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Topic: Apple

Apple to stop shipping Mac Pro to Europe from March

Summary: Apple's Mac Pro tower does not meet with Europe's electrical standards.

Liam Tung

By Liam Tung |

Apple will stop shipping its up-to 12-core tower, the Mac Pro, in the EU from next month.

Sales of the Mac Pro are being put on hiatus as it fails to comply with local regulations on electrical equipment. The Mac Pro's fans and ports are the likely candidates for non-compliance with Amendment 1 of the regulation IEC 60950-1, Second edition, which comes into effect on 1 March.

mac-pro-story
Sales of the Mac Pro are being halted in Europe. Image: Apple

"Due to evolving regulatory requirements, Apple will stop selling Mac Pro in EU, EU candidate and EFTA countries on March 1, 2013. After that date, resellers can sell existing inventory but Apple will no longer ship Mac Pro in those countries," Apple said in a statement emailed to ZDNet.

The regulation affects sales of the Mac Pro in all 27 EU member nations and countries in the European Free Trade Association, including Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

Many Apple users are unlikely to be familiar with the Mac Pro tower, which is more commonly used for high-demand computing jobs like video editing.

The quad-core Pro retails in the UK from £2,049 and the 12-core beast costs £3,099. Apple last updated the range in 2010 and the line's next update is not expected until "later" in 2013, according to comment by Apple chief Tim Cook in June last year.

Besides the older Intel processors installed on the Mac Pro, notable missing features in the current Mac Pro include SATA III, USB3 and Thunderbolt, which allows data transfer speeds of 10Gbps and doesn't require hardware necessarily to be within the tower itself.

A Facebook petition demanding Apple update the Mac Pro launched last May at the time of writing had 18,939 Likes, which is 900 more than it did last June.

Topics: Apple, Hardware, EU

Liam Tung

About Liam Tung

Liam Tung is an Australian business technology journalist living a few too many Swedish miles north of Stockholm for his liking. He gained a bachelors degree in economics and arts (cultural studies) at Sydney's Macquarie University, but hacked (without Norse or malicious code for that matter) his way into a career as an enterprise tech, security and telecommunications journalist with ZDNet Australia. These days Liam is a full time freelance technology journalist who writes for several Australian publications, including the Sydney Morning Herald online. He's interested primarily in how information technology impacts the way business and people communicate, trade, and consume.

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19 comments
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  • Substandard Overpriced Junk!

    I'll take two - not!
    Mujibahr
    Reply 8 Votes

    • Owning a 2009 Mac Pro,

      it's THE best-designed hardware coming out of Apple and by a big margin.

      The case, the power supply, hard drive expansion, you name it.

      And you don't get overheating and other problems, unlike with the iMacs and MacBooks...
      HypnoToad72
      Reply Vote

  • No USB3 or SATA III?

    That's pretty piss poor.
    CaviarGreen
    Reply 9 Votes

  • More likely due to poor sales,

    but Apple won't say that straight out.

    I read that nobody buys those big things anymore. Better to get a Mac Mini if you need an Apple computer.
    William Farrel
    Reply 6 Votes

    • Not true

      There's still a market on the high end. The problem is that market is very small. I imagine a new Pro will come, though. It's not in Apple's interest to ignore the market. It's nice being known as the goto platform for serious video editing. It's a market worth subsidizing, though I'm sure it makes a profit, with hardware and Apple has plenty of money to do so.
      jpolk84
      Reply 2 Votes

  • When ignorance is bliss ...

    EU regulations as effective from March 1 on require fans (also internal ones) to have the blades covered by a mesh or grille. The current Mac Pro does not have this precaution. That's all, folks!
    financegozu
    Reply 2 Votes

    • Elf and Safety

      Sounds like EU health and safety regulations gone wild as usual
      kirts
      Reply 4 Votes

      • Try living in the regulation-free utopia known as China

        But do read up on pollution, worker abuse, toxic products, and everything else before you start drinking the water or cleaning the air...

        People are so gung-ho on our idiotic economic monster that they'd rather wheeze and rot... forgive me for no longer having sympathy to those that eschew common sense, freedom, and other things they know naught of...
        HypnoToad72
        Reply 1 Vote

    • You forgot...

      You forgot about the part that the ports are not meeting safety regulations.

      Even the cheapest E Machine meets those standards...
      Snarfiorix
      Reply 2 Votes

  • Linux Hardware - yeah right

    It's almost amusing to see someone that just has to comment but has nothing to say that relates to the article.
    Just like it's almost amusing to see a 3 year old chld trying to get attention from parents when they're in a conversation with other adults.

    What does Linux have to do with a Mac Pro & EU electrical Standards? For the sake of this artice, Linux is irrelevant.
    The article is discussing hardware, Not an OS.
    inkwell
    Reply 3 Votes

    • FreeBSD, technically...

      And if the hardware didn't have MacOS, who would buy it?

      One tangent on top of another, except mine ties the two together... ;)
      HypnoToad72
      Reply Vote

  • Oh great :o(

    So if I want a Mac Pro spec machine then my only option in the UK will be a Hackintosh?

    Top marks to Apple for that!
    Lord Minty
    Reply 1 Vote

    • Read between the lines...

      They are updating the line sometime this year anyways... June is typically a dead zone in their annual release cycle... They've been very clear that they consider the Mac Pro to be safe and that the eu regulations are silly.

      They'll issue an eu mod to comply if the replacement isn't out soon enough. What they will not do is change the line now. Why? We'll let us just say that some of their global markets have a different attitude to litigation than many eu member states. If they change the case outside Europe they risk being sued for selling a dangerous product, or having people intentionally stick their finger in a spinning fan to sue them. Then there's the brand image to consider; they sell largely on image alone "it's not safe" isn't quite up there with Tony's "they're great" is it?

      At the end of the day it's a business product that sells in very low numbers. It's market is very niche: independent film and photo companies mostly. It also has incredibly little competition in it's market, but it is a sort of white elephant. It's a business product that sits in stores to remind you what they can build.

      Still seriously, apple aside, if you're liking ports or sticking your fingers in a spinning blade, I don't think the eu can save you!
      MarknWill
      Reply Vote

      • Tim Cook sent an email about "something special"

        That letter didn't directly say "shiny new Mac Pro". It said "something special". As with any marketing, the letter makes allusions. Not direct statements that would force the company to keep its word (but MS broke its words by reneging on Vista Ultimate features and nobody seemed to care and justice was not served to the customers, so why cares?)
        HypnoToad72
        Reply Vote

  • The day is coming ,,,,

    when it will be illegal for children under the age of 18 to watch TV without a helmet.
    trm1945
    Reply 4 Votes

  • Give me a break

    With over $100 billion in the bank your telling me Apple couldn't have updated this platform prior to this new regulation? All this says to me is they don't care.
    eye4bear
    Reply 2 Votes

    • Apple is about helping itself and its profits, not customers

      These companies are not altruistic.

      The fact Apple is offshoring engineering jobs to other countries only adds more proof. And the old excuse of companies where "Offshoring means we pass the savings to you" certainly won't be said now.

      Parasites. That's the system people are supporting.
      HypnoToad72
      Reply Vote

    • And don't forget the corporate welfare we're paying

      to subsidize them with.
      HypnoToad72
      Reply Vote

  • Apple must lack the resources to fix things...

    Or just go over to countries without regulations, pollute and fry the place, and then shift the blame onto customers and everyone else who isn't management. Simple.
    HypnoToad72
    Reply Vote
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