Apple's iMac Pro was a beloved desktop behemoth that packed in the all-in-one convenience of Apple's iMac range with awesome processing power and a potent display. 

Years after it was discontinued, rumors abound that Apple might have a larger, more powerful iMac in the works that sounds an awful lot like a reboot of the iMac Pro. Early indications suggest it could have a massive 32-inch display, and of course there'll be Apple silicon under the hood as well. 

So what do we know about this new iMac Pro and when can we expect it? Here's everything we know so far. 

New iMac Pro: Possible release date

2023 has come and gone with no sign of the iMac Pro. Are most recent information, and our best source to go on, is Ming-Chi Kuo, who says Apple could unveil a new iMac in 2024, followed by an even more capable desktop in 2025. It's likely this second device is an iMac Pro. 

New iMac Pro: Sizes and models

The old iMac Pro featured a 27-inch Retina 5K display with IPS technology. Apple's new iMac is reportedly 32 inches in size. This makes sense given its likely to get the same redesign as the M1 iMac, which upped the screen size from 21.5 inches to 24. 

New iMac Pro: Processor

With the M2 Pro, Max, and Ultra out in the wild and rumors of M3 fast approaching, a 2025 iMac is likely to feature either the M3 chip, or possible even the M4. Apple unveiled its new M2 chip last year, and Apple looks on course to get two fulls years out of it before M3 arrives. It's likely the M3 chip is the flagship in 2025 too, so an iMac Pro would probably feature the M3 Pro and Max variants of this, or maybe even the all-powerful Ultra. 

New iMac Pro: Design

We have no idea what the next iMac Pro could look like. The last solid report came from Gurman in January 2022. At that time, he said that a new iMac Pro would look bigger and have better chips. He suggested the 2023 iMac Pro would take a few design cues from the 24-inch iMac (2021), and that makes a lot of sense.

The first iMac Pro was unique in that it was offered in (only) space gray. Apple could provide more of the same and only offer the next-gen model in one color. It could also follow the iMac (2021)'s lead and release the 2023 iMac Pro in multiple colors. 

Don't get too excited, however. Apple has historically kept "Pro" device colors to the minimum. So you can expect models in Space Gray, silver,  and maybe one other darker, more muted tone is what we've seen in the past.

The original iMac Pro featured a built-in 1080p FaceTime HD. Similar specs are found on the current-generation MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. I would expect something better on a new iMac Pro.

What probably won't change? The 2023 iMac will almost certainly come with matching accessories, such as a keyboard, mouse, or trackpad. 

New iMac Pro: Display

According to the latest reports the iMac Pro will feature a 32-inch mini-LED panel. That's the same tech behind the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro, so could open up 120Hz ProMotion displays as well as formidable HDR performance. 

New iMac Pro: Price

The iMac Pro (2017) started at $4,999 and became even more expensive as upgrades were added. The Mac Studio (2022) starts at $1,999, but that price can climb to $8,000 with upgrades. It's likely the iMac Pro in 2025 could be just as expensive as its predecessor.  

Time to wait

So we've at least a year to wait until we hear about the next iMac Pro, but with 32-inch mini-LED display, M3 processor, and redesign on the cards, it might be one of Apple's most capable desktops ever when it finally arrives. 

The colorful M1 iMac launched last year and completely redesigned the iMac into Apple's new lineup of computers using the company's own chips. Naturally, the 24-inch iMac was an obvious replacement for the old 21.5-inch iMac, and many people thought a better iMac Pro would be coming too. Unfortunately, there's been very little happening in the rumor mill for the iMac Pro (2022) as of late. However, there are still a few rumblings you should know about if you're excited about a potential
iMac Pro. 

iMac Pro (2022): Design

There haven't been any solid rumors as of late indicating what a new iMac Pro would look like; the last solid report we had was from Mark Gurman back in January. He said that a new iMac Pro would look bigger and have better chips.

I know, not exactly a big leap to expect the new iMac to be both bigger and better than its predecessors. Gurman's rumor did mention that a new iMac Pro would steal a lot of design cues from the iMac (2021). There wasn't much of an elaboration on that thought, but it could mean a super thin design and the presence of some significant bezels. 

iMac Pro (2022): Colors

After the colorful explosion of the iMac (2021), could we see an iMac Pro with more color? Well, our only real report is from DigiTimes back in December 2021, which stated that new colors would be available on an upcoming 27-inch iMac. The report never went into detail on what those colors may be — the same as the iMac (2021) or something different — so we are left to speculate.

It's important to note that historically, anything with the "Pro" moniker released by Apple doesn't usually have a lot of color options. The standard Space Gray, silver, and maybe one other darker, more muted tone is what we've seen in the past. 

iMac Pro (2022): Chip

It's unclear exactly what chip a potential iMac Pro (2022) would have. Back when the rumor mill started for the device, the iMac Pro was set to have either the M1 Pro or M1 Max. Of course, now that the M2 chip exists, that likely wouldn't be the case.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has theorized that the iMac Pro would feature an M3 chip, believe it or not, but that would likely indicate it is a far way off. 

iMac Pro (2022): When can we expect it?

Honestly, at this point, there's nothing concrete pointing toward any sort of date when the next iMac Pro may be released. We know that Apple's Far Out event will likely only feature the iPhone 14 and Apple Watch Series 8, and that's scheduled for September 7, 2022. It's very unlikely we will hear anything about a new iMac Pro then.

We also have been hearing that Apple will hold an event in mid-October focusing on iPad, but there are a few rumblings some Macs could be announced too. Apple famously mentioned earlier this year that the Mac Pro (not iMac) was the only machine in their lineup that had yet to jump to Apple Silicon. They even went so far as to hint that it would eventually be coming. Of course, that also could suggest that perhaps an iMac Pro isn't even in the works at all. 

It really is a waiting game

I wish I had better news for people excited about the potential of a new iMac Pro. I myself am a huge fan of the all-in-one design of the iMac. Unfortunately, though, we are in a holding pattern when it comes to the next iMac Pro, with no huge indication that anything is being worked on immediately. It could be a long while before we actually see it come to fruition.

What you need to know

• Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has reported that Apple's iMac Pro could be about to make a comeback.
• The new machine is expected to use some version of the new M3 chip that will be announced next year.
• The use of M3 chips means a launch is not expected until this time next year.

Apple's rumored iMac Pro replacement could get an all-new M3 chip or two, according to a new report. But while that should ensure that the new machine is nice and fast, it will also mean that it isn't set to go on sale until the middle of next year.

The original iMac Pro was discontinued in March of 2021 and we've been waiting for a replacement ever since. The new Mac Studio and Studio Display go some way to filling the fold, but Bloomberg's Mark Gurman — writing via the Power On newsletter — says that Apple now intends to launch a new iMac that will be aimed at "pro" users. That machine is set to use "a variation of the M3 chip, likely an M3 Pro and M3 Max," however, and that would mean that it is unlikely to be announced until the middle of next year at the earliest.

Apple is also likely to refresh the current 24-inch M1 iMac, although that now seems likely to skip the M2 and go straight to the M3 next year. The current machine was released in May of 2021, meaning it is now more than a year old.

Apple does still have plenty of new Macs in the works, of course. M2 Pro and M2 Max versions of the MacBook Pro are expected to be announced this year, while a new Apple M2 Mac Pro is also set to finally get its time in the sun, although what chips that will actually use is unclear. We may see an all-new addition to the lineup, possibly called M2 Extreme, sitting above the M2 Ultra,

Since Apple discontinued the iMac Pro in March of 2021, rumors have swirled that the company may be planning to bring the heavyweight all-in-one desktop back in some form.

