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

[skippermonkey]

Are you going to wait for the 14 core? Only 8 and 10 cores are available on Thursday.

I dunno. Waiting to see prices first. I have a wad of cash to burn but it's not unlimited – 10 feels like the sweet spot, but now there's the 14 option, I'll have to see. I'm going assume the 18-core is unreasonably expensive!

I wish Apple had some kind of time frame for the 'real' Mac Pro – but then I reckon I'll get decent enough resale on an iMac Pro anyway.

 

[iReality85]

People making proper 4K content also have properly calibrated 4K monitors. Considering my full screen previewed wouldn’t be on the iMac display anyway I would rather have the 5K screen real-estate and a separate broadcast monitor for proper 4K.

Valid points, all I was saying was I could see the argument being made, since it's an AIO system and people who are buying this level of computer would, presumably, be using it for such creative and professional purposes.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

You're missing my point and a tonne of other pro user's points.

Will a video card really be 5X faster by next year? Really? I didn't realise that GPUs were advancing at such breakneck speeds. It seems to me like the 1080Ti is still revered, and yet I believe that's over a year old? So it's not like people are complaining there... and that's just the gamers.

LOL at buying a new GPU every year results in me losing my money? How do you figure that when I'd be spending money every year?

You fail to see that my cameras have operated using 100mb/s file footage since 5 years ago. Even with the upgrade to 4K, I still use the same 100mb/s codec.

In a year's time, I'll still be using it.

In two years' time, I'll still be using it.

I'm willing to bet that in 3-4 years' time, I'll still be using it.

Therefore, in light of this, you can see that I will still have the same, super-powerful, perfectly-supported iMac Pro to run FCPX with then as I will once it's delivered.

The only time I'll upgrade my codec is if/when the time comes to move to HDR, but the workflow for HDR is extremely complex and isn't something that's likely to happen within my business or even in my industry any time soon.

This current iMac Pro is also running 8K footage natively, so I have room to grow further down the line as well. The iMac Pro also means that I can take on about 5-10 extra jobs for next year, as my editing speed will be that much faster than it is today.

Therefore, I think I'll be perfectly happy with my purchase, and for people like you, you will be perfectly happy next year as you can save money buying a new GPU every year for your new modular Mac Pro.

I hear you. Most large companies just have a product refresh cycle when it comes to hardware. Where I work, it’s 3 years. My guess is they know this is about the time that an upgrade will bring about a financially justifiable productivity improvement, and also probably about the time they will start having random problems with hardware that become very expensive—troubleshooting time and employee downtime. Sometimes it just comes down to software demanding newer hardware. It can be even worse on Windows machines—the Win7 machines on my work network have issues that the 10 machines don‘t have. It’s far easier to have a relatively modern collection of a few models of hardware than an eclectic group of machines spanning multiple years.

iMac pro may disappoint the small business owners, or it could be that most small business owners also want something they can plug in and not touch for years.

 

[DeepIn2U]

I think Tim Cook is counting on Apple Pros having "Stockholm Syndrome". That's the only way you can explain excitement over an all-in-one bone being thrown to them.

Hoping that the modular Mac Pro is far nicer. I'll pay Apple premium prices, but not for an AIO. I have two broken iMacs that are sitting in the corner of my office.

What models, where are you located and what would you sell them for? What's wrong with them?

I'm seeing a LOT of iMac's being tossed out around Toronto the last 2yrs. The promise of the AIO most users (consumer/business) chose not to connect a secondary monitor and when they find out the internal LCD or GPU is gone the machine is done. Cost too much to repair officially/direct from Apple out of warranty and the performance no longer holds true for 3yr+ machines thus they get tossed.

 

[RuffDraft]

I dunno. Waiting to see prices first. I have a wad of cash to burn but it's not unlimited – 10 feels like the sweet spot, but now there's the 14 option, I'll have to see. I'm going assume the 18-core is unreasonably expensive!

I wish Apple had some kind of time frame for the 'real' Mac Pro – but then I reckon I'll get decent enough resale on an iMac Pro anyway.

True. I don't think we'll see the new modular Mac Pro until December 2018. Whether you'll get it then or not... they stated in the infamous meeting that they had no idea what it even looked like yet - they still might not even know what it's going to look like... that's why I'm going for it with the iMac Pro. Extremely powerful and should be a great investment.

Like you say, you can always change it in a year's time if necessary. I agree that 10-core is the sweet spot!

