- Apple will stop selling Mac Pro in Europe on 1 March

- Order by 18 February for delivery

- Resellers will be able to sell existing inventory after 1 March

- New 'pro product' by the end of the year

Apple has been forced to remove the Mac Pro from sale in Europe after an amendment to a safety regulation left the professional Mac incompliant.

Today the company has reached out to its sales and channel partners to confirm that orders for the Mac Pro must be placed by 18 February as the company will be unable to ship the model to these countries from the 1 March.

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.

18 February deadline to order Mac Pro

The Amendment 1 of regulation IEC 60950-1, Second Edition goes into effect on 1 March throughout the EU countries and the EFTA trade zone.

Apple told Macworld that it wished to warn customers and partners about the change so that they would have sufficient time to order Mac Pro units and meet any needs prior to 1 March.

Apple confirmed that the deadline for orders would be 18 February since it will need to ship units by 28 February.

If customers and channel partners wish to purchase a Mac Pro they must order by 18 February to ensure delivery prior to 1 March.

Apple emphasised that reseller partners will be able to continue to sell Mac Pro products that they have in inventory after 1 March. However, Apple won't be able to ship its pro Mac into those countries.

Concerns about future of Mac Pro

News that Apple is taking the Mac Pro off sale in Europe will no doubt raise concerns from the professional Mac market. While the Mac Pro received a minor update following WWDC last summer, the last significant update was in 2010 and that has lead to speculation that Apple will retire the Mac Pro.

However, Apple CEO Tim Cook laid concerns to rest in an email to a customer last year in which he stated:

"Our Pro customers like you are really important to us. Although we didn't have a chance to talk about a new Mac Pro at today's event, don't worry as we're working on something really great for later next year. We also updated the current model today."

Where the safety regulation applies

The IEC 60950-1 amendment 1 applies to EU countries and EFTA states who follow those requirements.

This means that the full list of countries includes:

EU countries:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom

Countries on the road to EU membership:

Croatia, Iceland, Montenegro, Serbia, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey

European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries:

Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland

Apple emphasised that countries outside of these areas are not impacted and Mac Pro will continue to be available worldwide.

The company also confirmed that it would continue to support the hardware and software so that customers who require service parts of have any issues should have no concerns as far as maintaining parts and existing equipment.

Apple also emphasised that the Mac Pro is the only Mac product affected by this. "Our entire Mac line is compliant with this amendment 1 standard, with the exception of Mac Pro," said the company.

Apple sent the following communication to the channel

Mac Pro no longer sold in EU Countries after March 1, 2013

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 will take final orders for Mac Pro from resellers up until February 18th for shipment before March 1, 2013.

Countries outside of the EU are not impacted and Mac Pro will continue to be available in those areas.

Follow Karen Haslam on Twitter / Follow MacworldUK on Twitter

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