thanks LV.. it seems you've interpreted my question as i meant it
You're welcome.
There's no current 6 core only platform. there's either the consumer mainstream one that supports the 4 core CPU's or the "prosumer" grade that'll support the 6+ cores (all the way up to 20 cores these days I believe)
so, there are Xeons which could be put in an imac while still limiting the platform to 4core processors..
Yes, there are Xeon's that will "drop in" to the same motherboards/sockets as consumer i-series CPU's. these could be used today without fuss. They offer nearly identical TDP (thermal properties). They're virtually identical CPU's (actually, the CPU portion is identical). THe only difference between the i7 and Xeon is the ECC ram support.
In reality, you could swap in a Xeon now to an iMac (If you wish to risk it, i don't believe the CPUs are soldered). But you'd gain no advantages.
do you see a chance at apple offering a 6-core iMac? if so, do you think best bet will be xeon or i7?
I don't think so to be honest. Moving to the 6+ core platform does change thermal properties (they're hotter). The Motherboards and chipsets are more complex and hotter (Though far more PCI-E lanes for thunderbolt support). It's not even the cost difference (at a PC retail level, the difference is huge, motherboards are hundreds more, and in many cases the CPU's are thousands more from intel).
Even if Apple does go 6+ core Xeon platform, the current iMac couldn't thermally handle it. The Current i7-6700k machine does suffer from some thermal throttling as is. Apple would need to re-design their entire iMac chassis and cooling solution to go this route.
it's not impossible. But i don't think that's in the cards right now. Apple seems to be caught a little off guard in the PC industry right now, and I don't think they're looking for something thats going to take 2 years to re-design. That's Mac Pro territory already,
I expect the new iMac's in the next 6 months
(fwiw, if i had a choice between a quad and 6core iMac, i'd want the 6core... and likewise, if i had a choice between xeon or i7 processors, i'd most likely want the i7.. )
I'm very much in the computer buying mode myself right now due to my current desktop not quite keeping up with what I throw at it. The Mac Pro is way WAY too down t he line. I'm looking 3-6 months at maximum before I buy a new computer (or replace most of my current one)
Looking at the options, 4 cores isn't enough for me anymore. When I game, I also tend to be running either NHL/MLB stream, have a web browser or two with 5-10 tabs, and slack, discord, etc. I multi-task. A LOT.
4 cores can't do this anymore. GTA takes a massive FPS dump because of it in heavy CPU areas. I want 6+ core. in fact, I'm at the point where I think i can say I need 6+ cores.
But just because I need 6+ cores, doesn't mean i need a Xeon. there are 6 and 8 core I7's. they're not cheap, but they're perfectly capable, and for a desktop user, the i7 is far more practical of a CPU. my use, (and i'd argue most home users are similar), don't need, nor will ever use ECC ram. Which renders the point of the Xeon absolutely worthless. I want an i7. NOT a xeon.
However, Given RyZEN's price and performance and core count, anyone who is seriously looking at a 6+ core CPU should seriously consider RyZEN. unfortunately, that's not likely to happen for Apple. Which means, back to earlier question, I don't expect a 6+ core iMac anytime soon. the cost would be astronomically comical.
as for Ryzen price?
Ryzen 1800x, which is their highest end, 8 core, 16 thread CPU, is $ 629 (CAD). Intel's highest end 8 core 16thread CPU is $1395 CAD. for 1/2 the performance, you get about 90% of the performance.
But Apple going AMD would lose Thunderbolt
