Mac Pro to be banned from Sale in Europe

Starting March 1st, Apple will no longer be able to sell its flagship desktop Mac, the Mac Pro within EU countries. Although not as popular as they once were, Mac Pros are the favourite choice of gamers with money to burn, especially given the possibility to upgrade the graphics card, and install other peripherals, relatively easily.

As reported by MacWorld, a new EU directive means that the fans inside the Mac Pro will no longer be compliant to safety regulations:

Apple told Macworld that the amendment to the IEC 60950-1 regulation increases requirements around electrical port protection and the fan guards in the system.

The Mac Pro met the previous standards prior to the amendment 1 addition. Apple told us that it considers the Mac Pro to be a very safe and very reliable product.

At issue are the large fans within the Mac Pro. Since they are unprotected, it would be possible to touch the fan blades.

According to Apple, the new requirements necessitate fan guards and some increased protection on the ports on the electrical system.

Apple resellers will be able to sell remaining inventory, but anyone in Europe wishing to buy a Mac Pro directly from Apple will need to place their order before February 18.

On the bright side, perhaps this will give Apple the incentive to update the Mac Pro’s 3 year-old design to include new chipsets, USB 3 and Thunderbolt, in line with their other Mac lines.

UPDATE: Macrumors has received information that a new Mac Pro will arrive in “Spring 2013”.

Advertisement

Your thoughts on this?