Apple is reportedly preparing to discontinue the Mac Pro in Europe following a change in regulatory standards. MacRumors reports that Apple on Thursday informed European distributors that it would be stopping sales of the Mac Pro in Europe and several other countries as of March 1. The reason for the discontinuation of the Mac Pro is said to be new regulatory requirements.
"As of March 1, 2013, Apple will no longer sell Mac Pro in EU, EU candidate and EFTA countries because these systems are not compliant with Amendment 1 of regulation IEC 60950-1, Second Edition which becomes effective on this date. Apple resellers can continue to sell any remaining inventory of Mac Pro after March 1," Apple said in a statement obtained by MacRumors.
Though Apple says it will no longer sell the machine in Europe as of March 1, the company is actually only taking online orders for another few weeks. The company says it will accept online orders until February 18. MacWorld writes that the new regulation applies to the power provided to the Mac Pro's I/O ports and the placement of its fan guards. No other Apple computer is affected by the new regulations.
While the Mac Pro certainly isn't the most popular Apple machine (the iMacs and MacBook lines are updated far more regularly), it's still rather surprising to learn Apple would rather discontinue the Mac Pro than come up with a version that complies with the new regulations. Then again, with a new Mac Pro due later this year, perhaps there's not much point tweaking the old model for new regulations.