Last year, Apple unveiled its brand new 24-inch iMac featuring Apple silicon and a stunning new design to complement its speedy M1 chip. Yet Apple still doesn't have a 'Pro' iMac offering or a replacement for its 27-inch iMac, which still runs on Intel and sports the old iMac design.

It should be noted that it's not clear at this stage how exactly Apple plans to update its larger iMac options. Will Apple replace the 27-inch iMac with a colorful M1 version, and also release an iMac Pro with more powerful chips like the M1 Pro and M1 Max? Or will it simply release one new 27-inch iMac that is both larger and more powerful?

We've heard very little about a possible 27-inch 'non-Pro' iMac, but here's what we do know about the rumored 'iMac Pro.'

Release date

According to recent reports, an iMac Pro could debut in the middle of this year, perhaps in June at WWDC. From February:

Other release windows we've heard include August or September, and as early as Q1 of 2022. We know that Apple has filed recently for three new Mac models in the Eurasian Economic Commission database, only one of which is definitely a new laptop. Could Apple release a new iMac at its March event? That seems less likely, and a WWDC launch definitely makes sense.

Design

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple's next 27-inch iMac should come with a design similar to the M1 iMac from 2021. This makes perfect sense, Apple made a really big design change to the iMac last year, there's no way that those design changes won't carry over to the larger model, Pro or not. That means an all-new square design.

Apple silicon

Gurman also states that this is going to be a 'Pro' iMac, so would likely feature 'Pro' chips from Apple. The model here of course is the new MacBook Pro (2021), which comes with the M1 Pro and M1 Max Apple silicon chips. If the new iMac is a Pro machine, then it probably won't come with the base-model M1 chip from the 24-inch model.

Display

Another big expected upgrade for the iMac Pro is a mini-LED display. From Ross Young:

Not only is Young anticipating an all-new mini-LED display, but also a variable refresh rate just like the MacBook Pro, enabling up to 120Hz ProMotion. This again makes a lot of sense as it would reflect the MacBook Pro lineup well.

Price

We haven't heard any concrete info about a possible price of the iMac mini. An educated guess would state that Apple would likely follow quite closely the previous pricing configuration, so the iMac Pro could cost an eye-watering $5,000. Apple's non-pro 27-inch iMac currently costs $1,800 for the base model, so if Apple upgrades the design and adds Apple silicon to the non-Pro model we could definitely see this increased.

What you need to know

• Analyst Ross Young says he thinks Apple will launch a mini-LED iMac Pro in June.
• The new machine is set to use Apple silicon and sit above the current 24-inch iMac.
• This is just one of many new Macs set for a 2022 launch.

Apple's rumored iMac Pro refresh now looks set for a June 2022 appearance with a fancy new mini-LED screen in tow. That's according to an industry analyst who specializes in display technology.

That analyst is DSCC's Ross Young who took to Twitter to answer a question about whether we could see a new iMac Pro sooner rather than later. In response, Young said that a mini-LED iMac Pro "could launch in June" and while some believe that the display technology will be more old school, he expects it to be much more impressive. Think 1,000 zones and more than 4,000 individual LEDs.

It now seems likely that the new iMac Pro will replace the old one as well as the 27-inch iMac, leaving the 24-inch version as the only standard iMac in the lineup. The new iMac Pro will of course run Apple silicon, although exactly which chips will be used remains to be seen.

The new iMac Pro is far from the only Mac we will be treated to this year. New MacBook Air and Mac mini products are expected, while new MacBook Pro notebooks are also on the horizon. On top of all of that, new iPad Air and iPhone SE announcements are imminent if rumors are accurate.

Given the Mac Pro's current lack of Apple silicon refresh a new iMac Pro will likely be the best Mac for professionals who don't want a portable machine. At least until we do see that expected Mac Pro refresh at some point in the future.

What you need to know

• Apple's rumored mini-LED iMac Pro is now expected to launch this summer.
• Those hoping for a launch this spring look set to be disappointed.
• While mini-LED is set to power the display it will feature fewer zones than the fancy MacBook Pro.

Those hoping to get their hands on a new iMac Pro in the first few months of 2022 look set to be disappointed. According to display analyst Ross Young, we shouldn't be expecting the new iMac Pro to arrive until "August or September."

The new machine, which is set to feature mini-LED technology and a display larger than the current M1 iMac, now looks set to arrive this summer rather than any sooner with display shipments unlikely to begin before June.

The bad news continues, too. Young also says that while we can still look forward to the use of mini-LED technology in the new iMac Pro, it won't have as many zones as the impressive MacBook Pro. That should still mean that we get the benefit of 120Hz ProMotion and a variable refresh, at least.

Apple is also expected to put Apple silicon into this thing, with Bloomberg's Mark Gurman saying that we should expect "similar chips to the M1 Pro and M1 Max. That could potentially mean a refreshed chip, possibly based on the M2 design that is expected to debut in a MacBook Air within the next few months.

A refreshed iMac Pro, with new internals, is sure to be the best Mac for a whole lot of professionals — especially those who want to enjoy the benefits of those new mini-LED displays.

What you need to know

• Bloomberg's Mark Gurman believes Apple will use the iMac Pro name when it launches a larger iMac this year.
• Expectations are that the new iMac Pro will borrow the design of the 24-inch iMac.
• The next iMac Pro is likely to use "similar chips to the M1 Pro and M1 Max" according to Gurman.

Rumors of a larger iMac destined for a 2022 launch keep coming and going and now Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said something many of us have been thinking — that larger iMac will carry the 'Pro' name, bringing iMac Pro back to life.

Apple's current 24-inch iMac comes with Apple's M1 Apple silicon as well as some rather funky colors. While we might not get quite the same array of colorways, Gurman says that a design similar to that of the current iMac should probably be expected when writing in his weekly Power On newsletter.

Gurman also believes that chips similar to the M1 Pro and M1 Max will be used, although it's possible they will be upgraded M2 chips that are expected to get their debut in a new MacBook Air within the next few months.

Reports of a new 27-inch mini-LED screen, likely to be used in an iMac Pro, have surfaced of late but we heard last month that mini-LED is unlikely to be part of a 2022 iMac Pro.

Mini-LED or not, we can be sure that the new iMac Pro will be the best Mac for people who need as much grunt as possible while sitting at a desk.

The 2022 MacBook Air is likely to become the Mac of the year because of its broad appeal. However, there's also growing anticipation for what Apple has planned for iMac in the coming 12 months. Following last year's release of the consumer-based 24-inch iMac, the expectation this time around is for Cupertino to announce a more professional-friendly model. Here's what I hope to see on this year's new iMac.

The new iMac Pro

Back in December 2017, Apple introduced its first and only iMac Pro. With a starting price of $5,000, the iMac Pro only found limited success, and in March 2021, Apple retired it. A month later, the company announced the colorful 24-inch iMac, the first Apple desktop to feature Apple silicon. This model joined the Intel-based (and consumer-friendly) 27-inch model that was last updated in August 2020.

A new iMac Pro will almost certainly replace that model with buyers given a choice between purchasing one with an M1 Pro or M1 Max professional-focused systems-on-a-chip (SoC). These are the same options found on last year's MacBook Pro.

The rumor mill has been all over the place regarding the iMac Pro 2022's screen size and quality. Earlier rumors suggested Apple would increase the screen size on this model as it moved from 21.5 inches to 24 inches on the less expensive model. Later, the rumors pivoted, with most now expecting Apple to stick with 27 inches for the new iMac Pro. Quality-wise, earlier rumors said the next iMac Pro would feature mini-LED; more recent stories, however, said Apple would stick with LCD.

