Ahead of that sudden, unexpected, call to Apple headquarters this past week, in which several tech reporters engaged in chitchat about the future of the Mac, there was speculation as to what they might be up to. Certainly it seemed as if, by inattention alone, Apple had decided to allow the Mac Pro to just disappear. It would be on the price lists until it wasn’t.

Obviously, that expectation has changed, perhaps unexpectedly, with the promise that a new modular Mac Pro was under development, one that would allow for easy updates. But it won’t arrive this year. One published reported suggested it may not even arrive by 2018, but I would think Apple is quite capable of developing a full-blown desktop workstation in less than two years. One question is how long ago this project began, and that answer is lost in the haze of unfounded rumors. Did it really not get started until after Apple received sharp criticism due to its design choices for the MacBook Pro?

So I will, for the time being, assume the Mac Pro will restore some or all of the expandability of the previous model. Indeed, a souped up cheese grater Mac Pro could have been released long ago, so obviously a lot more is involved. I expect to see something far more compact, but as easy to upgrade. Or maybe easier. The people who designed a trash can Mac Pro can certainly find a middle ground between that and a traditional tower workstation.

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This article was posted on Monday, April 10th, 2017 at 12:00 AM and is filed under News and tagged with: Apple, Mac, Mac Pro, Macbook Pro, tower workstation.