
OK John, you finally got a rise out of me.
The Mac Pro should NOT be cute and sleek and small. It should be industrial, roomy and big. It should be capable of housing large amounts of CPUs, GPUs and storage in several media. These should be easily upgradeable, interchangeable and expandable by opening the case with one button to expose everything. Sounds like my beloved cheese grater. Nescafe?
It should not sound like a wind tunnel like my old beloved cheese grater. The connectors should not be limited to one USB or Thunderbolt, or even FireWire type connector, but the connectors themselves should be mounted on a modular connector panel one the back, with a small one on the front, where removable media are also accessed.
Beginning to sound like my beloved old cheese grater converted to Intel. ???
Maybe we should do this before Apple drops Intel CPUS for their own?
And where do we put the after market speciality PCIe cards ?
And if we want 3.5″ multi TB HDDs ? An external enclosure / NAS ?
And in a case that small whats the thermal envelope going to be ?
And where is the PSU ? Is that going to necessitate a “power brick” ?
Sorry, but the idea in the video is great. If you want a Mac Mini.
It’s not a Mac Pro replacement / upgrade !
😭
I think this is a good take on he word used at the Mac Pro revival event: Modular. There are design flaws as the GPU facing up in that small space has no room for pass through cables. I also think the M.2 SSD PCI/E connection would be a better choice than SATA III 2.5 inch drive.
What is exciting is that people are excited and enthused to even think about Mac Pro design at this time. I only hope the actual product that Apple puts out is user upgradable and uses some industry standard parts for GPU / SSD / Memory.
I’d like to see what 2017 hardware could be crammed into a design similar to the air cooled original Apple Cube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djNkIF8bz4w
Yes, the Cube was an under-powered overly expensive vanity piece like the Twentieth Anniversary Mac but imagine what it could be with current hardware.