Jason Hiner/

Back in 2019, I remember pondering whether a fully provisioned$52,599 Mac Pro was overpriced. Sure, it was expensive, but if you had the right workloads, it most certainly wasn't overpriced.

But how does the newM2 Ultra Mac Pro compare?

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M2 Ultra Mac Pro

The last in the Mac line to get the Apple Silicon upgrade, the Mac Pro offers something no other Mac can -- PCIe expansion for specialized workflows.

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Well, with a starting price of$6,999, the new Mac Pro starts out$1,000 more expensive than the Intel-based Mac Pro.

Not a good sign.

Also: All the Mac news from WWDC 2023 

But here's the strange thing. I can select all the options for the new Mac Pro, and I can't get anywhere near the$50,000 of the old system. 

In fact, a Mac Pro with a 24-core CPU/76-core GPU, 192GB of unified RAM, 8TB of storage, the$400 wheel kit, and a Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad thrown in is only$12,348.

M2 Ultra Mc Pro specs

Apple

So why is the new Mac Pro so cheap?

Well, first off, the old Intel-based Mac Pro could be fitted with 1.5TB of DDR4 ECC RAM, which at the time added a whopping$25,000 to the price. The twin Radeon Pro Vega II Duo graphics cards added another$10,000 to the price.

Oh, and there was the$7,000 for the 28-core Intel Xeon processor upgrade.

Also: Comparing the best Macs 

Compared to all this, those$400 wheels -- and I've seen them, and they're mighty fine wheels -- are a drop in the ocean.

The M2 Ultra Mac Pro is a much more streamlined system. 

There's a$1,000 processor upgrade that adds an extra 16 GPU cores, a bump of the unified RAM from 64GB to 192GB that adds$1,600, and a bump from 1 TB to 8TB of SSD storage that's an extra$2,200.

Oh, and the wheels. Those are still a steal at$400.

Also: How to preorder Apple's new MacBook Air, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro

Apple's switch away from Intel hasn't simply unleashed more power, it's also tamed the top-end price of the system.

If you still think that$12,348 just isn't expensive enough, remember that the Mac Pro can accommodate six Pro Display XDR units. Go for the nano-texture glass versions with the stand and those will add almost$42,000 to the bill.

Apple

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