苹果公司承认，Mac Pro的设计是一场失败的赌博

导读:震惊！苹果公司竟然承认Mac Pro设计有问题，或自行生产GPU，那么Mac Pro又该何去何从？

Apple has acknowledged that the design of its standalone desktop computer, the Mac Pro, restricted its ability to update the model.

苹果公司坦承，其独立桌面电脑—Mac Pro的设计，限制了该款电脑更新换代。

The firm has announced a limited refresh of the machine, the first time it has upgraded its innards since 2013.

该公司发布了一条该机型改动不大的更新，这是从2013年以来第一次升级内部结构。

But it said it would not be able to release a "new model" until an unspecified point after 2017.The tech firm had faced criticism that it was not addressing the needs of its professional users.

但是，苹果公司说Mac Pro新机型的发布要延长到2017年后的某一天。苹果公司也因此受到了很多指责，因为现在的电脑版本并不能解决那些专业用户的需要。

It released a new line-up of MacBook-Pro-branded laptops in October, but was attacked for not including more powerful graphics cards in them and for removing several of the ports found in earlier models.

苹果公司在10月份的时候发布了一系列称为“MacBook-Pro”的笔记本电脑，但是因其没有更加先进的显卡，并且移去了一些原有接口，而饱受人们诟病。

One expert said the latest announcement would reassure graphic designers, video editors, scientists and other power users that Apple was not abandoning them to focus on iPads and iPhones, which outsell the Macs.

一位专家声称，最新的公告会让平面设计师、视频编辑、科学家还有很多高要求用户相信，苹果并没有放弃他们，而去关注那些销量相对多的iPad平板电脑和iPhone手机。

Apple’s engineering chiefs told a small group of journalists - which did not include the BBC - that the company had been constrained as a consequence of how it had expected graphics chip technology to develop.

苹果的总工程师告诉不包括BBC的一小部分新闻工作者，苹果公司受到显卡芯片科技的限制，他们十分渴望着这项科技的进步。

The firm had believed it would become more common to use multiple graphics processing units (GPUs) to carry out complex tasks. The Mac Pro was designed to use two in parallel.Instead, component-makers have focused on designing parts that maximise the output of a single GPU and give out more heat as a result.

苹果公司坚信，运用多个图形处理单元完成复杂任务的方法会成为主流。Mac Pro运用两个平行的图形处理单元。然而，零件制造商专注于提升单一GPU输出功率，结果却是相比之前产热更多。

This caused problems for the trash-can-like design of the machine. It did away with the multiple heat sinks and fans found in earlier Mac Pros, and instead used a single triangular piece of aluminium to conduct heat away from its processors, helping it to run more quietly as a result.

这给设计的犹如垃圾桶一般的机器带来了问题。它去除了早期Mac Pro的多重散热片和风扇，并采用一个三角形铝片进行散热，因此达到运转过程中噪音更少的目的。

The way the system is architected, it just doesn’t lend itself to significant reconfiguration for somebody who might want a different combination of GPUs.

有人也许期待GPU的不同组合，但这个系统的构建初衷，不是为了这些人而进行的重大的重新配置。

The refreshed models add more powerful CPU (central processing units) and dual-GPUs than before. But otherwise little has changed, including a lack of USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 ports common to Apple’s other high-end systems, which offer data speed benefits.

更新的型号使用了更加强大的CPU（中央处理器）和双重GPU。但是其它部分改变不大，包括缺少USB-C接口或Thunderbolt 3接口。这些接口在苹果其它的高端系统中很常见，它们可以提高数据传输速率。

I think it was simply untenable for Apple to continue to remain silent on the Mac Pro front, commented the tech blogger John Gruber, who was also invited to the meeting.

“我认为苹果一味地在Mac Pro的阵线上无所作为是岌岌可危的”科技博主John Gruber 评论说。他也被邀请到了会议现场。

This is the second time in a week that Apple has been in the news because of GPUs.

这是在一周之中，苹果公司第二次因为GPU上新闻了。

On Tuesday, Imagination Technologies - the British designer of GPUs for its smartphones and tablets - revealed that Apple planned to go it alone and design its GPUs in-house

周二，一家为苹果设计手机和平板电脑GPU的英国芯片设计商--“想象力技术”透露，苹果计划自行设计GPU。