The Mac Pro had always stuck with a ‘tower’ chassis similar to the computer cases that we see today, but Apple decided to introduce something that no other company dared to venture into for fear that the power-hungry components would not receive adequate cooling. The California-based giant proceeded to unveil a ‘trash can’ case that was not just smaller than the previous Mac Pro models but was outfitted with a powerful combination of workstation-grade CPUs and GPUs.
The launch, along with Apple’s Senior VP of Worldwide Product Marketing, Phil Schiller’s iconic line ‘can’t innovate anymore, my ass,’ only hyped up the Mac Pro. Unfortunately, the machine had more than a few problems that did not justify the form factor change, but its ‘never before seen’ design meant that the ‘trash can’ form factor would forever remain etched in our memories. Today, we look at the legendary Mac Pro as we celebrate its 11th anniversary.
The ‘trash can’ Mac Pro could be configured with two AMD Radeon GPUs, but the lack of meaningful expansion due to its small size meant that the workstation would not garner the success that Apple envisioned it to
Announced in December 2013, the new Mac Pro was marketed as having twice the performance of the previous-generation model. There was a cylindrical polished reflective aluminum shell that covered the thermal dissipation core, with the hot air removed by a single fan that pulled cool air from under the chassis. Apple only offered the Mac Pro a single black-colored finish, which may have made buyers salivating over it, but there were a ton of problems plaguing it that eventually led to the company discarding the design.
Firstly, the Mac Pro took up one-eighth of the previous model’s volume, meaning there was even less space for the powerful components to breathe, leading to an enormous heat generation that likely required more than one fan to tame. Despite the design being highly ambitious, customers who purchased the Mac Pro were unhappy that nearly all of the expansion had to take place by the Thunderbolt 2 ports. Even though the RAM could be swapped out, the lack of expansion slots meant that users had to spend ludicrous amounts of money to be stuck with components that could not be upgraded.
As a result, the ‘trash can’ Mac Pro could not keep up with the newer hardware, which was faster and more power efficient. Realizing its errors, Apple reverted to the tower chassis several years later and stuck to the same design as the M2 Ultra version, but on this occasion, the RAM could not be upgraded. However, if we look at what Apple Silicon has achieved in terms of ‘performance per watt’ we will be more than happy to see the ‘trash can’ form factor revived, as the current tower chassis has too much valuable space that has gone to waste. Perhaps the technology titan will have some surprises waiting for us in the future, so stay tuned.
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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