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Free download Cricut Design Space Cricut Design Space for Mac OS X. Cricut Design Space is a free companion app for designing and wireless-cutting with Cricut Explore design-and-cut systems. You can create a project from scratch or browse. Mac or Linux: install with sudo easyinstall pip (Mac or Linux) - or (Linux) find a package called something like 'python-pip' in your package manager. Windows: install Distribute then Pip using the linked.MSI installers. For git: Mac: install Homebrew first, then brew install git. Windows or Linux: see Installing Git from the Pro Git book.

Introduction

To mark the first anniversary of my wildly successful blog post (garnering tens of thousands of views), The Definitive Classic Mac Pro (2006-2012) Upgrade Guide, I'm proud to announce a sequel. The Definitive Trash can Mac Pro 2013 upgrade guide started in jest on social media as the guide no one wanted, seeing as the Mac Pro 2013. The 2013 Mac Pro is a tale of hubris for Apple, as it over-promised and under-delivered, and is considerably less upgradeable than its predecessor. Is there a need or demand for such a guide? I don't know, but here we are, and while the origins are jocular the rest of this guide is serious. While most users (and Apple engineers) probably prefer moniker 'cylinder,' the trash can title stuck due to its obvious physical characteristics.

The Mac Pro 2013 has the dubious honor as the longest produced Macintosh, besting the Macintosh Plus produced from 1986 to 1990 without an upgrade. The 2013 Mac Pro was conceived as the original Mac Pro's successor, eschewing the modularity for a (debatably) stylish and radical redesign. After a few positive reactions by publications for its foreign looks, it quickly became snubbed for its lack of upgradability, stability, and Apple's complete and absolute antipathy (verging on enmity) towards it.

The Mac Pro 2013 has been prone to an abnormal rate of failures due to heat, with a nameless Apple exec quoted as saying, 'think we designed ourselves into a bit of a thermal corner if you will'. Apple also took steps to extend its repair program, but problems persist. Despite the naysayers, the Mac Pro 2013 isn't without its fans (no pun intended), as at the time of its unveiling, it was a powerful, quirky computer in a diminutive form factor. Despite its limited upgradability, the computer is a modular design, and nearly every part of significance can be replaced. Only the 2019 Mac Pro since it has allowed for the range of user servicability (although the iMac 5k is a close second). It's the bridge to a by-gone era, where CPUs and storage and even GPUs were removable. Perhaps the 2019 Mac Pro a return to PCIe, but more than likely, 2013 will be the template.. Edit: The Mac Pro 2019 marks an expensive return to PCIe.

Know your Mac Pro Models

The Mac Pro line debuted in 2006 and has had six major iterations by Apple's nomenclature, 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1, 5.1, and 6.1. These are also generally referred to by year, 2006 (1.1, 2,1), less commonly 2007 (2,1), 2008 (3,1), 2009 (4,1), 2010-2012 (5,1) and 2013 (6,1). The other terms for these computers are divided between 'Cheesegrater' (2006-2012) and 'Trash can' (late 2013) or 'Cylinder'. For this guide's purpose, I will refer to the Mac Pro 'trash can' as 2013 (as does much of the internet). Please note This guide only covers the 2013 Mac Pro.

Please note This guide only covers the 2013 Mac Pro. For all other models, I've written a massive guide, The Definitive Classic Mac Pro (2006-2012) Upgrade Guide.

Configurations

Apple has only shipped a grand total of 3 base configurations with a fourth build-to-order option for the 12 core CPU. Apple has only made one minor change in the past six years to the Mac Pro 2013 by removing the original base configuration and lowering the remaining models' prices.

• Apple Mac Pro 'Quad Core' 3.7 GHz, 12 GB of RAM, 256 GB SSD, and dual FirePro D300 2 GB of GDDR5 (4 GB total). Discontinued April 4, 2017*
• Apple Mac Pro 'Six Core' 3.7 GHz, 12 GB of RAM (16 GB after April 4th), 256 GB SSD, and dual FirePro D500 3 GB of GDDR5 (6 GB total). Discontinued April 4, 2017*
• Apple Mac Pro 'Eight Core' 3.0 GHz, 12 GB of RAM (16 GB after April 4th), 2256 GB SSD, and dual FirePro D500 6 GB of GDDR5 (12 GB total).
• Apple Mac Pro 'Twelve Core'* 2.7 GHz, 12 GB of RAM (16 GB after April 4th), 256 GB SSD, and dual FirePro D500 6 GB of GDDR5 (12 GB total). This is a build to order option only.

