Fake or real? Apple Insider has reported about the first “leak” for the modular Mac Pro based on an internal Apple document. The document shows some powerful and exciting specs. Let’s dream.

Real or fake?

Apple is known for its secrecy policy and compartmentalization. However, the Mac Pro is under heavy R&D stages for years. Thus it makes sense that some info will be surfaced. 

Apple Insider has reported about an image posted to Imgur which looks like an internal slide that is photographed from a document, titled as Mac Pro 7.1. According to the slide, the document was modified on 7 November 2018. The slide shows the design of the Mac Pro and includes some interesting specs:

• Intel Xeon W Cascade Lake-X
• Apple T2 security chip
• Apple X2 accelerator
• DDR5 SO-DIMM memory
• 3x double-wide PCIe 4 slots
• Single or dual AMD Firepro-X
• NVIDIA Quadro/ RTX BTO
• 8x Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports
• Thunderbolt 4
• 2x HDMI 2.1 port
• 10 Gb ethernet
• Bluetooth 5.1 wireless

There are two fascinating options in those specs related to professional filmmaking and editing. One is the option for Thunderbolt 4 (yet to be announced) that is supposed to deliver the speed needed for native RAW editing and workflow. The other is the NVIDIA GPU.

NVIDIA GPU in Mac Pro

We wrote a couple of in-depth articles regarding the privilege of PC users to boost their ultra resolution workflow because of the NVIDIA GPUs compatibilities. Furthermore, we have written about the new REDCINE-X PRO that is NVIDIA dedicated, but for Windows only, which allows enhancing 8K native workflow, and the fact that Apple is out of this game because not supporting NVIDIA due to a patent war between those two companies. We called it the Mac Pro Hypothesis, which claims that the new Mac Pro will utilize Radeon VII instead. However, according to this leak, it seems that the new Mac Pro will contain the most recent and powerful NVIDIA GPUs. That is a piece of fantastic news to filmmakers and editors who use ultra resolution native RAW files on their workflow.

According to this leak, it seems that the new Mac Pro will contain the most recent and powerful NVIDIA GPUs. That is a piece of fantastic news to filmmakers and editors who use ultra resolution native RAW files on their workflow.

Design

According to the slide, the “new” Mac Pro design reminds us of the old Power Mac G4 Cube which was a small form factor Macintosh personal computer, sold between 2000 and 2001. Just a reminder that the old Mac G4 Cube was designed by Jonathan Ive, its cube shape is reminiscent of the NeXTcube from NeXT, acquired by Apple in 1996. Take a look at the picture below which describes the 2000 Power Mac G4.

Final thoughts

Modulation is the game, and it seems that the new Mac Pro will play and be designed to meet professional needs. We have to sit and wait until the WWDC (June 3rd) as Apple might reveal this long-awaited computer. Till then, let’s dream.