Mac Pro 2019 MPX Module (GPU) Unexpectedly Easy To Upgrade

Today Apple released a set of videos about their also-newly-released Mac Pro. This is the Mac Pro for late-2019, revealed back in June of 2019. The focus of the most interesting of these videos is the "plug-and-play Mac Pro Expansion Module", aka the "MPX Module", a piece of hardware that Apple says "adds extra graphical power to your Mac Pro." This is the way you switch out your GPU and replace it with a new GPU – it's made to appear simple.

Per the documentation that goes with the system, "All you need is an MPX Module and a Phillips screwdriver." You'll also want some basic knowledge of what's going in and coming out of this amalgamation of parts, but even then – this whole process was designed to be extremely easy on the mind and the muscle. For a company that's been notoriously hesitant to release products that can be modified by users, this might feel a little strange.

Inside the Mac Pro 2019, you've got a whole bunch of PCI Express expansion slots. In the mix are four double‑wide slots, three single‑wide slots, and one half‑length slot preconfigured with the Apple I/O card. One of the first "MPX Modules" available for this machine contains an AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo graphics card. Also compatible are MPX Modules with Radeon Pro Vega II Duo, Radeon Pro W5700X, and Radeon Pro 580X graphics cards.

At launch, when this article is set to go live, Apple has three MPX Module units available for purchase in the Apple Store. There's a Radeon Pro Vega II MPX Module available for $2800 USD, a Radeon Pro Vega II Duo MPX Module for $5600, and a Promise Pegasus R4i 32TB RAID MPX Module.

Take a peek at our original reveal (first look) feature on the Mac Pro for 2019. You'll see some Apple Pro Display XDR action there as well.

Given that the wheels alone cost $400, how much do you suppose this Mac Pro 2019 will cost you? See the full run-down over at our Mac Pro 2019: Prices, options & the maxed-out monster feature.

ALSO above you'll find a video from Apple Support about the simple process of inserting new memory sticks into the Mac Pro 2019. This might seem obvious to people who've been modifying and building their own PC units for decades, but given the massive amount of cash one must spend to own one of these Mac Pro 2019 units, it's best to be sure that all mods be as by-the-book as possible.