Apple to unveil significant Mac Pro update this month, report suggests

By Trevor Mogg April 9, 2013

It’s been such a long time since Apple’s Mac Pro workstation received a refresh that you may have started to wonder if Tim Cook and his Cupertino-based crew had actually forgotten that it exists.

However, on Monday Apple site MacDailyNews said it’d come into information from someone “who has been correct about Apple product matters in the past” (always a good sign) who claims a refresh is in the pipeline and could be on the market as early as this month.

MacDailyNews’ (via MacRumors) said that its source couldn’t say if the “Mac Pro replacement” would be a tower, mini tower or some other design, and added that although the forthcoming announcement “could slip into May or even June”, April currently looks “most likely”.

While the Mac Pro underwent a few changes (processor/RAM upgrades) last summer, the most recent update of any real significance came nearly three years ago.

Last year an unnamed Apple executive told the New York Times that Apple was working on “new models and new designs” of the workstation, while Tim Cook said at last June’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) that “something really great” was coming for Mac Pro users this year. By “really great”, let’s hope he means more than just a couple of Thunderbolt ports.

The Mac Pro is touted by Apple as its “fastest Mac ever” and, with a starting price of $2499, is its priciest piece of kit. Popular with those in the creative industries who use it for tasks such as video editing with Apple software like Final Cut Pro X, the Mac Pro has been somewhat neglected in recent years, with Apple’s iMac and laptop offerings getting more frequent and substantial updates with technology such as USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt.

Of course, this apparent neglect has led some to wonder whether Apple might abandon the low-selling Pro altogether, though these recent rumblings suggest that the tech giant is gearing up to unveil a refreshed Mac Pro in the coming weeks or, at the latest, during its annual WWDC event in San Francisco in June.

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