Request a product

Apple Mac Pro (2019) vs Apple Mac Pro (Mid 2012)

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

Better figure, where one is clearly better

AppleMac Pro (2019)AppleMac Pro (Mid 2012)
Overview
ReleasedDecember 2019June 2012
Performance
ProcessorIntel Xeon W-3223, Intel Xeon W-3235, Intel Xeon W-3245, Intel Xeon W-3265M or Intel Xeon W-3275MIntel Xeon W3565, 2 × Intel Xeon E5645, Intel Xeon W3680, 2 × Intel Xeon X5650 or 2 × Intel Xeon X5675
CPU cores8, 12, 16, 24 or 284, 6 or 12
CPU threads16, 24, 32, 48 or 568, 12 or 24
GraphicsAMD Radeon Pro 580X (8 GB GDDR5), AMD Radeon Pro Vega II (32 GB HBM2), AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo (32 GB HBM2 per GPU), AMD Radeon Pro W5500X (8 GB GDDR6; later option), AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (16 GB GDDR6; later option), AMD Radeon Pro W6800X (32 GB GDDR6; later option), AMD Radeon Pro W6900X (32 GB GDDR6; later option), AMD Radeon Pro W6800X Duo (32 GB GDDR6 per GPU; later option) or AMD Radeon Pro W6600X (8 GB GDDR6; later option)ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1 GB GDDR5), ATI Radeon HD 5870 (1 GB GDDR5) or 2 × ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1 GB GDDR5 per card)
Memory32 GB, 48 GB, 96 GB, 192 GB, 384 GB, 768 GB or 1536 GB6 GB, 8 GB, 12 GB, 16 GB, 24 GB, 32 GB, 48 GB or 64 GB
Storage256 GB to 8 TB512 GB to 2 TB
CPUIntel Xeon W with 8 cores at 3.5 GHz (Turbo Boost up to 4.0 GHz), 12 at 3.3 GHz, 16 at 3.2 GHz, 24 at 2.7 GHz or 28 at 2.5 GHz (all up to 4.4 GHz). Sound On Sound identifies the exact processors as W-3223, W-3235, W-3245, W-3265M and W-3275M; Intel confirms their specifications. Intel's separate Turbo Boost Max 3.0 figures are not asserted as Mac Pro system capabilities.Standard single 3.2 GHz quad-core Xeon W3565 (up to 3.46 GHz Turbo Boost) or two 2.4 GHz six-core Xeon E5645 processors (up to 2.67 GHz; twelve physical cores and 24 threads in total). Apple offers a single 3.33 GHz six-core processor or two six-core processors at 2.66 or 3.06 GHz; EveryMac identifies these original factory options as W3680, X5650 and X5675 respectively. Processor count in configurations means physical sockets, with chip figures per processor.
GPUOne MPX module per listed configuration. Launch options were Radeon Pro 580X (8 GB GDDR5), Vega II (32 GB HBM2) and Vega II Duo (two GPUs with 32 GB HBM2 each). Later maker-listed options include W5500X and W6600X (8 GB GDDR6), W5700X (16 GB GDDR6), W6800X and W6900X (32 GB GDDR6), and W6800X Duo (two GPUs with 32 GB GDDR6 each). Two MPX bays support up to four GPUs; Apple confirms upgrades to two Vega II or two Vega II Duo modules, and an Infinity Fabric Link between two W6800X Duo modules. GPU memory is not pooled into one GPU's capacity.ATI Radeon HD 5770 or HD 5870 with 1 GB GDDR5; optional two HD 5770 cards with 1 GB each. Both cards have two Mini DisplayPort outputs and one dual-link DVI port. Graphics memory is per card.
Memory typeTwelve user-accessible DIMM slots for DDR4 ECC memory; 32, 48, 96, 192, 384 or 768 GB. 1.5 TB requires the 24-core or 28-core processor. Memory runs at 2666 MHz with the 8-core CPU and 2933 MHz with the other CPUs. 768 GB uses six 128 GB or twelve 64 GB modules; 1.5 TB uses twelve 128 GB modules.Single-processor systems have four slots and maker-supported memory up to 32 GB; dual-processor systems have eight slots and up to 64 GB. DDR3 ECC SDRAM at 1066 MHz with the 3.2 GHz CPU and 1333 MHz with the other listed CPUs; 1, 2, 4 or 8 GB DIMMs.
Storage typeT2-encrypted SSD storage; 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB, 4 TB or 8 TB. The 256 GB and 512 GB versions use one module; larger capacities use two modules of half the total capacity. Apple states up to 3.4 GB/s sequential reads and writes. The current 512 GB option was not listed in Sound On Sound's original configuration table.Four 3.5-inch cable-free drive bays with independent 3 Gb/s SATA channels and included carriers. Each factory bay can hold a 1 or 2 TB 7200 rpm hard drive with 32 MB cache, or a 512 GB SSD. Listed configurations describe one selected drive; optional extra drives can bring total hard-drive capacity to 8 TB. One 18x double-layer SuperDrive is standard, with an optional second optical drive.
Expansion slotsEight PCI Express Gen 3 slots; two MPX bays provide x16 graphics and x8 Thunderbolt bandwidth each, with up to 500 W for an MPX module. Three additional full-length slots provide one x16 and two x8 links; the half-length x4 slot holds the Apple I/O card. Optional Afterburner x16 card accelerates ProRes and ProRes RAW in supported applications; current maker tests report up to six 8K ProRes RAW or 23 4K ProRes RAW streams, compared with the lower figures in the initial announcement.One double-wide PCI Express 2.0 x16 graphics slot and three further full-length slots (one x16 and two x4); 300 W combined maximum. All slots mechanically accept x16 cards. Optional dual- or quad-channel 4 Gb Fibre Channel card.
Display
ScreenNone built inNone built in
Connections
