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Mac Pro teardown shows 'removable' Intel processor

The new Mac Pro packs a processor that can be removed from the system by a user and upgraded, according to a number of reports.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor
Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
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Mac Pro internals.
Mac Pro internals. Apple

A teardown of the new Mac Pro indicates that the Intel processor may be removable, offering the tantalizing prospect of user upgrades, according to reports.

Apple blogs reported on Friday that a teardown reveals that the Mac Pro is socketed, which typically means the processor can be removed from the system by the user and upgraded.

For some users, that could obviate the need to upgrade the entire system down the road.

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Here's what MacRumors said: "The Intel Xeon E5 processor found in the Mac Pro is indeed removable, allowing for future upgrades. All...CPUs for the new Mac Pro use the same LGA 2011 socket standardized on the Mac Pro's motherboard."

As CNET Reviews noted in its initial review, the $2,999 base model Mac Pro gets you a quad-core 3.7GHz Intel Xeon processor, 12GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and AMD D300 FirePro graphics. Upgrades possible when you order a system include a six-core Xeon CPU and a 12-core processor.

"The new Mac Pro is a professional workhorse dressed up in a very appealing high-design package. It's a stretch to say this is a computer for casual consumers, but the starting price isn't more than you'd pay for a similarly configured Windows PC," said CNET Reviews.

Speaking of features, the teardown site OWC posted a photo earlier in the week showing the Mac Pro driving six 27-inch displays, according to MacRumors.