MP All Models Will you buy the new Mac Pro if non-modular ?

[Lyndon92]

As far as we know, Apple is now in a full-soldered components with M1 Macs, it's SoC.
It means zero possibility to upgrade, not modular for a single word.

The Mac Pro has always been famous for its power and its possibility to upgrade yourself components, inside.

Now, Apple will probably create a new Pro with M1 SoC , meaning no possibility to upgrade it at all.

Will you buy it ?

 

[patrick.a]

I'm pretty sure they'll stick with the concept of Mac Pro and offer some kind of upgradeability. Otherwise the name wouldn't really make sense and they'd call it Studio Pro.

 

[AlphaCentauri]

No point, if it’s not expandable. I’d rather buy the Studio Ultra then.

 

[cloudphrenia]

yeah but the studio has removable storage modules, so there’s a chance the Mac Pro will be modular

 

[ssj92]

It will probably still have pcie slots (hopefully). CPU, GPU, RAM all soldered most likely.

Might be good time to look into used Intel Mac Pro once new ones are out.

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

Slots or it's not a Mac Pro. And no. If it does not have slots, I'll keep my 2019 for a while, and likely move off Apple permanently.

BTW, you should add a poll on for this. Would be interesting to see results.

 

[aaronhead14]

Absolutely not. It needs to be fully modular or I'm out.

 

[MisterAndrew]

Nope. I’m not buying a Studio because it’s closed box. I won’t buy a closed box Mac Pro either.

 

[blackquartz]

I don't think so. I passed on 2013 when they released the mighty trash can as well. Really glad that I did.

 

[joelypolly]

I don't need as many PCIe slots as the current Mac Pro but having 4 double wide slots would make me happy.

 

[mattspace]

I will never again buy a Mac whose graphics, and ability to drive external displays, cannot be upgraded post-purchase.

 

[prefuse07]

@Lyndon92 add a poll to this, very curious to see the responses.

I'm also in the camp that if it's really just going to be another Mac Studio, then time to go back to Linux.

Really wish Jobs didn't die when he did, maybe then we wouldn't be stuck in this stupid scenario where Apple is basically just going to make desktop-cellphones.... ugh

 

[Boil]

I, for one, welcome our new Non-Modular ASi Mac Pro Overlords...!

 

[Mactrunk]

I'm wondering about the clamped closed Studio... How do we get rid of the accumulated dust?
I would much prefer a Mac Pro that I could open and at least have a few things that I could upgrade.
I'm way overdue, but will wait to see what happens.

 

[Lyndon92]

I added a poll.

 

[AlphaCentauri]

I added a poll.

There should be an option “I’ll buy Mac Studio” if Mac Pro is not modular, IMHO.

 

[Lihp8270]

You buy a new mac.

I'm wondering about the clamped closed Studio... How do we get rid of the accumulated dust?

 

[mattspace]

Z6.

Remember when HP used the trashcan as a major marketing point for the Z series, by just stating the product details of the 2013 Mac Pro.

 

[theluggage]

I'm wondering about the clamped closed Studio... How do we get rid of the accumulated dust?

Looking at the teardown videos, stripping down and re-assembling the Studio is fairly straightforward (just treat the power supply board with respect) - it's just that there's nothing you can really change CPU/GPU/RAM/SSD-wise while you're in there. SSD upgrades/replacements with genuine Apple parts would be physically possible if Apple changed their policy.

 

[Pilot Jones]

Yeah for a truly "Pro" machine, it is absolutely and unequivocally unacceptable for it to be non-modular.

You can still have most core components soldered on, but all the elements that provide real horsepower to such a machine should be additionally upgradable...and not just at the point of sale but at any point later during its ownership.

 

[Diablo360]

+1 on going with the Mac Studio if the Max Pro isn’t expandable

 

[MoonCakeTropics]

I was not sure how to answer. For a while I will continue to use my Mac Pro because it is still a great machine. But if they do not make a Mac Pro with slots, I will start looking at my options to leave Apple.

 

[Grumply]

I think we perhaps need to clarify what people mean by "modular"?

Are we talking upgradable CPU/GPU/RAM? Or just having PCIe slots to add additional I/O or compute cards?

I suspect the former ain't going to happen, but the latter is a certainty.

 

[fde101]

All they need to do is put the SoC on a card that can be swapped out to replace it and thus perform processor upgrades. If the SoC allows it, they could have more than one slot for such cards, just like many systems now have multiple CPU sockets.

There is practically no chance they could offer external memory separately from the processor and have it perform at anywhere near the speeds that the memory can reach while inside the chip - plus the type of memory that would allow for use by both the CPU and GPU with the level of efficiency that they are reaching would be quite expensive as an external card to begin with - so if they do offer the option to add memory outside the chips, I would expect it to be additional to memory on the chips themselves and to be used either NUMA style or (perhaps even more likely) as an earlier stage of swap space before going out to the even slower disks.

I see no issue with storage being made modular while still using the SoC, nor with including a few PCIe slots in such a design.

While the CPU, GPU and memory (at least the "fast" memory) will almost certainly be tied together, they could be "upgraded" together as a unit by making the SoC swappable, and everything else could still be "modular".

My guess for the new Mac Pro would probably be something along those lines.

 

[Mactrunk]

Sorry to reiterate.. I blow the dust out of my old MacPro every six months or so. A lot of dust... maybe it's just me.

The Mac Studio doesn't offer user access for that purpose.
Yes I can tear it down and break the warrantee, but I'm not inclined to do that.

New MacPro should have easy access to the innards.
I want to open it and at least be able to access some upgradable components.
Pci slots... SSD slots...
SOC swappable...

Probably not, but at least let me open the darn thing.