Ports4 × Thunderbolt 3, 2 × USB-A, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack5 × USB-A, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet10 Gb/s1 Gb/s
Wi-Fi802.11ac802.11n
Bluetooth5.02.1 + EDR
Front portsTwo Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports on top of the tower; up to 40 Gb/s Thunderbolt, up to 10 Gb/s USB-C and DisplayPort supportTwo USB 2.0 ports, two FireWire 800 ports and a headphone minijack
Back portsApple I/O card has two Thunderbolt 3 ports, two USB-A ports at up to 5 Gb/s and a 3.5 mm headset jack. Two Ethernet ports support 1, 2.5, 5 and 10 Gb/s. Graphics ports vary by MPX module; 580X, W5500X and W6600X have two HDMI ports, while the other listed modules have four Thunderbolt 3 ports and one HDMI port. The chassis port counts above exclude graphics-module ports. TechRadar and The Verge describe an additional internal USB-A port for a software dongle.Three USB 2.0 ports, two FireWire 800 ports, two independent Gigabit Ethernet ports with jumbo-frame support, optical TOSLINK audio input and output, and analogue stereo line input and output. Graphics outputs vary by card; FireWire and DVI are described here because the main port list has no fields for them. Included keyboard has two additional USB 2.0 ports, excluded from chassis counts.
External displaysDisplay limits depend on the graphics configuration. One 580X supports six 4K displays, two 5K displays or two Pro Display XDRs; W5500X supports four 4K, one 5K or one XDR, and W6600X four 4K, two 5K or two XDRs. W5700X, W6800X and W6900X support six 4K, three 5K or three XDRs per module. Vega II supports six 4K, three 5K or two XDRs; Vega II Duo eight 4K, four 5K or four XDRs. W6800X Duo supports eight 4K, four 5K or six XDRs. Apple's dedicated current Vega II Duo guide confirms two modules can drive twelve 4K, six 5K or six XDR displays; port and bus placement restrictions apply.Up to three displays with one graphics card, or six with two HD 5770 cards. Digital resolution up to 2560 × 1600 and analogue up to 2048 × 1536; optional Mini DisplayPort/DVI/VGA adapters. Multichannel audio through Mini DisplayPort.
SpeakersBuilt-in speaker; 3.5 mm headphone jack supports a headsetInternal speaker and front headphone output; optical and analogue audio input/output
Keyboard and mouseMagic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad and Magic Mouse in silver and black; optional matching Magic TrackpadApple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad and Magic Mouse; optional Apple Wireless Keyboard, Apple Mouse or Magic Trackpad
Design and power
TypeTowerTower
Width × depth × height–206 × 475 × 511 mm
Weight18 kg–
Operating systemmacOSmacOS
Size and weight detailApple's UK and US sheets publish height 52.9 cm, width 45.0 cm and depth 21.8 cm for the tower with feet, but the width and depth labels appear transposed relative to the maker's front and side image. Main dimensions are omitted pending resolution. The US sheet gives 55.7 cm height with optional wheels. Weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process; rack enclosure specifications are separate.Quad-core standard configuration weighs 18.1 kg; standard twelve-core configuration 18.7 kg. Actual weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process, so a shared weight is omitted.
Power supply1.4 kW supply; maximum continuous output 1280 W at 108–125 V or 220–240 V, and 1180 W at 100–107 V. AC input 100–125 V at 12 A or 220–240 V at 6 A; 50–60 Hz.AC input 100–120 V or 200–240 V, 50–60 Hz; maximum current 12 A at low voltage or 5 A at high voltage
NoiseRegional maker acoustic tables differ; UK reports 2.5 B sound power at idle and during wireless web, while US reports 2.7 B and 11 dB operator-position sound pressure. Both describe a 12-core configuration with 48 GB memory, Vega II graphics and a 256 GB SSD.Apple gives operator-position sound pressure of 26 dB for the 3.2 GHz model and 25 dB for the 2.4 GHz dual-processor model at idle or during hard-drive access; 42 dB during optical-drive access. Corresponding sound power is 3.7/3.5 B at idle and 4.7/5.1 B during optical access.
MaterialsLow-carbon aluminium housing on a stainless-steel frame; BFR-, PVC- and beryllium-freeRecyclable aluminium enclosure; BFR-free and internal cables PVC-free
In the boxTower, Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad, Magic Mouse, 1 m USB-C to Lightning cable and 2 m power lead. Launched with macOS Catalina; the current support sheet describes the later macOS Ventura release. Graphics options added after launch remain part of this generation, with their timing distinguished above.Mac Pro, power cord, keyboard, Magic Mouse, USB keyboard extension cable and documentation. Current maker sheet describes OS X Mountain Lion and iLife; the generation was introduced before Mountain Lion. Apple also offered a server configuration with OS X Server, 8 GB memory and two 1 TB drives, supplied without keyboard or mouse; its distinct bundled software and drive arrangement are described here.

More comparisons