New Mac Pro May Lack Upgradeable GPU [Gurman]

Apple's long awaited next generation Mac Pro may not feature a user upgradeable GPU, according to Mark Gurman. This would be major disappointment to pro users with graphics intense workflows.

The next Mac Pro may lack user upgradeable GPUs in addition to non-upgradeable RAM. Right now Apple Silicon Macs don't support external GPUs and you have to use whatever configuration you buy on Apple's website. But the Mac Pro GPU will be powerful with up to 76 cores.

Sadly, this follows other reports from Gurman where he claims that the new Mac Pro will not get an M2 Extreme chip and will not feature a new design or user upgradable RAM. This appears to leave storage as the only expandable component, though it's possible that users could add non-GPU expansion cards via PCI Express.


That will leave storage as the main user-upgradeable component in the new Mac Pro, which will have the same design as the current, Intel model. The big difference between a Mac Pro and a Mac Studio — in addition to M1 Ultra to M2 Ultra — should be performance from more cooling.

It's unclear why Apple would keep the same design if most expandability options are off the table. While more cooling is beneficial, the Mac Studio already offers impressive cooling capabilities.

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