Unreleased iMac With 10-Core Comet Lake-S Chip and Radeon Pro 5300 GPU Shows Up in Geekbench

[MacRumors]

Benchmarks for an unreleased iMac equipped with a 10th-generation Core i9 Intel Comet Lake-S chip and an AMD Radeon Pro 5300 graphics card have surfaced, giving us an idea of what we can expect from a refreshed 2020 iMac.

The Geekbench benchmarks, which appear to be legit, were found on Twitter and shared this morning by Tom's Hardware. The iMac in the benchmarks would be a successor to the 27-inch iMac.

The machine features Intel's 3.6GHz Core i9-10910 chip with 10 CPU cores, 20 threads, a 20MB L3 cache, and 4.7GHz Turbo Boost, a successor to the Core i9 chip found in the current high-end 27-inch iMac. As Tom's Hardware points out, the chip appears to be a higher clocked 95W Core i9-10900 that's unique to the iMac.

According to the Geekbench submission, the Core i9-10910 runs with a 3.6 GHz base clock and 4.7 GHz boost clock. The clock speeds suggest that the Core i9-10910 is fundamentally a higher clocked Core i9-10900. Doing the math, the Core i9-10910 reportedly boasts a 28.6% higher base clock than the Core i9-10900.

Given the shared specifications, the Core i9-10910 should slot right in between the Core i9-10900K and Core i9-10910. The first is a 125W part, while the latter is a 65W chip. This means that the Core i9-10910 is likely a 95W processor.

The unreleased iMac is also equipped with an as of yet unannounced AMD Radeon Pro 5300 graphics card, which seems to be a desktop version of the Radeon Pro 5300M released last year with Navi 14 silicon.

There's no word on when Apple might release an updated iMac, but there were rumors suggesting a new machine could come at WWDC. Rumors have suggested an updated 2020 iMac might feature the first redesign we've seen in years with "iPad Pro design language" and thin bezels similar to the bezels on the Pro Display XDR.

The updated machine is expected to feature a T2 chip for security and controller functions along with an AMD Navi GPU and an all-flash storage setup. It's not clear what size it will be, but there have been multiple rumors suggesting Apple is working on a 23 or 24-inch iMac with an all new form factor.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently said the 24-inch iMac would be one of the first Macs to get an Apple Silicon chip in late 2020 or 2021, but said that Apple plans to refresh the existing Intel iMac in the third quarter of 2020, which appears to be the machine we're seeing in the benchmarks.

Whether the new machine features a new look remains to be seen, as the redesign could be something Apple is holding back for when the company is ready to debut its Apple Silicon chips. Apple said the first Mac with an Apple-designed chip would come in late 2020, but did not provide details on which Mac that would be.

It's possible that this Intel refresh will see Apple reusing the same 27-inch iMac design that hasn't been updated since 2012.

Article Link: Unreleased iMac With 10-Core Comet Lake-S Chip and Radeon Pro 5300 GPU Shows Up in Geekbench

 

[Rychiar]

I'm waiting for apple silicon. my last 3 intel iMacs 2013, 2017, 2019 really haven't impressed me in speed boost from one to the next

 

[Grohowiak]

Nice chip.
$3K+?

I'm waiting for apple silicon. my last 3 intel iMacs 2013, 2017, 2019 really haven't impressed me in speed boost from one to the next

Looks like you never used any of them to the limit cause the updates were substantial.

 

[mcfrazieriv]

Announces Apple chips... releases new Intel Macs.
Organized /s

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

total beast!!! how much?

 

[ChrisBos]

If Apple is putting out a machine like this now, I feel like it has to bode well for Intel support even after the ARM transition is complete.

Or maybe they're just putting out a beast machine that their ARM iMac will demolish, just to prove a point ?

 

[cmaier]

Announces Apple chips... releases new Intel Macs.
Organized /s

If they *DIDN’T* keep replacing intel machines to give folks one last chance for a “keeper,” you’d be groaning about that too.

 

[sniffies]

One of the worst things you could do right now: buy a new Mac

 

[eatrains]

Announces Apple chips... releases new Intel Macs.
Organized /s

The same thing happened last time.

