MP All Models 40 core ASI with PCI-E slot is around the corner!!

[mattspace]

You guys keep playing variations of the loser trash can Mac as if repeating the same mistake multiple times will change the outcome.

There's this weird post-traumatic amnesia that seems to stop people remembering that the 6,1 wasn't criticised for slow processors or RAM. Lack of PCI slots, & lack of user-upgradable graphics was literally the sum total of criticisms of the 6,1. Unless, of course you're looking at the spin control shills of the blogaratti* who ran the corporate reality-adjustment that the REAL problem with the 6,1 is customers couldn't buy a whole new updated computer every year.

But that's perhaps the thing, Apple doesn't want to sell decadal workstations, they want to sell $10k iPads (not that they've got the creativity to actually make a drafting table computer). "It aint supposed to be good, it's supposed to be bought."

*Gruber whining that PC magazines won't treat the Mac seriously in reviews, now it's not just a different flavour of PC is the funniest thing I've seen in years. That is a man who can smell his relevance and influence evaporating.

 

[Amethyst]

Latest chatter from Bloomberg Gurman corroborates that your friend indeed had access to Apple silicon Mac Pro, more specifically now I believe it is a M1 Extreme Mac Pro.

So M1 Extreme Mac Pro comes with no DIMM slots. That's said. Apple is way less ambitious than some people had anticipated.

Sound like M1 Extreme doesn't have Apple dGPU bus either. So Probably just a bigger Mac Studio + a couple of PCIe slots. The nightmare situation Apple thought themselves people don't want it and didn't release it.

Realistically no big changes should people expect with M2 Extreme Mac Pro. I'm guessing Apple thought a bit more soldered LPDDR5 memory, a couple more CPU cores and 35% better GPU will make M2 Extreme Mac Pro sell..

Any new leaks? Thoughts?

Base from what i known, i think a pcie slot on asi mac pro is design for peripheral expansion and definitely not for GPU.
- As i have seen that board it is only simple pci-e 16x slot, not MPX slot.
- As state on many apple marketing material, they think just 64 core gpu on M1 ultra is 80% faster than W6900XT. so there 128 Core integrate GPU is more than capable for every pro user.
- My friend tell me that he believed that there are specific expansion card (like apple afterburner) in apple pipeline.

 

[Amethyst]

My friends inform me that if Mac pro update is imminent it definitely must based on M1 not M2.

 

[kvic]

Base from what i known, i think a pcie slot on asi mac pro is design for peripheral expansion and definitely not for GPU.
- As i have seen that board it is only simple pci-e 16x slot, not MPX slot.
- As state on many apple marketing material, they think just 64 core gpu on M1 ultra is 80% faster than W6900XT. so there 128 Core integrate GPU is more than capable for every pro user.
- My friend tell me that he believed that there are specific expansion card (like apple afterburner) in apple pipeline.

Unbelievable. So it's real and only ONE PCIe slot, most likely PCIe v4.0.

And the 4 M1/M2 Max dies will be glued together by UltraFusion. As plain as that and nothing else.

To draw some parallel from the PC world, the logic board will be like a mini-ITX form factor. lol.

Thinking back, I guess such an Apple silicon Mac Pro is both the cause and result of the departure of the 'Nuvia team' back in 2019.

My friends inform me that if Mac pro update is imminent it definitely must based on M1 not M2.

There won't be a launch of M1 Extreme Mac Pro. Seems Apple had skipped it and will launch M2 Extreme Mac Pro instead in Fall 2022. Start shipping in early 2023.

But as I said a few posts back, I don't expect big changes in M2 Extreme from your M1 Extreme: higher density LPDDR5 chips more readily available so more memory perhaps, a few more P and E cores, 35% GPU uplift compared to M1 Extreme SoC.

 

[singhs.apps]

My friends inform me that if Mac pro update is imminent it definitely must based on M1 not M2.

Or your friend has the rumoured …abandoned m1 Mac Pro?

 

[Amethyst]

Unbelievable. So it's real and only ONE PCIe slot, most likely PCIe v4.0.

As it is just prototype board, I still believed that production unit may include more than ONE pcie slot.

 

[Romain_H]

- My friend tell me that he believed that there are specific expansion card (like apple afterburner) in apple pipeline.

Perhaps instead of PCIe-based GPUs those are used for ASi-derived GPUs?

