[3] It had up to a 12-core Xeon E5 processor, dual AMD FirePro D series GPUs, PCIe-based flash storage and an HDMI port, but lacked PCIe expansion slots.

The 2019 Mac Pro returned to a tower form factor reminiscent of the first-generation model, but with larger air cooling holes and a new opening mechanism.

It has up to a 28-core Xeon-W processor, eight PCIe slots, AMD Radeon Pro Vega GPUs, and replaces most data ports with USB-C and Thunderbolt 3.

Its introduction completed the Mac transition from Intel to Apple processors, first announced in June 2020 and started in November that year.

Apple had dropped the term "Power" from the other machines in their lineup and started using "Pro" on their higher-end laptop offerings.

[7] Although the high-end technical market was not traditionally an area of strength for Apple, the company had been positioning itself as a leader in non-linear digital editing for high-definition video, which demands storage and memory in excess of a general desktop machine.

[6] Original marketing materials for the Mac Pro generally referred to the middle-of-the-line model with 2 × dual-core 2.66 GHz processors.

While electrically the FB-DIMMs are standard, for pre-2009 Mac Pro models Apple specifies larger-than-normal heatsinks on the memory modules.

More recent cards featured two Mini DisplayPort connectors and one dual-link Digital Visual Interface (DVI) port, with various configurations of on-card graphics memory available.

Digital (TOSlink optical) audio and analog 3.5 mm stereo mini jacks for sound in and out were included, the latter becoming available on both the front and back of the case.

All of the expansion slots for memory, PCIe cards and drives could be accessed with the side panel removed and no tools were required for installation.

[23] The Mac Pro's Xeon processors generated much less heat than the previous 2-core G5s, so the size of the internal cooling devices were reduced significantly.

This allowed the interior to be re-arranged, leaving more room at the top of the case and doubling the number of internal drive bays.

This also allowed the elimination of the large clear plastic air deflector used as part of the cooling system in the Power Mac G5.

[25] The front of the case, which has small perforated holes across its entire surface area, has caused Macintosh enthusiasts to refer to the first generation as the "cheese grater" Mac Pro.

[a][29] 2× PCIe 2.0 16x slots (1 single-wide, 1 double-wide) Ars Technica reviewed the 2006 Mac Pro, calling it a solid "multiplatform device" and rating it 9 out of 10.

[46] Architosh, an online architectural design magazine focused on mac technology, would have scored it a perfect five except for a few issues with software compatibility and the high price for FB-DIMM memory.

[47] Apple senior vice president of marketing Phil Schiller presented a "sneak peek" of the completely redesigned Mac Pro during the 2013 Worldwide Developers Conference keynote.

The cylindrical thermal core was unable to adapt to changing hardware trends and left the Mac Pro without updates for over three years, leading Apple to make a rare admission of a product's failure in April 2017 when it detailed the issues surrounding the design and promised a totally redesigned Mac Pro.

The design of the cylindrical Mac Pro has received mixed reviews, and has been compared to a trash can,[b] rice cooker, R2-D2, or Darth Vader's helmet.

There is a 3× MIMO antenna system for the unit's 802.11ac WiFi networking interface, Bluetooth 4.0 to facilitate close-range wireless functions such as music transfer, keyboards, mice, tablets, speakers, security, cameras, and printers.

[55] Apple's website mentions only RAM[56] and flash storage[57] as user-serviceable, though third party tear-downs show nearly all components can be removed and replaced.

[58] Apple has also specified mandatory and recommended tightening torque values for nearly every screw, with the most important being those securing the GPUs and CPU riser card to the thermal core.

However, in late 2013 through early 2014, some reviewers had noted the lack of internal expandability, second CPU, serviceability, and questioned the then-limited offerings via Thunderbolt 2 ports.

"[75] Customers who owned a Mac Pro exhibiting those issues could take their affected machine to Apple or an authorized service provider to have both GPUs replaced for free.

[77] It is believed Apple has not enabled a satisfactory cooling fan profile in order to properly remove heat from the system.

The design also includes a new thermal architecture with three impeller fans, which promises to prevent the computer from having to throttle the processor so that it can always run at its peak performance level.

It can be configured with up to two AMD Radeon Pro GPUs, based on RDNA architecture, which come in a custom MPX module, which are fanless and use the chassis's cooling system.

[90] The 2019 Mac Pro returns to a tower form factor and features a prominent lattice pattern on its front and rear.

[103] The Verge's review of the Mac Pro praised its performance, saying it "vastly outperforms Intel models from 2019," but criticized the inability to upgrade memory and the lack of support for graphics cards.