https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/17/apple-execs-on-developing-mac-studio-and-studio-display-for-the-other-pros/

The seeds of the Mac Studio were planted 5 years ago next month when, in a rare candid admission of misstep, Apple said it was pushing the reset button on the Mac Pro. Having painted itself into a “thermal corner,” Apple realized that it had to burn down the architecture it had created and start anew. 

One year later, it said that it had created the Pro Workflows Team, a group designed to interact with and gather information from professionals in creative, scientific and other fields to understand their work processes better. That information would go on to be used to develop 2019’s redesigned Mac Pro, a heavily modular system with some highly specialized optional components tailored to high end 3D design, music and film work.