Hands-On With Apple's New 27-Inch 5K 8-Core iMac

[BuCkDoG]

I mean, I'm not the type of person to upgrade a Mac that often. I went with the i9 because I'm planning on this lasting 6-8 years for me (well, unless I get screwed over by Apple dropping support for Intel in macOS after switching to Apple chips). I went with the Vega 48 so I could do some moderate gaming in Windows and for some GPU acceleration in pro apps (especially as apps are more optimized for that in the future) but I don't think it's worth it to upgrade for the small performance increase, especially since eGPUs are a thing (I could see myself getting one after a while). I think it would only be worth it for the i9 if you're utilizing a heavy multi-core workflow or if it's too noisy for you if doing audio work (though the iMac Pro is even quieter). If I had upgraded in 2017 I'd probably wait until at least 2020/2021 to see what Apple does with their chips, although I am kinda wary of buying a first gen Apple CPU Mac given the issues with the T2 chip which kinda factored into me upgrading now.

Totally fair point, I mean going from 4 cores to 8 cores is a big deal and also it seems like the Vega 48 is a decent upgrade but also no T2 baby wooo!!!! This is probably the last iMac without a T2 chip so another reason why I was thinking of selling/upgrading but your most likely correct in its not worth it.

 

[CWallace]

What purpose would you have to upgrade to the iMac Pro if they took away the achilleas heel of the iMac?

The 8-core Xeon will still outperform the 8-core i9 on Final Cut X and Logic Pro X per Jason Snell, who owns the entry-level iMac Pro and was loaned a fully-configured iMac by Apple to evaluate and report on. It appears Apple has optimized their Pro apps for the Xeon CPU and not (yet) for the top-model Core series. The Vega 56 and 64 in the iMac Pro will also out-muscle the Vega 48 in the iMac for applications that maximize GPU capacity.

 

[ThisBougieLife]

but also no T2 baby wooo!!!! \

Yeah, that's one good thing about them not changing the design: no Crash Chip.

Hopefully by the time they do change the design there will be a T3 and it will not be as problematic as the T2.

 

[travelsheep]

While having coffee with a friend here in China I expressed my disappointment over Apple and their post-Steve Jobs product line. I lamented that Apple does not want to innovate anymore. My friend replied:

They do not "not want", they "can't".

It stroke me like a lightning. So true! Why should they not want? That's ridiculous. For sure they try as hard as they can, with everyone sitting on the edge of their seat. But they can't. Apple's spirit died with Steve Jobs.

He then continued to tell me the story of the first Apple Store opening in China:

Steve Jobs came to the opening. Went inside the store. Looked around. Got angry and went outside. A few minutes later he returned with a baseball bat and started to trash the store. He hammered down the tables, smashed the windows. He was screaming. He told them to rebuild it. Make it taller. It should look like a temple, a church, a place that is awe-inspiring, and not look like just another computer store.

 

[M2M]

They really don’t.

It looks like a typical plasticky piece of crap. Just having a thinner bezel doesn’t make it more attractive.

Which is sadly exactly the kind of display you know see in Apple stores next to the Mac Pro or mini.

 

[PickUrPoison]

Which is sadly exactly the kind of display you know see in Apple stores next to the Mac Pro or mini.

Yeah it’ll be nice when Apple releases their new monitors later this year. I suppose they’ll hold them for release alongside the Mac Pro, even if they’re ready early. The current rumor is 31.5” 6K3K (6144 x 3072) for 217 dpi. Seems right.

 

[ignatius345]

Design was important to Steve. The original iMac was as much about design as it was about functionality.

"The back of this thing looks better than the front of the other guys, by the way," Jobs said as he detailed the thought that went into its design.

Now PCs look better than the fat bezel 2019 iMac.

For crying out loud. That Dell looks... like a Dell. This was really the year that so many armchair designers were like "I just heard what bezels are and that they're bad!"

 

[haruhiko]

I don’t really understand why people are so obsessed with thinner bezels.

Just to find something to complain.

 

[jeremiah256]

While having coffee with a friend here in China I expressed my disappointment over Apple and their post-Steve Jobs product line. I lamented that Apple does not want to innovate anymore. My friend replied:

They do not "not want", they "can't".

It stroke me like a lightning. So true! Why should they not want? That's ridiculous. For sure they try as hard as they can, with everyone sitting on the edge of their seat. But they can't. Apple's spirit died with Steve Jobs.

He then continued to tell me the story of the first Apple Store opening in China:

Steve Jobs came to the opening. Went inside the store. Looked around. Got angry and went outside. A few minutes later he returned with a baseball bat and started to trash the store. He hammered down the tables, smashed the windows. He was screaming. He told them to rebuild it. Make it taller. It should look like a temple, a church, a place that is awe-inspiring, and not look like just another computer store.

While I really love the idea of Steve Jobs inspecting all his stores with a baseball bat (probably autographed by Sheriff Buford Pusser and Principal Joe Clark), I'm going to have to put this in the same category of rumors of Elvis, Tupac, Biggie, and Roy Orbison running a Ben & Jerry's in Wichita, Kansas.

 

[Johnny London]

No one commenting on the fact that these 2019 machines still use slow spinning hard drives in their base config?

 

[Peperino]

Design was important to Steve. The original iMac was as much about design as it was about functionality.

"The back of this thing looks better than the front of the other guys, by the way," Jobs said as he detailed the thought that went into its design.

Now PCs look better than the fat bezel 2019 iMac.

