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Cylinder Mac Pro Q&A - Updated May 2, 2017
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What are all the differences between the standard "Late 2013" Mac Pro models? What are all the differences between the standard and custom configurations of the "Late 2013" Mac Pro line?
On April 4, 2017, Apple made modest changes to the "Late 2013" Mac Pro lineup. This Q&A has been updated with the latest.
Although essentially no differences are obvious, there are significant differences between the original stock "Late 2013" Mac Pro models -- the Mac Pro "Quad Core" 3.7 and Mac Pro "Six Core" 3.5.
There are also significant differences between the standard configurations and the custom processor configurations, which EveryMac.com refers to as the Mac Pro "Eight Core" 3.0 and Mac Pro "Twelve Core" 2.7 for reader convenience. There are a number of similarities between these models that are important to note, as well.
On April 4, 2017, Apple quietly discontinued the entry-level Mac Pro "Quad Core" 3.7, dropped the price of the Mac Pro "Six Core" 3.5 (which became the new entry-level model), and made the Mac Pro "Eight Core" 3.0 a standard configuration both at a lower price point and equipped with more powerful dual AMD FirePro D700 graphics processors with 6 GB of GDDR5 memory each by default. The Mac Pro "Twelve Core" 2.7 still is offered as a custom configuration, but it now is available at a lower price.
Photo Credit: Apple, Inc. (Late 2013 Mac Pro, Left - Exterior Back, Right - Interior)
External & Connectivity Similarities
All "Late 2013" Mac Pro models share the same small cylinder case design (a mere 9.9 inches tall and 6.6 inches in diameter). Although it appears matte black in the promo photos above, it is a highly glossy dark silver or "Space Gray" color in person and only really looks almost black in low light.
Each model has the same extensive high-speed ports for external expansion, designed to face away from you. However, the port icons and outlines light up when you rotate it toward you to plug in a peripheral. A nice touch.
In particular, these models have six Thunderbolt 2 ports, one HDMI 1.4 UltraHD port, four USB 3.0 ports, and two Gigabit Ethernet ports in addition to 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0. Each supports as many as three 4K displays or six Thunderbolt displays.
Identification Differences
There is no mistaking the "Late 2013" Mac Pro models for earlier ones as the "Late 2013" line uses a radically different case design. It would be common for subsequent systems to use a similar design. However, on April 4, 2017, Apple essentially apologized and promised that the company would be "completely rethinking the Mac Pro" and would return with a new "modular design" scheduled for release sometime after 2017, so in this situation, proper identifiers barely are needed.
Nevertheless, the "Late 2013" Mac Pro models can be collectively identified externally by the A1481 Model Number listed along the outer edge of the bottom metal plate as well as the also external 2630 EMC Number.
In software, the "Late 2013" Mac Pro models also can be collectively identified by the MacPro6,1 Model Identifier. To locate the model identifier, select "About This Mac" under the Apple Menu on the computer, click the "More Info..." button, and finally click the "System Report" button.
EveryMac.com's Ultimate Mac Lookup feature additionally can identify the "Late 2013" Mac Pro models by their serial numbers. As always, EveryMac.com has diligently hand documented all of these identifiers for your convenience.
More information about specific identifiers is provided in EveryMac.com's extensive Mac Identification section.
Internal Similarities & Differences
Internally, the layout of each system is the same with a whisper quiet fan on top and a heart "designed around an innovative unified thermal core" as Apple boasts. Each system has multicore "Ivy Bridge-EP" based processors, support for as much as 64 GB of 1866 MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM (PC3-15000) memory (four slots), a single "blade" PCIe-based SSD, and dual "workstation class" graphics processors.
The memory and SSD both can be upgraded easily and the graphics cards are removable and at least theoretically could be upgraded. However, as the system design has been discontinued and the graphics cards are proprietary, it is a safe bet that no aftermarket company will bother designing custom graphics cards for such a small customer base.
The processors, L3 cache, and graphics processors vary by model as does the standard RAM. Specifically, these differences are as follows:
Mac Pro |
Processor |
L3 |
Graphics x2 |
RAM |
4 Core Xeon E5-1620v2 |
10 MB |
2 GB FirePro D300 |
12 GB |
|
6 Core Xeon E5-1650v2 |
12 MB |
3 GB FirePro D500 |
16 GB |
|
8 Core Xeon E5-1680v2 |
25 MB |
FirePro D300/D500† |
16 GB |
|
12 Core Xeon E5-2697v2 |
30 MB |
FirePro D300/D500† |
16 GB |
* This model was discontinued on April 4, 2017.
† These models could be configured with either AMD FirePro D300 or D500 graphics. Via custom configuration, all of the "Late 2013" Mac Pro models can be upgraded to dual AMD FirePro D700 graphics, each with 6 GB of GDDR5 VRAM, too. Starting on April 4, 2017, the standard configuration of the Mac Pro "Eight Core" 3.0 has an AMD FirePro D700 graphics processor by default (MQGG2LL/A).
OS X Support Similarities
All of the "Late 2013" Mac Pro models originally shipped with OS X Mavericks (10.9) pre-installed and are not compatible with earlier versions of OS X. They are fully supported by subsequent versions of the Mac operating system.
Comparison Charts
There have been two modestly different lineups of the "Late 2013" Mac Pro models.
Original Configurations
All differences between the original "Late 2013" Mac Pro models -- the Mac Pro "Quad Core" 3.7 and Mac Pro "Six Core" 3.5 -- processors, architecture, configuration, identifiers, and price -- are summarized below:
 "Quad Core" 3.7 |
"Six Core" 3.5 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Default Clockspeed: | 3.7 GHz | 3.5 GHz |
| Default Processors: | Quad Core (E5-1620v2) | Six Core (E5-1650v2) |
| L3 Cache: | 10 MB | 12 MB |
| Standard Memory: | 12 GB | 16 GB |
| Standard Video Card: | AMD FirePro D300 | AMD FirePro D500 |
| Video Memory: | 2 GB | 3 GB |
| Standard SSD: | 256 GB | 256 GB |
| Order Number: | ME253LL/A | MD878LL/A |
| Intro. Price (US): | US$2999 | US$3999 |
| Intro. Price (UK): | £2499 | £3299 |
| Intro. Price (CA): | C$3099 | C$4099 |
| Intro. Price (AU): | A$3999 | A$5299 |
2017 Reconfiguration & Price Cut
The differences between the current "Late 2013" Mac Pro models quietly changed on April 4, 2017 -- the Mac Pro "Six Core" 3.5 and Mac Pro "Eight Core" 3.0 -- are below:
"Six Core" 3.5 |
"Eight Core" 3.0 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Default Clockspeed: | 3.5 GHz | 3.0 GHz |
| Default Processors: | Six Core (E5-1650v2) | 8 Core (E5-1680v2) |
| L3 Cache: | 12 MB | 25 MB |
| Standard Memory: | 16 GB | 16 GB |
| Standard Video Card: | AMD FirePro D500 | AMD FirePro D700 |
| Video Memory: | 3 GB | 6 GB |
| Standard SSD: | 256 GB | 256 GB |
| Order Number: | MD878LL/A | MQGG2LL/A |
| Current Price (US): | US$2999 | US$3999 |
| Current Price (UK): | £2999 | £3899 |
| Current Price (CA): | C$3499 | C$4699 |
| Current Price (AU): | A$4899 | A$6499 |
For introductory pricing in dozens of other countries, see the "Global Prices" on the specs page for each Mac as well as the "By Global Original Prices" section of EveryMac.com.
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