Apple's Newest Mac Pro Turns Four Years Old Today

2013 mac proToday marks the fourth anniversary of Apple last updating the Mac Pro.

The second-generation Mac Pro was released on December 19, 2013 for $2,999 and up, and it remains the current model despite having at least four year old hardware.

That hardware includes up to a 12-core Intel Xeon E5 processor, 64GB of ECC RAM, 1TB of SSD storage, and dual AMD FirePro D700 GPUs, with prices topping out at $6,999.

The lack of a Mac Pro refresh in several years generated concerns that Apple was less focused on professional users, eventually prompting the company to respond.

Specifically, in April, Apple took the rare step of revealing it is working on an all-new Mac Pro with a modular design, while a high-end iMac Pro was released earlier this month.

Apple briefly reiterated that promise at the bottom of its press release about iMac Pro availability last week, noting that the new Mac Pro will be not only upgradeable, but also a high-performance, high-throughput system.

In addition to the new iMac Pro, Apple is working on a completely redesigned, next-generation Mac Pro architected for pro customers who need the highest performance, high-throughput system in a modular, upgradeable design, as well as a new high-end pro display.

Apple hasn't provided any additional details, including tech specs or a release date, but fingers are crossed for a 2018 launch. As we discussed in our story last week, Apple could return to a similar design as the 2006 to 2012 tower Mac Pro, but its exact definition of modular remains to be seen.

Apple still hasn't provided any word about when if ever we can expect a new Mac mini, which hasn't been updated in over 1,150 days, according to the MacRumors Buyer's Guide. The current Mac mini launched in October 2014.

Related Roundup: Mac Pro
Buyer's Guide: Mac Pro (Don't Buy)
Related Forum: Mac Pro

Top Rated Comments

Bryan Bowler Avatar
69 months ago
Less emojis, more Macs please.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Naaaaak Avatar
69 months ago
Apple should spin off the Mac division into its own subsidiary with employees who actually care to make and update them regularly. Apple Inc only cares about phones, Beats, thin, their campus, Tim Cook's politics, lame self-produced content, and emojis.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RedKite Avatar
69 months ago
I still adore that design. I don’t think it’s proper to do so, but here I am.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrGimper Avatar
69 months ago
Possibly one of Apple's biggest mistakes?
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ReneR Avatar
69 months ago
Apple became a disgrace to the professional / creator community. Not only #peakbugs, but the glossy mirror displays of MacBooks and iMacs are a pain to work with, too. So many people leaving for Windows, and Linux. Creators to the first, web developers for the later, ...
[doublepost=1513683125][/doublepost]
"Only a few"? A few hundred? A few thousand? A few million? C'mon...just because a Mac Pro would never sell the same quantity as a Macbook or iMac, it's unfair to say that a properly designed (and one that didn't have the trash can moniker from day one) wouldn't have sold much more than the one they released, let alone say they'd sell "just a few". Those with aging aluminum mac pros and mac minis and even iMac owners that wanted to be able to upgrade something, ANYTHING, would have been attracted to it.

We will never know, of course, or maybe we will if they ever come out with a redesigned, modular Mac Pro.
Yeah, also the professionals are the influencers who convinced the Joe users to go for a Mac a decade ago, and are not happy today anymore, ... So each Pro customer left, are many more users to follow later, ...
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Marx55 Avatar
69 months ago
Apple should release more headless Macs, including low, middle and high products, from Mac mini to Mac Pro, and also a new mini tower. CPU may last seven years (then you cannot install new macOS releases but displays last more than 20 years. Fight programmed obsolescence, protect the environment and fight climate change and global warming.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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