Apple Reportedly Puts Mac Pro on the Back Burner Again
▼ Summary
– Apple’s Mac Pro has received infrequent updates, with only four hardware revisions in the last 15 years.
– The Mac Pro was updated with an M2 Ultra processor in mid-2023, making it one of the last Macs to transition to Apple Silicon.
– According to Mark Gurman, Apple is prioritizing a new Mac Studio for the upcoming M5 Ultra chip over a Mac Pro update in 2026.
– Internal sources indicate Apple has largely deprioritized the Mac Pro, suggesting no significant update is planned for 2026.
– Apple’s current Mac Pro still uses the M2 Ultra instead of the newer M3 Ultra, reflecting its irregular update cycle compared to other desktops.
For those invested in the high-performance computing ecosystem, the Apple Mac Pro has long represented the pinnacle of desktop power. However, recent reports indicate this flagship workstation is once again receiving diminished attention from its maker, leaving professional users to question its long-term future within Apple’s product lineup.
Historically, the Power Mac and Mac Pro towers served as Apple’s primary professional workstations. Their update schedule, however, has never matched the predictable cadence of the MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. Over the past fifteen years, the Mac Pro has received a mere four hardware refreshes, a count that includes a 2012 model largely indistinguishable from its 2010 predecessor.
Many loyal customers felt a surge of optimism when Apple finally integrated the M2 Ultra processor into the tower in mid-2023. This transition marked the Mac Pro as one of the final machines to move from Intel to Apple’s own silicon architecture. This led to hopes that the computer would finally enjoy regular, perhaps annual or biennial, updates similar to the treatment given to the Mac Studio. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, those hopes are likely to be dashed for the foreseeable future.
Gurman’s sources indicate the tower is currently “on the back burner” at Apple, with the company’s engineering resources concentrated on developing a new Mac Studio designed for the next-generation M5 Ultra chip. This aligns with earlier reporting confirming Apple has no plans to design or release an M4 Ultra chip. The most recent Mac Studio refresh this spring featured an M3 Ultra alongside the M4 Max, further signaling the company’s strategic priorities.
It is worth noting that Gurman’s reporting stops short of declaring a Mac Pro update in 2025 impossible. His emphasis on the Mac Studio’s development merely “suggests the Mac Pro won’t be updated in 2026 in a significant way.” Internal sources have informed him that “Apple has largely written off the Mac Pro” as a product line. The continued use of the M2 Ultra in the current Mac Pro, rather than the newer M3 Ultra, strongly indicates Apple does not feel compelled to refresh its most expensive desktop every time a suitable new chip becomes available. This pattern is not entirely unique; Apple’s other desktops, including the iMac, Mac mini, and Mac Studio, have all skipped a silicon generation at least once since the M1’s debut in late 2020.
(Source: Ars Technica)