CPU Upgrades

Apple has never acknowledged the upgradability of the Mac Pro CPU, but the Mac Pro 2013's CPU is not soldered in thus making it upgradeable. Only four CPU configurations were offered by Apple, E5-1620v2, E5-1650v2, E5-1680v2, and the E5-2697v2, but users soon discovered that the E5 v2 family was compatible. Unlike the previous Mac Pros, the Mac Pro 2013 was only offered in a single CPU configuration.

From personal observation, the E5-2697 can be found cheaper on eBay and local used markets (in the US) vs. the E5-2695 is considerably cheaper on aliexpress. This varies based on your local markets, as the European markets tend to be much more expensive than North America.

Credit to the CPU list goes to Mac Rumors forum member ActionableMango.

Useful Links

GPU Upgrades

Yes, the Mac Pro's GPUs can be swapped out, but only three different GPUs were ever produced for it, the AMD FirePro D300 2 GB, D500 3 GB, or D700 6 GB. Apple has kept tight control on these (any official repairs require the GPUs to be returned to Apple), and thus few-to-none exist on the aftermarket, and the two higher GPUs are prone to failures thanks to a wattage ceiling. For most intents and purposes, it is cheaper to buy a Mac Pro 2013 than to track down two GPUs. Apple discontinued the entry-level Mac Pro 2013 that sported the D300. All-new Mac Pros sold after April 4th, 2017, have either a D500 or D700.

For other GPU options, see the eGPU section.

Useful Links

OS Upgrades

Currently, the Mac Pro 2013 is still supported hardware (as it should be as Apple stopped selling it only in 2019), but the relatively low sales likely mean it may be dropped in future Mac OS updates. It can run Mac OS 11.x Big Sur but does not support Sidecar (as of yet).

Notably, all 32-bit binaries are no longer executable, meaning users of legacy software should really check before upgrading.

Firmware upgrades

The Mac Pro 2013 has had a few firmware upgrades. Unlike previous Mac Pros that a firmware upgrade allowed for faster CPUs/RAM, AFPS, and NVMe booting for certain models, the Mac Pro 2013 has been more meager. The MP61.0120.B00 boot ROM included support for NVMe booting (found in the High Sierra update). Most recently, the boot ROM version 128.0.0.0.0 was included in the 10.14.4 Developer Preview. With some firmware upgrades, some users found 4k displays no longer supporting 60 Hz, which requires an SMC reset and removing the offending PLists, see the useful links below. Previously the updates were distributed separately from the OS ,but in 10.13+. they are distributed with OS.

• 10.14.2: 127.0.0.0.0
• 10.14.4: 130.0.0.0.0 - removes requirement for Apple SSDs to perform firmware upgrade
• 10.14.6: 131.0.0.0.0
• 10.15.3: 134.0.0.0.0
• 10.15.4: 135.0.0.0.0
• 10.15.5: 136.0.0.0.0
• 10.15.6: 137.0.0.0.0
• 10.11.1: 426.0.0.0.0

Notable, some users cannot update the bootrom without the Apple SSD. It's recommended hanging onto the original SSD with a copy of MacOS to perform Firmware updates.

To check your firmware version, go to About This Mac -> System Report, it will be listed on the first creen under Boot Rom.

Useful Links

• Apple.com: Mac Pro EFI 2.0 (released Dec 19, 2013) - This update improves system reliability during reboot, resolves an issue with memory self-test, and improves graphics power management when using Boot Camp.
• Apple.com: Mac Pro SMC Firmware Update 2.0 (released Feb 26, 2014) - This update enables Mac Pro to enter Power Nap without running the fan for most Power Nap activities, and addresses a rare issue where a low-speed USB device may not be detected at boot.

