Apple unveils 2023 Mac Professional

 
Apple has unveiled its 2023 Mac Professional, the primary main replace to its flagship CG workstation in three years.

Powered by Apple’s new M2 Extremely processor, the brand new mannequin would be the first Apple Silicon Mac Professional, that means that Apple’s whole desktop and laptop computer product line now makes use of its personal procesors.

The brand new mannequin was introduced at this week’s WWWDC23 convention alongside the 2023 Mac Studio, which additionally makes use of M2 Extremely and M2 Max processors. Each new fashions are as a consequence of ship subsequent week.

Retains the 2019 ‘cheese grater’ chassis design
Regardless of the launch of the cheaper Mac Studio in 2022, the Mac Professional stays Apple’s flagship desktop workstation for skilled CG work.

The most recent replace retains the ‘cheese grater’ design to which Apple returned in 2019 in a revamp meant to handle consumer criticism of the dearth of upgradability of its 2013 ‘trash can‘ design.

Restricted selection of processor, however nonetheless eight PCIe enlargement slots and extra Thunderbolt ports
Whereas the 2019 model supplied a selection of Intel CPUs and AMD GPUs, the brand new Apple Silicon mannequin has just one: Apple’s new M2 Extremely processor.

It options 24 CPU cores and both 60 or 76 GPU cores, and helps as much as 192GB of unified reminiscence, shared between CPU and GPU, with a bandwidth of 800GB/s.

Inside storage is restricted to a single SSD, albeit with as much as 8TB capability.

The eight PCIe slots launched within the 2019 design have been retained, however up to date from Gen 3 to Gen 4, and at the moment are meant for “audio and video IO, networking and storage”.

There was no point out in Apple’s launch presentation of using PCIe slots for GPUs – a key characteristic of the 2019 design – so presumably, you’re restricted to the GPU cores within the M2 Extremely.

The performance of the 2019 design’s Afterburner card – a $2,000 add-on for accelerating video playback – has additionally been taken over by the M2 Extremely’s inner media engine.

Connectivity has been expanded from 4 Thunderbolt 3 to eight Thunderbolt 4 ports, with the brand new Mac Professional supporting as much as eight 4K shows or three 8K shows working at 60Hz.

(1) Evaluating Mac Execs with 60-GPU-core M2 Extremely and 8-core Xeon CPU/Radeon Professional W5550X GPU
(2) Evaluating Mac Execs with 76-GPU-core M2 Extremely and 28-core Xeon CPU/Radeon Professional W6900X GPU

 
How a lot quicker is the Apple Silicon Mac Professional than the previous Intel Mac Professional?
Though the studios namechecked in Apple’s launch presentation had been audio or video put up amenities, the agency’s benchmark scores for the brand new Mac Professional cowl a wider vary of use circumstances.

The product web site options efficiency comparisons for CG purposes starting from Photoshop to visible results and animation staples like Maya and Houdini.

Above, you’ll be able to see how the figures stack up each for entry-level methods with the bottom configuration in Apple’s on-line retailer, and upgraded, high-end methods.

The bottom methods examined had a 60-GPU-core M2 Extremely, 64GB of RAM and 1TB SSD; and a 3.5GHz 8-core Intel Xeon W-based CPU, AMD Radeon Professional W5500X GPU, 32GB of RAM and 512GB SSD.

The high-end methods had a 76-GPU-core M2 Extremely, 192GB of RAM and 8TB SSD; and a 2.5GHz 28-core Intel Xeon W-based CPU, Radeon Professional W6900X GPU, 384GB RAM, 4TB SSD and Afterburner card.

Rising native Apple Silicon help amongst CG purposes
The vary of CG purposes with native Apple Silicon help has additionally expanded signficantly over the previous 12 months, and now contains Maya, Houdini and ZBrush, plus Arnold and Unreal Engine.

You will discover our listing of CG apps which have introduced native Apple Silicon help right here.

Nonetheless a hefty price ticket, significantly for rackmount methods
As long-term Apple watchers could have suspected, the 2023 Mac Professional doesn’t come low cost: even the bottom configuration will set you again $6,999.

Nevertheless, the {hardware} upgrades obtainable within the on-line retailer – which may take the 2019 mannequin to over $50,000 – now cap out at below $12,500 for a tower system.

You continue to pay extra for a rackmount system – costs begin $500 greater than for an equivalently-specced tower – and the optionally available wheels for the tower chassis nonetheless value an eye catching $400.

Value and availability
The brand new Apple Silicon Mac Execs can be found for pre-order, and start delivery from 13 June 2023.

Pricing for a Mac Professional tower outfitted with a 24-CPU-core, 60-GPU-core M2 Extremely processor, 64GB of unified reminiscence and a 1TB SSD begins at $6,999.

Pricing for a Mac Professional rack unit outfitted with a 24-CPU-core, 60-GPU-core M2 Extremely processor, 64GB of unified reminiscence and a 1TB SSD begins at $7,499.

Discover full specs for the brand new Mac Professional workstation on Apple’s web site

Tags: After Results, Afterburner, AMD, animation, Apple, Apple Silicon, audio modifying, benchmark outcomes, benchmark scores, cheese grater, colour grading, connectivity, cooling, CPU, expansibility, Last Lower Professional, GPU, Houdini, Intel, M2 Extremely, Mac Professional, Mac Professional 2019, Mac Professional 2023, Maya, reminiscence, Octane X, OctaneRender, PCIe, PCIe 4.0, Photoshop, post-production, worth, processor, rackmount system, RAM, launch date, Sapphire, simulation, specs, SSD, storage, Thunderbolt, Thunderbolt 4, tower system, upgradability, vfx, Video AI, video modifying, video playback, visible results, WWDC23, Xeon W