Not expecting to see another variant of M4 chip. M5 may have an Ultra chip for the Mac Pro. Might take some time for it to be launched.
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Here's Why Apple is Unlikely to Release an M4 Ultra Chip for Macs
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What is the pro market? I think that’s the question that needs an answer. What is the pro market doing? Is Disney the pro market? Is MKBHD the pro market? Is the guy editing wedding videos the pro market?
I feel like the 2019 Mac Pro catered towards a different “pro market” than previous Mac Pro models. I don’t think the guy editing wedding videos wanted to spend $20k for a Mac. People like Disney and MKBHD could easily buy them maxed out at $60k, but that’s a different pro market.
So what pro market did Apple abandon? I’ve seen people criticize the 2019 Mac Pro as Apple was abandoning them.
The modular Mac Pro’s. People could put in cards for certain needs, swap processors and adjust.
The Mac Pro is dead.
The Pro market changed. I'm the Pro market. I shoot and edit film. And use an M1 Max MBP. It's enough for me, and I shoot 8K. The people who definitely need a Mac Pro are so few these days, I can kinda understand Apple's position on this.
in the end it really doesn't matter. you like it you buy it. you don't, then pass.
Regarding Apple and the UltraFusion connector...
One would think Apple would save a few bucks by NOT including it on every Mn Max, but another take may be that it is hard to manufacture, so Apple includes it on all Mn Max SoCs, and those that had failed UltraFusion connectors were used in the Mn Max MacBook Pro & Mac Studio products...
As for the massive increase in RAM, that can be explained by the chips used going from 24GB to 64GB densities...
My thoughts are that the next high-end desktop chip will be the M5, and it just may be available in the mythical Extreme configuration; what this configuration may consist of is the question...?
Could be two M5 Max SoCs connected by UltraFusion, and then two of those M5 Ultras connected via an underlying interface...
Could be a CPU+ chip UltraFusioned to a GPU+ chip via UltraFusion, and then two of these (Hidra) chips connected by an underlying interface...
Or it could be one or more CPU+ chips connected to one or more GPU+ chips, all connected by an underlying interface; imagine four CPU+ & 12 GPU+ chips, with 2TB RAM & 4TB/s UMA bandwidth...
I vote for the last scenario, all wrapped up in an all-new Mac Pro Cube chassis...! ;^p
One would think Apple would save a few bucks by NOT including it on every Mn Max, but another take may be that it is hard to manufacture, so Apple includes it on all Mn Max SoCs, and those that had failed UltraFusion connectors were used in the Mn Max MacBook Pro & Mac Studio products...
As for the massive increase in RAM, that can be explained by the chips used going from 24GB to 64GB densities...
My thoughts are that the next high-end desktop chip will be the M5, and it just may be available in the mythical Extreme configuration; what this configuration may consist of is the question...?
Could be two M5 Max SoCs connected by UltraFusion, and then two of those M5 Ultras connected via an underlying interface...
Could be a CPU+ chip UltraFusioned to a GPU+ chip via UltraFusion, and then two of these (Hidra) chips connected by an underlying interface...
Or it could be one or more CPU+ chips connected to one or more GPU+ chips, all connected by an underlying interface; imagine four CPU+ & 12 GPU+ chips, with 2TB RAM & 4TB/s UMA bandwidth...
I vote for the last scenario, all wrapped up in an all-new Mac Pro Cube chassis...! ;^p
My brother has a 2014 27" iMac which he has been trying to do exactly this. However it's easier said than done as software support is falling off due to Apple having dropped OS support on his system. He ran into issues running his tax software this year. Due to this he has resigned himself to buying a new Mac.
But which Mac should he buy? He likes the idea of the AIO but the screen size on the current iMac is leaving him underwhelmed. He's also considering a Mini with an external display but this configuration is not ideal for him.
He'd absolutely love to have a 27" M4 / M4 Pro iMac with which to replace his current one. Unfortunately that's not available and I don't understand why as the 27" iMac appears to have been very popular.
My mother has run into this problem with her tax software AND running Parallels for the business tax software. So I used OpenCore to update her 27" iMac to Mac OS Sonoma. Everything is running great now and she's good for at least three more years before we have to update again (either iMac or MacOS).
So the tinkerer and hobbyist market. Yes the Mac Pro for that market is pretty much dead. I’m not sure how big of the percentage that was, but I’m sure it’s not insignificant.