Storage Upgrades

There's a large number of external storage upgrades for the Mac Pro 2013, from USB 2.0/3.0 to ThunderBolt 2.0, and listing them all would be an exercise in futility. What's important to understand is that there are many multi-drive enclosures, spanning everything from RAID to multiple SSDs. External SSDs perform well in Thunderbolt 2, able to achieve roughly 1.2 GB/s depending on the storage solution in various tests.

Internally, The Mac Pro does feature one SSD slot, using a custom Apple SSD running at PCIe 2.0 x4, capable of a maximum of 2 GB/s. Very few native third-party solutions exist, but they are out there, by makers like OWC and Transintl.

That said... users have figured out how to shoe-horn NVMe drives in the Mac Pro offering top-tier performance and much better prices. Unfortunately, no one has taken the time to compile a list, so the known so far are: Samsung 960, Samsung 970 Pro, Toshiba XG3, and Crucial P1. Samsung released a firmware fix for certain models as well, including the 970 Pro,

The Mac Pro 2013 uses the same interface as the 2013-2015 MacBooks. There's a cottage economy of NVMe adapters now floating around. The first adapters that users tackled, such as the GFF M.2 PCIe SSD Card, required a bit of filing and tape to successfully mount the card, which users on MacRumors were able to pull off. NVMe with ST-NGFF2013-C; Vega Internal GPU; Mac Pro 2013 (6,1). Later adapters like the Sintech NGFF m.2 NVMe SSD adapter do not require modification. The quick summary is you'll need a Mac Pro running 10.13+, an adapter, and an NVMe SSD with a Sintech adapter. If you, for some reason, choose the GFF adapter, you'll need tape, a file, and some free time.

Currently, the only vector for multiple M.2 NVMe drives internally is the Amfeltec Angelshark Carrier Board. This keeps the original port intact and thus allows for three internal NVMe drives.

Working SSD list

This list is from MacRumors by the user maxthackray, so all credit goes to him. Generally, it can be assumed that NVMe drives will work long as they do not use 4k sectors by default.

• Adata NVMe SSD : SX6000, SX7000, SX8200, SX8200 Pro etc.
• Corsair NVMe SSD : MP500, MP510
• Crucial NVMe SSD : P1
• HP NVMe SSD : ex920, ex950
• OCZ RD400 (and all Toshiba XG3-XG4-XG5-XG5p-XG6 line)
• Intel NVMe SSD : 600p, 660p, 760p etc.
• MyDigital NVMe SSDs : SBX - BPX
• Kingston NVMe SSD : A1000, A2000, KC1000
• Sabrent Rocket
• Samsungs Polaris NVMe SSD : 960 Evo, 960 Pro, 970 Evo, 970 Pro
• WD Black NVMe SSD v1, v2 and v3

Drives in red require, NVMe drives with 4K sector sizes which require changing.

Incompatible NVMes

• Samsung PM981
• Samsung 950 Pro
• Samsung 970 Evo Plus*

*Firmware update fixes this particular SSD

Useful Links

RAM/Memory upgrades

Officially most sites list the maximum ram for the 2013 as 128. The Mac Pro 2013 uses PC3-15000 DDR3 ECC (1866 MHz) RAM, with 4 RAM slots. The Maximum DIMM size is 32 GB. Maxing out the RAM can be a somewhat pricey endeavor, but sites like aliexpress and eBay, meaning this can be done for under $450 USD.

ThunderBolt 2 to PCIe

There's a fair amount of options today on the market like the Sonnet Technologies Echo Express SE1 - 1 PCIe Slot (roughly $200), and it scales up rather quickly.

The biggest modifications to the Mac Pro 2013 aren't internal, but rather massive PCIe enclosures that generally cost in the $1500-4000 range, making them often as expensive as the computer itself. There are a few options on the market, slike the Sonnet xMac Pro Server, which adds three full-length PCIe slots (you can see it on youtube), and the absolutely absurd JMR Quad Slot Expander adding 4 PCIe slots and 8 drive bay just to name a few. For the truly curious, you can see the JMR expansion system innards.

Not all PCIe enclosures support eGPUs. I've included in the eGPU section is a list of enclosures that support GPUs.

