Apple’s Phil Schiller aimed to silence the critics with a sneak peek of the next generation Mac Pro desktop computer that certainly pushes the boundaries of computing in a whole new direction. Not only does it suggest an entirely new cylindrical form factor but it is the first Mac to ever come standard with dual workstation CPUs and GPUs that can stream from multiple 4K displays.
“This is a machine unlike anything we’ve ever made,” Schiller proclaimed at WWDC today. “It has a new unified thermal core – comes with a new generation Intel Xeon chip – double the CPU of the previous generation.
“It has a 10 times faster hard drive and six Thunderbolt 2 ports, double the performance of industry in Thunderbolt. In terms of graphics it is the first Mac to ever to come standard with dual workstation CPUs.”
To prove his point he said the new Mac Pro supports multiple streams from 4K displays.
The Mac Pro is a pro desktop with breakthrough performance packed into a design that is one-eighth the volume of the current Mac Pro. Next generation Intel Xeon E5 processors with up to 12 core configurations deliver double the floating point performance.
With two AMD FirePro workstation-class GPUs, the all-new Mac Pro is up to 2.5 times faster than the current Mac Pro and delivers up to an amazing 7 teraflops of compute power. The new Mac Pro also features PCIe-based flash storage that is up to 10 times faster than conventional desktop hard drives and includes the latest four-channel ECC DDR3 memory running at 1866 MHz to deliver up to 60GBps of memory bandwidth.
The new Mac Pro lets you seamlessly edit full-resolution 4K video while simultaneously rendering effects in the background.
The next generation Mac Pro is the most expandable Mac ever built. With six Thunderbolt 2 ports that can deliver up to 20Gbps of bandwidth to each external device, Mac Pro is perfect for connecting to external storage, multiple PCI expansion chassis, audio and video breakout boxes, and the latest external displays, including 4K desktop displays. Each of the six Thunderbolt 2 ports supports up to six daisy-chained devices, giving you the ability to connect up to 36 high-performance peripherals. Thunderbolt 2 is completely backwards compatible with existing Thunderbolt peripherals, and allows you to transfer data between Macs faster and easier than ever.
Schiller said the new Mac Pro will enter the market later this year.