I'm going to split the difference here and assume Apple will keep the screen size at 27 inches for the iMac Pro and offer the model with the option of LCD or mini-LED, with the latter much more expensive, as you'll see below.

With an "M2" SoC expected to launch later this year on the next MacBook Air, Apple may (or should) refresh the 24-inch iMac to at least include this SoC as an option. Otherwise, this computer, not yet a year old, will feel increasingly old compared to newer Macs.

Will all this in mind, the 2022 iMac lineup is likely to look like this:

• 24-inch iMac (2021) and/or 24-inch iMac (2020)
• 27-inch iMac Pro (2022) with M1 Pro or M1 Pro Max

Specs

Beyond the display and SoC, I'd expect we'll see the new iMac Pro with up to a 10-core CPU and 32-core GPU with as much as 64GB of memory and 8GB of storage. From a pricing perspective, I wouldn't be surprised to see the iMac Pro 2022 start at around $2,000 (vs. $1,799 on the current 27-inch iMac) with the highest-priced model significantly more, perhaps as high as $5,000 or $6,000, depending on the specs.

Color redux

As I have often noted, I'm a big supporter of Apple's decision as of late to go beyond silver and space gray as color choices across its entire product line. I expect we'll see more of the same with this year's new iMac Pro, although there might not be as many color choices as found on the 24-inch model. After all, these will be geared to the professional set.

If I had to guess, Apple will bring back the darker space gray finish from the 2017 iMac Pro and offer silver and maybe regular space gray. Beyond this, don't expect to see an iMac Pro in a bright color.

Time to get excited

With the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro and 24-inch iMac last year, Apple combined new internals with new designs, creating some of the best Macs around. In 2022, it's almost certainly going to be done again, first with a redesigned MacBook Air, then with a refreshed 27-inch iMac Pro. Both new products could launch as early as March, although Fall 2022 sounds much more feasible for the iMac Pro. Stay tuned.

What you need to know

• Ross Young has announced a few predictions for what to expect from Apple over the next few years.
• The analyst says that a new iMac Pro and AR headset could be released next year.
• A foldable iPhone could also be released as soon as 2023.

If this report shakes out, Apple has a lot on the way.

In a new report from Display Supply Chain Consultants, supply chain analyst Ross Young had a number of predictions about what to expect from Apple over the next few years. Among a number of predictions, the analyst says that we should expect a new 27-inch iMac Pro with a mini-LED display and 120Hz refresh rate in the spring of 2022.

That would result in an iMac Pro with the same display technology that currently exists in the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro. If true, however, some will be disappointed as a 32-inch display was previously rumored.

In addition to the iMac Pro, Young says Apple may launch its augmented reality headset as soon as next year. However, due to a small number of volume orders for the display technology, the new headset is likely to be expensive.

The analyst also says that we should not expect to see a foldable iPhone or an OLED display in the iPad or MacBook until 2023 at the earliest.

Even more is anticipated for next year, including the next generation of the iPhone SE.

Apple's iMac Pro is a beauty and a powerhouse: Apple's first space gray desktop. (And no, the glossy black Mac Pro doesn't count.)

If you're considering dropping $4999 or more on Apple's all-in-one pro desktop, here's everything you need to know before pressing that buy button.

See at Apple

iMac Pro: Everything you need to know!

At WWDC 2017, Apple announced its first new professionally oriented desktop since 2013, the iMac Pro. Using the same basic design as the rest of the iMac lineup, the iMac Pro blows past its brethren with a massive boost in power, including Intel Xeon processors, AMD's upcoming Vega graphics chips, a 5K Retina display, and much more. Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming iMac Pro.

iMac Pro: Everything you need to know!

iMac Pro first impressions: Beauty of a beast

The iMac Pro isn't a beloved tower reimagined inside Darth Vader's helmet — an OpenCL monster designed for a future that never quite materialized. This is the same iMac many of us already know and love, just gutted of its consumer-grade engine and rebuilt for a very different kind of pro. The kind that was already sold on the all-in-one but always wished it was hit by enough gamma rays to make it more hulkingly pro.

And I just got to spend some time with it.

iMac Pro first impressions

Mac mini vs. iMac vs. iMac Pro vs. Mac Pro: Which Apple desktop should you get?

With the introduction of the iMac Pro, Apple now has more Mac desktops in its lineup than ever before. Whether you're looking for a base-level headless Mac, a basic-to-midrange all-in-one, or some pro-level power, there are some solid options here.

Which should you buy for your needs? Here's our breakdown.

Which Apple desktop Mac should you get?

Which iMac Pro should you get?

Forget the aging Mac Pro: Apple's iMac Pro has the fastest, most capable processors in a desktop Macintosh. When configuring your machine, you can choose from 8-, 10-, 14-, or 18-core Intel Xeon W processors; these processors are designed to handle heavy rendering tasks without needing the power of the full-fledged Xeon CPU.

But which of these monster processors is right for your pro rendering needs? Let's take a look.

Which iMac Pro should you get?

How much iMac Pro memory do you need?

It's no surprise that Apple is offering a massive amount of RAM for the iMac Pro: The baseline model ships with 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 ECC RAM (a true monster sentence of acronyms), but you can also upgrade to 64GB or 128GB when you configure your computer.

This is also the only configuration you can upgrade after the fact — though, due to the complications of adding components to such a small package, currently you're restricted to having it done at an Apple Store or Authorized Reseller. (The days of opening up your iMac yourself and swapping out RAM chips are gone.)

Which configuration should you buy with an iMac Pro? Read on.

How much iMac Pro memory do you need?

Which iMac Pro storage size do you need?

Among all the upgrades you can do when building a new iMac Pro, there's one other worth considering: your internal storage space.

All iMac Pro options come with NVMe-based SSD (solid-state drive) storage — there's no Fusion Drive model to be found here. SSD storage is both faster and sturdier than a traditional spinning-disc hard drive, and allows you to access your projects faster, boot up more quickly, and run through massive number-crunching at full speed.

Like its fellow upgrades, your SSD isn't user accessible on the iMac Pro: What you buy at launch is what you get forever. Let's look at which you should buy!

Which iMac Pro storage size do you need?

Which iMac Pro video graphics card should you buy: Radeon Pro Vega 56, or Vega 64?

Whether you want to upgrade your processor, RAM, storage, or accessories, Apple has a few options for you — and that includes graphics cards.

While you still can't get an NVIDIA card (with all its CUDA glory) built into your iMac Pro, you will be able to choose from two of AMD's top-tier graphics cards: The Radeon Pro Vega 56, or the Vega 64. Both cards are powered by AMD's Vega architecture, allowing for up to 11 teraflops of single-precision and 22 teraflops of half-precision computing. Add that to the Vega's High Bandwidth Memory (HBM2), and you'll be looking at higher frame rates on games, faster graphics rendering, and silky-smooth operation of the iMac Pro's 5K Retina P3 display.

Both cards will perform well for most users, but there are small tweaks that can benefit certain pros. Who should get each card? Read on.

[Which iMac Pro video graphics card should you buy?](/radeon-pro-vega 56-vs-vega-64-which-imac-pro-video-card-better)

Should you buy the iMac Pro's Space Gray Magic Trackpad, Magic Mouse, or both?