Additional Notes on Thunderbolt 2

There's a wide variety of Thunderbolt 2 products, chiefly storage systems (including RAID setups), and ThunderBolt 2 docks still on the market. Due to the sheer amount, I'm unable to list them all, but it's important to remember that a fair amount of functionality missing from the 2013 Mac pro can be recaptured with Thunderbolt 2 like previously mentioned, PCIe slots, eGPUs, and the like.

The Mac Pro 2013 to date includes the six Thunderbolt ports, the most found on any Mac before or since. To obtain peak performance, it's recommended that displays be connected separately from other high bandwidth utilities like external storage.

The Mac Pro 2013 can drive three 4k displays or six 2560 x 1600 displays, and with the June 16, 2015 firmware update, three 5k displays (using two ThunderBolt ports and the HDMI port) internally.

Thunderbolt 3 / USB 3.1c

The Mac Pro 2013 can't be upgraded to Thunderbolt 3 bus speeds, but that doesn't mean it can't use Thunderbolt 3 / USB 3.1c devices (at the speed of Thunderbolt 2). Apple has a Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter, which is bi-directional, meaning the same adapter can also be used for Thunderbolt 3 Macs to use Thunderbolt 2 devices. Notably, not all Thunderbolt 3 devices are backward compatible, so you may want to check with the manufacturer for compatibility.

eGPUs

It's nearly impossible to talk about the Mac Pro 2013 without mentioning eGPUs. Mac OS now supports AMD eGPUs (almost) natively, and macOS 10.14.x does not allow for modern nVidia support making it nearly a one-way path in eGPU. NVidia support for later eGPUs is limited to a maximum of Mac OS 10.13.x, and that does not appear to be changing due to a disagreement between Apple and NVidia. Unless this changes, this guide will not list Mojave incompatible NVidia eGPUs, despite the later GPUs being supported in Mac OS 10.12.x and 10.13.x. Currently, the RX (580x, 570x) line and the Vega (Vega, 48, 56, FE ) line by AMD are Mojave compatible, and the Keppler line by NVidia is Mojave compatible. The eGPU.io community has a searchable database. If going for an eGPU, I highly recommend upgrading to Mac OS 10.13+ as it includes more native support, thus much easier to set up, to the point of being (nearly) plug and play.

Note: All Thunderbolt 2 Macs require disabling SIP and running Purge Wrangler to enable eGPU support.

Lastly, Catalina requires some changes with eGPUs, and I highly recommend, epgu.io - State of epgu for Macs - Catalina 10.15, the short answer is PurgeWrangler continues to be the most common vector for support.

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AMD GPUs

Note: Minimum OS list required may not be correct, please contact me if incorrect

macOS 10.14 Mojave Supported NVidia eGPUs - Only Keppler series GPUs are supported

• GTX 650
• GTX 660
• GTX 670
• GTX 680
• GTX Titan

*eGPUs require Mac OS 10.12 or above.

Confirmed working Enclosures with Mac Pro 2013: Note there may be more.

• Akitio Thunder2
• AKiTiO Node
• Asus XG Station 2
• Blackmagic eGPU
• Mantiz Venus
• Razer Core X
• Sonnet Breakaway 350

Useful Links

Cooling

Outside of the extreme JMR solutions PCIe slot Rackmount cases, Mac Pro 2013 cooling solutions remain pretty slim. Pro Cooling Base by SPEED Designs is the only other solution I'm aware of designed specifically for the Mac Pro. Most users elect to use various laptop cooling pads to place under Mac Pros (which do seem to help). If anyone has any information about physical mods or Mac Pro 2013 specialty cases, I'm all ears, and please reach out to me (see the bottom of this post).

Useful Links

Repairs

The Mac Pro 2013 earns the distinction of sporting a modular design. There's not a lot to say here since iFixit gave it an 8 out of 10 for repairability and has pretty much every part in its Mac Pro Late 2013 Repair Guide. If you can do it, they probably have a beautiful step-by-step pictorial guide.

Mac Pro 2013 won't sleep

MacRumors members note that Hand-off can affect a 2013's ability to sleep. Disabling seems to be the fix.

Communities & Blogs

You're not alone. There are more people out there than you'd think who still love the Mac Pro 2013.