 

[driftless]

I dunno. Waiting to see prices first. I have a wad of cash to burn but it's not unlimited – 10 feels like the sweet spot, but now there's the 14 option, I'll have to see. I'm going assume the 18-core is unreasonably expensive!

I wish Apple had some kind of time frame for the 'real' Mac Pro – but then I reckon I'll get decent enough resale on an iMac Pro anyway.

The 14 might be an attractive option.

 

[RuffDraft]

I hear you. Most large companies just have a product refresh cycle when it comes to hardware. Where I work, it’s 3 years. My guess is they know this is about the time that an upgrade will bring about a financially justifiable productivity improvement, and also probably about the time they will start having random problems with hardware that become very expensive—troubleshooting time and employee downtime. Sometimes it just comes down to software demanding newer hardware. It can be even worse on Windows machines—the Win7 machines on my work network have issues that the 10 machines don‘t have. It’s far easier to have a relatively modern collection of a few models of hardware than an eclectic group of machines spanning multiple years.

iMac pro may disappoint the small business owners, or it could be that most small business owners also want something they can plug in and not touch for years.

Definitely, agreed. The iMac Pro is right for my business at this moment in time. I've been using proxy files since forever and this Mac is on its last legs. I'm hoping by the time of my next project in two weeks, I'll be able to use the iMac Pro and jump to using Optimised Media.

I have modded this current MacBook Pro, and though it's a significant increase in performance, it has had the odd issue or two since I meddled with it. I have little interest in modifying my machines. I just want them to work for 6-7 years and work well.
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That's great to hear!! It will be a great investment for the years to come!
Wishing you the best!!!

Thanks, e1me5! I hope you get the one that you want too! I can never be too excited when dropping so much money, but I'm sure it'll be a great investment like you say!

 

[DeepIn2U]

Definitely going to wait for the new Mac Pro. I'm sure this machine will be a beast, but I already have a great display. So my value for money will be in the Mac Pro with better specs and no display.

9 pages ... and nobody yet noticed that the "new" ventilation vents are BEHIND the iMac ARM which blocks airflow?!
What on earth was John Ternus, Apple's VP of Hardware Engineering thinking?!

 

[mikethemartian]

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 wonder how hard it would be to order the main logic board as a part and just mount it in a homebrew chassis.
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What year?

Are you sure it isn't Feb. 29th?

 

[thedeske]

9 pages ... and nobody yet noticed that the "new" ventilation vents are BEHIND the iMac ARM which blocks airflow?!
What on earth was John Ternus, Apple's VP of Hardware Engineering thinking?!

Guess we'll find out soon. It's not like the vents are touching the arm, so....

 

[DanBig]

I think most will wait till the reviews, performance numbers between the different flavors and the great IFIXIT teardown is done before anyone puts down any cash!

 

[Marx55]

No way. Programmed obsolescence. All-in-one (AIO) computers like iMac are a huge aggression to planet Earth. Computers may last for seven years or less, whereas displays may last for more than 20 years. I am using an Apple Cinema Display 22-inch purchased almost 18 years ago and it works great. And it has been on an average of 15 hours a day, 356 days each year.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Integrated system, thus any problems => loss of HDD, monitor not replaceable, no choice of GPU
== not a Pro machine for my professional usage.

A regular iMac is definitely a pro machine for me (neuroscience research), so YMMV.

 

[Zdigital2015]

I wonder if it supports Displayport 1.3 (or 1.4) or if it remains at 1.2.

Those ports will be DisplayPort 1.2. DP 1.4 support is rumored to be coming to the next rev of Intel's TB3 controllers called "Titan Ridge" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_(interface)#Beyond_Thunderbolt_3 - current controllers are Alpine Ridge (DSL/JHL6540).

 

[manu chao]

But but.. Google is evil. Why should I use Chrome which tracks all my activities and sells my data to make money. So that means no 4K youtube for me on this beast!

How much more data will Chrome be able to send to Google when you use it to browse Youtube than the Youtube server can collect while you browse Youtube?

 

[vladi]

Most likely the most powerful all in one PC in the world but the only thing Pro about it is the actual word Pro in the name, much like MacBook Pro. There is no freezing chance in hell this thing doesn't throttle down under heavy loads due to insufficient cooling, much like MacBook Pro.

Also F the dongle life last thing I need is to have external hard disks and GPUs occupying my already occupied space by audio, coloring and 3D navigation external devices.

Not worth $5,000. Wait for proper desktop Mac with proper internal storage and proper cooling and proper GPU slot.

 

[CarlJ]

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

Not much else going on in mom's basement.
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I see now. If you want a Mac with ports, you have to spend at least five grand.

