WWDC 2019: Apple Unveils New Mac Pro, an Absolute Beast of a Machine

Apple unveiled it's latest version of the Mac Pro, an absolute monster of a machine designed for high-end performance.

The New Mac Pro Will Steal Your Girl

Apple unveiled the latest edition of its Mac Pro, a gargantuan machine capable of running a 28-core processor, expandable up to 1.5 Terabytes of system memory, and utilizing a 6k display with upward of 22 million pixels per screen.

The new Mac Pro CPU utilizes an Intel Xeon that can feature as many as 28 cores and 64 PCI Express lanes for incredible performance and bandwidth, capable of simulating multiple iOS devices at a time or playing hundreds of virtual instruments at a time. This was demonstrated during the keynote be showing the new Mac Pro running a thousand digital instruments at once in Logic Pro without a hint slowdown--in fact, it was running at about 75% capacity, meaning it had room for even more instruments in its digital orchestra.

The expandable system memory features a six-channel memory architecture with 12 DIMM slots, enough to contain 1.5 terabytes of ECC physical memory.

Eight PCI Express expansion slots allow the system to be configured for any number of workflow needs. This also includes the several graphics cards options, including the Radeon Pro 580X and the Radeon Pro Vega II.

The Mac Pro also features the Apple MPX Module, which includes Thunderbolt integration and up to 56 teraflops of graphics processing performance with up to 128 GB of video memory.

The Afterburner Accelerator card is capable of decoding up to 6.3 billion pixels per second, allowing video editors to skip using proxy format conversions and instead work with the raw video input straight from the camera source, decoding up to 3 streams of 8k ProRes RAW video or 12 streams of ProRes RAW 4k video in real time.

The Pro Display XDR is a 32-inch LCD panel with 6016 x 3384 Retina 6k display, featuring more than 20 million pixels. With 40% more usable screen than a 5k display, p3 wide color gamut and 10-bit color, the Pro Display XDR is capable of displaying over a billion colors.

The Pro Display XDR is able to sustain 1000 nits of full-screen brightness indefinitely, with 1,600 nits of peak brightness, and the thermal lattice on the back of the display acts as a heat sink to keep the LEDs cool. The contrast ratio comes in at 1,00,000:1, producing incredible results over the entire specular range.

“We designed Mac Pro for users who require a modular system with extreme performance, expansion, and configurability. With its powerful Xeon processors, massive memory capacity, groundbreaking GPU architecture, PCIe expansion, Afterburner accelerator card, and jaw-dropping design, the new Mac Pro is a monster that will enable pros to do their life’s best work,” said Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, Phil Schiller.

“Pro Display XDR is the world’s best pro display and the perfect companion to the all-new Mac Pro. With Retina 6K resolution, gorgeous color, extreme brightness and contrast ratio, and highly functional design, Pro Display XDR delivers the most comprehensive set of features ever offered on any display at this price point.”

The Mac Pro will start at $5,999 with the Pro Display XDR starting at $4,999.