• MacRumors Mac Pro Forum - The center of the Mac Pro universe.
• MacProUpgrade - a private but very popular facebook group, primarily classic 'Cheesegrater' Mac Pro users with some 2013 users.
• Mac Pro Users - another major FaceBook group for Mac Pro users, smaller but still helpful, and it has the benefit of being public too (no sign-up process and can be browsed without a facebook account).
• eGPU.io - The go-to place for eGPUs.

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Collected Articles

Buying used Mac Pro 2013s

Most forums when this question is posed is don't. The chief reasons are: price and stability. The updated Mac Mini may have a soldered on CPU and storage, but with the Core i7-8700B is much faster than the 12 Core Mac Pro in single-core performance and spitting distance of the multicore in Geekbench scores, and packs Thunderbolt 3, which is double the bandwidth for the inevitable eGPU, and comes with USB 3.1c support out of the box, and doesn't have a history of frying itself. Plus, it's new, comes with a warranty, and is even smaller. Then there's the iMac 5k, which has an upgradeable CPU making for faster than the base iMac Pro when tricked out too. I personally would not buy a Mac Pro 2013 with much better and cheaper alternatives. The 2009-2012 Mac Pros, which pack oodles more upgrades and stupidly better GPU options, or the aforementioned Mac Mini, even with an eGPU, would be roughly the same cost of a lower end used 2013. Unless the used market prices drastically change, the Mac Pro 2013's shortcomings are too significant to make me ever consider one.

Always make sure the computer is able to output video before buying. Next to the lower the AMD GPU model, the more chance it will remain problem-free. Unfortunately, Apple stopped selling the D300 Mac Pros long ago, so it's better tracking down a D500 model. Next up, many users have placed their Mac Pro 2013s on laptop coolers to help with the thermals. Due to the exceptionally tiny case, there are no internal cooling hacks beyond turning the fan up using 3rd party software. Lastly, have an exit strategy, you may live a full problem-free existence with a 2013 Mac Pro, but you may also end up with it's GPUs failing. Apple has closed its free replacement program as of April 2018 for the GPUs, and internet prices list anywhere from $700-$1200 from Apple or authorized service centers to replace the GPUs. At this price, it is effectively cheaper to buy a replacement Mac Mini. Working GPUs in the 3rd party sector are virtually impossible to find, and the rare ones that pop up fetch the price of Apple replacements. To be fair, this is the same problem laptop users face. While it is common sense, if you contract or freelance or work where you provide your own hardware, always have a plan that minimizes downtime. Despite being a modular design, the most failure-prone component is the absolute hardest to replace due to the lack of any inventory. Also, Apple quotes 3-5 days for a Mac Pro 2013 GPU replacement. This isn't to say it will fail, but there's plenty of horror stories on the internet. This could be the case relatively small, vocal group, but the general consensus is that the Mac Pro 2013 is not the most stable design.

Changelog

Due to the ever-evolving list of possible upgrades and hacks, this guide is a living document. Thus the information contained may change. I've included a robust log of recent changes to help repeat visitors discover new content. Making and maintaining this guide takes a fair amount of work, and feedback from users is greatly appreciated to make this the most accurate/best guide possible. If you have new information not included here, suggestions, corrections, or edits, please feel free to contact me at: blog@greggant.com. I get a fair amount of questions.I try to answer them as best I can. I'd recommend asking the MacRumors forum or MacProUpgrade group first as I'm just one person vs. the collective intelligence of a community. Notably, I do not own nor have I ever owned a Mac Pro 2013 (not that I wouldn't take one, but it is cost-prohibitive), so anyone who can provide more accurate information, please do!

01/22/21 - Added list of the firmware updates that have been released with note about firmware. Added cooling base station info, slightly edited intro, copy editing to remove typos.

05/12/20 - Massive GPU list updated. SSD updated. Catalina notes on eGPU updated. Minor visual update.

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10/15/19 - Added note on Catalina and 32-bit + firmware versions. Badly needed copy editing.

10/07/19 - It's catalina time. Added OS Section, fixed an error about max RAM, included RAM specs, included link to the Amfeltec NVMe M2 adapter. Added another two links to eGPU section.

07/05/19 - Added notes on sleep issues, mild intro update.

05/07/19 - a second update, Thanks to the feedback of Brennan F and Daniel C for feedback on SSDs and eGPUs and some copy editing to boot.

