Apple Mac Pro workstation line pulled from sale in Europe

Posted on 1 Feb 2013 at 10:21, by Gareth Halfacree

Apple has warned its European retail partners that they won't be receiving any more stock of its high-end Mac Pro workstation machines, as the system fails to meet amended product safety guidelines.

According to a letter sent to Apple's Europe-wide retail distribution partners and analysed by Macworld, the Mac Pro desktop fails to meet amendments made to the IEC 60950-1 regulations, which come into force in Europe on the 1st of March. The regulations, designed to ensure product safety, include requirements for all fans to have safety guards fitted - which the Mac Pro does not have - and for electrical connection points to have more protection than is available on Apple's professional-grade workstation line.

The Mac Pro makes up a tiny proportion of Apple's revenue, eclipsed by the money the company makes from tablets, smartphones and laptops. While the system was impressive enough when it was first launched with an Intel processor in 2006, Apple has been quietly ignoring it for years - despite continued rumours of a ground-up redesign, which Apple has publicly promised will appear some time this year following its absence in the company's 2012 launch schedule in favour of an incremental update to the system's internals.

Apple claims not to be abandoning the market, however: despite ceasing all Mac Pro orders from its customers in the EU from the 18th of February, it will continue to make the system available internationally. Its promised update for the Mac Pro, due later this year, will also likely include design tweaks that will bring it into line with EU regulations and allow it to go back on sale.

Apple has further promised to continue to support EU-based Mac Pro owners with the usual warranty service, and to supply spare parts and accessories as normal.

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