What is the melting point of aluminum? Looking forward to seeing photos of iMac reduced to a molten glob.
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Intel Unveils 'Purley' Xeon Chip Lineup, but None are Appropriate for High-End iMac Pro
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I still love my cheese grater so much. Everytime they introduce a new Pro Mac, I love my cheese grater even more.
mmm... Our pro's like laptops with external monitors for their work. I don't see traveling pro's going with such a heavy setup. A laptop & external would be lighter to carry.
Don't get me wrong here I do think many graphics pro's will go for it for the studio (office). The only issue with this series is the limitation of accessible RAM and storage to upgrade or even access if the system dies. Can you see a pro finishing a shoot only to have his assistant drop the system, opps! Now get the work off.
This is also the problem with the new MacBook Pro's! Soldered in SSD's. Apple needs to offer the working Pro's an escape hatch! We need removable storage at least! Ideally, expandable RAM & Storage and a few USB-A ports which the iMac Pro is offering! In the laptops too!
I think you will very surprised at how well this thing sells. My guess is it outsells the future Mac Pro significantly as I expect that machine to start at a similar price without a display and only come in dual socket configurations.
I'm hoping Apple quickly incorporates some of the iMac Pro features into the standrad iMac. Improved thermal system, removal of Internal SATA drives, space gray finish are all features that could quickly be added to the standard iMac.
A top end standard iMac with 7700k and RX580 using the cooling system and chassis of the iMac Pro would be great machine.
Maybe its time to give AMD's new Threadripper a try!
The real issue is what kind of processing the system will be optimized for. Most Pro stuff is multi-threaded.
While some apps need to be better optimized to support more threads, one can still run multiple apps concurrently but it's the processing of big jobs 4k & even 8K video! That is where most are fighting.
Design.... just because it's custom doesn't mean it takes the same time as different custom designs...
Agreed, but most likely just a want. I don't see Apple with a commitment level strong enough to design a series of mass produced Desktop Class Silicon. One never knows though. Intel is on track to fab ARM Silicon in the next year or two.
What is your field?
For someone like me, an indie post production company owner, this is a heavenly machine. Great price point, gonna cost around 8K after all of my mods, and will be a Mac Pro with a built in 5K screen. Why would I be upset about that. C4D will finally stop crapping out, Maya will stop crapping out "specifically Arnold", Real Flow will render quick enough to do multiple passes in an 8 hour day, and After Effects will stop crapping out, so I'm not sure what line of work you're in that isn't getting you excited for this thing. I cut R3D and Arri daily for my clients only my old 27inch iMac and upgrading to the iMac Pro while turning this current one "as well as my 2012 and 2011 iMac's" into render slaves is going to be great.
But to each his/her own.
That's a funny definition of "open". macOS is licensed only to run on computers made by Apple.
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On the contrary, the "cheese grater" Mac Pros were lovingly designed for easy access and upgrading, with really nice drive bays, easy memory access, and empty PCI slots.
And my 2008 MacBook Pro, the first unibody one, was fantastic - turn it over, pop a latch, lift off the corresponding panel (covering perhaps 1/4 of the bottom), and you have immediate access to the battery and the hard drive (remove one screw the drive out); lift up a further door to expose the ram slots. One of the nicest laptop designs I've ever seen. I wish they had kept those features.
I, too, think you will be surprised. If you have recently priced out a healthy spec'd HP Z840 or Lenovo ThinkStation P910, I think you will agree.
No MacOS = no go. I need to run both Photoshop/Illustrator and Unix-based command-line tools. Only MacOS allows me to do these without dual boot or simulators.
I love my cheese grater, but it's getting old. To make it 5K capable, I will probably need to spend $2000+ for a new video card and a 5K display. The iMac Pro will be much faster than my 2010 cheese grater, and it will come with a nice 5K display. So, why not? I have budget ready and I will buy one as soon as it is available.
ps, I do both scientific calculation and still photography. I know many scientists like me who much prefer Macs on their desktop rather than Linux or Windows machines.
You're talking about a laptop from nearly 10 years ago and a desktop from over 5 years ago. Even then they weren't overly upgradable. Sure you could throw in some RAM and a hard drive but that was about it. Upgrading the graphics card wasn't straight forward as Apple doesn't play nice with those other than the option or two they offer from the factory. They haven't been very upgradable at all.
As mrhick01 expained, the unusual announcement was to quell the public pessimism in the pro circles. My hunch is that Apple is hoping the iMac Pro will satisfy the majority of pros and Apple won’t have to follow through with a modular product. Apple didn’t say the latter product was a certainty. They said they “were working on it”. As you know, Apple has explored many product concepts routinely and pronounced them unfit ultimately.
