Apple Envisioned New Mac Pro's 'Cheese Grater' Design Years Ago

Tuesday June 4, 2019 9:56 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

Following the reveal of its much-anticipated Mac Pro redesign at WWDC 2019 on Monday, a handful of reporters met with Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller and other executives to learn a bit more about the powerhouse machine.

Apple's all-new Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR via The Verge
Ina Fried of Axios has provided a few key takeaways from the conversation:

Apple's vision for the new ‌Mac Pro‌'s design changed some and it took somewhat longer than it was anticipating.
The circular cutouts on the front and back of the new ‌Mac Pro‌ are made by machining out spheres from the solid aluminum chassis. This particular aspect of the design was floating around in Apple's design labs before the new ‌Mac Pro‌ was even on its roadmap.
For those who missed the news, Apple is planning a rack-mounted version of the ‌Mac Pro‌ with a different chassis appropriate for a data center. Apple says this version will be available in the fall.
The new Pro Display XDR was "front and center" to Apple and is designed to rival so-called reference monitors that can cost over $10,000.

Other tidbits may surface from other reporters who attended this press briefing, in which case we'll update this post.

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Top Rated Comments

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MacFather

27 weeks ago

This design is over 15 years old and still looks better...

Rating: 164 Votes

Saipher

27 weeks ago

I think it’s a beautiful machine.

Rating: 53 Votes

iSuitUp

27 weeks ago

Just for reference, this is the sort of monitors the new Apple Pro Display XDR is set to compete with:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1403557-REG/tvlogic_lum_318g_31_1_true_4k_monitor_4096x2160_10.html

They will sell these to entertainment studios mainly and these won't care about having to pay for a stand for $999, they will probably get the VESA adapter or maybe even get custom adapters to fit exactly what they need so the all outrage about the stand price is ridiculous when you put things in context.

It's like Sunday drivers feeking outraged at the price price of Formula 1 tyres as if they could use the Formula 1 to its full potential in the first place.

Rating: 50 Votes

trusso

27 weeks ago

Nope, not with those ports on the front.

Yes, exactly with those ports on the front. :rolleyes:

Rating: 27 Votes

keysofanxiety

27 weeks ago

This design is over 15 years old and still looks better...

How odd! Before you were complaining about form over function. Now they're giving function over form. The new MP has much better cooling than the 2012. Surely that's important for a real Pro ;)

Mac designs developed under clueless Tim Cook's leadership: 2013 Mac Pro, 2015 MacBook, 2016 MacBook Pro. Form over function. Greed, arrogance and fashion.

Just goes to show where your priorities are: rather than actually wanting Apple to release a product you need or are going to buy, you're just going to find something to complain about instead.

Rating: 24 Votes

dominiongamma

27 weeks ago

This design is over 15 years old and still looks better...

Classic design that still hold up pretty well
[doublepost=1559664396][/doublepost]

Let the past die.

This design is so much better then hot mess that was shown yesterday

Rating: 24 Votes

Mike MA

27 weeks ago

This design is over 15 years old and still looks better...

Let the past die.

Rating: 22 Votes

ElectricPotato

27 weeks ago

Part of what confuses people about this new machine is Apple's recent history of diluting the pro label with consumer grade parts used in consumer products (MacBook Pro).

When Apple finally delivered an actual pro machine for pro prices the people waiting for consumer grade parts in an expandable tower style consumer product were disappointed. Maybe, someday, this will happen. At least Apple finally acknowledges a tower or rack machine is necessary for some applications.

Rating: 21 Votes

KazKam

27 weeks ago

I actually like the open chassis, raised legs, and the machined circles/vent... it really does look like a cheese grater tho. :)

Rating: 21 Votes

ksz

27 weeks ago

Looks are subjective and not worth asserting as fact, but I'll chime in with my opinion: the original Mac Pro design to me looks rather bulky and outdated. I still have mine from January 2008 so I'm not a hater. But the new one, on the other hand, with its "network of interconnecting hemispheres" is much more visually interesting and pleasing. Looking forward to seeing one in person.

Rating: 21 Votes

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