In the Mac Pro, the main heat-generating parts – the CPU and graphics cards – are attached to a single, Toblerone-shaped heatsink that runs up the centre of the tubular chassis, with one component to each side. In a high-end workstation, it is usual for there to be a fair amount of heat to expel, which entails multiple fans to cool the power supply, to draw air into the box, cool the graphics cards and CPU, and further fans to pump the hot air back out of the box again, which often results in lots of noise. However, while shrinking everything down, Apple has also seen fit to redesign the traditional cooling system. You might think that squeezing a clutch of powerful components into such a small chassis (it really is compact, rising a mere 251mm from the desk and measuring 167mm in diameter) would be a recipe for disaster. Instead of everything sprouting from a single, monolithic motherboard, Apple has opted for a modular approach, with each major component mounted on a separate board. The Mac Pro is certainly eye-catching, but what’s really clever about the design of the Mac Pro is the way Apple has deconstructed the traditional desktop design. It reveals a suitably exotic interior, with four RAM sockets sitting in two spring-loaded banks on either side, and the system’s two graphics cards between them, one of which plays host to the system’s single PCI Express-based SSD. Flip a single catch next to the port panel, and (assuming all cables have been disconnected) it’s possible to pull the entire exterior sheath up and off, with a satisfying, Star Trek-esque whoosh.

The Mac Pro’s party trick, however, is how easy it is to open up. Cleverly, the labels and lines surrounding each individual group are backlit, illuminating when the system fires up, or whenever movement is detected – if you happen to have your Mac Pro stowed under a desk, it’s a nice touch that makes it easier to locate the port you’re looking for. Even this panel has been meticulously designed, with all Thunderbolt, USB and Ethernet ports all stacked in two columns.

2013 mac desktop