How long until we see someone carrying one of these into a Starbucks?

 

[mikethemartian]

You're confusing pros with DIY tinkerers. I'm a software dev pro (per Craig it appears devs are their largest segment of pros). Like corporate pro users, I don't tinker with my workstation -- I don't update drives, video cards, etc. Nope. We get the biggest, fastest machines we can afford, use them to do work and generate income, and then after a number of years retire them for a new machine. EOS. I have no interest in monkeying around upgrading components. Nor does any fortune 500 company I've worked for -- we simply replace machines.

That's why it's called a "workstation". You seem to want a tinkerer machine.

What do you do when it breaks? I would assume you would just buy a replacement because sending it back to Apple for repairs isn't a very timely solution and time is money. With an easily upgradeable machine, if a part that can be swapped is the problem, you can fix it in a couple of hours as long as it uses fairly standard parts and you can be productive sooner.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Guess we'll find out soon. It's not like the vents are touching the arm, so....

Yeah we'll have to see but under real work load the slower hot air leaves an internal computer the worse it gets for internal components. Pressure backs up bringing in cooler air and since hot air naturally rises, may I ask why the heat is going to be directed downward toward what looks like the cool air intake at the bottom of the imac display? Doesn't look very smart in design at all and from their "engineer". Considering John came from the iPad team early on I'd say he's allowed this first time mistake, but it's a very poor mistake at that!

 

[Wahlstrm]

The Mac Pro was released in December 2013 and we can say it was a similar product, very expensive an not really a Christmas gift. Maybe they just wanted to have it out before the end of the year, since they promised that during WWDC.

For pros who made a profit in 2017 its basically free* if its ordered in Dec -17 instead of in Jan-18,
that´s why Apple is taking orders now.

*The same amount would basically go to waste (taxes) if not spent.

 

[smitster]

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

Curious if this suggests future MBPs will similarly return ports and slots used by professionals for professionals.

 

[Darmok N Jalad]

9 pages ... and nobody yet noticed that the "new" ventilation vents are BEHIND the iMac ARM which blocks airflow?!
What on earth was John Ternus, Apple's VP of Hardware Engineering thinking?!

Looking at Apple’s claims, airflow improved by 75% over the standard iMac and the cooling system can handle 500W. The guy in the YouTube review that was posted earlier said it was never loud. It is a bit of a curious design move, but I’m guessing they have it covered.

 

[mikethemartian]

You're missing my point and a tonne of other pro user's points.

Will a video card really be 5X faster by next year? Really? I didn't realise that GPUs were advancing at such breakneck speeds. It seems to me like the 1080Ti is still revered, and yet I believe that's over a year old? So it's not like people are complaining there... and that's just the gamers.

LOL at buying a new GPU every year results in me losing my money? How do you figure that when I'd be spending money every year?

You fail to see that my cameras have operated using 100mb/s file footage since 5 years ago. Even with the upgrade to 4K, I still use the same 100mb/s codec.

In a year's time, I'll still be using it.

In two years' time, I'll still be using it.

I'm willing to bet that in 3-4 years' time, I'll still be using it.

Therefore, in light of this, you can see that I will still have the same, super-powerful, perfectly-supported iMac Pro to run FCPX with then as I will once it's delivered.

The only time I'll upgrade my codec is if/when the time comes to move to HDR, but the workflow for HDR is extremely complex and isn't something that's likely to happen within my business or even in my industry any time soon.

This current iMac Pro is also running 8K footage natively, so I have room to grow further down the line as well. The iMac Pro also means that I can take on about 5-10 extra jobs for next year, as my editing speed will be that much faster than it is today.

Therefore, I think I'll be perfectly happy with my purchase, and for people like you, you will be perfectly happy next year as you can save money buying a new GPU every year for your new modular Mac Pro.

It isn't just gamers who rely on GPUs. Scientific computing also makes great use of them and there are GPU cards available that are far more powerful than what gamers use.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Not worth $5,000. Wait for proper desktop Mac with proper internal storage and proper cooling and proper GPU slot.

I hear ya... but I don't think Apple will make a machine with standard internal HDD bays ever again...

Now excuse me while I admire the six hard drives in my Windows PC tower...

 

[RuffDraft]

It isn't just gamers who rely on GPUs. Scientific computing also makes great use of them and there are GPU cards available that are far more powerful than what gamers use.

It was an example and a sarcastic one at that given that no GPU improvements are going to be five-fold in a single year.