The Mac Pro is finally coming on December 10 — Apple's super-powerful computer that starts at a whopping $6,000
by Lisa Eadicicco- Apple's new $6,000 Mac Pro will be available to order on December 10, according to a notification sent to customers.
- Apple previously announced that the computer would launch in December, but has not shared a specific date.
- The new Mac Pro has been in the spotlight recently since Apple said it would manufacture the computer in the United States, a decision that comes as the US has been locked in a trade war with China.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Apple's $6,000 professional-grade Mac Pro desktop will be available to order starting December 10. That's according to a notification sent to customers who signed up for more information about the Mac Pro through Apple's website, which YouTube personality and tech reviewer Marques Brownlee spotted.
Apple previously announced that the Mac Pro and the $5,000 Pro Display XDR it's selling to go along with it would be available in December, but hasn't revealed a specific date. The Mac Pro was initially expected to be released in the fall.
The new Mac Pro is the long-awaited successor to the 2013-era Mac Pro, which had a cylindrical shape and wasn't very easy to upgrade. The company made significant changes with the refreshed model: it now features a modular design that makes it easy for customers to upgrade individual parts, fixing the primary criticism of the last model. There's also a handle on the top of the computer so that it can be more easily transported to different areas of the customer's workspace if necessary.
The Mac Pro, which Apple announced in June, is designed for professionals in need of a machine that can process heavy workloads rather than the average consumer. App and video game developers, video editors working in the film industry, and those with jobs that require heavy data analysis might be interested in the Mac Pro.
The new computer will run on an Intel Xeon processor that's configurable up to 28 cores and an optional accelerator card called Apple Afterburner, which the company says can power three simultaneous streams of raw 8K video. It also allows for 1.5TB of memory, which Apple says is the most that's ever been available in a Mac.
When it comes to graphics, the Mac Pro's options start with the Radeon Pro 580X, but the company is also offering a new option called the Radeon Pro Vega II. With that GPU configuration, you'll get 14 teraflops of computing power and 32GB of memory.
Apple's new Mac Pro has garnered attention in recent months for a different reason as well. The company announced in September that it would manufacture the new high-end computer in the United States at a plant in Austin, Texas, a decision that comes as the United States has been locked in a trade war with China that has resulted in tariffs being imposed on Chinese imports.
Much of Apple's supply chain is based in China, and CEO Tim Cook said on its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings call in October that the company has already been paying tariffs on some products. President Trump recently toured the Texas facility where the new Mac Pro is being made, during which the president said he was "looking at" whether the company should be exempt from such tariffs.