I know plenty of neckbeards who can build you a multi-socket Xeon Hackintosh with Quadros or 1080Tis by tomorrow. I know plenty of pro users who would love a 2017 Cheese Grater.
My guess is they're waiting for this Thunderbolt and GPU stuff to settle down. It's probably going to play a big role.
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They have to redesign all the internals, including whatever miraculous cooling system they're going to need for this.
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I think you're in the minority in that belief.
Hard drives (4 of them), optical bay, video cards, and ram were all easily accessible and upgradeable. PCI add on cards for sound, video stuff, you name it. Even the CPU was swappable, if one were so inclined.
With the new nVidia drivers, those old machines are even seeing new life with cuda based software. The classic mac pros are still in service because they are so upgradeable.
Cause it's about sales numbers , and Mac Pro is so poor. Apple has no interest in the Mac Pro , the delay is about priority and not ability. Expect further delays and engineers are assigned elsewhere
What probably happened is Apple started showing early prototypes of the iMac Pro to high end professionals in media production and scientific fields where, while probably well received as a workstation, they probably pitched a fit about not having a mac they could easily put in a rack for specific needs like raw processing power or large amounts of storage. For example: What is a live production company that wants to use Macs supposed to do if they want a dedicated high end machines for graphics generation, video encoding/processing, live audio production or multiple such machines and redundant backups for each? And they need it all easily transportable in something like an anvil case or production truck/van? The iMac is a terrible form factor for that application and there are many others where it just doesn't make sense.
There were probably just enough production engineers, technology directors, etc. that told them they would have to go to Windows/Linux PCs to fulfil their needs that they panicked just a little bit. Maybe Iovine or Dre told them an iMac didn't make sense in a recording studio? Maybe the crews working on their new original series gave it to them straight that a giant 27" monitor in the way makes no sense when you just need to run dailies on set and a laptop is too slow?
The iMac Pro is going to be awesome and will likely sell very well, but there is still a market that has not been served well since the cheese graters disappeared and though relatively small, brings a lot of credibility to the Mac as a pro creative platform. Apple donked up with the first release of FCPX and the nMP. If they want to continue to serve the pro market, they can't afford to screw up again.
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According to the interview, Phil Schiller and Craig said that a large number of their pro users ARE using iMacs. To appease to those users, they released the iMac Pro for now until the Mac Pro is ready.
You might want to re-read this.. https://www.macrumors.com/2017/04/04/apple-updates-mac-pro-and-more/
IMac Pro is likely the upgrade for 2013 Cylinder Mac Pro. The iMac pro could therefore been developed for some time with the key objective to connect macpro hardware with the nice 5k screen. The new modular mac pro are likely for people that Apple did not think exist anymore: those who need 24/7 computing and do not have access to or want to use servers for heavy computing.
Sometimes I think Apple developes mac pro after what Apple needs internally and then try to sell the same concept to a broader market. Apple Inc is however not exactly the same beast as an indie developer, a scientist or a wedding photographer.
Sometimes I think Apple developes mac pro after what Apple needs internally and then try to sell the same concept to a broader market. Apple Inc is however not exactly the same beast as an indie developer, a scientist or a wedding photographer.
Apple is a hardware company? Their software exists to drive hardware sales.
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Filmmakers like me would die for the iMac Pro. Although very high end, great for anyone who works with graphics. Much better than a Mac Pro for many creative professionals.
Like other posters, I too find it extremely unlikely this machine will be aftermarket upgradable. You will be able to configure it at purchase and that is probably it. Maybe RAM will be user-exchangeable, but do not expect anything beyond that.
This is because Apple sees computers as household utilities. No one ever asks if a telephone or a TV is upgradable - they buy it based on current needs and if the need to upgrade arises for this type of item they are supposed to buy a new one. No one ever asks if the TV is upgradeable, despite knowing new tech is around the corner. These items are seen as one solitaire box providing one solitaire service. When service changes (like HDTV arrived) everyone has accepted that you need to buy an entirely new box to "upgrade" to the new service.
And of course it is a dream for Apple if this thinking can be established for their hardware.
This is why I've broken down and looking for a professional alternative like Boxx. I'd roll my own, and I've done my part-picking research, but oddly, high-quality logic boards with 5-pin thunderbolt headers on them can be hard to find. And then there's the mysterious unavailability of a compatible Thunderbolt 3 add-in card.
Trying to build a really fast, but really quiet machine for Pro Tools and Davinci Resolve is a real PITA.