Apple Mac Pro gets even more powerful with M2 Ultra
At WWDC 2023, Apple announced the new Mac Pro with M2 Ultra—the latest high-end chipset from the company. The new Mac Pro begins at $6,999 (Rs. 7,29,900) and is currently up for pre-order, with worldwide availability starting June 13. With the powerful chip and a serious selection of latest-generation ports on board, the Mac Pro offers performance at its peak. Here are more details.
Why does this story matter?
With the latest Mac Pro, Apple has successfully completed the transition of the Mac lineup from Intel chipsets to Apple Silicon. The process began when Apple first unveiled the M1 chip at 2020's keynote event. The new Mac Pro with M2 Ultra has a mind-blowing combination of performance and PCIe expansion for load-intensive workflows. Also, each of its configuration comes with the same chipset.
New Mac Pro has seven PCIe slots for I/O expansion
The new Mac Pro retains the looks of its old Intel-based sibling, sporting a cheese grater metal front and quiet thermal system. However, there are serious changes on the inside. It gets seven PCIe slots, making it the first Apple Silicon Mac with expandability and upgradability after purchase. The device is configurable in tower or rack-mounted designs, akin to the previous model.
It is backed by an M2 Ultra chipset
As stated previously, the new Mac Pro settles for Apple's M2 Ultra system-on-a-chip. It has eight Thunderbolt 4 ports that connect up to six Pro Displays XDR simultaneously. The device equips two USB-A ports, two high-bandwidth HDMI ports (supporting up to 8K resolution and 240Hz frame rates), two 10GB ethernet ports, and a headphone jack. It also supports WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
Let's have a brief look at the M2 Ultra chip
The M2 Ultra is a second-generation 5nm-based chip, framed by fusing two M2 Max chipsets using Apple's UltraFusion technology. It features a 24-core CPU—1.8x faster than 28‑core Intel-based Mac Pro. Additionally, there's up to 76-core GPU, a 32-core Neural Engine, and 800GB/s memory bandwidth. The chip supports a whopping 192GB of memory. Its Media Engine whips through around 22 streams of 8K ProRes videos.
The new Mac Pro will be available starting June 13
The new Mac Pro can effortlessly tackle even the most challenging workflows including music production, video transcoding, 3D rendering, animation, and more. The machine is currently available for pre-orders starting at Rs. 7,29,900. Its shipments will begin from June 13 onward.
