Intel Launches New W-2200 Xeon Chips Appropriate for an Updated iMac Pro

[konqerror]

All thanks to a resurgent AMD. Had Ryzen never existed, Intel would still be selling us crap at much higher prices. Sometimes competition is a good thing for consumers.

Don't give them too much credit. For server platforms, competition from ARM, Power, and GPUs are just as important.

Only two years without an update? By Apple standards that is positively fresh.

Intel's server platforms have been once every 2 years in recent times. It's actually going to be 3-4 years for a real update. This is basically a speed bump, the cores are almost identical to Scalable Skylakes from 2017.

Their client lines are really once every two years, and similarly mid-life upgrades are more marketing than actual upgrades.

 

[ElectricPotato]

... "could" and "should" makes the statement valid.

But not plausible.

 

[CWallace]

Only two years without an update? By Apple standards that is positively fresh.

Until this announcement, there were no new CPUs to update to.

 

[AZREOSpecialist]

The only thing missing in this month's "pro" oriented event is a iMac Pro refresh announcement.

No event has even been announced yet. How would you know anything about an as-yet unannounced event? 😆

Exactly what I'm afraid of. I'm jonzin to buy the second an updated iMac Pro is released. But they will hold back for months so not to hurt the new Mac Pro.

Two different markets, no overlap. I wouldn't buy an iMac Pro or any iMac, regardless of CPU updates, because the overall physical design is over 10 years old. The bezels are positively hideous and the screen is in need of an update given launch of the new Pro Display XDR.

Anybody who buys an iMac or iMac Pro this year will find themselves obsoleted with a likely redesign coming next year. Vote with your wallets, folks!

 

[wallysb01]

I expect the target market for both families are different so there would be little risk of overlap.

Particularly if this does lead to price cuts on the iMac Pro. The Mac Pro is looking like its using the W-3200 series exclusively that has not seen a big price cut, which maybe Intel is marking it down unofficially, but Apple's already announced minimum pricing. So, we're likely to see a bit more bang for the buck at the lower end of these spectrums in the iMac Pro. But if you need that box with slots, no choice but the Mac Pro.

 

[BootsWalking]

The pricing cuts could drive the cost of future iMac Pro models down should Apple pass those savings along to consumers.

Haha, I spit out my Cheerios when I read this sentence.

 

[ipedro]

I'm wondering if Apple will hold back on an iMac Pro upgrade until the Mac Pro is in the market place for a while. The iMac Pro is starting to look cheap compared to the Mac Pro.

That's kind of the point. Apple has been saying that the iMac Pro will more than suffice for most professionals. The new Mac Pro is really in a league of its own, way beyond the professional realm into more of industrial level than just professional.

A mid sized studio would do just fine with a series of iMac Pros on desks. The new Mac Pro will be more at home in large film studios rendering feature length ultra high resolution films or CGI heavy feature films or labs running huge math problems. Less than 0.1% of the people here at MacRumors will actually need a Mac Pro. We've had our pro mac out for a couple of years now.

 

[ksec]

I sure hope Apple is getting 50% discount than even those price listed. At this point in time I just want to see any profits goes to Intel. I wish Apple could pass those benefits to AMD.

Intel has been milking the market for for too long.

 

[Mydel]

I wonder about the prices of Mac Pro chips. If they drop 50% and are at the moment a significant portion of the machine price will apple drop the price? Or at least give stand to the XDR gratis...

 

[Glockworkorange]

Exactly what I'm afraid of. I'm jonzin to buy the second an updated iMac Pro is released. But they will hold back for months so not to hurt the new Mac Pro.

Eh, I don't think they're worried. The machines serve different markets. I am intrigued by a new iMac Pro and what kind of updates we'll see, particularly screen improvements. I expect every "pro" device screen will be called "Retina XDR," so let's see what that means on an LCD iMac.

 

[Zdigital2015]

I'm wondering if Apple will hold back on an iMac Pro upgrade until the Mac Pro is in the market place for a while. The iMac Pro is starting to look cheap compared to the Mac Pro.

Why? They serve two entirely different markets and they complement each other more than they compete. I expect that if Apple has a Pro focused event before the end of the year, that the Mac Pro and the iMac Pro will be shown side by side. Depending on the type of shop I was running, there's no way everyone needs a Mac Pro on their desk when an iMac Pro properly configured does everything that needs doing. People who need the Mac Pro, I mean really need it, know who they are and the rest of the people just think they need it, but really don't and just can't accept it.

 

[Glockworkorange]

Don't give them too much credit. For server platforms, competition from ARM, Power, and GPUs are just as important.



Intel's server platforms have been once every 2 years in recent times. It's actually going to be 3-4 years for a real update. This is basically a speed bump, the cores are almost identical to Scalable Skylakes from 2017.

Their client lines are really once every two years, and similarly mid-life upgrades are more marketing than actual upgrades.

All correct.
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Why? They serve two entirely different markets and they complement each other more than they compete. I expect that if Apple has a Pro focused event before the end of the year, that the Mac Pro and the iMac Pro will be shown side by side. Depending on the type of shop I was running, there's no way everyone needs a Mac Pro on their desk when an iMac Pro properly configured does everything that needs doing. People who need the Mac Pro, I mean really need it, know who they are and the rest of the people just think they need it, but really don't and just can't accept it.

"I mean really need it, know who they are and the rest of the people just think they need it, but really don't and just can't accept it."

