A massive customer base will be disappointed that Apple has not planned any Mac release for the remainder of 2022. Fortunately, there may be a silver lining in all of this, especially for the Mac Pro, which was supposed to arrive this year but did not, so it could end up being a far more capable machine than what it was originally intended to be.
Apple Rumored to Be Testing a Mac Pro Configuration With a 24-Core CPU and 76-Core GPU, but That Is Not the Most Top-End Spec
While one reason for this delay could be that TSMC is facing difficulty ramping up 3nm wafer production that will be used for Apple’s upcoming custom silicon lineup, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman believes there is another reason for the Mac Pro not materializing this early.
When the company announced the M1 back in 2020, it mentioned that its Apple Silicon transition would be completed in two years. This transition would replace all Mac models featuring Intel processors, but as it so happens, the company continues to sell a Mac Pro with an Intel Xeon chip. There is a reason for that, which is highlighted below:
“But I think we have a pretty clear reason why, and it’s not a bad thing: The machine will be superior to what Apple originally intended to offer.
As I wrote recently, my belief is that the first non-Intel Mac Pro will have options for 24 and 48 CPU cores and 76 and 152 graphics cores—along with up to 256 gigabytes of memory.
I believe that Apple had originally planned to use a variation of the M1 chip, but at some point made the decision to hold off until versions of the M2 with more CPU and graphics cores are available.”
With the new chip powering the Mac Pro rumored to be called the M2 Extreme, its top-end configuration would be unlike anything we have ever seen in terms of CPU and GPU core count. We previously reported that this SoC would feature up to a 152-core GPU and 48-core CPU, along with the support of up to 256GB of unified RAM. Apple is also said to be testing one configuration of the Mac Pro with a 24-core CPU and 76-core GPU, but obviously, it will be a lot slower but more affordable.
It is possible Apple will announce its Mac Pro in the first half of next year, and we will be excited to provide all the necessary updates over a few months, so stay tuned.
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