Apple Inc. started selling its new Mac Pro desktop computer on Tuesday, complete with eye-watering pricing options that can push the cost north of $50,000.
The new machine, built in Austin, Texas after Apple got tariff relief from the Trump administration, starts at $5,999 for specifications that some programmers, video editors, and photographers might consider measly. Fully loaded, the computer costs more than $52,000, and that’s excluding the optional $400 wheels for easily moving the machine around an office.
The base product includes 256 gigabytes of storage, low for professional computers in the same price range. A 4 terabyte option is an extra $1,400. An 8 terabyte upgrade is coming later, according to Apple’s website, but pricing hasn’t been announced.
To increase the computer’s RAM memory from 32 gigabytes to 1.5 terabytes is $25,000 extra, the main reason the price can exceed $52,000. Apple said a version of the Mac Pro designed to be racked in data centers costs an extra $500 and will launch later. The Mac Pro does not include a display. Apple put a new Pro Display XDR on sale Tuesday for $4,999.
The Mac Pro’s pricing first came into focus in June when the company announced the product and said that a stand to hold the new monitor would cost an extra $999.
The company also said on Tuesday that it is doubling the cash-back offer for the Apple Card on Apple hardware purchases to 6% until the end of the year.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s a professional Mac, not a toy for Joe and Jane Sixpack. These machines are for pros who spend far, far in excess the cost of a new Mac Pro with multiple Pro Display XDRs on cameras, tripods, lighting, sound equipment, staff, etc. Way back when, we used to buy Avid Media Composer and Symphony systems that easily cost more than the cost of two, three, or even four fully-loaded Mac Pros, each with dual Pro Display XDRs and, yes, all with Apple Pro Stands. If you have to ask how much it costs, the Mac Pro is not for you – you’re supposed to be shopping for an iMac, Mac mini, or a MacBook Air.
We explained in June why the Mac Pro has to exist (and should’ve existed long before today):
Of the new Mac Pro, every Mac user should be proud.
The Mac Pro is sort of like why you fund a space program, if you’re smart. Yes, there are pressing needs elsewhere (and, btw, there always will be; it’s a bad excuse for not investing in exploration), but if you’re not pushing, you’re stagnating. Nothing unexpected can be discovered, no new solutions uncovered when no new challenges are ventured. It’s why smart car companies make esoteric supercars of which only a few will ever be sold and on which the investment will never be recouped. As with supercars, lessons learned from the Mac Pro, the Mac flagship, will percolate throughout and improve all of Apple’s product lines. Yes, Apple worst-selling Mac is their most important.
May the Mac Pro never be dead-ended, abandoned, and ignored again!
Think about what you thought of Apple’s Mac lineup when it had a half-decade-old, neglected, dead-end design as its flagship. The entire Mac lineup was diminished. Apple’s management who allowed this to happen were diminished, too. People could only see the flaws – in the machines and the people. Now, with the new Mac Pro proudly raising the flag high atop the mountain, all Macs, and everyone responsible for making Macs, are lifted up along with it. — MacDailyNews, June 6, 2019
they will sell dozens of them to rich home photogs..
I would still like to hear some justification for the thousand dollar bent piece of metal.
It’s not just a “bent piece of metal.” There’s your justification.
See Pro Stand from 4:12:
Yeah, sorry – it’s worth maybe $250 tops.
The smooth counterweighting is nice, but hardly worth the price being charged. And as for someone just buying a VESA mount – $200 just for the VESA adapter?
Listen, I’ve been a Mac guy since 1989. I’ve paid the extra cash many times in the past when the hardware deserved it. The monitor is a true breakthrough. The stand is a ripoff.
Didn’t you see recently an artist sold a banana attached to a wall with tape for $120,000? C’mon, there are plenty of things that are costly that can’t be justified. The stand is more than just a bent piece of aluminum but I agree with you and I figure it should cost at least half of what Apple is charging. However, I think that monitor is worth every penny. For those who don’t think the stand is worth the cost, they will simply go with a VESA mount and a commercial adjustable stand.
YouTuber iJustine bought two XDR monitors with two of those stands, so not everyone is that upset with the price. I’m just saying. Although Apple does make a few pricing mistakes, I’m guessing they think it will sell. If it doesn’t sell that well, they’ll likely reduce the price. I’m willing to bet there will be a few companies making knock-offs of the Mac Pro if it does become a high-selling product.
AliExpress (the Chinese Amazon) will likely offer a fake stand, wheels, and monitor soon.
And provide equal function and thus higher value.
LOL
iJustine did not buy the system you see in her video. Those are loaner equipment for review. She and two other popular youtubers only have them for about two weeks and they have
to send them back.