Yeah, that’s 11 years old so one of the older iMacs. I wouldn’t be doing anything financial on a Mac that old. It’s not getting most of any security updates and the hardware doesn’t meet minimum requirements for a lot of software. Please advise him not to use that for anything sensitive.
Why is that configuration not ideal? The base model M4 mini with Apple Studio display would be far more powerful. All he would have to do is upgrade the SSD size to at least double of what he’s using now. You always want at least 50% free space when you’re getting a new computer and maybe more if you think you’ll need it.
He’ll have one extra cable going from the mini to the monitor, but that should be manageable. If he’s really into the clean look, he could move the mini off the desk hiding it somewhere. In that set up he could run a USB hub from the mini that sits on his desk. All he would have then was the monitor and the hub to plug in things. Keyboard and mouse could be wireless.
It’s possible they could come out with a new iMac, but I don’t know. The reality is the iMac is a terrible design in one way. The monitor is going to outlast the built-in computer. That means you have more E waste an Apple is trying to move away from that.
Succinctly said.
While more is always better when it comes to CPU horsepower, Apple silicon has been so solidly good, that most people are well served with M1 class chips.
My 14" M1 Pro laptop is over 3-years old and it never gets in the way of what I want to get done. Sure, newer, faster, more horsepower more RAM would be better, but as a tool I just need to get my work done.
Outside of benchmarks, the leap to Apple silicon from Intel was so good that software needs/demands haven't caught up yet. I think AI will change that and spur sales but that's going to be a while.
The M3 Ultra Studio would be a MASSIVE upgrade (computing-power-wise) over even the highest end iMac 5K.
Yeah I went from a maxed out 2019 iMac 5K to the maxed out M4 Pro Mini and there's a huge difference, especially with Final Cut Pro exports and Handbrake compression which I do a lot of.
I still can't get over how tiny the new Minis are.
Apple is not gonna abandon the Pro market. Not with an entire iPhone release in the pipeline that's specifically improved for video. && Look when the multicam shoot capable iPad Pro came out, nearly a year ago. Also, Apple is going to stop saying "look at what we can do?", now that they are designing their own silicon from the ground up? I don't think so🍸🐈
The real problem is what happens when something even better comes along since they're running out of PRO MAX ULTRA words. Perhaps a return of the EXTREME??????
They should have just named it M4 Ultra regardless and kept the crybabies at MacRumors quiet.
I’ve just left a 2014” 27” iMac running OCLP and the latest OS, and upgraded to an M4 mini. That 27” still worked wonders after 11 years.
More of this nonsense.
Was there whining about "mismatched" iMacs when one could buy them with different internals?
The Mac community, besides being full of the usual toxic-fandom, has some silly notions.
In the PC world, archaic as it can be, no one whines about "mismatched" Lenovos because Lenovo offers PCs with either AMD, Intel, or Qualcomm processors. Even different generations from the same manufacturer.
Apple stayed with the trash can Mac Pro for several years, and while the user could swap out a few things, you weren't going to be able to put the PCI cards in it. The 2019 Mac Pro revisited the backplane idea, which then the M2 Ultra version sort of carried on.
On the swap processors - that's a thing that is outdated. It is carried on today by the "gamers" who are doing what men did 6 decades ago working on automobiles, fine tuning their vehicle with carburetor mods.
So lots of Apple fans complained about the roadmap and delays for intel processors but the roadmap and delays for M series is just as hectic.
There is no regularity to machine and processor updates. Maybe this is intentional to prevent people holding back. But either way I find it funny that many were calling intel on this, when it’s mostly a manufacturing issue
There is no regularity to machine and processor updates. Maybe this is intentional to prevent people holding back. But either way I find it funny that many were calling intel on this, when it’s mostly a manufacturing issue
It’s quite clear they won’t launch an M4 Ultra. They just launched the M3 Ultra alongside M4 Max - launching an M4 Ultra later is just going to upset everyone and M5 is already around the corner and likely ready for prime time end of this year/starting next year.
I think it’s fine as long as the professionals, video editors, LLM/AI people etc, know to buy the ultra instead of the “highest number”.
I think it’s fine as long as the professionals, video editors, LLM/AI people etc, know to buy the ultra instead of the “highest number”.
Yes, it is possible. But with Apple who knows if they will. A 27" M4 / M4 Pro iMac seems like a no brainer but here we are without one (or something similar). It's as if Apple goes out of their way to leave customers stranded.