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Apple today announced that the iMac Pro will be released this Thursday, December 14, but YouTube reviewer Marques Brownlee says only 8-core and 10-core models will be available to order this week.

imac_pro_white_background-800x585.jpg

Brownlee in his hands-on video said the high-end 18-core iMac Pro will ship early next year, alongside an unannounced 14-core model that will apparently be added to the lineup for a total of four Intel Xeon processor configurations.

Skip to the 1:53 mark of the video

The 10-core iMac Pro clocked at 3.0GHz earned a multi-core score of just over 37,400 on Geekbench, which is up to 93 percent faster than the latest 27-inch 5K iMac and up to 45 percent faster than the high-end 2013 Mac Pro.

The powerful desktop workstation can also be configured with up to 4TB of SSD storage, up to 128GB of ECC RAM, and up to an AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 graphics processor with 16GB of HBM2 memory.

iMac Pro will be available to order on December 14, starting at $4,999, in the United States, Canada, UK, and several other countries. Apple has yet to provide exact pricing details on a configuration-by-configuration basis.

Note that in Australia, the iMac Pro launches December 15.

Article Link: iMac Pro Available With 8 or 10 Cores This Week, 14 and 18 Core Models Ship Early Next Year
 
I could never justify a machine like this, but for all us consumer Mac users, let's hope this sells reasonably well. The professional market will drive innovation that hopefully will trickle down to the consumer machines eventually. There must be some serious cooling technology inside.

Unfortunately I think the iMac in space grey really ages the machine. The iMac design is a bit tired now and I feel it could do with a refresh.
 
And many fools will be parted with their money only to not have an updated model until a decade later

In My opinion, I think your statement is rather foolish. Because ultimately the user is going to purchase the specific iMac knowing exactly what they need it for. They're not thinking about what Apple may or may not do in the future, they're thinking about how this machine can advance their prodcutivity they currently need in the moment.
 
And many fools will be parted with their money only to not have an updated model until a decade later

Where I work, we don't upgrade. We lease machines for three years and then replace them. Can I get one of these on our next refresh cycle? I don't know, but I'm going to ask.

For myself, yes, I would wait for the upgradeable desktop machine.
 
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A Dell configured with similar specs is almost $5,200, so it is right in line.

What's been shown in the two reviews here is not the base $5,000 model version.

$5,000 base model:
8-core
32GB RAM
1TB SSD
Vega 56 8GB

Demo Model
10-core
128GB RAM
2TB SSD
Vega 64 16GB

I speculate the demo model is at least $7,500 USD before taxes.

Even though it has ZERO user serviceable upgradable parts, I suspect it can be cut open and upgraded just like a current 27" iMac. However, the video card & SSD may prove difficult to get after the fact. Thus for new buyers, it may be more cost effective to get the maxed-out 16GB Vega 64 and 2 or 4TB SSD and the minimum specs for CPU and RAM - then upgrade later for 1/2~1/3 the cost. BUT WAIT FOR A TEAR DOWN REVIEW VIDEO FIRST BEFORE CONSIDERING THE ABOVE
 
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Why are people so hung up on it being expensive? For one, it seems like the massive increase in speed it offers is going to increase productivity by a factor of many AND a lot of the Pros who get one won't be buying it, they'll lease it which is more tax efficient and makes it more future-proof.
 
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Why is this a "pro" again?
Like the article said: "...up to 4TB of SSD storage, up to 128GB of ECC RAM, and up to an AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 graphics processor with 16GB of HBM2 memory." That with 8-18 cores and plenty of fast i/o ports sounds pro to me.

The downside is that it is AIO form, but AIO is a choice one many folks like.
 
For that kinda cash I'd expect a sign officially stating this is not the usual iMac. But a jolly powerful version of the one they've had out for many years and priced accordingly. Because how else will people know you've blown thousands on something you've already had similar sitting on your desk all this time. Good.
 
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