Apple Mac Pro (Early 2009) vs Apple Mac Pro (M2 Ultra)

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Mac Pro (Early 2009) compared with Mac Pro (M2 Ultra)

	AppleMac Pro (Early 2009)	AppleMac Pro (M2 Ultra)
Overview
Released
Released	March 2009	June 2023
Performance
Processor
Processor	Intel Xeon W3520, Intel Xeon W3540, Intel Xeon W3580, 2 × Intel Xeon E5520, 2 × Intel Xeon X5550 or 2 × Intel Xeon X5570	Apple M2 Ultra
CPU cores
CPU cores	4 or 8	24
CPU threads
CPU threads	8 or 16	–
Graphics
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 (512 MB GDDR3), ATI Radeon HD 4870 (512 MB GDDR5), 2 × NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 (512 MB GDDR3 per card), 3 × NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 (512 MB GDDR3 per card) or 4 × NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 (512 MB GDDR3 per card)	60-core GPU or 76-core GPU
Memory
Memory	3 GB, 6 GB, 8 GB, 12 GB, 16 GB or 32 GB	64 GB, 128 GB or 192 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	640 GB to 1 TB	1 TB to 8 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	Single quad-core Xeon W3520 at 2.66 GHz or W3540 at 2.93 GHz; the current support sheet also includes the later 3.33 GHz W3580 option with Turbo Boost up to 3.6 GHz. Dual-processor choices are two quad-core E5520 at 2.26 GHz, X5550 at 2.66 GHz or X5570 at 2.93 GHz (the latter up to 3.33 GHz). Exact processor identities are cross-checked with EveryMac and Intel's server processor table. All have 8 MB L3 cache per processor and Hyper-Threading; dual systems have eight physical cores and sixteen threads. Processor count means physical sockets, and chip cores/threads are per processor.	24-core CPU with 16 performance cores and 8 efficiency cores
GPU
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 with 512 MB GDDR3 or ATI Radeon HD 4870 with 512 MB GDDR5. Factory upgrades include two, three or four GT 120 cards, with memory per card. Each card has a Mini DisplayPort and a dual-link DVI port.	60-core or 76-core GPU; additional graphics cards and MPX modules are not supported
AI engine
AI engine	–	32-core Neural Engine
Memory bandwidth
Memory bandwidth	–	800 GB/s
Memory type
Memory type	1066 MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM; four slots for single-processor systems and eight for dual systems. The current factory tables list 3, 6, 8, 12 or 16 GB for single systems and 6, 8, 12, 16 or 32 GB for dual systems. The original launch announcement limited the single-processor model to 8 GB; the higher current support limit is distinguished here.	–
Storage type
Storage type	Four 3.5-inch cable-free bays with independent 3 Gb/s SATA channels and included carriers. Factory order tables list a 640 GB 7200 rpm drive with 16 MB cache or a 1 TB 7200 rpm drive with 32 MB cache; configurations represent one selected drive. The current support sheet additionally lists 2 TB drives and a 2 TB upgrade kit, allowing up to 8 TB with four drives, versus the launch announcement's 4 TB maximum. Optional Mac Pro RAID Card has 512 MB cache and a 72-hour backup battery. Standard 18x double-layer SuperDrive; optional second optical drive.	1 TB SSD, configurable to 2 TB, 4 TB or 8 TB; two internal SATA connectors up to 6 Gb/s
Media engine
Media engine	–	Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes and ProRes RAW; two video decode engines, four video encode engines and four ProRes encode and decode engines
Expansion slots
Expansion slots	Double-wide PCI Express 2.0 x16 graphics slot and three open full-length slots (one x16 and two x4), with 300 W combined maximum. All slots mechanically accept x16 cards; PCI and PCI-X cards are unsupported. Optional dual- or quad-channel 4 Gb Fibre Channel card.	Six full-length PCIe 4.0 slots (two x16 and four x8); one half-length x4 PCIe 3.0 slot with Apple I/O card installed; up to 300 W auxiliary power through two 75 W six-pin and one 150 W eight-pin connectors
Display
Screen