Those lucky enough to have the cash to purchase an iMac Pro not only get the satisfaction of a blazing-fast pro machine, but they also get their choice of space gray desktop accessories. All users get the extended space gray Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (in your language of choice), but purchasers are given a choice of mousing accessories: The space gray Magic Mouse 2 comes with the stock machine, but you can upgrade to the Magic Trackpad 2 for $50 — or, if you're feeling like a bit of profligate spending — you can even pick up both space gray options for $149.

What accessories should you buy for the iMac Pro?

Should you get AppleCare+ for your iMac Pro?

If you've added the iMac Pro to your cart and you're just about to check out, you've likely been prompted to add AppleCare+ to your bag. You may be thinking, "I've already spent more than $5K on this thing," or you may be thinking, "what's a few hundred more going to hurt?"

Does Apple's standard warranty, the one that comes with your iMac Pro for free, cover everything you think you might need? Or should you break down and take it to the next level?

Should you get AppleCare+ for your iMac Pro?

Serenity Caldwell contributed to an earlier version of this guide.

We've put together a list of every Mac you can buy from Apple so you can find the perfect laptop or desktop computer for your lifestyle. With so many Macs to choose from, each one with a variety of customization options, it can be tricky to pick out the model that's just right. From the fast, reliable, and versatile feel of the MacBook Pro, to the efficient and compact powerhouse that is the Mac mini and the extreme high-end Mac Pro, there's a lot for you to consider before picking out the ideal Mac for your workload and needs.

Find the perfect Mac for your lifestyle

Apple's line of Mac desktop and laptop computers is pretty significant when you lay it out every Mac you can buy from Apple. When you take into account the different processor speeds, core options, and upgradable specs, your options are practically unlimited, which means picking the perfect Mac can be tricky. Apple also updates its Mac laptop lineup yearly and desktop lineup every two years, if not more often.

The desktop lineup, which includes the iMac, the iMac Pro, the Mac Pro, and the Mac Mini, are ideal for stationary computing whether you're a hobbyist writer or a professional movie editor. For a more portable workflow that can work in a desktop situation, the Mac laptop line, combined with a compatible monitor brings versatility to your computing life.

If portability is your number-one priority, our personal pick will forever be the MacBook Pro because of how versatile, sleek, and powerful it is. Whether you're a writer, a photographer, a student, a parent of four, or anything in between, the MacBook Pro will make your life easier in one way or another. Get the best deals on a MacBook here.

Maybe you're looking for a desktop computer instead: the large and in charge iMac Pro packs quite a punch with its 1TB of storage space and a striking, stunning retina display.

Apple's recent revision of the iMac, adding an M1 chip and a visual refresh, means many of us are keen to see what Apple will do with the iMac Pro. The high-end iMac has been dead for a little while now, but it could come back, right? And with Apple silicon in lieu of costly Intel Xeon processors, what exactly would make a modern iMac Pro, pro?

We have to look at what made the old iMac Pro a pro machine to know where to start, of course. It came in Space Gray which as we all know is Apple code for pro. But jokes aside, what else? Well, it had Intel inside. Costly Intel Xeon CPUs, to be specific. And it had ECC RAM to go with it, ensuring all the data that the machine processed was A-OK. There was super-fast storage thrown in, of course, and all of the internals were just on the top of their game in general.

But what about when you substitute those Intel parts for Apple silicon? Well, you have to assume that whatever M-series chip goes into a future iMac Pro would be cheaper than anything Intel makes at that performance level — if indeed it makes anything at that performance level, that is. But the use of Apple silicon means there's no need for ECC RAM, and the SSD is all built in as well, so that's going to be super quick regardless. It already is on other Apple silicon Macs. So what's left?

Ports? Maybe. An iMac Pro could come with half a dozen of the best ports Apple ever did put on an iMac, headphone jack included. That'd help, no doubt. A ridiculously high-resolution display in both matte and glossy finish would be nice, too. The return of the Space Gray Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, and Magic Trackpad is a given at this point as well. But what else?

Nothing, probably. Which brings me back to a question I've been wondering for months now. As Apple silicon runs rings around everything Apple ever made before it, where does it go from here? How does it differentiate between products if it can't point to Intel chips and whatnot? In the world of the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, it's form fact that's the key. Inside, both M1 portables are very similar. Outside, it's down to the weight and looks. Could the iMac Pro just be a 32-inch iMac but in Space Gray? On one hand, surely not. But on the other, I could see it happening as well.

The Apple silicon world is a brave and new one. With the M1 iMac so damned fast, Apple will need to go some to make an iMac Pro worth anyone's while — assuming such a thing ever exists.

If it doesn't, why not console yourself by bagging a great iMac deal instead?

What you need to know

• Creator @Apple_Tomorrow has put together new iMac Pro renders based on the M1 iMac.
• The renders show a sleek, Space Gray Mac that would look at home on any desk.

Yesterday we shared a new concept image of what creator @Apple_Tomorrow thinks a future iMac Pro could look like if it was based on the refreshed M1 iMac chassis. Today, we're back with more renders — some exclusive to iMore.

The previous iMac Pro is no longer on sale, but it's surely only a matter of time before Apple brings the powerhouse back to the market and boasting Apple silicon to boot. It also stands to reason that it would be based on the recently refreshed M1 iMac chassis, although potentially with some changes made to accommodate more stringent cooling requirements. These renders show what that could look like, complete with the pre-requisite matte black finish. It wouldn't be a pro machine if it wasn't in Space Gray, would it?

I'm sure you'll agree that these renders show an iMac Pro that's just begging to be placed on your desk. I know I have a space on mine ready and waiting — even if I don't need iMac Pro levels of power to type words into the iMore CMS!

Would you buy a new iMac Pro if it looked like this? Shout out in the comments and let us know. Of course, no iMac Pro is ever going to be cheap and the new M1 iMac is the sweet spot for most people who don't need the raw power it would offer. Check out the best iMac deals we could find and you could save a few dollars, too.

What you need to know

• A new concept imagines what a redesigned iMac Pro could look like.
• The new machine would look stunning and boast a speedy M1X chip inside.

Apple recently refreshed the iMac with a fancy new M1 processor and a design that's certainly divided opinion. But while the large 27-inch display is cool and that Apple silicon is fast, there's still room for ... more. There's still room for an iMac Pro, and this concept imagines what that could look like.

Created and shared to Twitter by Apple Tomorrow, the concept imagines an iMac Pro that's heavily inspired by the new iMac refresh, including that chin. The device itself is colored in Space Gray because of course it is, and the overall aesthetic is one that just screams "expensive" — just as any Pro Mac should.

The concept creator imagines the iMac Pro to ship with a new Apple M1X processor with 32 GPU cores and 16 CPU cores, specifications that would surely make this a speedy proposition no matter what your workflow might be. The large 32-inch display would dwarf that of the standard iMac while few could argue that Space Gray is the color all Macs should be. Just look at it!

In terms of connectivity, the concept imagines an SD card slot, four Thunderbolt ports, and two USB-A ports. Ethernet and headphone ports would also be present because we all need legacy connectors from time to time!

Of course, all of this will likely come at a hefty price and most people won't need what an iMac Pro will likely offer. The new M1 iMac is the sweet spot for most and it's likely to be considerably cheaper, too. Especially if you pick one up after checking out the best iMac deals we could find, too.

Apple MDK'd, murder death killed, the iMac Pro. Not the 27-inch silver Intel non-Pro. But the Space Black. Massively multicore Xeon machine. And while we've since gotten an all-new, all colorful M1 iMac, I want Apple to bring the iMac Pro back as well, in an all-new, all-better, all blacker, all M1X final form. And here's why!

