Apple last updated the Mac Pro in 2023 when it was the last Mac to be outfitted with an M-series chip–three years after Apple started to use its own silicon in Macs. The Mac Pro may be on a longer update cycle than the other Macs because it’s an expensive machine with features that address the needs of a niche audience.
But if you’re part of that audience, you’ll want to know when the next model will arrive, so we’ll be tracking the news and rumors about the Mac Pro. This article includes information about the potential updates to the Mac Pro, as well as offers a perspective on what those rumored updates mean to Apple’s Mac lineup.
Update August 14, 2025: Internal code published by Apple seen by Macworld confirms that Apple is still experimenting with a new, high-end Mac Pro powered by an unreleased M4 Ultra chip. Read the report.
What was announced at WWDC?
Apple did not reveal any information about the Mac Pro. But it did reveal macOS 26 Tahoe. The OS will share a unified design language with all Apple devices for greater continuity across the entire ecosystem. The look and feel is known as “Liquid Glass,” and its emphasis on translucency and specular highlights gives the interface an appealing facelift.
The ability to customize folders with colors and emoji, the use of Apple Intelligence in the creation of shortcut automations, and the system-wide reach of Spotlight Search are some of the other exciting developments in macOS 26.
To learn more, see our article on the 5 best features in macOS 26 Tahoe.
Mac Pro M4: Release date
With no new Mac Pro expected to appear in 2024, despite the arrival of the M4 Max, it appears we will be stuck with the M2 Ultra Mac Pro until 2025.
The lengthy wait isn’t surprising. In an April 2024 report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman about Apple’s plans for its AI-enhanced M4 chip, he suggested that Apple would not update the Mac Pro until 2025.
In June 2024, Gurman again reported that the Mac release schedule had not changed. The M4 Mac Pro is not expected until the second half of 2025. In August, Gurman reiterated that the M4 Mac Pro will be released in 2025.
On July 3, AppleInsider reported that a new Mac Pro is in development has has been assigned the code name J704.
Mac Pro M4: Processor
In October 2024, Gurman reported that Apple “continues to work on an M4 version of the Mac Pro.”
In his April 2024 report, Gurman stated that the Mac Pro will be part of Apple’s AI focus and will be upgraded with an M4 with enhanced AI capabilities. Gurman did not offer any details on how those AI enhancements will be implemented or any other specifications about the M4.
Since that report, Apple has unveiled the M4 chip, first in the iPad Pro, then in the iMac, Mac mini, and MacBook Pro. In our Geekbench 6 tests of the M4 Max chip that arrived in October 2024 we found it to be faster than the M2 Ultra. Read: How Apple’s M4 chips dispelled all my fears about buying a new Mac. Apple also released the M3 Ultra Mac Studio, making it the fastest Mac in Apple’s lineup. If Apple wanted to use the M3 Ultra in the Mac Pro, it would’ve updated that Mac by now.
While this is bad news for the M2 Ultra Mac Pro, it should mean great things for the M4 Ultra, which is what has been reported as the chip for the Mac Pro. We also know that it has an improved Neural Engine for AI features. Apple’s M1 Ultra and M2 Ultra chips are essentially two Max chips that work together, but there have been reports that Apple will be changing the processor’s architecture, so we could see higher performance than in previous Ultra chips.
The Information reported in December 2024 that in the summer, Apple had canceled a “high-performance chip for Macs” to focus on the development of an AI server chip. As John Gruber pointed out, the timing of that Mac chip project suggests that the canceled chip was likely one that is dubbed an “Extreme” chip that would be faster than an Ultra. Based on this report, the Mac Pro will get Ultra chips for the foreseeable future.
On July 3, AppleInsider reported that “it’s not immediately clear” what processor the new Mac Pro will have.
On August 14, Macworld reported that it had seen internal code published by Apple that confirms that the company is still experimenting with a new, high-end Mac Pro powered by an unreleased M4 Ultra chip.
Mac Pro M4: Design and specs
Gurman also reported that Apple wants to dramatically increase the maximum amount of unified memory in the high-end desktop M4 Macs to 512GB. The current limit on the M2 Ultra Mac Pro is 192GB. So, the M4 Ultra Mac Pro could support more than twice the memory as the current M2 Ultra Mac Pro.
The Mac Pro will be equipped with Thunderbolt 5. When Apple released the M4 Pro/Mac MacBook Pro, it upgraded to Thunderbolt 5, so the Mac Pro will follow suit. Learn more about Thunderbolt 5.
No other reports have been made about the inner workings of the upcoming Mac Pro. Because Apple wants to focus on AI, the Mac Pro could be marketed as an AI development workstation, so Apple could upgrade other components to accommodate these needs.
The Mac mini had a redesign in 2024, resulting in a much smaller device. Mac Pro has had its design for 11 years, but no reports have been made about the design, and if Apple changes anything, it is very unlikely to make the Mac Pro smaller as this didn’t work out well last time.
The next Mac Pro upgrade is expected to keep the same design, but the internal components will likely change, with the key one being an M4 Ultra upgrade.
Foundry
Mac Pro M4: Price
Here are the prices for the current standard base configurations of the M2 Ultra Mac Pro for reference.
Apple expects customers to configure their orders, so prices will vary from these base specifications.
- $6,999/£7,199/CA$8,999/AU$11,999 Mac Pro Tower: M2 Ultra, 24-core CPU, 60-core GPU, 32-core Neural Engine, 64GB Unified Memory, 1TB SSD
- $7,499/£7,699/CA$9,599/AU$12,999 Mac Pro Rack: M2 Ultra, 24-core CPU, 60-core GPU, 32-core Neural Engine, 64GB Unified Memory, 1TB SSD
Pricing for the new Mac Pro has not been reported, though we expect pricing to possibly go up because of the U.S. tariffs situation–the components are made overseas. The price may be adapted to more recent exchange rates elsewhere. We predict that in the U.K., the price will be in line with the U.S., for example, £6,999 rather than £7,199.