Screen	None built in	None built in
Connections
Ports
Ports	5 × USB-A, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack	8 × Thunderbolt 4, 2 × USB-A, 2 × HDMI, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	1 Gb/s	10 Gb/s (better)
External displays
External displays	–	Up to 8
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	–	Wi-Fi 6E
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	2.1 + EDR	5.3
Front ports
Front ports	Two USB 2.0 ports, two FireWire 800 ports and a headphone minijack	Two Thunderbolt 4 ports on top of the tower or at the front of the rack enclosure
Back ports
Back ports	Three USB 2.0 ports, two FireWire 800 ports, two independent Gigabit Ethernet ports, optical TOSLINK audio input/output and analogue stereo line input/output. Optional AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi card; Wi-Fi is not standard. Included keyboard has two further USB 2.0 ports, excluded from chassis counts. Graphics outputs vary by card; FireWire, DVI and optical audio are described here because the main port list has no fields for them.	Six Thunderbolt 4 ports with DisplayPort, USB 4 up to 40 Gb/s and USB 3.1 Gen 2 up to 10 Gb/s; two USB-A up to 5 Gb/s; two HDMI; two 10 Gb Ethernet supporting 1, 2.5, 5 and 10 Gb/s; 3.5 mm jack with high-impedance headphone support; additional internal USB-A up to 5 Gb/s
External displays
External displays	Up to two displays per graphics card or eight with four GT 120 cards. Digital resolution up to 2560 × 1600 and analogue up to 2048 × 1536; optional Mini DisplayPort and DVI adapters.	Up to eight displays at 4K 60 Hz, six at 6K 60 Hz or three at 8K 60 Hz; each HDMI port supports one at 8K 60 Hz or 4K 240 Hz, with VRR, HDR and multichannel audio
Speakers
Speakers	Internal speaker, front headphone output and optical/analogue audio input/output	Built-in speaker; HDMI multichannel audio output
Keyboard and mouse
Keyboard and mouse	Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad and Apple Mouse; optional Apple Wireless Keyboard. The original announcement names the included mouse as Mighty Mouse.	Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad, Magic Mouse; optional Magic Trackpad
Design and power
Type
Type	Tower	Tower
Weight
Weight	–	16.86 kg
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	206 × 475 × 511 mm	218 × 450 × 529 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Standard quad-core configuration weighs 18.1 kg; standard eight-core configuration 18.7 kg. Actual weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process; a shared weight is omitted.	Tower with feet is 529 × 218 × 450 mm and 16.86 kg; optional wheels increase height to 557 mm. Rack enclosure is 5U, 220.2 × 482 × 539.5 mm including handles (493.5 mm from fascia), and 17.21 kg; rack depth range 609.6–1,066.8 mm
Power supply
Power supply	AC input 100–120 V or 200–240 V, 50–60 Hz; maximum current 12 A at low voltage or 6 A at high voltage	Built-in; maximum continuous power 1,280 W at 108–125 V or 220–240 V, or 1,180 W at 100–107 V
Noise
Noise	Apple gives operator-position sound pressure of 26/25 dB at idle, 26/25 dB during hard-drive access and 41 dB during optical access for the 2.66 GHz single/2.26 GHz dual models respectively. Sound power is 3.7/3.5 B at idle, 3.7/3.6 B during hard-drive access and 4.9/5.2 B during optical access.	–
Materials
Materials	Recyclable aluminium enclosure; BFR-free and internal cables PVC-free	70% recycled aluminium in the enclosure
Colours
Colours	–	Silver
In the box
In the box	Mac Pro, power cord, Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad, Apple Mouse, USB keyboard extension cable, install/restore DVDs and documentation. Launch announcement includes Mac OS X Leopard and iLife '09; the later support sheet lists Snow Leopard.	Mac Pro, Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keypad, Magic Mouse, 2 m power lead, 1 m USB-C charge cable; rack mount rails included with the rack enclosure, shipped separately