'Not innovating any more my @$$'

In 2013 Apple cut the cheese-grater and introduced the trashcan-shaped Darth Vader helmet of a Mac Pro. A triangle of Xeon CPU and dual AMD GPU that was either meant to be a… a harbinger of the general compute future or just the further appliance-ification of Apple's Mac lineup. Starting at $3000.

It was… maybe the ultimate repercussion of Steve Jobs infamously slapping an iPad down in front of the Mac team and asking why they couldn't just do that.

But then the updates stopped. The trashcan stagnated. Apple claimed they'd painted themselves into a thermal corner, bet too heavily on that dual GPU design, and the industry ended up going the other way. But it's also hard not to think Apple bet way too heavily on that appliance design.

That they saw the success of the iPad in the mainstream market, the rise of a new generation of more casual users that self-identified as pros but didn't have the same big iron needs of traditional pros, and figured driving the Mac in that direction would bring them far greater consumer success.

I think that's why we got the 2016 MacBook Pro, which sold incredibly well to the broad swath of new and aspiring pros but also just plain pissed off so many of the OG pros who just wanted their ports and their scissor switches back.

Same with the 2013 Mac Pro, but worse. Apple took away the ability to expand and update the box but then also failed to provide expanded and updated boxes.

A thermal corner but also a strategic brick wall.

The i-as-in-interim-Mac Pro

With the 2013 Mac Pro suddenly dead box computing, but the new modular Mac Pro still a couple of years away, Apple came up with something else. An iMac Pro. I, maybe, for interim. See, Apple couldn't fit newer, hotter, more power-hungry Intel and AMD architectures into the old trashcan, but thanks to a beefed-up active cooling system, they sure could in the old all-in-one. Or, rather, the new 2017 iMac Pro.

From 8 to 18 Xeon cores, ECC RAM, up to 4 TB of SSD, and AMD Vega Pro graphics, all in a space black chassis with new space black accessories. Because everyone knows space black goes with pro like… dark mode goes with Pro apps. Starting at $5000.

With that big, beautiful, 5K P3 display built-in, it proved popular with developers and… MKBHD who literally put it in a pelican case and traveled with it to events so he could get his 8K Red Raw renders done in hours instead of overnight.

Revenge of the cheese-grater

Now, flash forward to 2019, and we finally got that all-new, all modular, revenged of the cheese-grater 2.0. Big Mac Pro is back! Starting at $6000.

Then 2020, when Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, announced they were transitioning from Intel to Apple Silicon, to the M1.

In 2021, when Apple first end-of-lined the Intel iMac Pro, and then John Ternus, the new head of hardware engineering, announced the all-new, all-rainbow colored M1 iMac. Starting at $1300.

Here's the thing — the M1 iMac isn't an iMac Pro. It isn't even a high-end iMac. Apple's still got the 27-inch Intel iMac with up to 10 Comet Lake cores and AMD Radeon Pro… Yeah, no Big Navi in Apple land. Maybe never Big Navi in Apple lands… up to an eventual 256GB of RAM, 8 TB of SSD, Nano texture option for the display… Starting at $1800.

Sure, 10 core… cores aren't 18 Xeon Cores, that 128GB of RAM aren't ECC or error-correcting RAM, and all the other parts are more prosumer than enterprise server-grade, but it's still well beyond the just-announced M1 iMac in everything but performance efficiency.

While performance efficiency is huge, and M1 is… industry-changing… it ain't everything.

So what I'm hoping for, what I'd do if I had the Infinity Stones, the ability to cast Power Word… Thrill… isn't just an M1X iMac… but a full-on M1X iMac Pro.

The M1X iMac Pro

iPhone, iPhone Pro — iPad, iPad Pro — MacBook... Air, MacBook Pro — Mac mini, Mac Pro — even AirPods, AirPods Pro — see where I'm going with this? Apple Watch, Apple Watch Pro — KIDDING! iMac, return of the iMac Pro.

M1 performance efficiency is so, so good Apple can blow past the Intel core… core count, even the Xeon core count, without breaking a sweat. Literally, the heat and power draw would be so low, the bead-blasted aluminum wouldn't even sweat, let alone require those awkward bulges of the past.

For an iMac, where you can't upgrade the GPU anyway, I don't even care about discreet graphics, that's just an implementation detail. Throw cores at the problem.

If Apple can fuse the server-grade architecture of the iMac Pro and the screen tech of the Pro Display XDR with the advances of the final generation of standard iMac, and I mean down to the 32-inch nano-textured mini-LED panel. Starting at around $1800, sure, hopefully, but also going up as high as Apple needs to so they can include options for all the cores, memory, and storage pros need.

That would be one hell of an all-in-one; hey, a nerd can dream machine for the pro mainstream, even when we get the inevitable Apple silicon modular Mac Pro for the highest-end Pros.

What you need to know

• Apple discontinued the iMac Pro earlier in March.
• The model that was for sale 'While supplies last' has finally run out.

Just days after confirming it would discontinue the iMac Pro, stocks for the remaining configuration sold by Apple have been depleted.

From MacRumors:

As the report notes, the iMac Pro seems to be depleted in both the U.S. and Canada as well as Australia, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, however, it is still available in other locations, as well as from Apple's refurbished store.

Apple confirmed to multiple outlets on March 6 that it would discontinue the iMac Pro once supplies had run out, after limiting sales to just one configuration with the 'While supplies last' designation. Despite the death of best Mac desktop for most Pros, 2021 is actually set to be a great year for iMac, with all signs pointing to a brand spanking new 2021 iMac featuring a major design overhaul (think Pro Display XDR), next-generation Apple silicon and perhaps even new colors on the way later this year.

What you need to know

• The iMac Pro is now listed as "currently unavailable" in the United States and Canada.
• It is still available in certain countries and regions.

The iMac Pro, the pro-level iMac that has graced desk setups for the last four years, is now listed as "Currently Unavailable."

As spotted by MacRumors, the iMac Pro is now showing as "Currently Unavailable" if trying to ship the computer to an address in the United States and Canada. It is also showing as out of stock in the Apple Park Visitor Center, a store that you would expect to have stock of an Apple product considering it is part of Apple's corporate campus.

The designation solidifies earlier reports that, once stock runs out on the iMac Pro, Apple will be discontinuing the machine entirely. If you're in need of a desktop Mac and wondering what the best choice is now, check out our list of the Best Mac Desktop of 2021.

As noted by the report, however, "Currently Unavailable" could mean that stock could come back if Apple ends up scrounging a few up in its supply chain. It appears that the machine is still available to order in certain countries outside the United States as well, so check to see if it still available in your region.

As iMore's Oliver Haslam explains, Apple silicon killed the iMac Pro. The new iMac lineup, which is expected to be released sometime this year, is expected to feature the next Apple silicon processor that will most likely prove that an iMac Pro, while making sense in the Intel era, is no longer needed.

Apple officially killed its iMac Pro last week. Its lack of a refresh had already suggested it could be a one-and-done product and, sure enough, it's very much done. But why? An iMac with Mac Pro innards – at the time it launched, anyway – was well received and much loved by those who bought one. But ultimately, it can't compete with modern Macs anymore.

Like the M1 MacBook Air.

While I know I'm comparing a computer with a gorgeous 27-inch screen with a small notebook, the point still stands. The best that Intel could offer for iMac Pro simply can't compete with what Apple silicon has to offer and it absolutely won't compete with whatever Apple has ready for the next iMac refresh. Whatever the iMac's chip ends up being called, it'll be stupendously quick. Scary quick in fact. Especially if your LinkedIn profile says Intel Architecture Engineer anywhere.

