Other World Computing has reported that processor upgrades are possible for Apple’s new cylindrical desktop known as the Mac Pro. It is unknown if Apple is planning to offer users an option to upgrade the processors in the new Mac Pro as new Intel CPUs compatible with this socket are released, or if this just happens to be something that is a by-product of simply installing a better CPU that is socket compatible.

OWC replaced the stock Xeon 3.6GHz 6-core processor with Xeon E5-2667 Version 2 8-core processor clocking in at 3.3GHz. It worked, and the testing proved that the replacement CPU provided a performance increase of 30% over the stock processor that Apple had installed. Currently, Apple is only offering 3 different processor configurations with one 6-core, 8-core, and 12-core options.

The fact that users are able to select another CPU option that is more powerful is great, but because of the cost of Intel Xeon processors it will not come cheap.