Unfortunately the answer is probably going to be in the 10k-12k range.
This is kind of a rip off. Given that the cheese grater Mac Pros gave you dual CPU's and a competent video card, as well as an enormous amount of expandablity for that price tag.
The cylinder Mac Pro traded dual CPU for dual GPU, but still allowed access to the innards.
Not too long ago I bumped mine to 64gb and a 2tb SSD.
The external connectivity is good enough for my use, but many miss the card slots and drive bays.
The iMac, judging by the starting price, will cost the same as yesteryears Mac Pro. But with expandability relegated to Thunderbolt as with the current Mac Pro. And MacBook Pro style non-access to ram or SSD.
(sorry I do not buy this canard that the thermal solution prevented them from doing so.)
It is a powerful GPU on paper. But it remains to be seen how well this cranks in the real world.
I was left underwhelmed by the Mac Pro with dual D700. Relying on GPU to replace CPU throughput just doesn't seem to be working out.
OpenCL? Oh that kind of got forgotten. Wasn't even mentioned at WWDC17.
Now we are on 'Metal'.
Am I pessimistic about the iMac Pro?
Yes. I am positive that Apple is going to shove this down our throats and scrub the Mac Pro refresh.
They will doubtless sell a lot of iMac Pros. Then announce (regardless of actual number sold) that it is an overwhelming success and there is no need for a Mac Pro.
Realistically. It is kind of hard to see Apple supporting two such halo products at once. An iMac Pro and a Mac Pro are both workstation class machines. And these, while necessary for the Apple ecosystem, are a niche product which generate a very small portion of their overall sales. Considering supply chain, tooling, warehousing, distribution and customer support costs. I do not see a future which allows for both.