Cough, cough....Apple Bloggers....cough, cough.

 

[Mick-Mac]

Only two years without an update? By Apple standards that is positively fresh.

I came here to say exactly the same thing!

 

[BootsWalking]

Does anyone know if these chips finally incorporate design fixes for the Meltdown and Spectre exploits, and by fixes I mean fundamental design changes vs the hot-patch firmware+OS fixes of existing chips that impact performance 20%+.

 

[Zdigital2015]

I wonder about the prices of Mac Pro chips. If they drop 50% and are at the moment a significant portion of the machine price will apple drop the price? Or at least give stand to the XDR gratis...

The Xeon W-3200 Series coming in the 2019 Mac Pro aren't getting a price break any time soon, if ever. They are Cascade Lake-based CPUs, but based on the Xeon Gold/Platinum lineup, not Xeons based closer to Intel's HEDT X-Series.
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It's interesting that the main upgrade from the previous generation is the core speed, as opposed to core count.

At this point, clock speed is way more important that extra cores. The 18-core is now 3.00GHz which is a 30% increase in clock speed as opposed to the W-2195 at 2.3GHz. That's significant and a welcome optimization.

Face it, 8 out of 10 people on this forum don't need 6- or 8-cores much less 18.

 

[xgman]

I'm in. I'll take the 10 core. oh wait, it will be Catalina only. ugg..

 

[coolfactor]

I haven't really heard much about iMac Pro since its release. Is it only in creative studios that don't share their rigs with the world? It's pricing too high for the average consumer. Does anyone out there have one and feel it packs enough value for its cost?

 

[Pro7913]

Too bad. They still using 14nm since 2015. Since AMD has 7nm, Intel wont be able to compete with them in future. Look at their TDP and L3 Cache. 3rd gen Ryzen has more L3 Cache and less TDP. Apple should ditch Intel as they are going to ditch Intel for MacBook series.

 

[Zdigital2015]

All correct.
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"I mean really need it, know who they are and the rest of the people just think they need it, but really don't and just can't accept it."

Cough, cough....Apple Bloggers....cough, cough.

Correct! LOL!

FinalCut Pro X editing is the only thing where I might see some benefit from more cores, but I just bought a Core i9-9900K iMac/1TBSSD/Vega48 and upped it to 40GB of DRAM and I'm in 7th Heaven. What the Hell am I going to do with 18-cores at this point other than drain my bank account? If I hit a wall that 10 or more cores can fix, then I'll come back and let everyone know. The plain fact is that 6 or 8 cores is more than most of us need. I noticed the 8GB of DRAM holding me back more than anything else (waiting for Crucial to get it back in stock). The benefit of AMD forcing Intel to offer more cores in their CPUs has also had the side effect of making people previously happily computing on 4c or 4c/8t think they can't use anything less than 12c/24t to write letters in Word and send mail in Outlook.

 

[benshive]

I'm loving that the CPU market has become competitive again with AMD stepping things up

 

[Zdigital2015]

Eh, I don't think they're worried. The machines serve different markets. I am intrigued by a new iMac Pro and what kind of updates we'll see, particularly screen improvements. I expect every "pro" device screen will be called "Retina XDR," so let's see what that means on an LCD iMac.

My biggest gripe is that a wonderful as the 5K display is, that if Apple wants to sell these in the creative market, it's time to embrace a display capable of DisplayHDR 1000 (https://displayhdr.org/performance-criteria/) and that AMD should have an updated GPU ready to go. Hopefully, we're now closer to that day.

 

[Zdigital2015]

No event has even been announced yet. How would you know anything about an as-yet unannounced event? 😆

Two different markets, no overlap. I wouldn't buy an iMac Pro or any iMac, regardless of CPU updates, because the overall physical design is over 10 years old. The bezels are positively hideous and the screen is in need of an update given launch of the new Pro Display XDR.

Anybody who buys an iMac or iMac Pro this year will find themselves obsoleted with a likely redesign coming next year. Vote with your wallets, folks!

I voted and I bought one, I have zero worries and zero regrets about being "obsoleted". Could give two sh*ts about those positively hideous bezels, as you call them. I have room on the inside for a 2.5" SSD, expandable to 128GB of DRAM, up to a 2TB PCIe SSD and two eGPUs if I need it. I already have a BenQ SW271 that I can calibrate for more critical color if the 5K built-in is not up to snuff, even though I agree with you that it is time for Apple to update the panel to better support HDR, since they are pushing it hard with the Mac Pro and XDR Display.
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Too bad. They still using 14nm since 2015. Since AMD has 7nm, Intel wont be able to compete with them in future. Look at their TDP and L3 Cache. 3rd gen Ryzen has more L3 Cache and less TDP. Apple should ditch Intel as they are going to ditch Intel for MacBook series.

AMD CPUs are not an option for Apple at this point and this had been explained ad nauseam.

 

[redheeler]

The pricing cuts could drive the cost of future iMac Pro models down should Apple pass those savings along to consumers.

Yeah, and maybe Apple will release the PowerBook G5 as well.

 

[adamw]

This is welcome news, as I own a iMac Pro currently, and I would consider upgrading to a new version of the iMac Pro with this new Intel chip.

 

[BornAgainMac]

I bet Apple will just skip this and two other CPU generations before updating the iMac Pro. In 2021, people will start rumors that a refresh of the iMac Pro is pending and by 2024, Apple will likely refresh the iMac Pro with new components but no major design changes.