Can someone loan me north of $52k please?
I might get the (“current” until recently) cylinder model used/refurb, from the pros upgrading to the new Mac Pro. It may be the 2013 design, but it’s still WAY above my conceivable needs for at least 5 years. And I think it looks elegant. I don’t need expansion cards. Thunderbolt 2 fits my current needs better too. I’d get the 6-core model with middle graphics choice, it price gets to ~$1500.
To be a fly on the wall the day they decided to almost literally give us the cheese grater we’ve been asking for : )
Damn, I just bought an iPhone last night on Apple Card for a measly 3% cash back…
I have no problem with the $52k top end price tag. What gets me is the $6k “entry” config. There’s a gap in Apple’s desktop line between the mini and this beast. I’d love to see the bottom end version of the Pro come with an i7 or i9 and a quality video controller.
The Apple argument will be that huge gap between the mini and the MP is that it is filled with the iMac Pro…because it starts at ‘only’ $4K /S
At least the mini is expected to have a pile of ungainly/ugly storage drives for those use cases that used to be elegantly integrated internally with the old Cheese Grater … the problem with the iMac Pro is that its largest internal capacity is only 4TB (the regular iMac is even worse: 2TB), and any Time Machine backups are going to have to be externals anyway, which utterly defeats the “pay more for it” AIO form factor.
And sure, one can argue “Cloud!”, but the network becomes the bottleneck. For example, at a reasonably respectable ISP market bandwidth of 150Mbps (symmetrical), each 4TB worth data recovery requires ~3 days running full bore.
The iMac Pro doesn’t fill the gap. Its a non-starter at $5k for your average developer. It looks to me like another ill-conceived marriage of the consumer and pro lines…the same misguided mindset that brought us the 15″ touchbar MacPro. It doesn’t little-to-nothing to fill the professional void in the product line. This new Mac Pro could very easily have bridged that gap with broader build-to-order options.
The stand is a rip off! $400 wheels??????????????????????????????????????
Are they alloy?
EhhhhhhhIdunno, new Mac Pro or an AMG Benz. Pro/Benz 🤷🏻♂️ Pro/Benz – man where should a guy spend his AAPL dividends 😉
Good for Apple. Not on the radar, like SGI, Sun, etc. Very vertical needs.
How about making a version that’s cheaper for everyone else? Seems like you’ll sell more computer that way. Don’t ya think?
You mean a MacPro with iMac specs? Possibly. I think people would love an iMac that looks like a MacPro sitting on the desk.
But the people spending $52K + on a MacPro wouldn’t !! 🙂
a mac pro with an i7, a lower graphics card. You can make up a hackintosh for $1500 with an i7 and a decent vid card. Apple can easily source the parts at cost for less than $1500 and sell it for $3k. You’d sell more desktops to people who want it and not the stupid imac/mini that overheats. a 50% profit while also taking possible pc sales too. Will they? no.They can reach more creators with a lower class machine. I’m disappointed in Apple with this decision.
I will get a base config. to use with PS and iMovie.
“ If you have to ask how much it costs, the Mac Pro is not for you – you’re supposed to be shopping for an iMac, Mac mini, or a MacBook Air”
Screw you MDN and your sleezy take. I bet you idiots forgot when baseline model Mac Pros used to cost $2000-$3000 instead of the now ridiculous $5000-$6000 entry fee. Apple now alienates a whole market of Mac users that absolutely DO NOT want an all-in-one iMac. These users, like myself, want some easy upgradability for RAM, storage and wouldn’t mind a slot or two for replacing the graphics card some years later if need be. But certainly the cost of the base model Mac Pro is forcing users like myself away from Apple’s expensive offerings. Even the iMac Pro is ridiculously overpriced compared to the base model Mac Pro. Perhaps someday Apple will convert its iMac Pro into a Mac Pro mini. Until then I will be holding onto my trusty decade-old Mac Pro tower that was purchased new for a modest price, has been upgraded over time with reasonably priced standard components, but looking elsewhere other than Apple for “prosumer“ hardware needs.
Ok, who are we kidding, that crap is high. This will sell a lot of threadripper based machines. Not to mention the epic epyc multiprocessor machines. Hell, at the opening bell, I’m buying AMD. AMD is a strong buy.
Even multimillion dollar studios want more for their money. You should be able to create a hell of a render farm with amd and 256 gigs of ram.
pro prices for pro people that earn pro money. What‘s the matter?
I think the base model will be more than good enough for this mostly Affinity Photo/GIMP//Photoshop and iMovie user.
if you are defending this price, you’ve never built your own computer, and have no idea how cheap these parts actually are. you’re paying for a shiny logo, and thats literally it.