05/07/19 - First release and one year anniversary of my first Definitive Mac Pro Upgrade Guide. Fun fact, this guide is over 2300+ words whereas my other guide is 13,000+ words. Part of the amount of writing can be chalked up to having to discuss different models, five in total, spanning 6 years. This guide covers another 6-year span and only one model. It goes to show how upgradeable the previous Mac Pros were and how much less Apple has cared about them since.

I recently worked on something where a design requirement was to build a good snapshot restore option but not to use Time Machine backups. You can capture a snapshot of a Mac without enabling Time Machine. To do so, you’d still use the same binary as you would with Time Machine, /usr/bin/tmutil. To do so, simply use the snapshot verb as follows:

/usr/bin/tmutil snapshot

Once you’ve run that, you get output similar to the following:

Created local snapshot with date: 2019-04-12-110248

Now you have a snapshot that can be used to restore a Mac using the steps shown in this article: https://maclovin.org/blog-native/2017/restoring-from-a-snapshot-with-apfs.

You can make a snapshot at the provisioning time of a Mac and then see that snapshot at any point by awking for the first line in a list of snapshots, unless it’s been deleted:

snapshot=`tmutil listlocalsnapshots / awk -F '.' '{print $4}' head -1`

Now when it comes to making it simple for end user restores, there’s a few gaps. The first is that you have to boot with Command-R and can’t build a scripted restore option. So the following won’t work on a machine with SIP:

sudo nvram boot-args='-x'; restart

You can prune the list of snapshots so it’s simple for a user to pick the right one though. To see a list of all your snapshots for the current boot volume, use that listlocalsnapshots verb:

tmutil listlocalsnapshots /

This provides the output as com.apple.TimeMachine.2019-04-12-110248 and when deleting snapshots you don’t need the com.apple.TimeMachine. portion of that string, so to delete the last snapshot we’ll gather it into a variable with the following:

snapshot=`tmutil listlocalsnapshots / awk -F '.' '{print $4}' tail -1`

Alternatively you can list snapshots with the diskutil command, using the apfs option and listSnapshots verb, followed by your boot volume as follows, but the output isn’t pretty:

diskutil apfs listSnapshots disk1s1

Once you’ve parsed the service name portion out, you can then delete a given snapshot using the deletelocalsnapshots verb with tmutil:

tmutil deletelocalsnapshots 2019-04-12-110248

Or to use that snapshot variable:

tmutil deletelocalsnapshots $snapshot

So I can present the user, when they try to revert, with a shorter list of snapshots, hopefully helping them to select the right one. But, I can only do a scripted restore if I’m actually using Time Machine and I have a volume taking those backups. If I’m doing a snapshot restore I have to restart the Mac holding down the command- R keys and then once booted in recovery mode, select the snapshot and wait for the restore.

Booting into recovery mode takes a long time so seems like something you’d teach the desktop techs to do rather than expect users to do a-la-“Erase all Contents and Settings” button. The whole process takes about 20 minutes because of how long it takes to boot into this state and revert.

It’s actually just as quick to do a full reinstallation. This can be as simple as using the startosinstall --eraseinstall command, which provides a number of options. It seems silly to load up a whole new operating system when you have one there, but assuming you have decent internet speeds, it’s just as fast to do so. There’s even a gui wrapper for it to make the whole process easier for your users at https://scriptingosx.com/2018/10/eraseinstall-application/ which could then be provided in tools like Managed Software Center and Self Service. You could also try and remove all user and app data using a script but that has turned out to be a lot of moving parts that requires constant updates.

If you were to opt into a snapshot-based restore option, it’s also worth noting that if you have outdated certificates, outdated passwords, outdated software, etc, that it can be problematic. So we’re pretty much right back to erase-install.

Other people have gone down this same rabbit hole:

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• https://grahamrpugh.com/2018/03/26/reinstall-macos-from-system-volume.html
• https://www.jamf.com/jamf-nation/discussions/26716/summer-2018-wiping-student-systems

So my initial goal was to create an article on doing an elegant restore process for the Mac, where you script more of it and provide a better experience. But alas, I have failed ya’. Sorry. Do you have a better way? If so, please comment!

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