After a flurry of new releases this past month, the one Mac that Apple has continued to neglect is the Mac Pro. The last credible date we received was for early August, though CNet's Brian Tong now acknowledges that the information didn't pan out.
For many, an August release would actually have been the surprise, as Intel has yet to ship Mac Pro-suitable Sandy Bridge processors. There had been some hope that Apple would receive these processors early from Intel, but clearly not quite this early.
Still, Apple's Mac Pro is presently the only Mac without the new Thunderbolt port that Apple and Intel introduced earlier this year. Apple's Mac Pro has had relatively infrequent updates over the past few years with the last update taking place over a year ago.
Apple has certainly placed an emphasis on their notebook line, reflecting the ongoing trends towards mobile computing. Apple's notebook sales have steadily become a larger percentage of their total Mac sales.
Our last check with resellers reported no change in Mac Pro stock availability that might have suggested an imminent update.
As for Intel, the Sandy Bridge-E processor that is expected to be used in the Mac Pro had been rumored to be released even as late as 2012, but the latest leaks have pinpointed a Q4 2011 release. Donanimhaber posts the following release timetable from Intel:
The yellow box denotes the Sandy Bridge-E class of processors that we are waiting for with Xeon versions likely shipping at the same time. According to this slide, the Mac Pro suitable processors will first launch in Q4 2011. Apple's new Mac Pro is likely to follow.
Wednesday November 27, 2024 5:05 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 in early December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as...
Friday November 29, 2024 5:17 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different – already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup.
If you plan to skip...
Wednesday November 27, 2024 12:19 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch for 10 more months, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
An imaginative iPhone 17 Pro concept based on rumors
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models so far:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro ...
Black Friday 2024 is over, but you can still find great deals on numerous Apple devices this weekend. Right now, this includes big savings on AirPods, Apple Watch, MacBook Air, iPad, and more.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Specifically, in...
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we discuss the recently leaked design of the iPhone 17 "Air" and iPhone 17 Pro.
Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos
Earlier this week, a report from The Information's Wayne Ma revealed that the iPhone 17 Air will have a thickness of between 5mm and 6mm, which would make it the thinnest iPhone ever. In comparison, iPhone ...
Thursday November 28, 2024 3:30 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Despite being released over two years ago, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 continue to dominate the wireless earbud market. However, with the AirPods Pro 3 expected to launch sometime in 2025, anyone thinking of buying Apple's premium earbuds may be wondering if the next generation is worth holding out for.
Apart from their audio and noise-canceling performance, which are generally regarded as...
Black Friday is over, but you can still find great savings on streaming memberships this weekend as we head into Cyber Monday. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, and Peacock.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a...
Wednesday November 27, 2024 1:05 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple is expected to kick off 2025 by launching an all-new smart home hub, also referred to as a "command center," as early as March.
The hub is expected to feature around a six-inch display that can be attached to a tabletop base with a speaker, or mounted on a wall. The device is said to run a new "homeOS" operating system with a customizable widget-focused home screen, and it is expected...
I managed to convince my company to buy me an 8-core mac last year. It's been fantastic. I've tried to transfer Pro Tools and After Effects projects from it to my white Macbook and it just freezes up trying to run them.
I hope Apple doesn't abandon their Pro desktops. I'm still pissed about what they did to FCP.
Now I just want an external Thunderbolt expansion chassis for my Air!
Apple makes consumer products now.
Yes. And pro products.
Apple’s “pro demise” has been predicted constantly for as long as I’ve been using Macs. It’s a side effect of making things easy to use I guess: it makes people expect that Apple doesn’t care about the people who like things difficult :p But in fact they do care about pros (like myself) and offer us a quite a lot.
The Mac Pro is overdue for a change—not a removal.
I'm actually a bit surprised at how much people complain about Mac Pros being refreshed infrequently.
The Mac Pro is Apple's machine with the LONGEST useful life of them all! I'm still using my 2006 Mac Pro, and it STILL feels fast even today! Anyone with the 2010 Mac Pro should still be cruising with a blisteringly fast system and not need to upgrade anytime soon.
Meanwhile, my former 2006 Macbook Pro (I sold it) was quite slow and very limited, especially by its maximum RAM capacity.
Mac Pros are investments, meant to be used for several years. Unless you're absurdly rich and must always have the latest gear, this should be common sense.
I'll probably be buying a new Mac Pro at the next refresh (five years into the ownership of my current one). How many other computers can you get five productive years out of before they start feeling slow? I'm a bit annoyed that I'll be forced to move to OS X Lion, but I'm sure they'll get some of its issues resolved by then.
Pros may be a silent minority but it'd be outrageously stupid for Apple to underestimate their actual worth for its ecosystem and marketing.
Pros make software for iOS and OS X. You can make yet another twitter client on your Mac Mini, but it won't do if you're developing a huge 3D action game for future hardware.
Pros push the technology, which can be later adapted for regular users. There wouldn't be iMovie without Final Cut. There wouldn't be so many Final Cut users if the best hardware Apple could offer, was iMac.
In the end of the day pros are extremely influential opinion-makers. Being a satisfied and experienced Mac user and a "geek friend" of my friends, intentionally or not I introduced at the very least five new users to the Mac platform, and helped them learn it and tackle the difficulties. I'm sure this is not an uncommon situation, but you won't find statistics anywhere on how it impacts the sales.
Instead people count the amount of pro users and multiply it by the price of hardware they often use. Think wider!
Dropping XServe had a lot of backlash. Dropping the Mac Pro will be the worst thing to date. If you follow the pattern, then Apple moving to ARM across the entire Mac product line with slower performance and integrated graphics. Then after that the Mac line will be dropped leaving only iPads and mobile phones. What a nightmare!
After a flurry of new releases this past month, the one Mac that Apple has continued to neglect is the Mac Pro. The last credible date we received was for early August, though CNet's Brian Tong now acknowledges that the information didn't pan out.
Our last check with resellers reported no change in Mac Pro stock availability that might have suggested an imminent update. 
