Last year, Apple announced its plan to transition the Mac from Intel to Apple silicon over the course of two years. As part of the move, the company released updated versions of the MacBook Air, the 13” base MacBook Pro, and the Mac mini – all powered by M1 the first Apple made ARM chip for the Mac.
The Mac Pro is the most powerful Mac computer with the best of the best Intel silicon and AMD Vega graphics. The big question right now is: what will the Apple silicon Mac Pro be like? Will it use Apple’s own graphics card or continue to rely on AMD for the dedicated graphics processing unit (GPU). With the first batch of Apple silicon Macs, the company has included GPU in the silicon itself.
Apple made dedicated GPU?
However, the current generation Intel based Mac Pro is a powerful machine and the integrated Apple GPU on the M1 Macs is far more inferior compared to the dedicated AMD Vega graphics. Apple will have to figure out a way to create a high end graphics processing unit for the Mac. The company has used its expertise in designing high performance chips for the iPad and the iPhone to design the M-series chips for the Mac. However, creating a dedicated GPU for a high level of performance will be a challenge for Apple; not impossible though.
The current generation Mac Pro starts at $5,999 and goes upto $53,799 for the most powerful configuration. The Apple silicon Mac Pro machines will very likely be much more simpler in terms of configuration. The MacBook Air, the 13” base MacBook Pro, and the Mac Mini are already easier to buy. Previously the company used to offer different Intel processors whereas in this case, only offer the M1 chip with slight variations in the GPU.