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I think they did this specifically to fit a new design.

They did it specifically to fit the current design as the Core i9-9900K is also 95w and is locked at that TDP. The current iMac chassis cannot deal with the 125w TDP of the without completely redoing the interior a la the iMac Pro and Apple isn’t doing that for the last iterations of the iMac before release an AS iMac.

Any Intel iMac or iMac Pro updates are GPU going to be in the current industrial design, NOT a new design. People need to accept that they are going to have to buy an AS iMac if they want the new industrial design.
 
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One of the worst things you could do right now: buy a new Mac
Macs released this year are going to be supported for years and years to come. Eventually all machines will become outdated, even without the ARM transition. My old 2013 iMac is just as useless as if it was a different architecture -- it cannot even play 60fps YouTube videos, it overheats so much.

I would buy one last Intel iMac or MacBook Pro, especially because I could run Windows VMs on it one last time. Some professionals have work to do now, and can't wait a couple of years for the transition.
 
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."

You are misinterpreting your own quote. Apple releasing new versions of macOS for Intel Macs for years to come and having exciting new Intel Macs in development DOES NOT mean that Apple will keep releasing Intel-based Macs for a while. AT MOST, you're going to get another two years of Intel Macs. But once an ARM Mac is released, its Intel-based predecessor will be discontinued with no Intel based replacement. This probably means that the 16" MacBook Pro and the Mac Pro (and possibly the iMac Pro) will have another year or two being sold with an Intel chip before ultimately being replaced once and for all with a model containing an ARM chip.

There are Intel Macs in the pipeline still. Apple likely doesn't have chips to overtake the higher-end Macs just yet (plus, developers of the software typically needed on higher-end machines, like $1000+ video plugins, will need more time), so a few of those will be Intel until Apple's A-series can handily overtake them in performance. But everything past that will be ARM only. Apple has been supporting Intel Macs for new macOS releases for a good seven years after release (with two additional thereafter for security patch support), that will likely maintain after the final Intel Mac has been released. But that will be it. That's how transitions go.

Apple were very clear in the same keynote that new Intel Macs are still coming in the next few years and the follow-up public interviews as well.

Apple never said that Intel Macs are still coming over the course of the next "few" years. They said that the transition as a whole will take two. This doesn't mean that every model in Apple's current lineup is getting an Intel-based refresh. In fact, the current rumors suggest that the 13" MacBook Pro will get refreshed with an A-series chip and that the Intel based 13" MacBook Pro models will all get discontinued, effectively ending that model's run with Intel processors.

You're going to see Intel models linger for the higher-end models for which there might be a compatibility need (16" MacBook Pro and Mac Pro are likely candidates for this). But those models will very likely not be refreshed at that point.

What honestly is the point of still releasing intel Macs now?

The ARM equivalent chip is likely not ready. That's why the 13" MacBook Pro is rumored to be going first. The A12X can easily best the performance of every 13" MacBook Pro (or Air for that matter) that has ever existed. The A12Z just adds a graphics core to that. So, it would make sense for that machine to make the jump first as the SoC they're likely to put into it should be way more powerful.

When Apple transitioned to Intel, the initial hardware releases retained the same design as the PowerPC models. I’m expecting them to stick to that strategy.

They did that for MOST of the systems making the jump. In the case of the 12" PowerBook G4, they just outright killed that with no real replacement while merging the two sizes of iBook G4 into a whole new design that became the first MacBooks. I wouldn't be surprised to see them do something similar here, especially with the iMacs and the Mac minis.
 
One of the worst things you could do right now: buy a new Mac
No if you're using them to make money I building 4 home recording studios and I can't get any iMac these days they are several weeks away from delivery. We many have to buy Used Mac Pro Trash Can's instead.
 
Agreed. Seems like a lots of people are swallowing the ARM hype hook, line, and sinker. I'm not saying they won't be great, but they're not going to make Intel Macs suddenly become crap/worthless :rolleyes:

Very true on not being "crap/worthless"

But I would want to be riding the hardware technology that Apple is moving towards, not away from.

