High-End Mac Pro Prices Leak Thanks to Apple’s Business Team

While Apple customers still wait for an official launch, some pricing information on the new Mac Pro has reportedly begun to leak by way of the company’s business teams. MacRumors reported late Friday that many of Apple’s business customers have received price quotes for custom configurations of the company’s new flagship Mac, with high-end configurations nearing $10,000.

The reports are notable because they represent the first glimpse into what higher-end Mac Pro configurations will cost. After announcing the product at WWDC in June, Apple has thus far only revealed the pricing of two base models on its website: a quad-core system for $2,999 and a six-core system for $3,999. However, these models feature relatively little RAM for a workstation-class system, and a small 256GB main system drive. Apple will offer up to a 12-core CPU, dual FirePro D700 GPUs, 64GB of RAM, and 1TB of PCIe-based flash storage, but has officially provided no guidance on the prices for these upgrades.

According to customer reports, however, Mac Pro purchasers can expect these upgrades to hit their budgets hard. MacRumors references several models, although it makes sure to point out that these prices may include small discounts for business customers, and that retail prices for comparable configurations will be slightly higher.

• 12-Core CPU / 1TB SSD / 64GB RAM / D700 GPU: $9,700 CAD
• 8-Core CPU / 512GB SSD / 64GB RAM / D700 GPU: $7,700 CAD
• 6-Core CPU / 512GB SSD / 32GB RAM / D500 GPU: $4,500 US

Although lower-end models feature relatively reasonable prices, most of the market will focus on the high-end. This is due to Apple’s decision to utilize only a single CPU in the new Mac Pro’s design. Although these single-chip solutions will offer better performance in single-threaded applications thanks to the advancements in Intel’s CPU architecture over the past four years, for traditional multitasking applications, customers will need to purchase an 8- or 12-core model in order to see performance gains over the outgoing Mac Pro models.

The above assessment is reversed for new workflows based heavily on OpenCL, the computing standard that allows applications to leverage the capabilities of a system’s GPU for parallel processing tasks. The inclusion of dual FirePro GPUs in every Mac Pro mean that even the lowest-end model will vastly outperform any other Mac in certain applications that have been written to take significant advantage of OpenCL. While Apple has promised that its line of professional apps, notably Final Cut Pro X, are being rewritten to do just that, many other professional software companies aren’t yet on board with the transition, making a new Mac Pro purchase unwise for some customers.

With price quotes arriving in the hands of select customers, there’s still no word on when the Mac Pro will officially launch. Apple promised a “December” launch date at its October iPad event, and with the coming week the last opportunity to release the product before the Christmas break, many speculate that this coming Monday, the 16th, might see the introduction of at least online pre-orders. Should supply not be ready for a full retail launch, Apple might choose to ship a small number of units at the very end of the month, while waiting until early 2014 for more widespread availability.