Can Apple make its best Mac matter again?

The Mac Pro has been left for dead, but it's come back from this position before.

- BY ROMAN LOYOLA

With the release of the Mac Studio (fave.co/3QXIgWx) in March, Apple also released its fastest processor ever.

However, that chip, the M3 Ultra (fave.co/3ZGew4D), is only available in the Mac Studio—it’s not available in the higher-end Mac Pro. Apple’s flagship Mac, once dubbed (fave.co/43FS6BS) “the world’s fastest personal computer,” still runs the M2 Ultra chip that was released in 2022.

That leaves the Mac Pro as a glaring oddball in its Mac lineup. It’s an expensive tower computer starting at $6,999 with an out-of-date chip. Does this mean the tower Mac has come to an end? Perhaps, but there is a glimmer of hope, if you want to believe.

MAC PRO'S HISTORY IN LIMBO

Apple has a history of leaving the Mac Pro in limbo. When the Mac Studio was first released in 2022 (fave.co/35DIUVL), the Mac Pro didn't get an update and eventually became the last Mac with Intel CPUs. At that time, it was still possible to get an Intel Mac Pro that was technically faster than the M1 Ultra Mac Studio, but you had to pay a premium for Xeon CPUs and graphics card upgrades that were clearly on the way out.

The Mac Pro's Apple silicon update finally came in 2023 (fave.co/3PsFA2Z) when it got an M2 Ultra chip alongside the Mac Studio. Apple didn't change much about the Mac Pro other than its chip, though it took away the ability to add aftermarket RAM and graphics. The 2023 Mac Pro is essentially a machine for users who need PCle expansion cards—a specialized market, but one that positions the Mac as a top-tier creative workstation.