This would provide for GPU upradeability/expandability

 

[deconstruct60]

A shame really. Might be releasing an intel Xeon version simultaneously just to tide over ?

Hight Doubtful for several reasons.

First, Once get past the two year mark of announcing going to do a two year transition away from Intel 86_64 to Apple Silicon the chance of a 'new' Intel system shipping is pretty dismally small. That would be akin to Apple saying they were going to bring back 32-bit macOS apps. Apple has committed and burned that bridge behind them so extremely hard to go back.

There was a 'window' for an Intel update for the Mac Pro in 2020-2021, but once past June WWDC 2022 that is probably done.

Second, Which Intel offering? The Xeon W3200 class that Dell, HP , and most of the major vendors have skipped? Probably not. Runs really hot which would bump at the limits Apple designed for. The W3300 which pushes the top core count well past the max tread levels macOS supports and additionally seems to be possibly sliding into 2023 ? Highly probably not.

The other major problems is that without all the 'volume buying' discounts from the rest of the Mac line, Apple wouldn't have any more clout at Intel than a common white box system vendor. There is an article about how Apple even dropped buying Intel Thunderbolt redrivers for the latest M2 MBA. [ Probably will stick with Intel a while longer for actual discrete TB controllers. ]

That chatter about a AS Mac Pro also had a M2 Pro Mini that was going to wipe out the remaining other Intel model. Once, the whole rest of the line up switched the Mac Pro is likely going also. Apple can keep selling the 2019 model (7,1) for a couple of more years.

As more and more of the Intel Macs fall onto the Vintage/Obsolete list the developer allocations for macOS on Intel is likely to dwindle. There is no rational sense in building a new Intel Mac is if there is no macOS to put on it in several years. ( Essentially same core problem with flipping to AMD workstation option. the x86_64 macOS is going away. )

Third, even if Apple rolled out a W3200 workstation in late 2022 it would be competitively crushed by the AMD Threadripper 5000 and upcoming AMD 7000 / Nvidia 4000 options. It would be close to the Mac Pro 2012 all over again. Capture of a few folks that just want to stay deeply tucked into the macOS ecosystem but heavily compute challenged folks will likely be moving. If they do drivers for the AMD 7000 with an update then lots of 7,1 won't upgrade their systems. If don't support the newer cards than the systems lags behind.

I have no gripes with the above scenario (40 core CPU 128 core GPU )…the GPU will be good enough to drive displays with all the bells and whistles…maybe touch 3080ti performance with gobs of ram

That is the other problem with another Mac Pro is that if sold alongside a new AS Mac Pro the total market is going to substantively shrink. The hyper modular folks like to claim that they are the whole "Mac Pro" market base. That isn't factual. They are a subset and will be a smaller subset after Apple peels off the folks who need cost effect performance more than hyper modularity. So will sell even fewer Intel systems than the 7,1 did. Again a shrinking pool of potential users.

I though would love to see a 256/512 core! dGPU compute card…as an optional ‘module’. Might be expensive thing

What matters is not whether will look and ogle at the hyper expensive thing, but whether enough folks will buy the hyper expensive thing. The gold case Apple watch was a bust. M3 or M4 generation will probably bring that as a non dGPU. Some folks will grumble and squat on their 7,1 for years and the future iterations will get backs and some will take the exit ramp (because it is good enough for long enough for reasonable ROI. )

Apple will continue to disappoint for some :/

And somebody will complain on macrumors about what Apple does no matter what they ship. Apple isn't in the do everything for everybody business. Never where ( at least when a profitable company )

 

[deconstruct60]

Base from what i known, i think a pcie slot on asi mac pro is design for peripheral expansion and definitely not for GPU.
- As i have seen that board it is only simple pci-e 16x slot, not MPX slot.

Single slot width? Double slot?

- As state on many apple marketing material, they think just 64 core gpu on M1 ultra is 80% faster than W6900XT. so there 128 Core integrate GPU is more than capable for every pro user.

I highly doubt Apple is laboring under the delusion that the 128 GPU is capable for every pro users. "Most" Pro users. (where the disconnect is how many is "most". And where the 'big enough for us to make money' line is for Apple . ) Apple isn't in the do everything for everybody business. So they are not out to cover every pro user. (e.g., the up to their eyeballs deep in Nvidia proprietary swamp users .. Apple isn't really directly address that with the current Mac Pro)

- My friend tell me that he believed that there are specific expansion card (like apple afterburner) in apple pipeline.