Right there is Apple's problem. You can't ship an iMac Pro with Intel processors and have an iMac – costing a quarter of the price – be more capable. Nobody would buy it. Sure, iMac Pro boasts ECC RAM and all that good stuff, but Apple silicon means none of that matters anymore. It's all about ports, speed, and screen size and if iMac does its thing there's simply no space for iMac Pro in the lineup.

This, of course, makes Mac Pro's future an interesting one. We've already heard of a Mac mini Pro being worked on. Is that the new Mac Pro? Maybe?

Whatever happens with Mac Pro, the arrival of Apple silicon has the potential to completely rewrite Apple's lineup, condensing it in the process. Fewer Macs could be good for everyone with Apple able to focus its resources and hopefully avoid another keyboard fiasco.

And if it means the end of the $50,000 Mac Pro, all the better.

What you need to know

• Apple has confirmed it is discontinuing the iMac Pro.
• It has limited sales to just one configuration "while supplies last".

Update, March 6 (10:40 am ET): Apple has confirmed that it is discontinuing the iMac Pro.

Apple has stopped selling all but one of its iMac Pro models, with the sole configuration left listed as "while supplies last", prompting many to speculate it may be the end of the line for the product.

As depicted below, Apple's website not states "Buy iMac Pro." With a qualifying "While supplies last" caption. The update, made overnight on the website, seems to indicate that stocks are dwindling and that Apple does not plan to replenish the current lineup. Not only that, Apple has discontinued all but one of its iMac Pro models, with the only variant available now the 3.0GHz 10-core Intel Xeon W processor with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. Still the best desktop Mac for most pros, this model is available for $4,999, and currently ships in around 3-4 weeks.

Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has previously indicated that Apple is planning to release a swathe of new Mini-LED products this year including a new iMac Pro. Previously tipped for 2020, Kuo stated in May that these had been delayed until 2021. It makes sense that if Apple were to release a new iMac Pro this year, it would also signal the introduction of Apple silicon into the lineup.

If Apple chooses to update, rather than discontinue the iMac Pro, it also makes sense that Apple would adopt the same redesign expected to debut with the regular iMac this year. Recently leaked by Jon Prosser, a new concept has revealed the expected changes to the design, which features thinner bezels, a flat back reminiscent of the Pro Display XDR, and five color options to choose from.

Update, March 6 (10:40 am ET) — Apple to discontinue iMac Pro.

Apple has confirmed it plans to discontinue the iMac Pro once supplies of the final remaining configuration run out. As reported by The Verge:

Also reported by MacRumors:

It seems clear that Apple plans to simply fill the void left by the iMac Pro with very powerful iMac models that use Apple silicon.

What you need to know

• A PowerPC 750 is the chipset at the heart of NASA's Perseverance Rover.
• That's the same processor that was used in the G3 iMac in 1998.
• The Perseverance version has been modified to withstand the freezing temperatures of Mars.

A new report has revealed that the chipset at the heart of NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover is the same PowerPC 750 from the 1998 iMac G3.

From New Scientist:

The PowerPC 750 was the same processor used by Apple back in the 1998 G3 iMac, PowerPC being the chipmaker of choice before Apple switched to Intel. As noted by Gizmodo, the 750 was a single-core processor with a whopping 233MHz clock speed. Okay, maybe not 'whopping'.

The Mars Perseverance Rover uses a BAE Systems-made PowerPC 750 called the 'RAD750', capable of withstanding huge radiation doses and temperatures of between -67 and 257 degrees Fahrenheit, only slightly hotter than most Intel Macs. All of this added protection means the RAD750 costs around $200,000 to make. As noted by the report, an older processor like the 750 is the chipset of choice because of its ruggedness and reliability, rather than speed.

As reported by our friends at Space.com, Perseverance continues to make epic discoveries following its landing on Mars last month, including a rock that looks like a harbor seal!

What you need to know

• A new concept imagines a new iMac Pro.
• The creators show how an iMac Pro could be customized like a Mac Pro.

Reported by 9to5Mac, a new concept from Khahn Design Experience imagines how Apple could use some of the elements of the Pro Display XDR and Mac Pro to create an incredibly capable new iMac Pro.

In the video description, the creators talk about how they imagined bringing some of the custom configuration that the Mac Pro enjoys, such as upgradeable hard drives, memory, and video cards, to the iMac Pro.

The video shows off how, by building a thicker display, the iMac Pro could be customized and allow users to switch out components like they can with the current Mac Pro. It also features a similar stand to the Pro XDR

You can check out the video of the iMac Pro concept below or read more about the concept at the Khahn design website.

Both the 27-inch iMac 5K and iMac Pro received updates in August 2020. Only one of the two was a significant one, however. The iMac 5K is the all-in-one Mac solution for most people, while the iMac Pro is geared towards professional creatives that have money to spend. The choice for you will come down to options and budget.

Break it down now

Announced at the 2017 Worldwide Developers Conference and launched a few months later, the iMac Pro offers a 27-inch display with a unique dark space gray finish. Called "the most powerful Mac ever made" at the time of its revealing, the computer serves as a powerful all-in-one alternative to the newer third-generation Mac Pro.

The silver iMac 5K also has a 27-inch display. Placed side-by-side with the iMac Pro, the machines look strikingly similar. And yet, they are very different, as the significant price difference between the two suggests.

Overall, the iMac Pro exceeds the iMac. And yet, recent changes made to the latter blurs that advantage, at least a little bit as you can see below.

The new iMac scores highest when it comes to the display. It supports 5120‑by‑2880 resolution for one billion colors, 500 nits brightness, and Wide color (P3). There's also True Tone technology for the first time. With True Tone, the color of the screen automatically adjusts based on the time of day to protect your eyes better. Nano-texture glass is also available as an option. Ideally suited for an uncontrolled lighting environment, the nano-texture glass provides lower contrast while producing unwanted haze and sparkle.

On the iMac 5K (2020), you'll also find 10th generation Intel chips, a T2 Security Chip, a 1080p camera (for the first time), a studio-quality microphone, and more. You can also purchase up to 8TB SSD storage on the device, which is double the maximum found on the iMac Pro.

With room for up to 18 cores, the iMac Pro is still a powerhouse, even though it's nearly three years old. These are industry-leading Xeon processors to boot with a Turbo Boost up to 4.5Ghz. Inside, you'll also find blazing-fast Radeon Pro Vega graphics and RAM up to 256GB. On the back are four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, providing support for DisplayPort 1.2, Thunderbolt (up to 40Gb/s), USB 3.1 Gen 2 (up to 10Gb/s), Thunderbolt 2, HDMI, DVI, and VGA.

At this time, the iMac Pro does not offer True Tone or nano-texture glass support.

The iMac 5K has been designed to appeal to the masses with its exceptional price (at least compared to the iMac Pro) and cutting-edge display. Though it's not as powerful as the Pro model, that's okay since most people don't need the best and priciest internals.

If you work in a creative industry (animation, video, publishing), the iMac Pro is for you. And yet, after three years, it feels like a more significant update is coming soon, and perhaps you should wait. If you can't, understand that the least expensive model now offers a 10-core processor, giving you more for the same amount of money as before.

What you need to know

• Apple has tweaked the iMac Pro lineup to give the $4,999 model more grunt.
• The previous 8-core Xeon chip is no more, with the 10-core part taking its place.
• The move differentiates the iMac and iMac Pro somewhat.

While everyone was checking out the newly refreshed iMac, Apple was also tweaking its iMac Pro lineup slightly in an attempt to further differentiate it from the standard model. Now, the $4,999 iMac Pro ships with a 10-core Xeon processor for the first time.

