Apple has confirmed that the Mac Pro desktop computer is now discontinued, leaving the compact Mac Studio as its successor. Often considered the most powerful of Apple’s lineup of computers, the Mac Pro was introduced in 2006 and was designed for professionals and content creators. At the time, it was a part of a new generation of Apple products powered by Intel processors and went through many design changes over its two-decade run. Perhaps the most notable visual aesthetic was the “cheese grater” model, which was always a conversation piece for tower-style PC.
In 2019, Apple would do a final refresh featuring a 28-core Xeon-W processor with 8x PCIe slots and AMD graphics before moving to Apple Silicon in 2023 with the Apple M2 Ultra CPU. Now, according to 9to5Mac, the end is here. Meanwhile, it could be a challenge to calculate how many movies the Mac Pro helped contribute to CGI effects, whether it’s a favorite Pixar or Disney film, or special effects in a popular science fiction franchise or television show.
“It’s the end of an era: Apple has confirmed to 9to5Mac that the Mac Pro is being discontinued. It has been removed from Apple’s website as of Thursday afternoon. “
-9to5Mac
Smaller is better . . . maybe
For now, Apple is all in with its Mac Studio that debuted in 2025. The writing was already on the wall with many professionals seeking systems with a smaller footprint while retaining many performance metrics of their gargantuan predecessors. Mini-desktop PCs have been gaining a foothold in office and studio environments for sometime and the Mac Studio with its M3 Ultra 32-core CPU/80-core GPU was designed to be Apple’s new crown jewel for content creation.
While the Mac Studio omits the extra PCIe slots found in the Mac Pro, it does provide 4x Thunderbolt 5 ports, a 10Gb Ethernet port, and 2x USB-A ports giving users a wide range of connectivity options, not too mention a more, choke, affordable starting price of $1,999 for the base model but those wanting the best will have to cough up $5,499 for the top of the line M3 Ultra model. However, it shouldn’t be forgotten that the top-model version of the Mac Pro was going for over $7,999 prior to it being removed from the Apple store yesterday. If those prices are not enough to make one’s wallet clench tight, The Verge reported configurations could reach between $40K-$53K, depending on the model being maxed out, so the Mac Studio has truly managed to reach a more budget-friendly target.