The short answer is yes, some models of the Mac Pro do come with water cooling. Apple first introduced a water cooling system in the 2019 Mac Pro model. This was a major change from previous Mac Pro computers which relied solely on air cooling. The water cooling system allows for better thermal performance to handle the heat generated by high-end processors and graphics cards in the Mac Pro.
What is water cooling?
Water cooling, also known as liquid cooling, uses water or a water-based coolant to remove heat from computer components. A liquid cooling system consists of water blocks, tubing, a radiator, pump and a reservoir. The water blocks are mounted onto key heat-generating components like the CPU and GPU. The blocks absorb the heat which gets transferred to the coolant fluid. The fluid flows through the tubing to the radiator which dissipates the heat. Fans blow air over the radiator fins to exhaust the heat from the system. The cooled fluid then flows back to the components and the cycle repeats.
Water cooling is a more efficient method of heat transfer compared to traditional air cooling. Water has a much higher specific heat capacity than air, allowing it to absorb more heat. Radiators also have a larger surface area than regular heatsinks for better dissipation. This allows a water cooling system to keep components cooler even when under heavy workload. Quieter operation is another advantage since the radiator fans can run at lower speeds than air cooling fans that have to run at high speeds to remove large amounts of heat.
Water cooling in the Mac Pro
The 2019 Mac Pro comes equipped with a custom water cooling system for the CPU and GPU. It is designed and built by Apple specifically for the Mac Pro. The system has a stainless steel housing with an aluminum heat exchanger. It uses a centrifugal fan to flow coolant and employs a baffle system to evenly distribute liquid across the components. The pump is also integrated into the housing for a compact design.
The main benefits of the Mac Pro’s water cooling system are:
- Allows for Xeon processors with up to 28 cores and up to 1.5TB of memory configurations which produce immense amounts of heat under load.
- Enables powerful workstation-class AMD Radeon Pro graphics cards up to Radeon Pro W6900X with 64GB VRAM without thermal throttling.
- Runs whisper-quiet even when taxed unlike noisy air cooling fans.
- Provides 500W of cooling capacity allowing sustained clock speeds under demanding workloads.
The extensive water cooling system in the Mac Pro can tame the heat from the most powerful hardware configurations possible in the machine. It is a necessity for a high-performance workstation where heavy rendering or computing tasks are routine.
Previous Mac Pro generations relied on air cooling
Prior to 2019, all previous Mac Pro generations utilized air cooling systems. This included the classic cheese grater models from 2006 to 2012 and the cylindrical 2013 Mac Pro.
These older Mac Pros had aluminum heat sinks to dissipate heat from the processors and other components. High airflow fans channeled air through the heat sink fins. While reasonably effective for the hardware of their time, air cooling limited how much heat could be dissipated. This prevented the use of more powerful hardware that would exceed the cooling capacity.
The older Mac Pros did have some advantages like being completely fanless when idle. Under load though, the fans had to spin very fast and get quite loud to remove the heat. So air cooling performance and noise level tradeoffs prevented a no-compromise workstation experience.
Why liquid cooling was needed for the 2019 Mac Pro
The 2019 Mac Pro introduced a revolutionary system designed for pros who need extreme performance. It supports Xeon processors with up to 28 cores, 1.5TB of memory, dual Radeon Pro GPUs up to W6900X and Afterburner ProRes accelerator card. This level of power was simply not possible with air cooling alone.
The thermal design power (TDP) or maximum heat dissipation of the components adds up to over 1KW for a fully loaded Mac Pro. No air cooling system can realistically handle that level of heat, even with fans running at extremely high speeds. The Mac Pro needs a custom liquid cooling system for optimum efficiency and quiet operation.
Water cooling was necessary to unlock the full performance. The large 28-core Xeon processors would severely throttle under air cooling. Likewise for the GPUs which need massive heatsinks barely fitting into the Mac Pro case. Water cooling can extract all the heat to enable peak performance under sustained workloads. This level of reliability allows pros to get their work done faster no matter how demanding the task.
How the water cooling system works in the Mac Pro
The Mac Pro has a very well engineered water cooling system custom designed by Apple. It consists of several components seamlessly integrated for silent and reliable operation.
The key components that make up the system are:
- Water blocks – These are mounted directly onto the CPU, GPUs and Afterburner card to absorb heat from the chips.
- Radiators – Large heat exchangers with fins to dissipate heat into the air. Each radiator has 4 fans for high airflow.
- Coolant lines – Flexible tubing that connects the components into a loop for fluid circulation.
- Pump – Maintains smooth coolant flow throughout the loop.
- Reservoir – Holds excess coolant to prevent air bubbles in the system.
The system functions by having the water blocks extract heat from the hot components. The coolant fluid carries this heat through the lines into the radiator. The radiator fans provide ample cold airflow to cool the fluid. The pump keeps it circulating smoothly back to the blocks completing the loop. The reservoir accounts for any fluid expansion ensuring optimal performance.
The Mac Pro supports multiple GPUs, each with their own dedicated water cooling loop. The reservoir, pumps and one of the radiators are integrated on top of the case for a clean look. The fans run at very low speeds for quiet operation rather than noise associated with air cooling. Custom control software dynamically adjusts pump and fan speeds based on workload and coolant temperature.