They have shown us over and over again that when they've moved on, they will focus all on the goodness on their new love (their own chips/designs)
 
I don't think people realize just how much the GPU is the bottleneck for a lot of people and the CPU performance has been fine for 10 years.

Unless you have a 2015 Macbook like me, then the CPU is definitely a bottleneck ;)
 
I’m guessing this is my last chance at an upgrade from my 2013 iMac with an Intel chip so I’ll probably take it.

I’m looking forward to the ARM stuff but will probably dip my toes in that area with a notebook first, and then move to a desktop if it turns out to be super awesome.
 
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It's a tough situation. I use my iMac daily for work. I am ready for a new machine. But I am not sure I want to spend 4 or 6 grand on a new iMac Pro or built out 27 inch, and have Apple Silicon in a year completely move beyond it...ugh. This was going to be the year I bought a new machine. But now...Ugh...

Nah, I was hanging on for an updated iMac Pro, but I'll probably take a maxed out iMac to replace my maxed out 2014 retina which has been and still is a superb piece of kit. Single-core performance and better graphics, and let's hope the option of at least 4 if not 8Tb SSD. That'll take me through for many more years (let's face it, there's not much wrong with this one apart from only having 1Tb internal SSD).

I'll likely dip my toes in with a small AS portable, hoping perhaps for something that will replace my Macbook that's also still a fantastic little thing I use when I'm away from home. Then sit on the sidelines and wait a few years for something AS to replace the iMac when everyone's got over the hump of the changeover.

I'm hoping that there's something a bit more interesting in the graphics hardware though than that leak, as 32000 isn't exactly amazing for OpenCL. My late 2014 scores over 26000, and 20% speed bump in six years isn't much.
 
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You have my attention. 10-cores and able to run Bootcamp. Unlike others that are waiting for ARM, I will by the last iMac before the ARM switch so I can hold out as long as possible. How do I do that? When the ARM iMacs come out, I buy the best Intel model refurbed.
 
Announces Apple chips... releases new Intel Macs.
Organized /s

If you paid attention during the keynote, you'll know that they said they would release additional intel models this year that are currently in the pipeline.
 
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

So this is laptop CPU and not a a desktop CPU?

Well 10 cores is impressive it would be more impressive if it is desktop CPU.
 
Looks like the bar has been set pretty high.
Of course Apple was aware this was coming so those Apple Silicon Macs are gonna scream!
 
Please. Nobody optimises code for a particular processor.

Not for a particular processor, but for a different architecture? Surely developers tweak things? Also how the Native instruments Massive X pluggin only runs on an AVX compatible processor which is an Intel thing, no?

Im not arguing, i just don't know that much in this regard so I'm interested in your take
 
Eventually. Not the first generation (replace dual core systems), not the second generation (replace 4 / 6 core systems, possibly released together with the first generation), but the third generation (replace 8 to 12 core systems).

Maybe in reverse order. When we did this sort of thing before, we did the high end chips first, since they go into more expensive system (and hence higher price chips), and the cost of making chips is high at first because it takes time to get the yields up. So a 10 core chip and a 20 core chip, which use the same cores, may get fabbed so you do the 20 core chips first.

Of course, it all depends on many factors.
 
Hope this is not a correct benchmark. My 2019 i9 with 580X...
Screen Shot 2020-07-01 at 5.45.16 PM.png
 
This is a GPU benchmark and the 580X (high end option) is probably faster than the 5300M (low/mid range)
The 580X is the standard (non-upgraded) on the 27inch that opens up the i9 option, but yeah, now that my head is on straight, I was only thinking of the biggest and fastest offering. Like, there are other iMac's? lol. So sorry, I will slink back into the shadows now.
 
But I would want to be riding the hardware technology that Apple is moving towards, not away from.

And I completely understand that point of view. However, it's not something that every Mac user feels strongly about for one reason or another. So for someone to just make a blanket statement that the "worst" thing you could do is buy a new Mac right now is imbalanced and simply not true for many people.
 
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