While Apple is working on the next-gen Mac Pro, coming in 2018 at the earliest according to Apple SVP Phil Schiller (“that’ll take longer than this year to do” – so they’re obviously not that far along in the process where changes/additions/subtractions can’t be made), we thought this would be a great time for Mac-using professionals weigh in.
All we know from Apple, so far, about the next-gen Mac Pro (and pro displays) is that neither will ship this year. Apple is “completely rethinking” the Mac Pro and the company wants “to architect it so that [they] can keep it fresh with regular improvements, and [they’re] committed to making it [their] highest-end, high-throughput desktop system, designed for [Apple’s] demanding pro customers.”
Last week, Schiller also stated, “We think it’s really important to create something great for our pro customers who want a Mac Pro modular system…”
So, pros, what’s on your Mac Pro wishlist?
Upgradable
CPU
GPU
RAM
Drives
Network Card
…
The usual things any Hackintosh maker demands.
Modular design . Like rectangular / stackable
– Dual CPU , option for i7 or Xeon
– up to 128 GB of Ram (user upgradable)
– 2 X ultra Fast flash storage ( 2TB ) per module
– All usb-C / Thunderbolt 3
– option to plug many ” head module ” in parallel using usb-c and put them in slave mode to use all the components in it as a super computer.
– Built in apple graphic module ( help reduce the base price )
– professional graphic cards module ( PCI-express) it connect with USB-c . Please let nvidia and AMD Write and optimise their drivers in macOS . We want to beat windows once for all .
-Very silent fans ( just like the trash can 2013 )
– dual Ethernet 10g
– dual power supply , for server purpose.
– very sexy design. Just like the trashcan
CPU, GPU, RAM and SSD/HDD easily upgradable by customers.
Solid State Hybrid HD
How about some sort of replaceable “core” motherboard that could be swapped out each 1-2 years for new technology from Apple? Just like the iPhone concept. And I could swap my own accessories like HD, ram, video card, etc into each new “core” Apple released
A Mini Cheese grater without the optical /cd drives up-to date hardware water-cooled for silent running with optional micro cheese grater for those who want to add full size video cards.
With the water cooling people would want to open it up to see an amazing compact work of art like a modded car !
that would be so desirable.
Please don’t change the processors to some ‘home grown’ chipset, so that we loose the compatibility of running windows; either through boot camp or parallels. To do this will push my office away from Apple hardware. As much as we love the apple OS, if we cannot run our finite element analysis software, then goodbye.
I’d also like it to fit passably onto shelves in my industry standard rack. Cheese graters were too big (I had to stand them vertically), and trashcans were too weirdly shaped to fit without bizarre rectangular shells. Make something which can lie horizontally less than 19 inches wide.
Envision this…
iMac for me is the perfect product for anywhere in the house – a while back talks about Apple producing a Television – when you look at it… iMac at 27″ is still a fairly big screen. And at 5K resolution it also is super clean and crisp video. Long ago I actually dumped my TV and used my iMac for all entertainment. With the integration of Siri and iMessage combined with FaceTime – the iMac really is a sweet machine.
Up next is a proposed iMac Pro. Hot Damn. Finally. Well lets pray it comes sooner then expected. Not sure why Apple wants to openly talk about these things. Perhaps they want it right the first time. Perhaps they pissed off too many of us Pro Users – getting it wrong again would be epic.
I love the form and function of iMac. Yet, one could say, with all the new 4K TVs and the size that perhaps the idea of a so called separate monitor is on the come back.
I then thought about the MacMini – its an important product. The MacMini could be beefed up to a Pro level machine also – which then would push out the Black Jet Pro Cans – which still are a fabulous engineering feat from Apple – a small foot print with enormous computational power.
Okay enough of my rabbling. Here is what I would love to see. 1) two new larger size monitor sizes in the iMac Pro line-up. I don’t know… a 40″ and a 55″ and the 27″ becomes the entry level. 2) I would also love to see this… a powerful Mac mini Pro that kills the current Pro Can and here is the special feature. The BOX… the MacMini Box slides up into the back of the iMac. Hence iMac is a Monitor now and Mac mini Pro is the CPU housing. 3) love this to get down to the size of Apple TV current model. Such that, this NEW PRO box has four ThunderBolt 3 ports and a power supply connection. And the beauty here is THIS new BOX can connect to any iPAD, iPHONE, TV as base displays – yet to a Apple iMac (now monitor) further expansion particularly graphic cards are empowered by choosing the iMac as the main accompanying device. What this does is offer flexibility and portability for all PRO users – specifically when doing work. Out on the road, no need for a laptop, carry the BOX plug it into a iPad and you have all your tools and power you need.
Specs and speed – Apple needs to stay on the cutting edge, not lag with yester-year chips and fall behind on things like PCIe advancements. I will not go into that. Yet, imagining a device that offers superior flexibility and usability for creating and doing work in situations other than an office is very important and would be very empowering. Laptops do this and are extremely powerful YET they are not expandable.
Please think of how flexible RED CAMERAs are and how modular every additional component and accessory is to the base device. Apple could model a Pro Level Computer, as a BASE POWERHOUSE CPU — the BOX and whatever else is needed – the modularity and connectivity of the box helps expand your own needs.
That is what I hope Apple does.
The only failing of the cheese grater was it sucked in a lot of dirt. I would ask that Apple build a square (you know what I mean) but completely removable case. Design the new mac pro to be accessible to nearly all components (yes a removable power supply). Having a great access to the inside to clean and having significant cost saving being able to replace components DIY would be two steps in the right direction.
Make it fit in a 19″ rack without it becoming a Rube Goldberg project.
GPU that does the fastest rendering of animation on the planet. I want that also on the laptop as well. In fact, all basic model computers, without added options, should have that. Plus, upgradeable parts.