Apple Mac Pro first look

Apple on Monday announced the new Mac Pro, a computer that Apple's biggest fans have been waiting for. Make no mistake, this is not a regular Mac for consumers. Instead, it's for professional film makers and musicians.

And Apple made a lot of changes that those customers have been asking for.

One of the biggest changes is more ability to customize the Mac Pro for special purposes. The new Mac Pro allows owners to add more power, whether it's additional RAM or graphics or audio components that they couldn't fit inside the last Mac Pro. That computer was last updated in 2013 and had a unusual circular design that made it hard to add these components.

The new Mac Pro looks like a traditional desktop computer, albeit with a unique design that looks a bit like a cheese grater.

It's this tower design that allows for the customization, though, and fans of the first Mac Pro may appreciate some throwback design cues, like the handles on the top and optional wheels.

On stage, Apple showed a variety of impressive demos, such as running three 8K videos at full resolution simultaneously. That's not something most consumers would ever need to do, and indeed, the Mac Pro's price shows exactly who it's for. It starts at $5,999 with an 8-core Xeon processor, 32GB of RAM, 256GB of hard drive space and Radeon Pro graphics. And that price will climb considerably as you add more power. Plus, it does not come with a screen.

Apple's new 6K Pro Display XDR costs $4,999. -- and that's before you add a $1,000 stand.

Again, this is a computer for audio-video professionals. Most consumers will get the power they need from an iMac, an iMac Pro or even a laptop like the MacBook Pro, all of which are more affordable. The Mac Pro begins shipping this fall.

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