That replaces the previous base model that had just the eight cores, something that posed a problem for Apple, as Jason Snell of Six Colors points out. Namely, the high-end iMac was a little too fast and the low-end iMac Pro was a little too slow.

However, that's where the changes begin and end. Anyone hoping for a redesigned iMac Pro is going to have to wait, potentially until Apple has its own silicon ready to power it.

The iMac itself is expected to get a big redesign at the same time it ditches Intel's chips, by the way.

Considering an iMac Pro but don't want to spend $5,000 to get in the door? Well, you're in luck as Woot has a deal available today that allows you to add the powerful machine to your setup in refurbished condition while saving close to $1,400.

Available for just $3,599.99, the base-spec iMac Pro has been refurbished by Appleso you know it will look and work like new and even comes with a 1-year warranty. Considering refurb machines at Apple still fetch $4,249, this is a great deal, though you only have until the end of the day or until sold out to take advantage of it.

$899.99 $1299.00 Save $399 1623157769

Having now been replaced by the 24-inch M1 iMac, Apple's 21.5-inch iMac has been discontinued. That means big savings at third-party retailers including at Amazon where it's discounted by $399.

Prices Vary 1622214797

This sale includes iPhone models, the Apple Watch, iMac and iPad devices, Beats headphones, Apple services, and more. The deals vary by product, so be sure to check them all out now.

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Change how you use your iPad with the Apple Pencil. This stylus lets you use your iPad as a notepad, a canvas, or a drawing board for all of your ideas. Today's deal saves you 20% instantly at Verizon.

$599.99 $699.00 Save $99 1621519150

Updated in late 2020, the Mac Mini has Apple's M1 chip that combines CPU, GPU, and machine learning for faster performance, better graphics, and an all around streamlined device. This version has 8GB RAM and a 256GB solid state drive.

From $329 1621244196

Apple Watch Series 6 models are available for some of their best prices ever right now. The lowest price is on the red 40mm version which is $70 off with 44mm and cellular models seeing discounts of up to $91.

Despite being the base-spec iMac Pro, it's still stacked in terms of specs. It is equipped with a 3.2 GHz Intel Xeon W 8-core processor, Apple T2 chip, 32GB of 2666MHz DDR4 RAM, Radeon Pro Vega 56 8GB graphics, plus 1TB of all-flash SSD storage. All of that power is packed in behind a gorgeous Retina 5K display. On the back, there's plenty of I/O including four Thunderbolt 3 ports, four USB 3.0 ports, RJ-45 Ethernet, an SD slot, and even a 3.5mm audio jack.

The iMac Pro isn't for everyone — it's aimed squarely at professional users (think photographers, video editors, app developers, etc.). If your use case demands that sort of power, then the iMac Pro is the all-in-one Mac to be looking at. This is one of the best iMac deals we've seen in a long time meaning you'll have plenty of savings left over to spend on matching space gray accessories.

Today's sale at Woot also features refurb MacBook Pro and iPad models, though it only has a few more hours left to go and supplies are already dwindling, so be sure to visit Woot to see the full selection before it comes to an end. Also note that Woot charges a $6 shipping fee on all orders unless you log in with an Amazon Prime account to score free shipping. If you don't have one yet, starting a free 30-day trial of Prime will work to snag free shipping too.

What you need to know

• It appears that Apple's Pro Display XDR is compatible with the iMac Pro.
• The feature was spotted by Thomas Grove Carter of Trim Editing.
• It will only work up to the 5K resolution of the iMac Pro, not the 6K of display.

It appears that Apple's Pro Display XDR is compatible with Apple's iMac Pro, despite the fact that it is not listed as a supported device by Apple on the product's technical specifications page.

As reported by AppleInsider, over on Twitter, Thomas Grove Carter of Trim Editing revealed the news:

Apple lists the following devices as compatible with the Pro Display XDR, when running macOS Catalina 10.15.2 or later:

Mac Pro (2019) with MPX Module GPUs 15-inch MacBook Pro (2018 or later) 16-inch MacBook Pro (2019) 21.5-inch iMac (2019) 27-inch iMac (2019) Any Mac model with Thunderbolt 3 ports paired with Blackmagic eGPU or Blackmagic eGPU Pro

Despite the fact that the iMac Pro is not listed, Carter seems to have been able to connect the display to a 5K iMac and run the Pro Display XDR at 5K resolution. As expected, the iMac Pro cannot drive the display beyond its own resolution. Still, 5k looks pretty good...

The report notes that according to support page discussions, the option of any Mac paired with a Blackmagic eGPU is capable of supporting up to 6K resolution with 10-bit color. It further notes:

Apple's new Pro Display XDR was released alongside Apples' new Mac Pro earlier this week.

What you need to know

• Intel today unveiled its new W-2200 Xeon chip series.
• That new chips offer 2x faster 3D architecture rendering and 97% faster 4K video editing.
• The W-2200 Xeon chips could be included in future refreshed models of the iMac Pro.

Today Intel took the wraps off its brand new W-2200 Xeon chip series. The new chip series is compatible with the iMac Pro, which could add the new chips as a refresh looms for Apple's most powerful desktop.

The W-2200 Xeon chips feature 18 AVC 512 enabled cores along with Turbo Boost Max 3.0, 48 PCIe lanes and AI acceleration with Intel Deep Learning Boost compatible with motion graphics, 3D rendering and visual effects.

Among the benefits Intel touts of the new W-2200 series is 2x faster 3D architecture rendering, 97% faster 4K video editing and 2.1x faster video game compile times.

As it connects to the iMac Pro, Apple currently uses Intel Xeon-W chips. However, this is a configuration from 2017 that still hasn't been upgraded. That could possibley come later this year or early next year, though no word of a refresh has been relayed yet.

Intel says the new W-2200 chips will be available in November.

Quinn Nelson bought a VESA mount kit for his iMac Pro. Put it on, went to take it off, and a screw broke. He went to put it on again and another screw broke. After not getting anything approaching functional support from AppleCare, he took it to an Apple Store and, after waiting much longer than expected, he got scratched, mangled parts back for his trouble.

Nelson appears to have done everything right and remained cool — even gracious — throughout his ordeal. I don't know how the store let him leave with the parts in that condition. If it'd been me, I'd still be camped out at that Apple Store until everything was perfect. Including better quality screws.

And yes, this is getting attention because popular on YouTube. There are many people who have problems every day that don't get the same attention, because not popular on YouTube.

But this isn't about directing attention to solve any one person's bad support experience. It's about using attention to raise the bar for everyone.

Hopefully, this helps with that.

I love the new iMac Pro. I've used it to edit every episode of my show, VECTOR. Now, I'm nothing. But that's the point. The power of iMac Pro makes pro-level film-making more accessible to more people than ever before.

From Apple

Here are a couple examples, along with a behind-the-scenes look at how they were made.

It's the professional grade Mac nobody knew they wanted until Apple announced. All the specs of typical of a Mac Pro — Xeon processors, ECC Ram, gobs of memory, and ridiculously fast storage — rolled up into the all-in-one chassis of iMac. And it shouldn't really work. We've been told for years that what pros want is flexibility and expandability, configurable towers and upgradeable components. But it totally works. Because there are many kinds of pros and, for some, power is best when expressed through the whisper-quiet, eye-popping form of an integrated DCI-P3 5K display.