A compute only card would make some sense. However, if there is no socket for it to go into then is it in the pipeline for this system?

 

[terminator-jq]

The CPU and GPU core count sounds like what we were expecting from an “Extreme“ chip. Although the numbers could be pointing to this chip being an older M1 based pre-production version that won’t see the light of day. Maybe these are still used for testing purposes behind the scenes as they optimize things for the M2 generation and make sure Mac OS can take advantage of all those cores and see the chip as 1 chip in the same way it does with the M1 Ultra.

Rumors are saying the M2 Pro will have a 12 core CPU and up to a 38-40 core GPU. If Apple simply doubles things like did with the M1 Ultra, that would put the M2 Ultra at a 24 core CPU and possibly an 80 core GPU! The M2 Extreme would then be sitting at 48 cores for the CPU and up to 160 cores for the GPU. Again this assumes Apple is planning to double the Max chip like they did previously.

The PCIe slot is the more interesting bit! After making the Mac Pro modular with the 2019 unit, it was always a question if Apple would be able to keep some of that modularity when moving the Mac Pro to AS. My guess is Apple will produce their own line of GPU expansion cards based on their own GPU cores that can then be plugged into these slots to further expand the graphics capabilities. This would also allow Mac Pro owners to upgrade to whatever the latest GPU cores are as Apple moves into the M3, M4 (and so on) generations.

If that is true… then perhaps Apple also comes out with some sort of external GPU box that can be used with MacBook Pros.

 

[Joe The Dragon]

As it is just prototype board, I still believed that production unit may include more than ONE pcie slot.

how many lanes? and if more then one it may be 2-4 X16 slots at X4 4.0 / 5.0

 

[killawat]

My friend tell me that he believed that there are specific expansion card (like apple afterburner) in apple pipeline.

This is interesting. The afterburner really unlocked alot of performance but alot of people were bitten with the move to AS meant that the Mac Studio performed better than the afterburner (yes yes its not a direct comparison, AS, studio newer etc) for not that many more dollars.

Hearing that it is PCIE is good though. If Apple released something that Apple silicon that could work on Intel Macs that would be cool and costly. But actually, maybe not? An Apple AS dGPU even if its 1000% barebones, no frills you get 2 extra HDMI, 2GB VRAM and thats it would make alot of people happy. Intel compatibility would be a pipe dream for sure, but for sure compatible with AS Macs.

Anyway thanks for the rumors. M2 is finally released and we can compare it to M1 performance. Next, the biggest question I have is will we still have dGPU. It sounds like we wont. I'm sad, eGPU dGPU people like myself are asking ourselves why does it have to be taken away. But it must be done.

 

[deconstruct60]

Unbelievable. So it's real and only ONE PCIe slot, most likely PCIe v4.0.

If based on M1 generation tech and just puzzling a slight mod of M1 Max dies together , then it is quite believable. There was no big PCI-e provisioning foundation on that die. If this is more a prototype test mule than a product then Apple has stretched a laptop die really 'thin' to play this role. So it shouldn't be surprising that it doesn't fill that role all that well.

If Apple tossed some 'spare change' budget at doing an Extreme chip with laptop parts this is pretty close to what the results could easily come out to be. Apple is probably spending lots more time , resource and focus elsewhere. Make the critical money making aspects of the Mac line up work extremely well and then allocate some decent money for niche Mac Pro in generation 2 (or maybe 3 if really risk adverse. ).

And the 4 M1/M2 Max dies will be glued together by UltraFusion. As plain as that and nothing else.

Depending if it is x16 electrical slot may have done something extra. But yeah if it is x16 physical and x4 electrical sock then it is mostly a hack.

To draw some parallel from the PC world, the logic board will be like a mini-ITX form factor. lol.

Err no. The four largish dies with 16 memory packages array around the outside is going to be large package with substantively large heat sink. it isn't the current super large Mac Pro sized board, but probably not mini-ITX either.
It is a bigger board than the Studio. Dual Ethernet and six ( or more ) TB sockets around; again bigger than Studio board. If there is a double wide slot (again a bigger board ). Connectors for internal SATA or internal drives (again would grow the board ... Apple is unlikely to dense pack those sockets to lead to a 'messy' cable management if going to allow third parties to do it.)

