iMac 2017 - graphics?

[Firebrand]

On board the new – late 2016 – MacBook Pro’s are the AMD Radeon Pro (Polaris 11) 450/455/460.

Is it a safe bet the 27" iMac (March, 30th 2017?) will get (Polaris 10) RX 470/475/480?

 

[Velin]

It's a commonsense supposition. Apple needs to get serious about GPUs. Stop stuffing 5k displays with garbage notebook graphics cards. That's a good card for the notebooks. Now Apple needs to up it for the desktops.

Make the iMac thicker if necessary. But in the name of all that is holy, put a leading-class desktop card in the next iMac. And make it robust, with lots of watts on the rails and an innovative fan design to keep it cool and quiet, and ensure the card lasts a long time under heavy use.

 

[6AL5]

Make the iMac thicker if necessary.

They could call it the Big Mac, all joking aside I really dont see why everything thats in the current Mac Pro format cant end up in an iMac layout with a slightly deeper body.

 

[SDAVE]

They can easily put in a mobile 1080 in an iMac but they won't.

 

[fokmik]

Since the kaby lake i5 and i7 for the imac will launch in 5 january probably an silent update then or an redesign imac presented on march event

 

[Firebrand]

They could call it the Big Mac, all joking aside I really dont see why everything thats in the current Mac Pro format cant end up in an iMac layout with a slightly deeper body.

Big Mac is an old joke, but iMac Retro is trendy ;-)

 

[Trebuin]

On board the new – late 2016 – MacBook Pro’s are the AMD Radeon Pro (Polaris 11) 450/455/460.

Is it a safe bet the 27" iMac (March, 30th 2017?) will get (Polaris 10) RX 470/475/480?

With the delay, it is highly possible we will see the Vega chip in there as opposed to the Polaris 10. I'll post some info shortly.

 

[Malus120]

It's pretty simple actually. If we're (really) lucky we get some form of Vega as a BTO for the high end iMac (Please note, I'm NOT talking about the high end Vega part which is said to destroy the 1080/Pascel Titan X), with Polaris based chips on the 470-480 range filling out the standard configurations.

If we're less lucky we get an overclocked binned version of the current 480 as a BTO (a 485/490 or some such).

If Apple continues on a path of mediocrity we get 460 on the base SKU, 470 on the high end SKU, and a bog standard (or even down clocked) 480 as a BTO option.

The only solace in the iMac not being released this month is that it would tend to suggest they are waiting for SOMETHING, and I sure to hell hope it's not just Kaby Lake (I really don't know why everyone is so hung up about 6700K vs 7700K, its the GPU you should be worried about people not a ~5-10% increase in CPU performance).

 

[Firebrand]

With the delay, it is highly possible we will see the Vega chip in there as opposed to the Polaris 10. I'll post some info shortly.

http://www.kitguru.net/components/g...anaged-to-boost-polaris-performance-per-watt/

Taking into account TDP (and perhaps pricing too), I’d say less likely.

 

[Sirmausalot]

It's a commonsense supposition. Apple needs to get serious about GPUs. Stop stuffing 5k displays with garbage notebook graphics cards. That's a good card for the notebooks. Now Apple needs to up it for the desktops.

Make the iMac thicker if necessary. But in the name of all that is holy, put a leading-class desktop card in the next iMac. And make it robust, with lots of watts on the rails and an innovative fan design to keep it cool and quiet, and ensure the card lasts a long time under heavy use.

Um, no. Not desktop GPUs are going to happen because the iMAC is not a desktop computer. It is an all-in-one. And most of us, video professionals and the like, are having great success with the current 5K iMac. Now gotta go make some money editing a project with my 'garbage' card.

 

[Trebuin]

http://www.kitguru.net/components/g...anaged-to-boost-polaris-performance-per-watt/

Taking into account TDP (and perhaps pricing too), I’d say less likely.

The entire purpose of Polaris was to reduce the TDP so they could overclock the current chips. The TDP also is predicated on maximum performance, whereas Vega is an optimization so if TDP (specifically the thermal side of things) becomes an issue, Apple can simply either reduce some cores or down clock the chip.

 

[EnderBeta]

Um, no. Not desktop GPUs are going to happen because the iMAC is not a desktop computer. It is an all-in-one. And most of us, video professionals and the like, are having great success with the current 5K iMac. Now gotta go make some money editing a project with my 'garbage' card.

I don't think he was trying to personally insult you but instead suggest that for the prices Apple is charging they could give us options that can drive this high of a revolution a little better.

 

[macduke]

I've been waiting for the right time to get a 5K iMac. I used to care more about the GPU but for what? If I bootcamp it's going to take up a lot of space meaning I'd need a big SSD. It's just a pain to manage that and buy Windows and antivirus. I'm just going to shell out for the Xbox Scorpio instead.

As long as the GPU is powerful enough that the 5K display doesn't ever lag, I'll be fine with that and buy whatever higher-end configuration is available to future proof.

 

[Firebrand]

(@Trebuin)

Yes I know, Apple is no stranger to underclocking. Unfortunately, indications are clearly leaning towards Polaris. E.g. (rumored) Polaris is more mainstream than the more expensive high-end/gaming (= atypical Apple) Vega.

But who knows? Maybe Apple-2K17 is truly courageous: magical iPad’s in Feb/March => Vega iMacs in June!

 

[Sirmausalot]

I don't think he was trying to personally insult you but instead suggest that for the prices Apple is charging they could give us options that can drive this high of a revolution a little better.

I know he wasn't trying to insult me, but simply a desktop GPU cannot physically go into an iMac (because of the cooling needed) and it is clear that Joony Ive and co want thinner thinner and thinner. As for prices, I think the 5K iMac is a fantastic value, otherwise I would have done something else.

 

[jeanlain]

AMD is currently making desktop GPUs (that come with PCIe cards) that consume less power than the high-end GPU found in the iMac.

 

[EnderBeta]

I know he wasn't trying to insult me, but simply a desktop GPU cannot physically go into an iMac (because of the cooling needed) and it is clear that Joony Ive and co want thinner thinner and thinner. As for prices, I think the 5K iMac is a fantastic value, otherwise I would have done something else.

He can work in a MXM slot and a desktop class MXM video card if he gives up on the ridiculous slight of hand making the exterior sides so thin while having a huge bulge in the center. He could probably make it thinner than a 2011 iMac and still fit in the desktop class MXM for a 980TI or 1080. He could also probably fit in a full desktop class GTX 108o if it goes in side ways if he redesigns the speakers.