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In pictures: New Mac Pro faces off iMac

Radical design.

By William Maher on Jun 14 2013, 10:50AM

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Unveiled this week, Apple's new Mac Pro will be the new benchmark for Apple users needing a professional-level computer. The new Mac Pro is not on sale yet: Apple says it will be "later this year". We don't know how much it will cost, but don't expect it to be cheap. In the photo you can see the old Mac Pro on the left, and an image of the striking new cylindrical Mac Pro on the right. But what is a Mac Pro, and how is it different to an iMac? Click for the next photo...

[Photos: Getty Images]

One of the Mac Pro's selling points is power - the tagline for the current model is "a towering achievement in power". For example, the current model lets you have up to 12 processor cores. So instead of Intel Core chips like the iMac, the Mac Pro has special server and workstation class CPUs - the current model uses the Intel Xeon. In the past some people have complained that Apple hasn't upgraded the Mac Pro with the latest technology at the same rate as the iMac. But that's changed today with the unveiling of the machine you see in the photo above. Click the next photo to see this new Mac Pro up close, and why else you might consider one...

Here is the new Mac Pro, with the cover take off, revealing some of the inside circuitry. The most immediately striking thing is the shape - it's hard to see from this angle, but yes, the computer you're looking at is actually a big cylinder. Why? We suspect it's a handy marketing tool, but there's also another reason. Click the next photo to see what it is...

This is a screenshot from Apple's Mac Pro web site, showing what the inside of the machine looks like. That black, grilled piece object in the middle? That's a heatsink, which helps spread the heat and conduct the hot air coming from the various chips. You can see the various circuit boards are all positioned around this central heat sink. This helps make the computer smaller and very quiet, according to Apple.

So how big is it? The new Mac Pro is half the height of the current generation Mac Pro - it is a touch over 25cm tall.

While the case (which you can't see in this photo, because it's been taken off) looks a bit like plastic in this image from the Apple web site, it is actually aluminum. So why else would you pick a Mac Pro over an iMac? Click for the next photo...

As well as processing speed, another key difference between the Mac Pro and the iMac is large amounts of RAM. The new Mac Pro has up to 60GB/s of memory bandwidth, and uses a special type of memory for critical business tasks. The Mac Pro also uses fast storage - PCI Express flash storage. Apple states this will make the machine open "massive" files faster. But there is another way the Mac Pro is different to the iMac...

While faster processing appeals to some people, the Mac Pro also offers another advantage over the iMac. This is the ability to "expand" the computer. For digital effects companies and 3D artists, this is important, because it means they can put in more powerful video cards. The new Mac Pro will have two AMD FirePro graphics units. Apple claims Mac Pro users will be able to "seamlessly edit full-resolution 4K video while simultaneously rendering effects in the background", while connecting up to three 4K screens. Potentially something professional digital artists and video editors may appreciate, but not something everyone will need.

As well as graphics firepower, the other key advantage in stepping up to a Mac Pro is the ability to slot in more storage and other hardware. The new Mac Pro will have the ability to connect to "massive amounts of storage", states Apple. Key to this are special ports, like a high speed Thunderbolt 2 port, Gigabit Ethernet for connecting to a company network at high speed and USB 3. HDMI 1.4 also means the ability to plug in the latest "Ultra HD TVs" as well as various projectors and screens. Because the inside the of the new Mac Pro is so small, it appears Apple is pushing the idea of connecting more storage via external connections, rather than adding lots of internal hard drives.

That's the panel showing some of the ports we discussed with the previous photo. Apple states that when you turn the machine around to plug something in, the Mac Pro will "sense" this, and the ports will light up.

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In pictures: New Mac Pro faces off iMac

Radical design.

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