Thinking back, I guess such an Apple silicon Mac Pro is both the cause and result of the departure of the 'Nuvia team' back in 2019.

Given the Nuvia guys convinced someone to buy them out for $1.4B without producing a single chip or even completed design of a chip.... probably not. Money was likely a highly contributing issue.

If Apple's pre pandemic plan was to do a 'last' Intel update alongside a one slot Apple Silicon Mac Pro release then that could have worked relatively well because it lowers the overlap between the two. It would have also allowed Apple to do a "transitionary" AS Mac Pro product. Get the kinks worked out with all the new drivers that driverKit on Apple Silicon was going to precipitate before going to something more expensive to make. The generally more risk adverse corporate Mac Pro users would mostly buy the Intel Mac Pro and 'dabble' with the AS one. At about M3-M4 then deliver a more slots (not eight but more than one ) when that last Intel Mac Pro is retired.

The M1 gen with lots of interposers was likely mapped out before the Nuvia team left in 2019. Where any large hole appear because the critical "big die" talent left would be around M2-M3 .

All of these "apple should build a Threadripper killer" SoCs scenarios are relatively very expensive to make for a largely unproven size of market. The lower the Mac Pro unit volume the harder it is to justify spends millions to fork off from the rest of the Mac line up. How much the Studio ( not priced at 2x historic Mac Pro levels ) and this one slot wonder could 'eat' of the Mac Pro users base was likely largely unknown back in 2018-2019.

There won't be a launch of M1 Extreme Mac Pro. Seems Apple had skipped it and will launch M2 Extreme Mac Pro instead in Fall 2022. Start shipping in early 2023.

Lol. Like Apple didn't openly state the first part months ago. This is last M1 ... and yet gobs of gyrations as to why that wasn't true and Mac Pro is coming real soon now.

But as I said a few posts back, I don't expect big changes in M2 Extreme from your M1 Extreme: higher density LPDDR5 chips more readily available so more memory perhaps, a few more P and E cores, 35% GPU uplift compared to M1 Extreme SoC.

More P cores is doubtful. Especially is they are squatting on TSMC N5P. Probably looking at 2E cores and bigger P and GPU core complexes with the same core count. Topped off with some higher power/clocks to help with bursty benchmarks.

Even with 4P or N3 probably not a big P core shift. (N3 case would just take the saved money on smaller die. lower interposer packaging costs, higher yields and fewer wafers consumed. ). The hyper interposer complexity of some of the rumored M1 Extreme designs is likely was going to be expensive pre-pandemic and is enough for Apple to punt on now for the projected volume sales. Write it off as a "learned a lot from" research project and move on.

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

Base from what i known, i think a pcie slot on asi mac pro is design for peripheral expansion and definitely not for GPU.
- As i have seen that board it is only simple pci-e 16x slot, not MPX slot.
- As state on many apple marketing material, they think just 64 core gpu on M1 ultra is 80% faster than W6900XT. so there 128 Core integrate GPU is more than capable for every pro user.
- My friend tell me that he believed that there are specific expansion card (like apple afterburner) in apple pipeline.

They dont think that. They know that is total BS and a 6900xt DESTROYS the 64core on basic things like metal. It was faster on a few cherry picked benchmarks which is such BS, they should jump off a cliff for the marketing/lies and shame of it.

A 6800duo will obliterate the 128 core. So try again. It's a useless glorified Mac mini pro if it only has one slot that cant take a GPU.

Also, it makes no sense. Just because your pal has some Frankenstein board doesnt mean that's what's going to ship. If it's a 16bit slot it can handle a regular graphics card. It's not a physical problem. It's just a driver issue.

 

[mikas]

I haven't read the past 5 or so responds, sorry.
(I did now, but nothing changed)

I still don't think they are going to deliver anything to Pro's. Not this time.

It's gonna be a SoC. And that's it. (at least for ASi, but not expecting any new intel either. Never.)

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

@Amethyst, any information on the enclosure/appearance of the computer?

 

[deconstruct60]

This is interesting. The afterburner really unlocked alot of performance but alot of people were bitten with the move to AS

Hearing that it is PCIE is good though. If Apple released something that Apple silicon that could work on Intel Macs that would be cool and costly. But actually, maybe not? An Apple AS dGPU even if its 1000% barebones, no frills you get 2 extra HDMI, 2GB VRAM and thats it would make alot of people happy. Intel compatibility would be a pipe dream for sure, but for sure compatible with AS Macs.