WHen a Dell is starting to look better than an iMac thats when you know that Apple is NOT innovating anymore.

 

[Colonel Blimp]

No one commenting on the fact that these 2019 machines still use slow spinning hard drives in their base config?

It’s been commented on many times in other several other threads.

 

[Tevos]

For a while there is only one good Mac option for work and basically everything else. And that's iMacPro. Yes you need to cough up 5k USD in the USA (or ~30% more anywhere else in the World), but iMP offers many, many important improvements over iMac 5K in its basic configuration.

1. Cooling.
2. Very fast NVMe storage vs at best normal SSD (excluding external medias, just talking CTO at Apple)
3. Better VGA.
4. For external storage iMP offers two independent TB3 buses (4 ports) instead of 1 (2 ports). Granted it should have more (there are 20PCIe lanes wasted from Xeon), but more is better.
5. Out of BOX you get 32GB RAM ECC, which is plenty for 80% of folks, even 64GB option is now quite cheap (just looking at the prices in my stores - not US - and 64GB of ECC cost pretty much the same as Apple 64 which is incredible value)

Unfortunately all current iMac(Pro)s share same problems.

A. Closed AIO prevents from cleaning them. If you have dust-free environment then yes sure. But if you not, 95% of faults with electronics inside is result of dust accumulation.
B. Apple TIM (or TIM Apple? ) which is as thermally conductive as concrete.
C. Poor & open! (dust) PSUs inside.

 

[ds2000]

I don’t really understand why people are so obsessed with thinner bezels.

Completely agree. I bought a second hand but like new 2013 iMac for my Mum, fit an SSD and it flies. I was thinking, while setting it up, just how great it still looks. Thinner bezels would look nicer but hardly an OMG I must upgrade moment.

 

[Ifti]

I'm left disappointed.
Specs seem great, but I was after at least 4 TB3 ports (all my drives are either USB-C or TB3 now) and 10GBe at a minimum. And the cooling system from the iMac Pro too. I felt these were easily achievable in the new iMac - nothing new or revolutionary, but tried and tested components. I mean, 10GBe not even as a BTO option?? Even the Mac Mini has that now!

Maybe I was just after an iMac Pro in iMac clothing......

 

[MacRS4]

If you watch any review about Macs, they always talk about Final Cut Pro. They don't say anything about running virtual machines, Handbrake, or none of that stuff.

[doublepost=1554279356][/doublepost]The bezels are interesting. When I use a single unit they don't bother me at all. My main desk however has a couple of 5k monitors on ....then you notice the bezels.

 

[UltimaKilo]

I'm happy to be critical when I agree, but I'm happy with the current iMac design.

 

[dazzer21-2]

If a Mac Mini can have 10Gb Ethernet, why can't the iMac? Also a 'consumer-grade' iMac beats out a 'pro-grade' iMac Pro costing in excess of £1500 more? Apple's lineup is a mess right now.
[doublepost=1554282560][/doublepost]

Now PCs look better than the fat bezel 2019 iMac.

Are you serious? That thing's effing ugly in comparison!

 

[baryon]

I just wish it could be opened, repaired and closed without destroying the display. The glued-in display is a deal breaker for me on a desktop computer. The previous design had magnets. Why did they get rid of them? Why not use screws? Why not let us open it from the back? If anything goes wrong, you're absolutely at the mercy of whoever is going to repair it, because it's very unlikely you will take the huge risk of doing it yourself.

 

[ROGmaster]

So I see that Prime95 is an unknown program around here.

 

[bigtomato]

These 'new' iMacs have old technology, pcie 4.0 and 5.0 along with new thunderbolt coming this year. I would hold out for the Mac Pro as it should have this new technology. Next year this will be standard. At the moment, its overpriced in my opinion, get yourself a mini with egpu instead.

 

[StellarVixen]

Add an eGPU on one side and a thunderbolt storage box on the other side and this will be an awesome set up for just about any home, gaming or professional use. Slick.

A computer this expensive shouldn't need all those peripherals.

 

[Wilderness-1902]

It should look like a temple, a church, a place that is awe-inspiring, and not look like just another computer store.

Apple store is a joke now in China. Here is my experience of last visit to one of Apple Stores in Beijing a few month ago. I had a Genius Bar appointment and would like to see the new MBP and iPhone. When I arrived at the store, a staff at the door asked me to go to another company for Genius Bar service. It seems that Genius Bar service is out sourced. I told the staff I would like to visit the store. But he asked what I would like to buy. I said No for now. The staff didn't let me in because the store was full. There were nobody waiting in queue to enter the store!

I remembered Apple Store and Genius Bar was the best. But my last visit completely changed my mind.

 

[Colonel Blimp]

These 'new' iMacs have old technology, pcie 4.0 and 5.0 along with new thunderbolt coming this year. I would hold out for the Mac Pro as it should have this new technology. Next year this will be standard. At the moment, its overpriced in my opinion, get yourself a mini with egpu instead.

New Thunderbolt? I think you’re confused.

USB4 is coming later this year. It’s based on Thunderbolt 3 and no faster than it. No new Thunderbolt has been announced.

 

[shaunp]

I don’t really understand why people are so obsessed with thinner bezels.

Exactly! I'm more concerned that Apple have hardly developed the Mac at all over the past 5 years. No worries though, cos at least they look pretty. The irony is if Apple produced an even thinner one with no bezels and no usable ports, there would be a lot fewer complaints about it than if they were to produce a thicker one with useful ports moved to the front to occupy the space in those ever so nasty bezels!!