Mac Pro (2019)

Source

Snazzy Labs

Key Takeaways

• Starting at an eye-watering $5,999 with an embarrassing 8-core Xeon and measly 256GB SSD that lost to consumer iMacs.
• Optional wheels cost an outrageous $700 and literally lacked a mechanical lock, rolling freely across sloped floors.
• Apple Silicon quickly rendered the expensive Intel MPX proprietary GPU expansion architecture entirely obsolete.
• Weighs a crushing 18kg and draws hundreds of watts, only to be utterly humiliated by a Mac Studio that fits in a shoebox.

✅ Pros

• Masterpiece 3D cheese-grater aluminum modular chassis
• Massive eight PCIe expansion slots for enterprise I/O
• Whisper-quiet triple axial fan thermal airflow engineering

❌ Cons

• $6,000 base config with pathetic entry specs
• Absurd $700 wheels without wheel locks
• Intel architecture made instant junk by Apple Silicon
• Gargantuan 18kg footprint with awful energy efficiency

📝 Verdict

"The 2019 Mac Pro suffered the fastest depreciation in Apple history: an expensive museum piece outclassed by M-series."

Source

• Video: The 2020 Mac Pro: A Silent Killer!
• Channel: Marques Brownlee | Type: User impressions | Based on: YouTube transcript

Key points

• He used it for a few months (the video title calls it the 2020 Mac Pro, i.e. this machine that launched in late 2019), and draws three conclusions: the build is so good it's almost overengineered, it's finally modular, and it's very fast
• For good products he usually says "it's great, go buy it," but this one is "it's great, but you probably shouldn't buy it": most people will never use it fully, but he's glad Apple made it
• The overengineering is mostly for looks and noise: the three front fans run at slightly different speeds to avoid resonance and harmonics; modules use large heat sinks instead of fans, which is quieter but makes the parts thicker
• Even the fastest Mac still stutters when playing back low-compression 8K RED footage at high quality; the Afterburner card only accelerates ProRes, and he bought it hoping it can later be reprogrammed to accelerate REDCODE
• Details such as the cable-free interior, metal buttons and PCI lock are taken to the extreme; the downsides are that Apple doesn't make a US$900–1,200 modular tower, and the US$400 wheels need locks

✅ Pros

• Exceptional build quality
• Modular and upgradeable
• Very quiet
• Powerful performance

❌ Cons

• Most people won't use it fully, and it's extremely expensive
• Afterburner only supports ProRes
• Wheels have no locks

📝 Verdict

This is a silent killer that takes no shortcuts; he's very happy with it and expects it to last a decade and keep getting better; but the vast majority of people don't need it.

Source

• Video: 2019 Mac Pro Review - 7 Reasons it Sold Out!
• Channel: Max Tech | Type: Professional review | Based on: YouTube transcript

Key points

• The US$6,000 base model has modest specs (8 cores, 580X, 32GB, 256GB) and is poor value for the price, but it's the Lamborghini of computers and was never meant for ordinary users
• The body is made of high-strength aluminum and stainless steel and weighs over 40 pounds; removing the case is very easy, the interior is completely cable-free with all connections using metal contacts, and iFixit gives it a 9/10 repairability score; it stays very quiet even at full load
• The motherboard has 8 PCIe slots (4 x16) and dual 10GbE, with up to 12 Thunderbolt 3 ports, 1.5TB of memory and a 28-core processor; the mid-range 16-core already beats the top-spec 18-core iMac Pro
• They compared it with six Windows workstation brands, and the Mac Pro was actually slightly cheaper most of the time; an equivalent motherboard costs about US$2,000 and the case about US$1,000, so broken down, the Apple tax is lighter than expected
• They wish Apple would switch to AMD processors, blaming Intel's stagnation and high prices; the Mac Pro and XDR were back-ordered three weeks to two months, showing it's a success

✅ Pros

• Top-tier upgradeability
• Excellent repairability
• Quiet cooling
• Powerful performance

❌ Cons

• Base model is poor value
• Uses Intel rather than AMD
• Extremely expensive

📝 Verdict

The Mac Pro combines high performance today, years of upgradeability and reliable macOS; for the businesses and studios that need it, it's actually not expensive.

Source

• Video: The Mac Pro 2019 is Extra AF
• Channel: Dave2D | Type: User impressions | Based on: YouTube transcript

Key points

• People pay attention to it mainly because of its looks; if it were just an ugly gray box like an HP or Dell workstation, no one would care—and buyers of those workstations are its real target audience
• He bought the US$6,000 base model with his own money to understand the pricing: it's not just the Xeon and ECC memory; there are no visible cables inside at all, and the fans, graphics card, power supply and top connections are all powered through pogo pins or metal contacts
• Very quiet: three large front fans provide amazing airflow, and a fourth at the back mainly serves the power supply; none of the official modules have their own fans, using custom heat sinks and shrouds instead
• He swapped the 580X for a more powerful Radeon 5700 XT (which he calls a gaming card) and added an NVMe PCIe adapter card, and it worked perfectly on the first boot—modularity no other Apple computer can match
• Performance is very good, but for US$6,000 it falls far short of a PC at the same price; he doesn't need Xeon and ECC, and neither do most YouTubers

✅ Pros

• Refined cable-free interior
• Very quiet
• User-upgradeable modular design

❌ Cons

• Extremely expensive
• Performance far behind PCs at the same price
• Many design touches are excessive

📝 Verdict

For professionals who can make full use of this hardware, it's a dream come true; but for him, who doesn't shoot 8K or do 3D effects, it's something to admire from afar—it's just extra.