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iMac Pro Appears to Include A10 Fusion Chip for Always-On 'Hey Siri'

flat five said:
heh, i used to use Siri only for timers but it's getting better..i've been giving it another go and surprisingly, Siri is getting a lot better than i remember..


on the iPhone X with the side button Siri (which eliminates "hey Siri".... just press&hold the button and start talking then let go when your question is finished.. walkieTalkie style).. i've been giving it another go and surprisingly, Siri is getting a lot better than i remember..
one example:
on Friday, i get this from an interior designer:

View attachment 736942

..while there are some dimensions on there, it's missing some that a CAD designer / Builder would use.. such as overall height.

to get the height, i needed to add:

24 + 17 + 2.5 + 17 + 2.5 + 17 + 2.5 + 6

..so i used Siri and got the answer.. very quickly.
try it.
Click to expand...
But you then needed to double check the result because you have lingering doubt, right?
 
So a $5000 machine has alexa built-in, wait no, subpar alexa-like caveman Siri* that doesn't know how to play Spotify or give me a map on Google Maps.

No. Thanks.
 
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themachugger said:
That's cool. Unfortunately I've relegated Siri to little more than setting a timer countdown when I make my coffee in the morning. It's the only Siri request that doesn't make me want to shove my iPhone in the garbage disposal out of frustration.
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Sets morning alarms pretty well. Really, none of the “digital assistants” are good for much more than demoware. “Hey google/Siri/Cortana, what’s the weather?”
 
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Appleaker said:
That is really cool.

The first Mac with an A-series processor in is coming earlier than any of us imagined! Of course this is different, but it’d be interesting to see it used for other things like app development (iOS emulation).

This was the always way they were going to be used in Macs (i.e. as a coprocessor) in the near future, with the exception of the 12” MacBook where I wouldn’t be surprised if it replaced the current Intel chips.
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An underpowered cellphone chip is never going to replace an intel processor in an actual Mac.
 
InuNacho said:
That may very well be the point. If the Os becomes dependant on Siri which in turn becomes chip dependent, Hackintoshes will no longer be a thing.
Could also be another planned obsolescence ploy.
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The issue isn’t Siri. The issue is that the A10 controls the x86 and the security model. Eventually macOS might require an a-series processor to decrypt the micro kernel.
 
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Relentless Power said:
Misguided in the sense that you have no experience with it to make a judgement based on How it will meet others expectations ? Also, I doubt Apples engineers just randomly would "throw" components in the iMac Pro, but your entitled to believe such absurd thoughts.
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How about this.. There will likely be a lot of misguided people who will buy the iMac Pro despite it being silly to consider a $5k+ all-in-one.
 
ipedro said:
Nothing says "Pro Desktop" quite like... well, a talking desktop.

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I'm not sure how a cool toy feature of a computer from 33 years ago has any relevance at all to a discussion about a modern workstation. Unless you believe Apple should be selling the same tech they did in 1984?
 
flat five said:
it's not that hard to figure out how much RAM you'll be needing for the next ,say, 5 years..

(that said, the RAM does look to be socketed so you should be able to swap it yourself at a later date.. albeit, judging by the pictures/renderings we've seen so far, it looks like you'll have to open it up via the screen)
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The main problem I have is Apple's ginormous markup for RAM. It is at least double the normal cost, if not approaching triple the cost. I want at least 64 GB of RAM now, but I might want 128 GB of RAM in 3 years. For starters, I think it's insane to pay an extra $1,200-$2,000 premium for this kind of RAM and I think it's insane to pay $9,000-$12,000 for a machine that is not user upgradeable. You do make a point that we might be able to make some upgrades by taking the screen off, but that is not easy or quick.

I say this in a humble way, but I am a working pro. And as someone that relies on this to literally put food on the table and keep a roof over my head (although I do enjoy the outdoors), I expect a $10,000 machine to at least grow with me for 5-6 years. If Apple buries the RAM away where it is no longer easily accessible, then I will turn elsewhere for my professional computing needs.
 
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MH01 said:
The iMac pro should just be about power !!! To be honest there is no need Siri in a pro unit
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I don't understand this logic: "Siri shouldn't be on a 'pro' machine because pros want everything to be harder."

I think the plan is for this coprocessor to handle many mundane computing tasks (like Siri, email, user authentication, maybe even web browsing) without affecting or being affected by the load on the main processor. And it can do many of these functions while the main processor is powered down.

I don't expect the A10 to be used for iOS emulation. Sure, developers could test whether their apps would run natively on an A10 processor. But it couldn't natively run iOS apps that require A11 processors, or A12 processors. I expect that iOS emulation will continue to be done with software.
 
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TrueBlou said:
I’ve gone a step further, my coffee machine is hooked into HomeKit, so I just get out of bed and say “hey Siri make me coffee” and there’s a lovely pot of freshly ground coffee waiting for me when I get downstairs.

Who said lazy can’t be fun :D
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What's wrong with a ordinary timer?
 
sjager said:
well current pro devices, i.e. the MacBook pro do not have usb ports. I was being presumptuous in thinking that Apple would be consistent across their device portfolio in calling USB dead. But apparently, they are reversing their decision and putting them in the new iMac pro. lol
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They're in every iMac. Even the cheapest low end iMac of 2017 has 4 USB-C ports.
 
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doelcm82 said:
I don't understand this logic: "Siri shouldn't be on a 'pro' machine because pros want everything to be harder."

I think the plan is for this coprocessor to handle many mundane computing tasks (like Siri, email, user authentication, maybe even web browsing) without affecting or being affected by the load on the main processor. And it can do many of these functions while the main processor is powered down.

I don't expect the A10 to be used for iOS emulation. Sure, developers could test whether their apps would run natively on an A10 processor. But it couldn't natively run iOS apps that require A11 processors, or A12 processors. I expect that iOS emulation will continue to be done with software.
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You are right , of course it should be there , part of the os. Though on a pro machine focus should be on Cooling and performance , this iMac is only "pro" in price and name. It's going to be a sexy desktop , call me negative though the CPUs will be under clocked and thermal will be an issue .
 
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