Launched at WWDC 2013 the cylindrical Mac Pro has not been updated since its launch. However, could new code in El Capitan suggest that we are about to receive a new model in 2015?
As with all Apple rumours there is a certain amount of detective work and assumption but the basis for these rumours is that the current codename for the Mac Pro is AAPLJ90 and according to Pike’s Universum, El Capitan contains a reference to AAPLJ951.
Whilst the site acknowledges that the data is identical to the latest iMac they also found evidence in the XHCI data that suggests that this code is for a brand new Mac. This is supported by the fact that the code shows a machine with 10 USB 3 ports. A present the Mac Pro 4 USB ports and 6 Thunderbolt 2 ports and it would be the only machine that could support this number of USB ports.
It is easy to argue that the Mac Pro needs a refresh. It has been over 2 years since Apple introduced the latest model and almost 2 years since it was able to be leased. It reminds us a little of the iMac range, that until last month this had been largely untouched and was in desperate need of a refresh.
The major Mac blog sites have also recently been talking about a new Mac Pro highlighting that Intel launched the E5 v2 processor last September. Whilst we have had Broadwell and the recent Skylake V3 processors the consensus seems to be that Apple will update the Mac Pro with the E5 v2 processors called Grantley.
Certainly changes that we would like to see in the new Mac Pro would be an increase in the standard RAM and Flash Storage that is provided. Increasingly we are getting requests from customers to provide 128GB of memory for Mac Pros, which is double Apple’s supported maximum of 64GB. Also a common feedback is that the 256GB Flash Storage is just not enough to deal with the large file sizes that a Mac Pro customer deals with on a day to day basis.
New graphics from AMD would also be a given, with the latest Fury platform being the favourite.
We really hope that the Mac Pro gets a refresh in 2015. However, we feel that Pike sums it up best when he states “I’m no Wizard of Oz and I don’t have a Crystal ball, and maybe I am wrong, completely, but don’t forget; only Apple knows if a new Mac Pro is around the corner or not”
