After 20 years, the Mac Pro line has finally come to an end. The M2 Ultra edition launched three years ago, promising internal expansion and versatility. However, its lack of support for adding new GPUs left many professionals unsatisfied.

The more affordable Mac Studio now stands as the most powerful machine in Apple’s lineup, offering similar options with a $3,000 price tag reduction. With M4 Max and M3 Ultra-powered models currently available and likely future M5 Ultra variants, it remains to be seen if these will fill the void left by the discontinued Mac Pro.

Apple acknowledged that its 2013 “trash can” design placed it in a thermal bind. Large single-GPU cards became preferred over multiple GPUs, which pro users demanded more options for. Red Digital Cinema president Jarred Land urged Apple to consider Nvidia support in 2018, highlighting the need for diversified computing platforms.

With the Mac Pro now history, will customers turn to third-party solutions or trust the Mac Studio as their primary option? Only time—and perhaps a future update—will tell how this change impacts creative workflows and innovation.