Again when Apple introduced its transition from Intel processors in June 2020, it made a few guarantees that haven’t been fulfilled. Most notably, it mentioned the transition can be accomplished “in about two years,” which is both 4 months or eight months not on time, relying on whenever you begin counting.

And along with vowing to “proceed to help and launch new variations of macOS for Intel-based Macs for years to come back,” which it’s finished, Apple additionally mentioned it “has thrilling new Intel-based Macs in growth.” Whereas we did get a brand new 27-inch iMac with Tenth-generation Intel chips later that summer season, suffice it to say, we haven’t seen any new Intel Macs, thrilling or in any other case because the first M1 Macs rolled out. And with only one Intel-based Mac remaining in Apple’s lineup, it will appear it’s only a matter of time till the Mac Professional will get its Apple silicon makeover.

In reality, a couple of 12 months in the past, John Ternus teased the existence of such a machine, saying there was “only one extra product to go” within the transition, “however that’s for an additional day.” However as increasingly more time slips by, perhaps everybody can be happier if that day didn’t arrive simply but.

The core situation

The newest rumors concerning the Mac Professional are lower than intriguing, because the distinctive structure of the M2 chip is reportedly forcing Apple to rethink a number of of the Mac Professional’s distinctive traits, together with user-upgradeable RAM and graphics. And the rumored M2 Excessive chip with 48 CPU cores and 152 graphics cores is unlikely to make an look, with Apple as an alternative going with a barely overclocked M2 Extremely with a 24-core CPU and 76-core GPU.

Foundry

That’s loads quick, after all, however in comparison with the present M1 Extremely Mac Studio, it’s not price wherever close to the $17,000 beginning value for the top-of-the-line Intel Mac Professional with a 28‑core Intel Xeon W processor. When the Mac Professional launched in 2019, its closest competitor was the 18-Core Intel Xeon W within the iMac Professional, which paled in benchmark comparisons (13,453 versus 26,604 in Geekbench multi-core exams). Granted, the Mac Professional price about $10,000 greater than the iMac Professional, however that sizable value hole solely underscored how far more pace you had been getting.

Based mostly on the newest reviews, that gained’t be the case with the brand new Mac Professional. Whereas it should clearly be sooner than each the present top-of-the-line Mac Professional and the top-end Mac Studio—particularly if Apple doesn’t replace the Mac Studio to an M2 chip—the hole gained’t be almost as massive as with the earlier Mac Professional. Geekbench benchmarks for the M1 Extremely prime out at round 24,000, so we are able to assume the M2 Extremely would are available in round 30,000 or so with the identical 20 to 25 p.c enhance. That’s greater than the present 28‑core Intel Xeon W processor (26,604) however not by a large margin.

With such super energy at even the bottom finish of its Mac chips, Apple has painted itself into a good nook with the Mac Professional. Possibly Apple can lower the value drastically by utilizing Apple silicon, however that’s not as necessary as efficiency to its audience. Patrons anticipate the Mac Professional to be “a system created to let a variety of execs push the boundaries of what’s attainable,” however with meager efficiency enhancements and restricted enlargement, patrons gained’t be getting the identical boundary-pushing machine.

Intel inside (once more)

Even when it had been to convey an enormous pace enhance, Mac Professional patrons could be reluctant to change to Apple silicon anyway. The Mac Professional is the sort of machine folks purchase to fill a really particular want, and people wants could be tied to present peripheral gadgets and purposes that don’t work as properly (or in any respect) on Apple silicon Macs. And as a reader identified this week, some Mac Professional customers must run Home windows natively too, which isn’t attainable below Apple silicon with out virtualization.

Apple

For these folks—and my guess is there are numerous them—an upgraded Intel mannequin might be preferable to an M2 Extremely-based mannequin, particularly if Apple had been to make use of considered one of Intel’s latest Xeon W-3400 or Xeon W-2400 chips. Final week, Intel unveiled its latest workstation-class chips with as much as 56 cores and 112 threads. These are glorious specs which might be sure to match or beat the rumored M2 Extremely.

As my colleague Jason Cross factors out, Apple can be extra doubtless to make use of the W-2400 chips that prime out at 24 cores on account of thermals. (The best-end Intel CPU within the Mac Professional has a thermal design energy of 205 watts. The W-2400 collection ranges from 120W to 225W whereas the W-3400 goes from 270W to 350W.) Apple prioritizes energy effectivity with its M-series chips, so it will be unlikely to make use of a chip with such a excessive energy draw.

However even the lower-end chip would nonetheless be a superb improve over the present Mac Professional, whereas nonetheless providing customers the expandability and after-market upgrades they want. I don’t assume any potential patrons can be mad at a brand new Intel machine that preserves the Mac Professional’s mission but nonetheless delivers a large pace enhance over the 2019 mannequin Apple nonetheless sells. Intel would let customers simply improve their present setup, retain the upgradeability they crave, and purchase Apple some extra time to make a correct Apple silicon mannequin.

And if any of these patrons really need an Apple silicon machine, they’ll all the time purchase a MacBook Professional to associate with it.