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Buying an iMac Pro?
- Thread starter kcrossley
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Depends on what you need it for I guess. If you need it for business or work, then buy it now. It will start earning money today and if something comes out that will increase your ability to earn, sell the one you have and get the new one.
If however you just want an iMac Pro to have it, I suppose now is still an ok time. The machine is so overpowered for most people that it will far outlast macOS support for it. The GPU is still AMDs top GPU. I am not sure if the CPU is current gen or not because I do not keep up with Xeons. The 32 GB of RAM will be enough for the life of the machine and the 1TB SSD will also likely be enough. Honestly, assuming a 7 year support life, this machine should easily reach that and likely exceed it, just stuck on older OS releases. I am not really sure what they would add to the next one to make you regret the current one. Plus no one knows if there will be a second release.
Having said that, personally I would really think about whether you need it or not. If you do truly need it, then it is worth the money and you should buy now. If you can wait, then you may not really need it. In that case I would really consider if you want to spend the extra cash over a vanilla iMac. Especially considering the next release of those may not be far off.
If however you just want an iMac Pro to have it, I suppose now is still an ok time. The machine is so overpowered for most people that it will far outlast macOS support for it. The GPU is still AMDs top GPU. I am not sure if the CPU is current gen or not because I do not keep up with Xeons. The 32 GB of RAM will be enough for the life of the machine and the 1TB SSD will also likely be enough. Honestly, assuming a 7 year support life, this machine should easily reach that and likely exceed it, just stuck on older OS releases. I am not really sure what they would add to the next one to make you regret the current one. Plus no one knows if there will be a second release.
Having said that, personally I would really think about whether you need it or not. If you do truly need it, then it is worth the money and you should buy now. If you can wait, then you may not really need it. In that case I would really consider if you want to spend the extra cash over a vanilla iMac. Especially considering the next release of those may not be far off.
Thanks for the advice Cashmonee. I desperately need it to replace an old, but reliable 2012 MacBook Pro (non-retina), which has a really hard time with video editing, especially Motion effects. It was on sale this weekend for $500 off at Best Buy with 18-months of interest-free financing so I went ahead an pulled the trigger. It should be here in about a week. 
Expect to see new iMacs (not "pro") 2nd quarter 2019, probably right after the 2019 "Mac Pro" (not "iMac Pro") is introduced.
I expect the 2019 iMacs to "adopt" much of the internal engineering of the current iMac Pro, and (with internal CPU/GPU improvements) be nearly as fast (or faster).
With the release of the 2019 Mac Pro models and the 2019 iMacs, the "iMac Pro" will become superfluous to the Mac product line, and gradually fade into oblivion.
Those are my predictions and I'm stickin' to 'em !!
I expect the 2019 iMacs to "adopt" much of the internal engineering of the current iMac Pro, and (with internal CPU/GPU improvements) be nearly as fast (or faster).
With the release of the 2019 Mac Pro models and the 2019 iMacs, the "iMac Pro" will become superfluous to the Mac product line, and gradually fade into oblivion.
Those are my predictions and I'm stickin' to 'em !!
Expect to see new iMacs (not "pro") 2nd quarter 2019, probably right after the 2019 "Mac Pro" (not "iMac Pro") is introduced.
I expect the 2019 iMacs to "adopt" much of the internal engineering of the current iMac Pro, and (with internal CPU/GPU improvements) be nearly as fast (or faster).
With the release of the 2019 Mac Pro models and the 2019 iMacs, the "iMac Pro" will become superfluous to the Mac product line, and gradually fade into oblivion.
Those are my predictions and I'm stickin' to 'em !!
I am beginning to wonder about the timing of all of this. At first, I thought there would be something in the Spring, but now I am not so sure. Apple has nothing to update except for the iMac and Mac Pro, and I do not think those two on their own would warrant an event. Not to mention that I have to believe the Mac Pro is a WWDC item if ever there was one. I guess that lines up with your Q2 prediction.
If they release a new iMac this Spring, I would bet it is simply a spec upgrade to 8th-gen chips and probably all SSD. If there is a redesign at all, then I would bet possibly WWDC, but would not be shocked at a late October launch along side the new iPads.
Also, I do not believe the iMac Pro goes away. I think there will be iMac/Mac mini and iMac Pro/Mac Pro lines. Having said that, if AMD does indeed ship the GPUs that are rumored, it will be getting difficult to justify as much of a price difference between the iMac Pro and iMac. I do not think Apple would go to the trouble of making the iMac Pro for a one and done.
Expect to see new iMacs (not "pro") 2nd quarter 2019, probably right after the 2019 "Mac Pro" (not "iMac Pro") is introduced.
I expect the 2019 iMacs to "adopt" much of the internal engineering of the current iMac Pro, and (with internal CPU/GPU improvements) be nearly as fast (or faster).
With the release of the 2019 Mac Pro models and the 2019 iMacs, the "iMac Pro" will become superfluous to the Mac product line, and gradually fade into oblivion.
Those are my predictions and I'm stickin' to 'em !!
Makes a lot of sense to dissolve the iMac Pro if they do release a redesigned iMac along with the new Mac Pro.
It would make sense.
But ... given how Apple has turned their laptop line into a senseless jumble of conflicting products, it's also reasonable to assume Apple would do the same stupid thing with their desktop line, and leave the iMac Pro for sale alongside the new iMacs and Mac Pro.