Apple’s Doug Brooks highlights 2019 Mac Pro specs, features

Apple’s leviathan of a next-gen Mac Pro has some interesting details to it, as detailed by product manager Doug Brooks on the Mac Power Users podcast, hosted by David Sparks and Stephen Hackett.

The 2019 Mac Pro comes equipped with up to 28-core Intel Xeon processors, can hold up to 1.5TB of RAM, up to 4TB of SSD storage, and has the option for an AMD Radeon Pro Gega II graphics card.

Per Brooks:

“When we look at things like 8K workflows, that’s not the norm today. There’s definitely people doing it at the high end. But we want to make sure we’re ready for it and have the performance throughout the system to deliver on that.”

Brooks also noted the Mac Pro’s “low-independence airflow system” that helps move air through the system:

“The past Mac Pro tower had nine fans. We wanted to kind of simplify and make the thermal system a lot more elegant. It’s what we call a low-impedance airflow system. If you look through the heatsink… the fin spacing is pretty wide. We’re able to move a lot of air through the system, get a lot of heat exchange with these big fans… they tend to move a little slower so they don’t create a lot of noise, but can move quite a bit of air through the system to cool the system very effectively.”

Brooks also described how the sound from the new Mac Pro under a desk measures around only 10 decibels, making it quieter than an iMac Pro, or the current Mac Pro on a desk, both of which generate a “virtually silent” 12 decibels.

Brooks also described the Mac Pro’s optional wheels:

“You realize you have this thing next to you and there’s a handle there. It’s perfect to just grab… what if I just wanted to slide it out a bit to get access to the top boards or spin it around for the back. The feet have material on the bottom… it’s really easy to slide around. It’s like, what if this thing had wheels?”

Apple supposedly used G-sensors to ensure that the new Mac Pro would be able to withstand reasonable amounts of shock and vibrations while being wheeled around in production trucks and other professional environments. 

Finally, Brooks stated that, like many other Apple products, the 2019 Mac Pro was stored in a “stealth enclosure” during testing in Apple’s labs to ensure its secrecy.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

Via MacRumors and the Mac Power Users podcast