If this card is "like Afterburner" then a very decent chance that it is a specialized compute card. Not a general graphics card. It is primary job is to augment or offload computation from the SoC CPU/GPU/NPU cores and free up free time on those cores.

The data center focused AMD MI 250 or A100 would probably be a closer match. But in price and relatively high inattention to video out duties.

A substantive issue is that apps that 'see' an Apple GPU are going to have huge built in presumptions that the memory is all uniform and unified. That is double true for the iOS/iPadOS apps running on macOS. It won't be with a dGPU card. Quirks and bugs are likely to pop out of the woodwork . It is probably only going to be targeted to apps that explicitly know how to "segment and distribute and gather " there work back together again ( i.e., no assumptions about unified , uniform memory allocations ).

Similar expectation issues appeared with Afterburner. It speeds up ProRes codecs mutated into "Apple is going to add RedRAW right? It will slice and dice all advance video codecs . ... " . Folks eager to throw the kitchen sink of addition stuff on top of a 'specific task' card.

The Mac Pro 2013 had a "Compute" GPU. The MP 2019 has Vega II Duo and W6800 Duo MPX modules. That is what is missing if drop down to just one iGPU. Scale out compute inside the box.


If folks need another HDMI and/or SDI in/out from a Mac Pro there are Aja/Blackmagic cards that should/could work. Apple doesn't need to jump into that.

It sounds like we wont. I'm sad, eGPU dGPU people like myself are asking ourselves why does it have to be taken away. But it must be done.

It isn't a "must be done". More so a large disconnect between the amount of money will to be spend on these in large enough numbers to trigger a return on investment that Apple would be happy with. Apple has relatively small market share. ( 10% of general PC market dominated by Windows). Also long as Apple could 'live' off hardware that happened to fall out of the much bigger Windows market then lots of the development for that stuff all gets paid for by the Windows market. Now that Apple detached themselves from UEFI , standard Windows CPUs , etc.
All those "just happened to work" niches don't work as markets.

Apple leans on the iOS/iPadOS market for the bulk of the expensive of paying for custom SoCs. So that is the source of "happen to work" niche solutions that 'fall through'. It isn't going to be the same. And Apple isn't going to run out and backfill "everything for everybody" solutions for the hardware/firmware vendors they are leaving behind.

 

[MarkC426]

You guys don’t get it. It won’t convert anyone. People paid 10s of thousands for expandable 7,1 macs. If the new Mac Pro comes out without multiple pcie card slots, and does not support PC based graphics cards, as well as many other PC PCI cards, it is a glorified Mac mini, and is DOA. Do not pass go. Game over man. The high end users will abandon apple, permanently. It’s that simple.

You guys keep playing variations of the loser trash can Mac as if repeating the same mistake multiple times will change the outcome. Also you make it sound like writing a few drivers for pc graphics cards is a big deal for apple. Youre all so low expectations. They made Rosetta 2 like it was no big deal. Writing a few drivers for a few popular graphics cards is not a big deal. For crying out loud, they did it when they had PowerPC based towers With way crappier OSs.

There comes a time when pure CPU power is not so relevant.
When the M1 mini was released, it wowed a lot of people, then the Studio took it to the next level.
Is the ASmp really going beyond that.....

Personally, my current cMP is fast enough for what I need.
I find upgaedablity/expandability FAR more valuable than raw speed.
It's nice to be able to just swap out a drive/card anytime.

I would most definitely get a 7.1 Xeon before a non-upgradeable ASmp.
Why would I pay 6k+ for a box, which needs replacing if I need anything extra.
I don't use any Apple software, so CPU architecture is irrelevant to me.

Here's hoping they don't drop the ball, and give us some expansion......🤨
Surely a fully upgradeable machine is better for the environment......rather than mac 'fast fashion'.

 

[goMac]

Apple pushing MPX - and then abandoning it - will also be a step that will lower confidence in the Mac Pro in the industry.

One of the biggest issues with the Mac Pro is the whiplash around it. Apple keeps coming up with one pro hardware ecosystem, and then trashes it in the next revision. The 1,1-5,1 era was relatively stable. Apple not being able to make up their minds on what the Mac Pro should be is just a mess.

