If you’re buying a new Mac Pro with the M2 Ultra processor, there’s only one reason to spend thousands more than a Mac Studio: PCle expansion. Unfortunately, there’s already a problem. In a rare move, Apple has publicly acknowledged the existence of what sounds like a fairly annoying bug afflicting the tower’s internal storage.
In a support document published Wednesday, Apple addresses the possibility that owners of the new Pro could unexpectedly see the error message “disk not ejected properly.” This message would normally appear when an external drive is disconnected without ejecting it safely, but in this case refers to an internal drive.
The company explains there is a risk that an internal SATA drive could disconnect from the new Mac Pro after it wakes from sleep. The error may occur whether the Mac Pro is put to sleep manually or goes to sleep automatically. Apple doesn’t say whether the issue affects the data on the drive, which could become corrupt when improperly ejected.
There is a solution, but it’s not ideal. Apple says restarting the Mac Pro will cause it to be reconnected to the drive, and implies that preventing the device from going to sleep will avoid the bug in future. (Apple doesn’t say this explicitly, but offers advice on turning off automatic sleeping using System Settings.) Obviously sleep is a useful option for saving energy while still having the device be able to wake quickly, and we can’t imagine that customers who’ve spent at least $6,999 on the new Mac Pro will be pleased by this suggestion.
Apple says a fix for this issue is planned “for a future macOS update,” likely macOS 13.4.1. As ever, Mac Pro users should keep an eye out for software updates and be sure to keep your machine up to date.
The Apple Silicon Mac Pro is the only Mac that allows for any internal upgrades after purchase. The Mac Pro supports up to 8TB of storage, but can be expanded with one of seven PCIe slots. Apple sells the Promise Pegasus J2i 8TB Internal Storage Enclosure for $400, which lets you connect 8TB of SATA storage for your Mac Pro as well as after-market upgrade kits with 2TB ($1,000), 4TB ($1,600), and 8TB ($2,800) of storage. So this is potentially a very expensive issue.
The M2 Ultra version of the Mac Pro, the last of Apple’s Macs to switch from Intel processors, only went on sale this week so it’s likely that very few customers have already received one. The appearance of this support document so soon after launch suggests that some customers had a nasty surprise with their brand-new device, or that Apple has spotted the issue itself and wants to offer advance warning.
Author: David Price, Editor
David has loved the iPhone since covering the original 2007 launch; later his obsession expanded to include iPad and Apple Watch. He offers advice to owners (and prospective owners) of these devices.