Adam Kos In the beta version of Xcode 13, new Intel chips suitable for the Mac Pro have been spotted, which currently offers up to 28-core Intel Xeon W. This is Intel Ice Lake SP, which the company introduced in April of this year. It offers advanced performance, security, efficiency and more powerful artificial intelligence. And as it seems, Apple will not only equip its machines with its own Apple Silicon chips.
Well, at least for now and as far as the most powerful machines are concerned. It's true that the iMac Pro series has already been discontinued, but there are lively speculations about the new 14 and 16" MacBooks Pro. If we don't count a larger iMac than the 24" one, and on which it is practically unknown if the company is even working on it, we are left with the Mac Pro. If this modular computer received an Apple Silicon SoC chip, it would practically cease to be modular.
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Vratislav Holub SoC and the end of modularity
A system on a chip is an integrated circuit that includes all the components of a computer or other electronic system in a single chip. It can include digital, analog and mixed circuits, and often radio circuits as well - all on a single chip. These systems are very common in mobile electronics due to their low power consumption. So you wouldn't change a single component in such a Mac Pro.
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And that's exactly why now would be the time to keep the current Mac Pro alive before Apple's entire portfolio switches to M1 chips and its successors. At the presentation of Apple Silicon, the company stated that it wanted to complete the transition from Intel within two years. Now, after WWDC21, we're only halfway through that period, so there's practically nothing stopping Apple from actually launching another Intel-powered machine. In addition, the Mac Pro has a timeless design, as it was introduced at WWDC in 2019.
The latest collaboration with Intel
Information about the new Mac Pro with an Intel chip is given additional weight by the fact that it was confirmed by Mark Gurman, a Bloomberg analyst with an 89,1% success rate of his information (according to AppleTrack.com). However, Bloomberg already reported in January that Apple is developing two versions of the new Mac Pro, which is a direct successor to the current machine. However, they should have a redesigned chassis, which should be half the size of the current one, and in this case it could be judged that Apple Silicon chips would already be present. However, while Apple may be working on them, they may not be introduced until a year or two from now, or they may just be a successor to the Mac mini. In the most optimistic predictions, however, it should be Apple Silicon chips with up to 128 GPU cores and 40 CPU cores.
Apple has indeed been working on an update to the Intel Mac Pro. https://t.co/YgU8KaikeX
- Mark Gurman (@markgurman) June 8, 2021
So if there is a new Mac Pro this year, it will only be new with its chip. It can also be judged that Apple will not want to brag too much about the fact that it is still working with Intel, so the news will only be announced in the form of a press release, which is nothing special, since the company last presented its AirPods Max like this. In any case, the Ice Lake SP will most likely be the end of the collaboration between the two brands. And since the Mac Pro is a very narrowly focused device, you certainly cannot expect a sales hit from it.
