Apple developed two Mac Pro models in recent years that never made it to market, according to BloombergIt’s Mark Gurman.
In his latest “Power On” newsletter, Gurman revealed that Apple developed two unreleased Mac Pro projects named J170 and J190 internally before shutting down the machine entirely.
As for new Mac Pro hardware, two additional Apple-developed models never saw the light of day: J170 and J190. The first was a new Intel Corp. Mac Pro (yes, even when Apple made its own silicon) to meet certain uses. The latter was an M3 Ultra version which was due to launch alongside the M3 Ultra Mac Studio in early 2025.
The J170 was apparently a new Intel-based Mac Pro, which is notable because Apple had already completed its transition to Apple silicon by the time the project was in active development. Gurman didn’t specify what “certain uses” the Intel model was intended to address, but its existence suggests that Apple explored maintaining an x86 option for specific professional workflows, even years into the Apple silicon era.
The J190, meanwhile, was supposed to be an M3 Ultra-powered Mac Pro that was supposed to launch alongside the M3 Ultra Mac Studio in early 2025, but Apple shelved it before release. It would have combined the same chip found in this Mac Studio with PCIe expansion slots unique to the Mac Pro line.
Neither model shipped, and Apple completely discontinued the Mac Pro this year, ending its 20-year run. The Mac Pro had been left on the aging M2 Ultra chip from 2023 while the Mac Studio continued to receive updates, and was priced about double that of a similarly configured Mac Studio, despite offering essentially the same performance.
The J170 and J190 cancellations add to a growing list of sidelined Mac Pro plans. Apple had also developed variants of “Extreme” chips, processors with twice as many CPU and GPU cores as Apple’s Ultra chips, for a future Mac Pro before abandoning those plans for cost and demand reasons.
Gurman said he doesn’t expect Apple to bring back the Mac Pro “in the near future, if ever.” Apple should instead update the Mac Studio with M5 Ultra chips this fall.
