Apple Mac Pro (Early 2009) vs Apple Mac Pro (Mid 2010)

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

Only show differences

Better figure, where one is clearly better

Share comparison

Mac Pro (Early 2009) compared with Mac Pro (Mid 2010)

	AppleMac Pro (Early 2009)	AppleMac Pro (Mid 2010)
Overview
Released
Released	March 2009	August 2010
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	Intel Xeon W3530, Intel Xeon W3565, Intel Xeon W3680, 2 × Intel Xeon E5620, 2 × Intel Xeon X5650 or 2 × Intel Xeon X5670
CPU cores
CPU cores	4 or 8	4, 6, 8 or 12
CPU threads
CPU threads	8 or 16	8, 12, 16 or 24
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)	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)
Memory
Memory	3 GB, 6 GB, 8 GB, 12 GB, 16 GB or 32 GB	3 GB, 6 GB, 8 GB, 12 GB, 16 GB, 24 GB or 32 GB
Storage
Storage	640 GB to 1 TB	512 GB to 2 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.	Standard single 2.8 GHz quad-core Xeon W3530 (Turbo Boost up to 3.06 GHz) or two 2.4 GHz quad-core Xeon E5620 processors (up to 2.66 GHz; eight physical cores and sixteen threads in total). Maker factory upgrades are a single 3.2 GHz quad-core W3565 or 3.33 GHz six-core W3680, or two six-core X5650 at 2.66 GHz or X5670 at 2.93 GHz. Processor count means physical sockets; chip core and thread figures are per processor.
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.	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 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.	Single-processor systems have four slots and dual-processor systems eight slots for DDR3 ECC SDRAM. Memory runs at 1066 MHz with 2.8/3.2 GHz single and 2.4 GHz dual processors, or 1333 MHz with the six-core processors. Factory order tables list 3, 6, 8, 12 or 16 GB for single-processor systems and 6, 8, 12, 16, 24 or 32 GB for dual systems. The current maker support sheet gives higher supported upgrade limits of 32 and 64 GB respectively using up to 8 GB DIMMs; these are distinguished from the original factory rows.
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.	Four 3.5-inch cable-free drive bays with independent 3 Gb/s SATA channels and included carriers. Factory choices per bay are a 1 or 2 TB 7200 rpm hard drive with 32 MB cache, or a 512 GB SSD; up to 8 TB with four hard drives or 2 TB with four SSDs. Configurations list one selected drive, with optional additional drives described here. Optional Mac Pro RAID Card has 512 MB cache and 72-hour battery backup; SSDs are not compatible with this card in RAID or Enhanced JBOD mode. Standard 18x double-layer SuperDrive, optional second optical drive.
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.	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
Screen
Screen	None built in	None built in
Connections
Ports
Ports	5 × USB-A, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack	5 × USB-A, 2 × Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	1 Gb/s	1 Gb/s
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	–	802.11n
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	2.1 + EDR	2.1 + EDR
Front ports
Front ports	Two USB 2.0 ports, two FireWire 800 ports and a headphone minijack	Two USB 2.0 ports, two FireWire 800 ports and a headphone minijack
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.	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 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 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.
Speakers
Speakers	Internal speaker, front headphone output and optical/analogue audio input/output	Internal speaker and front headphone output; optical and analogue audio input/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.	Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad and Magic Mouse; optional Apple Wireless Keyboard, Apple Mouse or Magic Trackpad
Design and power
Type
Type	Tower	Tower
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	206 × 475 × 511 mm	206 × 475 × 511 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.	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.
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	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
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.	Apple gives operator-position sound pressure of 26 dB for the 2.8 GHz model and 25 dB for the 2.4 GHz dual-processor model at idle, 26 dB for both during hard-drive access and 37 dB during optical access. Sound power is 3.6 B at idle, 3.7/3.6 B during hard-drive access and 4.6 B during optical access.
Materials
Materials	Recyclable aluminium enclosure; BFR-free and internal cables PVC-free	Recyclable aluminium enclosure; BFR-free and internal cables PVC-free
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, power cord, Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad, Magic Mouse, USB keyboard extension cable, install/restore DVDs and documentation. Mac OS X Snow Leopard and iLife included; Mac OS X Server and professional applications optional.