Mac Pro 2020 Not-$400 Wheels

From the minute the 2019/2020 Mac Pro was announced by Apple to have a starting price tag of $6,000, we all joked that the optional wheels would likely be $100 a pop.

That joke became reality as Apple charges $400 for them. Furthermore, as of the date this is being published, you can’t actually buy the wheels directly from Apple unless configured as such from the factory. You are able to send them into an Apple Authorized Service Provider for post-sales installation but that’s hardly ideal. Apple has stated they will be coming out with a consumer kit in the near future, but as someone who has pulled apart the entire Mac Pro, I don’t think accessing the feet will be very easy unless Apple invents some new tool. My disassembly video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQGfVFpMpuQ

This design exists for a few reasons:

1. we didn’t really feel like paying $400 for wheels
2. we thought Apple’s own design was lackluster for a few reasons; most notably, Apple’s wheels/casters do not lock and thus the computer can just roll away willy nilly
3. we wanted to be able to quickly switch from feet to wheels dependent on scenario
4. DIY projects are fun

This design calls for any threaded caster or wheel that has a thread diameter/depth of M8 (8mm 5/16″). I would suggest that the caster you select remain as short as possible (as the feet alone make Mac Pro very tall) and I would also suggest you do not exceed a 22mm (7/8″) screw length unless you plan on trimming. I used these generic office chair casters; however, you can choose any design you want (including wheels that lock!) so long as they meet the above suggestions: https://amzn.to/3bHjJhj

There are three models included in this project:

1. Mac_Pro_Upper slides on in between the bottom of the aluminum chassis and the top of the metal foot
2. Mac_Pro_Lower has two dimples to help tighten the screw in piece if the threads are too tight; however, we found ourselves usually just sticking a wrench into the open sections to tighen/loosen the screw-in piece
3. Mac_Pro_Aesthetic is, well… for the A E S T H E T I C ! ! ! This part is just cosmetic to place in the open crack so that the feet look a little less… well… you can see how they look

Last thing to note, I would suggest printing in very strong/rigid filament with minimal flex. We used polycarbonate and it was probably overkill (though totally awesome!), but ABS or PETG should also do the trick. PLA probably isn’t recommended because it has the tendency to stress-fracture easily with severe lateral pressure on the wheels. With polycarbonate, we were spinning the Mac around the room in a “ring-around-the-rosie” type scenario without even the slightest issue—it was that strong!

We partnered with gracious viewer Tal Volk who both came up with the idea for the wheels and also helped us by executing the 3D modeling with many revisions per our suggestions/findings. He’s a stud. Thanks, Tal.