In brief: Apple’s very expensive Mac Pro launched last month, and now the rack-mountable version of the computer that’s designed for server rack setups is available to order.
Starting at $6,499, this rack-mounted Mac Pro is $500 more expensive than the tower version, despite featuring the same internal hardware and specs. You do get a set of stainless steel mounting rails for the extra half-a-grand, though, which ship in a separate box.
The main difference is the case, which still has the cheese grater ventilation holes and handles, and the ports and rear connections are the same. It can be easily mounted in server racks and comes with a removable lid. And as it’s rack-mounted, buyers can save money by forgoing the $1,000 Pro Stand and $400 wheels.
The possible configurations are the same for both versions of the Mac Pro. Processors start with a 3.5GHz, 8-core Intel Xeon W and go up to a 2.5GHz, 28-core Xeon W, which adds $7,000 to the price. RAM ranges from 32GB to 1.5TB (an extra $25,000), and the graphics cards begin with a Radeon Pro 580X GPU with 8GB of DDR5, while the top option is dual Radeon Pro Vega II Duo GPUs with a total 128GB of HBM2 memory (add $10,800). Finally, storage ranges from 256GB and goes up to 8TB (another $2,600).
As with the tower option, maxing out the latest Mac Pro with the top specs is going to cost an eye-watering $50,000+. But some professionals and enterprises will doubtlessly consider the price to be worth it.
The rack-mounted Mac Pro can be ordered now, with shipping dates ranging from January 23 to February 13.
