The Apple Mac Pro has, for the last decade, been the holy grail for professionals in creative industries all over. It represents the epitome of technology that Apple is capable of, housed in a beautifully designed chassis.
First, it was the hulking silver tower of power which looked like a more refined version of your average PC, and then came the ‘trashcan’ – the black cylindrical tabletop Mac Pro.
But that was in 2013, and here we are 4 years later without a whisper of an update.
That’s not to say though that Apple isn’t aware of this fact and not doing anything about it.
Apple Held A Secret Meeting Yesterday
Held in their Product Realization Lab, Apple invited prominent tech journalists over for a roundtable discussion on the future of Mac computers.
Prominent tech sites, The Verge, Techcrunch, Mashable and many others were in attendance at Apple.
This was a key place where, since 1981, has been home to research and development of Macs, and is filled to the brim with countless prototypes of early Macs, located in a low-key office building within Apple’s campus.
This was an event taking place away from Apple’s regular product announcement calendar. There’s no “one more thing” here.
Led By Apple’s Top Execs
This was also a meeting where you will see the usual suspects from Apple keynotes, senior vice president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller and senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi leading this small get-together.
Joining them is John Ternus, Apple’s vice president of hardware engineering.
For 2 hours, these three Apple execs shared the success and failures of the Mac Pro in recent history, as well as bits of Apple’s roadmap.
They Haven’t Forgotten About The Mac Faithful
Sure, Apple released 3 spanking new Macbook Pro models towards the end of 2016, but those of us who were expecting a desktop refresh were left wanting.
Well, one piece of exciting news to have come out of their little meeting is that Apple is indeed working on some exciting new products for the desktop.
“We’re in the process of completely rethinking the Mac Pro.” said Phil Schiller.
Don’t hold your breath because a new Mac Pro and Pro Display is in the works, along with a new iMac. For the iMac, it wasn’t much of a surprise as Apple CEO Tim Cook previously mentioned in December 2016 that new ones were coming.
The Mac Pro and the Pro Display though is news that many will be celebrating for, especially the latter. The last time Apple made a “Pro” monitor was the Apple Cinema Display, and that itself was discontinued in 2011.
The LG monitors which were released alongside the 2016 Macbook Pro, while being tuned for Macs, wasn’t a true Apple monitor.
Not In 2017 Though
While this is certainly some fantastic news, don’t expect the Mac Pro to come near the end of 2017 though.
Since it’s the iPhone’s 10th anniversary, so the spotlight will be on it for sure.
Mashable mentioned 2018 as a possible year when we will see the all new Mac Pro and Pro Display, while the iMac will be making its refreshed appearance earlier, sometime later in 2017.
The new iMac will reportedly be offered in Pro-friendly configurations for creatives who prefer the all-in-one form factor.
At least we have 2 things to look forward to from Apple this year, the iPhone, and possibly the most powerful iMac Apple has ever made.
Featured Image Credit: Mashable
