iMac Pro Available to Order December 14, Starting at $4,999

[slitherjef]

Another expensive build to order non upgradable soldered down "professional" machine that if breaks needs to be sent in for servicing.

You can't even add extra ram to this thing at a later time?

Ok, so I only watched half of mkbhd's vid so far...

Obviously I'm not the target audience for this thing (nor a lot of other apple gear). I'll try to keep an open mind, I'm more keen on this machine then most Windows machines.

Maybe the base model will work even better then the topped out iMacs.

 

[chrisagiddings]

The photos of the inside clearly show memory sockets ,which should be user configurable, and not soldered components.

But Apple has previously stated the memory is not user configurable.

Can we confirm which is likely true on the final units? User configurable memory is my only real barrier to buying any new Apple equipment.

 

[satchmo]

This isn't going to end up costing $5K when you have to buy RAM from Apple.

 

[rpat701]

That truly is a $5K display.

I know. It's ridiculously expensive. Not sure I want an all-in-one unit holding that much cash. Would rather be module and bring your own monitor.

 

[RuffDraft]

so its powerful quiet and no throttle

No explanation on H264 footage - probably the only thing we're all waiting to hear about - they've been clever in giving the review model to him considering he uses the footage that will run smoothly on the iMac Pro vs any other videographer who uses standard DSLRs/M43/Mirrorless cameras. Using a RED as he does is great, but it isn't reflective of the mass majority of the market who use H264 and H265 codecs.

 

[gugy]

Damn, $5k for an iMac is a lot. I would not mind for a Mac Pro, since I can upgrade the internals but for an iMac I guess I would consider the non-pro models. Just too much.

 

[Michael Scrip]

This isn't going to end up costing $5K when you have to buy RAM from Apple.

You get 32GB of RAM in the $4,999 base configuration.

But if you want more than that... you will need to find more kidneys to sell...

 

[DaveOP]

I see now. If you want a Mac with ports, you have to spend at least five grand.

Does the Macbook Air or Mac Mini not have ports?

 

[patseguin]

Why can't they make a killer CONSUMER machine? Even a new Mac mini would be good.

 

[guzhogi]

Sadly I have to agree. My studio is still running 2010 / 2012 Mac Pro’s and they are starting to show heir age quite bad but replacing them with something this expensive that we can’t yograde or repair doesn’t make any sense.

Give Pro’s these exact components in the cheese grater tower and they’ll buy them by the truck full. I don’t understand why apple refuses to see that. I love innovation as much as the next guy but Pro machines don’t need piles of innovation. They need upgradable components that work reliably. I don’t care how small it is or how quiet it is or what colour it is. I just need it to chew through 6K video footage like it’s nothing.

I totally agree with you, but it's more profitable to get people to buy a new computer every 4-5 years instead of of every 7-10 years. Plus, if it were easy for people to upgrades, where would you buy them? I could buy a 27" iMac with the base RAM, and save literally hundreds of dollars by buying a RAM upgrade from Crucial or something. Modular computers may help save you money, but it also means Apple's not getting as much money as they could.

However, it would be interesting to see if there's enough pent up demand for a modular Mac to make up for the lack of BTO purchases and less frequent buying of new computers?

 

[satchmo]

My wallet is rea... empty. By the way I don't understand why they couldn't just make the entire chin black like the bezels. Would look more uniform. The white iMac was modeled after the iPod, when it went aluminium they added the bezels to look more like the iPhone, which was black below the screen.

I'm curious why they didn't reduce the top and side bezels? I guess painting it space grey was as innovative as they could get after how many years of the same old design.

 

[BJonson]

$5000 starting price probably has 4gb ram and a 128gb 5400rpm HD. Keyboard and mouse not included. Power cord is an extra $49.

 

[phantasms]

So can I order the keyboard and mouse now? I'll pass on the rest.

 

[e1me5]

No explanation on H264 footage - probably the only thing we're all waiting to hear about - they've been clever in giving the review model to him considering he uses the footage that will run smoothly on the iMac Pro vs any other videographer who uses standard DSLRs/M43/Mirrorless cameras. Using a RED as he does is great, but it isn't reflective of the mass majority of the market who use H264 and H265 codecs.

H264 isn't as demanding as RAW. And if it has the horsepower to process 8K RAW with effects etc in real time then it will break no sweat for H264 and the new H265. Especially now that new Macs have hardware acceleration for the newer codecs.

 

[RumorSeeker]

Apparently Apple has run out of courage. I see a headphone jack, a SDXC card slot, 4 USB ports, an Ethernet port, and the 4 Thunderbolt ports. Why?

 

[Michael Scrip]

Maybe the base model will work even better then the topped out iMacs.

That's what I'm curious to see: topped-out iMac vs entry-level iMac Pro

The topped-out iMac with 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD is $3,700

The entry-level iMac Pro with the same RAM and storage is $5,000

I'm guessing the iMac Pro will be better with twice the CPU cores and a beefy GPU.

But how much better? How much extra performance will the extra $1,300 give you?

EDIT: I understand that core count alone doesn't mean a lot. There are many other factors involved. But I still want to know how much faster the base-model iMac Pro is over the regular iMac.

 

[MistrSynistr]

I am still trying to figure out who needs this and won't wait for a Mac Pro. We use new iMac at work for graphic design and photography and they are super over-powered already.

 

[smacrumon]

iMac used to be iMac pro at one point.
This is too expensive.

 

[Abazigal]

Yes, why does the Pro desktop not get any attention? Many pros want to use their own monitor that is best suited for their specific needs. Another example of Apples's current obsession of form over function?

Because they don’t sell enough to justify the costs. Plain and simple.

 

[GoodWheaties]

I really don't think the price is that off. A 27" iMac with an i7, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, and Radeon 580 8GB is $3700. So you are paying $1300 for double the cores, considerably better GPU, double the Thunderbolt 3 ports, and an extended keyboard. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask that. It all comes down to if you are ok with never upgrading it.

 

[FasterQuieter]

curious if final cut pro 10.4. will be released on the 14th as well.

I sure hope so. My phone is almost full with H265 videos that have nowhere to go.

 

[MarkB786]

Because they don’t sell enough to justify the costs. Plain and simple.

Then what are Pros buying instead? My brother is a pro and has a Dell. He hates it and has been waiting for something decent from Apple for years it seems.

 

[tipoo]

Awaiting tests on peak load throttling. The Vega Pro 64 in there runs at 83% of a desktop ones Gflops (and working backwards from that – clock speed) and 83% of the memory bandwidth, so it should be tamped down enough to not be a heat monster with the iMac Pros 500 watts of cooling dissipation. Wondering if it hits those much tamped down speeds at least 100% consistantly.

https://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/2871/radeon-rx-vega-64

https://www.apple.com/ca/imac-pro/

Youtubers first eh. I hope more detailed reviewers like Anandtech and Ars got them too.

 

[BootsWalking]

Didn't take long for the Apple haters to show up in the thread.

The people you call haters are actually Apple lovers who have been perpetually disappointed by the product decisions made by the company over the past 5 years.

 

[chrisagiddings]

I am still trying to figure out who needs this and won't wait for a Mac Pro. We use new iMac at work for graphic design and photography and they are super over-powered already.

I for one would love one of these. My aging Early 2011 iMac is pushed to its limits (2GB GPU, 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD + 4TB HDD both internal, 3.4GHz i7).

As an indie software developer working on new video games a boost in system specs would be great. The GPU update alone would dramatically increase the productivity of my workflow.