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Imac Pro towards 3yrs mark
- Thread starter jtaylorau
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I would probably keep it, if you concerned about failure and expensive repairs why have an iMac Pro if a 2020 iMac will do? That aside, use it and worry less about failure. If it happens you are assuming an expensive repair, it's outside of AC so you get any decent repair shop to at least look at it which often means way less cost than Apple. Depends on the fault of course.
I would keep it. You’re going to take a financial hit getting a 2020 iMac and not a big performance boost. Yes, out of warranty repairs might be more expensive but on the flip side, more parts are available and you have more non-Apple repair options.
If I had an 8-core iMac Pro, I would personally keep it if it is still sufficiently powerful for my workload.
The 2020 iMac is faster, but I have hope (diminishing hope, but still hope) that there will be an iMac Pro refresh this Fall with the new W-2200 Xeons and the AMD RDNA 2.0 (Navi 2x) GPUs along with the MiniLED display that MCK has said is coming.
The 2020 iMac is faster, but I have hope (diminishing hope, but still hope) that there will be an iMac Pro refresh this Fall with the new W-2200 Xeons and the AMD RDNA 2.0 (Navi 2x) GPUs along with the MiniLED display that MCK has said is coming.
With Apple improving the BTO options on the 2020 iMac (10-core CPUs, Navi 10 GPUs, 128GB of RAM, 8TB of storage, 10Gb Ethernet, 1080p Webcam, T2), that has significantly narrowed the differences between the iMac and iMac Pro.
Apple has also effectively ignored the iMac Pro. I am not sure AMD had anything to offer (Radeon VII looks like it was not as good as Vega 64), but Intel launched upgrade Xeon W-2200 CPUs in late 2019 at ASPs half those of the W-2100 in the iMac Pro so one thinks Apple would have jumped on those to improve their margins, if nothing else (unless they brow-beat Intel to cut their prices in half for the W-2100). The iMac Pro is also still on the older Alpine Ridge TB3 controller so it cannot drive the Pro Display XDR at 6K like the 2018 Mac mini and 2019 iMac and MacBook Pro with their Titan Ridge controllers. And now the iMac can be purchased with Nanotexture screens, while the iMac Pro cannot...
So maybe Apple has a big iMac Pro update planned for later this year when AMD releases their RDNA 2 (Navi 2x) GPUs that will address all this (new CPUs, new GPUs, Titan Ridge, Nanotextured glass and MiniLED backlighting). But maybe the iMac Pro was only meant as a stop-gap until the 2019 Mac Pro shipped and now it will be allowed to fade away once the "big" Apple Silicon iMac ships in 2021/2022.
I agree...the iMac Pro was originally the replacement for the Mac Pro, then became a stop-gap as the new Mac Pro had to get developed after that round table meeting a few years ago.
I think the iMac Pro has one last chance to be updated later this fall. If not, then it's done. I agree also that they haven't because there is no direct GPU replacement yet for the enclosures and the last round of chips weren't enough on their own for Apple to upgrade.
Well, you could sell it, and get a spec'd out 2020 model at really no cost to you. Of course you'd take a hit on the iMac Pro money you spent, but you could get a fully loaded 2020 with 3 years of AppleCare for what you could sell the iMac Pro for. Something to consider as the more time that passes, the less the iMac Pro is worth.
I’d have thought the tougher Xeon chips and superior cooling on the iMac Pro would make it a better option for any kind of significantly heavy workload.
The additional two Thunderbolt 3 ports on the iMac Pro are also kind of a big deal for any I/O requirements.
Even if the new iMac can best the base model in a couple of benchmarks by a small margin, will it last as long under load? I’d be surprised if it can 🤷♂️
The additional two Thunderbolt 3 ports on the iMac Pro are also kind of a big deal for any I/O requirements.
Even if the new iMac can best the base model in a couple of benchmarks by a small margin, will it last as long under load? I’d be surprised if it can 🤷♂️
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Agreed. I think the iMac Pro is overall more effective model for CPU-intensive and GPU-intensive workloads.
My 2017 iMac 5K is still fine so I skipped the 2019 and 2020 upgrades, but if Apple does do a comprehensive update of the iMac Pro for 2020/2021, I would give it a hard look.
My 2017 iMac 5K is still fine so I skipped the 2019 and 2020 upgrades, but if Apple does do a comprehensive update of the iMac Pro for 2020/2021, I would give it a hard look.
Earlier this year refurbs were available third-party (B&H, etc.) for as low as $3500, which was a heck of a deal. Apple has one now in the Refurb Store for $3819. A 2020 iMac would be $3699 with the 8c i7, 5700XT, 32GB, 1TB SSD and 10Gb Ethernet so it is a bit cheaper (and might be a bit faster), but you get the better cooling and extra TB ports.
If my 2017 5K was not still fine and my desire to see what Apple Silicon would bring, that iMP would be in my cart right now.
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Warranty on new Macs is also one year in the United States. And you can buy AppleCare on the refurbs to extend it to a total of three years.
AppleCare Products - Mac
Learn how to set up and use your Mac computer. Get direct access to Apple experts for questions on using MacOS and iCloud, and connecting to printers.
www.apple.com
may I ask what kind or peripherals are you using and what is your main task/software?
reset smc and pram and complete reinstall Mac OS 10.15. no special app currently installed
now just
safari