Thermal benefits
The water cooling system enables the Mac Pro to have exceptional thermal capacity of 1.4 kilowatts of heat dissipation. Some key benefits this provides:
- Run the Xeon processors with 28 cores at full 3.5GHz turbo boost speed for long durations. No thermal throttling.
- Maintain base clock speeds of 1200-1500MHz on the Radeon GPUs even under load.
- Operate the DDR4 memory at full 2933MHz speed without any heat issues.
- Ability to run dual Radeon Pro Vega II GPUs that have over 500W TDP together in one system.
This level of thermal performance simply would not be possible with air cooling. Liquid cooling removes heat fast enough to deliver true workstation-class power. It allows the Mac Pro to significantly outperform PCs with only air cooling and weaker hardware.
Is water cooling necessary for Mac Pro?
Water cooling is absolutely essential for the Mac Pro to achieve its level of no-compromise performance. Even the base configurations with 8 core Xeon processor and Radeon Pro 580X GPU require liquid cooling.
The standard stainless steel housing encloses the pump, tubing, radiator and fans needed for base configurations. Without this, the system would thermal throttle and have loud fan noise under load. So water cooling really is a mandatory aspect of the Mac Pro even at starter specs. It sets the essential groundwork for further upgrades.
Configuring the Mac Pro with more cores, memory, GPUs and accessories adds substantial heat load. This is where the water cooling system truly shines by handling it with ease. More powerful hardware can be added without worrying about excessive heat buildup. So liquid cooling ensures both the reliability of base configs and the scalability to maxed out systems.
Upgrading cooling in Mac Pro
One of the benefits of the Mac Pro is the modular and upgradeable design. This extends to the cooling system as well which can be upgraded for high performance configurations:
- MPX Modules – These house additional Radeon Pro GPUs and each module has its own dedicated cooling loop with water block, pump and tubing.
- Afterburner Card – Has a self-contained water block to liquid cool the Afterburner ProRes accelerator card.
- Extra radiators – The case can accommodate additional radiators to boost heat dissipation capacity.
When maxing out the CPU cores, memory, GPUs, PCIe cards and storage, the standard cooling may need upgrading. Apple provides various options to scale up cooling to match the heat produced. This ensures all components stay as cool and silent as base configurations. Custom cooling loop designs are possible for specialized needs.
Is the water cooling user upgradable?
The water cooling system in the Mac Pro is not user upgradable. The pumps, tubing, coolant, radiators and fans form a closed loop system that cannot be accessed or customized. The sealed design prevents any leaking or maintenance needed by the user.
While users cannot modify the actual liquid cooling loop itself, some components attached to it can be changed. For example, the CPU or GPU water blocks can be swapped if those components are upgraded. The MPX Modules for extra GPUs also bring their own contained cooling loops. So in that sense, the capacity of the cooling system is expandable.
Overall it is not a fully custom loop where users can select their own parts and configure the routing. But the modularity does allow Apple’s integrated cooling system to be augmented to match upgrades to other hardware in the Mac Pro.
Reliability of water cooling system
Some users may be apprehensive about liquid and electronics mixing in a computer. However, Apple’s implementation in the Mac Pro is engineered for high reliability and requires no maintenance by the user.
The cooling system uses a non-conductive coolant so there are no risks of short circuits. The tubing is durable yet flexible braided stainless steel that will not degrade or puncture. The fittings and sealing are designed never to leak. All components are quality tested to endure many years of reliable operation.
The cooling system has redundancy with two pumps so if one failed, the loop still runs. The fans also have backup circuits in case any fail. The sealed loop requires no refilling or draining of coolant over the lifespan. No user maintenance is needed whatsoever.
Apple provides a solid 10 year limited hardware warranty on the water cooling system. This underlines the confidence in its durability and leak-free operation for many years of service. For pros who need consistent 24/7 uptime, it offers peace of mind.
Noise level of water cooling
A major benefit of liquid cooling is the whisper quiet acoustic performance, even when under heavy load. The Mac Pro’s cooling system uses large, slow turning 140mm fans that generate minimal noise.
At idle, the fans run very slowly so the noise output is almost imperceptible. Under load, the sound rises slightly but remains very subtle due to the quality fans. Users report the Mac Pro running fully loaded staying around 18 dBA which is remarkably quiet. This noise level allows it to operate in office environments without any distraction.
This is a huge improvement over air cooled systems where tiny fans have to spin at high speeds to remove heat. The blazing fast RPMs make them get loud very quickly when taxed. Liquid cooling eliminates that issue by using coolant transfer and large radiators to silently shed heat.
Conclusion
The 2019 Mac Pro revolutionized professional computing by introducing an advanced liquid cooling system. This enables workstation-grade performance with Xeon chips up to 28 core, 1.5TB memory, dual Radeon Pro GPUs and PCIe accelerator cards. Water cooling can reliably and silently remove the massive heat load produced under full load.
Previous Mac Pro generations relied solely on air cooling which had insufficient thermal capacity for the most powerful modern components. The limitations of airflow and noise levels prevented further improvements.
Apple’s custom designed water cooling system in the Mac Pro sets new standards for workstation performance and upgradability. It enables configs not possible on air cooling alone while running whisper quiet. The unique modular design provides flexibility to grow the cooling capabilities in line with upgraded hardware down the road.
For professionals who demand no compromises in computing power, the Mac Pro and its advanced thermal architecture delivers. It finally fulfills the dream of silent top-tier workstation capabilities in one elegant machine.