 

[edanuff]

And, if they release a Mac Pro without expandability it would - once again - be a 180 degree change of course. After all, the 7.1 was developed in the first place to right the wrong they did with the Trashcan

Apple pushing MPX - and then abandoning it - will also be a step that will lower confidence in the Mac Pro in the industry.

One of the biggest issues with the Mac Pro is the whiplash around it. Apple keeps coming up with one pro hardware ecosystem, and then trashes it in the next revision. The 1,1-5,1 era was relatively stable. Apple not being able to make up their minds on what the Mac Pro should be is just a mess.

I think that this narrative that the 7,1 represented a long term change of course in Apple's strategy no longer bears out at all. It certainly was comforting at the time and seemed to fit the facts of the 2019 release but we now know that during that entire time, perhaps even going back to 2011 according to some reports, the idea of moving the entire Mac product line to a SoC was underway. Even all the interviews and so-called mea culpas can now be re-read and seen to be saying something completely different than what was understood at the time - they were only definitive about a commitment to workflows not architectures and no hard statements about defining exactly what modularity meant beyond being able to use a different display. The most clear eyed assumption in hindsight needs to be that the 7,1 represented a bit of a last meal to distract the most Intel-committed segment of the Mac user base while Apple executed on the ARM transition. Personally speaking, I always had doubts in the reversal of strategy narrative, and pragmatically I did what I think a lot of users have done which was to simply add a PC and/or cloud as necessary to their workflows.

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

I think that this narrative that the 7,1 represented a long term change of course in Apple's strategy no longer bears out at all. It certainly was comforting at the time and seemed to fit the facts of the 2019 release but we now know that during that entire time, perhaps even going back to 2011 according to some reports, the idea of moving the entire Mac product line to a SoC was underway. Even all the interviews and so-called mea culpas can now be re-read and seen to be saying something completely different than what was understood at the time - they were only definitive about a commitment to workflows not architectures and no hard statements about defining exactly what modularity meant beyond being able to use a different display. The most clear eyed assumption in hindsight needs to be that the 7,1 represented a bit of a last meal to distract the most Intel-committed segment of the Mac user base while Apple executed on the ARM transition. Personally speaking, I always had doubts in the reversal of strategy narrative, and pragmatically I did what I think a lot of users have done which was to simply add a PC and/or cloud as necessary to their workflows.

Wrong. They expressly said it was a mistake not to have modulairty/expandability and made that an express point. Modularity was proven to be 8 PCIe slots. All the 'big brain experts' here and in the press were completely wrong arguing that mudlairty meant some brain dead variation of the failed trashcan Mac.

Going against modularity/expandability and taking away the slots would be a 180. All the hand waving new speak in the world wont change that reality.

 

[goMac]

Going against modularity/expandability and taking away the slots would be a 180. All the hand waving new speak in the world wont change that reality.

RAM slots have not been mentioned either.

 

[edanuff]

Wrong. They expressly said it was a mistake not to have modulairty/expandability and made that an express point. Modularity was proven to be 8 PCIe slots. All the 'big brain experts' here and in the press were completely wrong arguing that mudlairty meant some brain dead variation of the failed trashcan Mac.

Going against modularity/expandability and taking away the slots would be a 180. All the hand waving new speak in the world wont change that reality.

Sure, and then the next day someone said "hey, let's move the entire product architecture at a fundamental chip level in a direction that makes PC-style modularity extremely difficult" and changed course 180 degrees. Or, Apple had been working for years prior to the 7,1 on a transition plan to ARM and knew exactly that they were doing and what they were saying.

 

[exoticSpice]

RAM slots have not been mentioned either.

Yeah that is the least of our worries now. I just want more than ONE pcie-slot now

 

[Romain_H]

Sure, and then the next day someone said "hey, let's move the entire product architecture at a fundamental chip level in a direction that makes PC-style modularity extremely difficult" and changed course 180 degrees. Or, Apple had been working for years prior to the 7,1 on a transition plan to ARM and knew exactly that they were doing and what they were saying.

Well, maybe. OTOH, all models that already transitioned to ASi were non-modular in their Intel guise as well.
Since we don‘t really know what (and if) the next gen Mac Pro is going to like like, all options are on the table.
Admittedly, I fear it is not what I‘d like to see (that would be RAM/GPU/CPU/SSD modular)