 

[icanhazmac]

One of the worst things you could do now: buy a new Mac

Unless your workflow requires bootcamp / virtualizations then a new intel mac can help you maintain until the arm solutions hopefully materialize.

 

[MacFather]

Deleted.

 

[NickName99]

A 10-core i9 processor sounds like a bump up from the $500 8-core i9 option on the 27” iMac.

I bet the initial Apple powered iMac will be much faster at single core performance, and a bit faster at multi core too. We’ll see before too much longer.

 

[ChrisMoBro]

If they *DIDN’T* keep replacing intel machines to give folks one last chance for a “keeper,” you’d be groaning about that too.

Whilst I see why it's important for Apple to keep releasing Intel Macs, it's still confusing for consumers and is problematic for businesses looking to upgrade.

 

[Loxen88]

Unless your workflow requires bootcamp / virtualizations then a new intel mac can help you maintain until the arm solutions hopefully materialize.

So does that mean Big Sur supports bootcamp on Intel Mac's but won't support Bootcamp on Arm Mac's

 

[cmaier]

One of the worst things you could do right now: buy a new Mac

For the folks who truly, really, need an Intel machine (because they rely on some software that they know will not be ported to Arm in the next 5 years, because the software vendor told them so), and who believe that the software will continue to be updated for Intel machines, it may make sense to buy one of these last round of machines.

There are a few such people. (Just not as many such people as you’d think from the moaning around here)
[automerge]1593626498[/automerge]

So does that mean Big Sur supports bootcamp on Intel Mac's but won't support Bootcamp on Arm Mac's

Yes

 

[turbineseaplane]

Nope. Not me.

I’m all in on Apple Silicon only at this point.

 

[TiggrToo]

One of the worst things you could do right now: buy a new Mac

How so? It'll be supported for years to come. it'll run all the current apps. It'll run Win x64.

What's the downside?

 

[Darajavahus]

AMD Radeon Pro 5300 as RDNA1?! Are you kidding me? RDNA2 is just about to launch, what's up with them to always make sure for the iMac to be behind in GPU. The only worthwhile reason for them to update the iMac so late would be Big Navi and they gonna pull this again? ?

 

[turbineseaplane]

If Apple is putting out a machine like this now, I feel like it has to bode well for Intel support even after the ARM transition is complete.

Or maybe they're just putting out a beast machine that their ARM iMac will demolish, just to prove a point ?

I’d be careful reading too much into this other than they have the product ready to go and want to take your money if you care to give it.

 

[Squuiid]

How does this compare to an iMac Pro?

 

[NickName99]

So does that mean Big Sur supports bootcamp on Intel Mac's but won't support Bootcamp on Arm Mac's

There is not an available Windows version that can run native on Apple processors. Maybe down the road Microsoft and Apple will work together to make that happen.

 

[poematik13]

One of the worst things you could do right now: buy a new Mac

Unless you actually use your mac for work and not just browsing forums and watching youtube

 

[robbysibrahim]

Or maybe they're just putting out a beast machine that their ARM iMac will demolish, just to prove a point ?

Totally. It wouldn't be an Apple keynote if they didn't say "this our best ____ ever" would it. The ARM Macs are gonna be insane. But this will be a great addition to the lineup for those who still need one more chance to buy Intel Macs.

 

[Ma2k5]

How so? It'll be supported for years to come. it'll run all the current apps. It'll run Win x64.

What's the downside?

The downside depends on how good the ARM machines are. It’s not so much that Intel machines will stop working (of course they’ll be supported), but it could be dwarfed in performance and usability by ARM machine equivalents. You can also be sure for the coming years, Intel based machines will be a second class citizen in terms of updates, features and bug fixes - and they’ll definitely make sure you notice it too as to push people towards ARM. Adoption is key.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Announces Apple chips... releases new Intel Macs.
Organized /s

Apple said they were going to keep releasing Intel-based Macs for a while: "Apple will continue to support and release new versions of macOS for Intel-based Macs for years to come, and has exciting new Intel-based Macs in development." (Source: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/06/apple-announces-mac-transition-to-apple-silicon/)

This is exactly what organization looks like. It gives longevity to Intel-based Apple computers for years rather than Apple completely jumping ship and quickly cutting off support. This is a graceful exit from relying on Intel.