This week, could we be reaching the end of the Mac Pro, and an iPhone scam to be aware of this shopping season...
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Is This the End for the Mac Pro?
Apple’s roadmap for the next year or two looks genuinely exciting. There are new devices on the way, some interesting surprises rumoured, and a real sense that Apple wants to push things forward again. But at the same time, there’s a quieter pattern forming in the background. A few products seem to be drifting away rather than moving ahead. The iPhone Air 2 has slipped further into the distance. The long term future of Vision Pro is looking very uncertain, with Apple appearing to put its attention into lighter glasses (inspired no doubt, by the success of the Meta Ray Bans) instead of a second generation headset. And now it looks like the Mac Pro might be the next product feeling the impact of that shift.
If you’ve never really followed the Mac Pro, you’re not alone. For most people, it's always been the mythical top end Mac that you read about but never actually buy. It was built for the small group of users who needed every drop of performance they could get. Think high end video editors, 3D artists, music producers running enormous plug in chains or researchers who relied on expansion cards and huge memory setups.
The Mac Pro’s story goes right back to 2006, when it replaced the Power Mac G5. For years it was the go to machine for serious professional work. Things changed in 2013 when Apple tried to reinvent it with the trash can model. It looked futuristic, but the internal layout trapped Apple in a thermal corner and they couldn’t push it much further. The criticism was so strong that Apple eventually sat down with pro users, acknowledged the mistake and promised a proper return to the classic tower.
That return came in 2019 with the cheese grater redesign. It felt like Apple getting back to what made the original tower great. It was modular, expandable and powerful enough to handle almost anything. It was also extremely expensive (as in, up to $52,000 expensive), but professionals were willing to pay for that flexibility.
Then, not long after releasing this high end Intel machine, Apple announced the move to Apple silicon. Within months, much cheaper Macs were outperforming it. For some customers who spent tens of thousands, the timing made the Intel Mac Pro feel outdated almost instantly. It felt like Apple had listened to pro users, only to slap them in the face.
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The Apple silicon Mac Pro arrived in 2023, and while it looked identical to the Intel model on the outside, it wasn’t the same kind of machine. You couldn’t upgrade the GPU or memory and the modular card options from Intel days were gone. Many professionals realised a fully specced Mac Studio offered almost the same performance without the enormous price tag. The audience for the tower narrowed again.
And this brings us to what’s happening now. According to Bloomberg, Apple has largely written off the Mac Pro, and the signs have been pointing that way for a while. The Mac Studio got the M3 Ultra earlier this year while the Mac Pro stayed on M2 Ultra. The planned M4 Ultra has now been cancelled, along with the Mac Pro model that would have used it. The next high end chip, the M5 Ultra, is being designed for the Mac Studio only, anticipated either late 2026, or early 2027.
Inside Apple, the view seems to be that the Mac Studio is now the flagship desktop. It’s easier to build, easier to cool and powerful enough for 99.9% of the people who once depended on the Mac Pro. Apple silicon is also a big part of the story here. These chips are tightly integrated, so you can’t swap out the GPU, add more memory or throw in specialist workstation cards. The old benefits of a modular tower simply don’t exist in the same way anymore.
Some analysts reckon the only way the Mac Pro could survive would be if Apple gave it something the Studio can’t offer. That might be specialist AI hardware or far larger memory configurations. But right now there’s no sign Apple is exploring that. If anything, the company seems to be streamlining the lineup, just like it did when the iMac Pro quietly disappeared, never to return.
At the moment, everything we’re hearing points in one direction. There’s no new Mac Pro on the way, no silicon designed for it and no strong expectation inside Apple that it will return. The Mac Studio has taken its place, and unless something changes behind the scenes, that’s unlikely to change.
For anyone who has followed the Mac Pro from the early days, it’s a strange moment. The tower has always symbolised Apple at full power, building a machine for the handful of people who needed absolutely everything. But priorities evolve and technology moves on. If the Mac Pro is really bowing out, it leaves behind a legacy that shaped an entire generation of creative work.
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Watch Out for This Clever Apple Support Hoax
With Black Friday in full swing and everyone hunting for deals, it’s a time of year when online activity spikes and scammers get a little more ambitious. While most of us are busy comparing prices and checking delivery dates, a new Apple themed hoax has been doing the rounds. Both Macworld and TechRadar have reported on it, and it's clever enough that it's worth knowing about, especially at a time when people are expecting more messages and alerts than usual.
According to Macworld, the scam combines real Apple notifications with fake ones, which is what makes it so convincing. In one example, a user suddenly began receiving genuine two factor codes from Apple, even though they hadn't tried to sign in anywhere. Almost immediately, an automated call arrived pretending to be Apple Support, warning that their account might have been compromised. This was followed by an email that looked like a real support case had been opened. The timing makes everything feel connected and urgent, even though only some of the messages are real.
TechRadar described the attack as one of the more sophisticated Apple impersonation scams seen this year. The attackers rely on the real Apple code arriving first, because once that appears in your inbox, you're far more likely to trust the messages that follow. The final step is a text message with a fake link. If you enter the verification code into that page, the attacker gains access to your Apple ID.
It's important to remember that this is not a technical breach. The attackers are not breaking into devices. They are trying to create enough confusion that you hand over a code that only you should ever see. Social engineering has always been effective, and in this case it's helped along by the fact that some parts of the interaction are genuinely from Apple.
The good news is that avoiding this type of scam is straightforward. If you receive a call from someone claiming to be Apple Support and you have not contacted them first, hang up and reach out to Apple directly. Apple will never ask you to read out or type in a verification code for them. If you receive an email saying a support case has been opened and you did not request one, do not click any links inside it. Go to your Apple ID page manually and check for any changes. And if a text or call tries to hurry you, treat that as a red flag straight away. Real support does not rely on pressure.
Scammers often take advantage of busy periods, and Black Friday is as busy as it gets. But once you know the signs, this hoax is easy to avoid. Stay calm, take a moment to check where a message has come from and never share a verification code with anyone. A tiny bit of caution is all it takes to keep your account safe.
Tip of the week
Did you know, that when you search for a place in Apple Maps, there are shortcuts that you can use, right from the place card? You can tap a button to get directions to that location, but you can also call the location right from the placecard. You can also share the location with another person.
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