I think at this point the best way to address the small section of people who actually need a Mac Pro would be to have an external box that people can plug their PCIe cards into.

I can't really see Apple doing this themselves though. But maybe they'd get LaCie/Promise/Sonnet/OWC to produce some that Apple explicitly endorse and commit to supporting really well in macOS.

I know all those companies already have such boxes, but how well do they actually work with Apple Silicon Macs ? (I know for example that Apple Silicon Macs have no support for external GPUs)

In reply to a post by Pheasant:

Wonder what they’ll announce. Plenty of rumours.

it will be interesting to see, but I doubt I will buy anything else by Apple, I am happy with my Mac mini and hopefully it will last for a few good years.
A friend of mine who has a dustbin Mac pro is looking at updating, but I think she will go for a Mac mini M2 pro, the only problem is the monitor she has got is the older thunderbolt and I don't think the new ones work with it.

All that is needed is a Thunderbolt 1/2 to 3 adapter. £49 for the official Apple one - cheaper than a new monitor.

She should be able to use her older Thunderbolt display with any Apple Silicon machine.

She'll need a Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 adapter to make it work though.

https://amzn.to/3MQNpMV

In reply to a post by TinyMongomery:

All that is needed is a Thunderbolt 1/2 to 3 adapter. £49 for the official Apple one - cheaper than a new monitor.

Only £27.97 at Amazon https://amzn.to/3MQNpMV

Good price for the genuine article. Ther are cheaper third-party offerings, but probably not worth it for the sake of a few quid.

In reply to a post by TinyMongomery:

Good price for the genuine article. Ther are cheaper third-party offerings, but probably not worth it for the sake of a few quid.

Given its likely DP over "alt mode" that is used for the critical service, the picture.

There is a surprising amount going on in that unassuming "cable".

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Apple+Thunderbolt+3+...

Including three separate DC to DC converters !?

Though I guess a lot of that is probably not being used when the handshake happens to say, just send DisplayPort data...

In reply to a post by andynormancx:

There is a surprising amount going on in that unassuming "cable".

https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Apple+Thunderbolt+3+...

Including three separate DC to DC converters !?

Though I guess a lot of that is probably not being used when the handshake happens to say, just send DisplayPort data...

Always wondered why the 'hump' in that adapter was so.....humpy 😅 Thanks for sharing.

In reply to a post by andynormancx:

In reply to a post by TinyMongomery:

All that is needed is a Thunderbolt 1/2 to 3 adapter. £49 for the official Apple one - cheaper than a new monitor.

Only £27.97 at Amazon https://amzn.to/3MQNpMV

cheers peeps, I will let her know for when she decides to update., To be honest the dustbin Mac is still going strong.