For the last few weeks I've been testing the lowest end, eight core, starting at $4999, one terabyte configuration of iMac Pro to see if it could hold up to my existing podcast and brand new YouTube workflow better than either my regular iMac or Kaby Lake MacBook Pro.

The answer is yes, of course. It's ludicrously powerful. But how exactly it did so, and the types of limits I ran into even on Apple's new pro platform weren't what I expected.

So, here's the deal on Apple's new all-in-one for those who always wished it was hit by enough gamma rays to make it more hulkingly pro.

See at Apple

iMac Pro in Brief

• A workstation-class all-in-one
• Massive amounts of memory and ultra-fast storage
• Higher-end graphics options
• Whisper-quiet operations
• Advanced, ARM-based encryption and boot protection.

• A workstation-class tower.
• User-accessible memory and storage
• Nvidia graphics options
• A ton of expansion slots and bays.
• Touch ID/Face ID and Apple Pay

For people who love everything about the iMac, including and especially it's magnificent wide-gamut 5K display and all-in-one design, but need high-end processors, graphics, memory, and storage. If you're waiting on the future, modular Mac Pro, keep waiting. If you want ultra-elegant pro performance today, get the iMac Pro.

iMac Pro Design & Display

iMac Pro looks like… an iMac. No surprise there. From the outside, it is millimeter-for-millimeter the exact same chassis as the existing 27-inch iMac. There are some differences in the mics, speakers, ports, vents, and mounting options but you'd be hard-pressed to tell it apart. Except for this: It's anodized in space gray. And it looks so badass, I'm guessing money-is-no-object customers might buy it just for the new finish.

The biggest and most welcome change are those mounting options: You no longer have to choose between a stand mount or VESA mount at time of purchase. If you buy both, you can switch between both at any time. Hallaluja.

The Retina 5K display remains the same as the current generation iMac non-Pro, which is about as good as an ISP panel can be right now. Here's what I wrote about it in my review:

It looks as good as the iPad Pro displays — and is perfectly color-matched thanks to Apple's hardware calibration and software management — and that's saying a lot. It's about as close as you can get to full HDR without going OLED.

Speaking of which, some may be disappointed Apple didn't take the opportunity to redesign its classic all-in-one, delete the bezels, go edge-to-edge across the display, and thin it fully down to 2D.

Personally, I can't wait to see what might be next for iMac's design language. But this wasn't about making a new outside. This was about cramming the existing outside full-to-busting with all new insides. It was about making the iMac… pro.

iMac Pro Processors

The heart of the iMac Pro is neither commercial-grade Intel Core processors nor full-on server-class Xeon processors. It's something new — something that Intel intends to sit in the middle. It's called Xeon W (as in "workstation").

Commercial computers are typically like sports cars: fast and agile and super exciting if you don't need to haul a load. That's Intel's Core i7 series. Servers are more like trucks: reliable and scalable but not as zippy. That's Intel's Xeon Gold series. The new Xeon W is meant to be more like an SUV: maintain a good amount of pep but be ready to haul when you need to haul.

Apple is offering up 8-, 10-, 14-, or 18-core versions, and each of those are double threaded. Here's how their base and turbo frequencies break down:

• 8-core: 3.2GHz base, 4.2GHz turbo.
• 10-core: 3.0GHz base, 4.5GHz turbo.
• 14-core: 2.5GHz base, 4.3GHz turbo.
• 18-core: 2.3GHz base, 4.3Ghz turbo.

So, if single core is important to you, the 10-core version has the absolute fastest turbo frequencies. If massive parallelism is where you're at, you can go all the way to 18.

All of them have 1MB of L2 cache, 1.375MB of shared L3 cache and support for AVX-512 vector instructions. That provides an extra boost to both performance and throughput for intense computing tasks.

Because Xeon W is based on Skylake architecture, processor-accelerated HEVC (H.265) encoding and decoding are limited to 8-bit, not 10-bit like on the Kaby Lake-based standard iMacs. Because iMac Pro has such a resource advantage, though, Apple can still deliver software-based HEVC 10-bit much, much faster than the standard iMac can through hardware.

The new version of Final Cut Pro X that launched alongside iMac Pro, for example, now handles 360 video and up to 8K frames, and a lot of it in real time. Same with the Logic Pro X update and it's ability to handle far more tracks with far more demanding effects, including Alchemy, and play it all back in real-time.

In my time with the new iMac Pro, I came to appreciate just exactly what all the developers and pros told me when I first spoke with them about it late last year: It's all about the real time.

Even on the eight-core version, the sheer power of iMac Pro let their apps and their customers work in real-time in a way that simply wasn't possible on any previous hardware. Sure, it cut down wait times for intensive tasks like compiling and rendering, but it also removed wait times so completely on so many tasks that it allowed for an all-new, all interactive experience.

On multicam edits with several compound clips, I twice, for a brief period of time, managed to push the iMac Pro to the point where Final Cut Pro X begged me to turn the angle view off so it could keep the frame rate up. (I turned off optimized media rendering to save on that 1 TB of solid state space). And only for a few minutes.

Other than that, it handled all the 4K video I could throw at it, as fast as I could throw it. To the extent that I didn't realize how real-time it felt until I went back to editing on my MacBook Pro and suddenly felt as though I was moving through toffee compared to the iMac Pro.

That's the kind of instant velocitization — the speed that resets what you consider to be speed — that I look for in an upgrade.

iMac Pro Graphics

iMac Pro uses the new AMD Radeon Pro Vega chipsets. At the upper end, they provide up to 64 compute units with 4096 stream processors. Those stream processors can deliver up to 11 teraflops of single precision (FP32) or 22 teraflops at half-precision (FP16). All of that with high bandwidth memory (HBM2) that sports a 2048-bit wide bus and delivers 400MB/s of bandwidth. So. Much. Numbers.

You can go with either the Radeon Pro Vega 56 with 8GB of on-package HBM2 or ratchet that up to a Radeon Pro Vega 64 with 16GB of HBM2.

They're not cards; they're soldered inside the iMac Pro and the iMac Pro is sealed. That means two things: You don't get the option for Nvidia (and CUDA), and you can't swap out the card for a newer, more advanced one next year or any year after that.

Apple and Nvidia seem to be at loggerheads over who gets to own our graphics destiny, with neither willing to cede control to the other. So, AMD.

The more specific knock against Vega Pro is that it's more of a jack-of-all-trades card and not something that's optimized for hardcore gaming, for example. Yet, talking with developers like those who work on Cinema 4D, it became clear that a combination of Metal 2 and AMD produced results better than they'd seen with similar or even better graphics hardware on other platforms.

I think that can be attributed to how much Apple gets out of the way and opens up access to as much compute power as possible, something that's enabled by the company's tight integration of hardware and software, and relationship with AMD.

As of macOS High Sierra, Apple has also provided beta support for external GPU (eGPU). There's no word yet on how many you can hang off an iMac Pro but I got to see two eGPU running today and, from what the developers were saying, they'd managed more in their own testing. Once eGPU comes out of beta, concern over future internal vendors and upgrades could well become a thing of the past. Fingers crossed.

I've had a chance to see and try out several VR apps on iMac Pro, using the HTC Vive headset and controls, and they all worked tremendously well. I've used the Vive previously on PCs, and while it remains to be seen how many and how well the game situation matures, everything from design applications like Gravity Sketch, to 360 video editing in Final Cut Pro, to fully immersive creative environments like Electronaught, all ran terrifically well.

Because of both the Xeon W and the Radeon Pro, neither CPU nor GPU proved to be a constraint and the developers managed to deliver seamless VR experiences right out of the gate.

It was also whisper quiet. I don't recall hearing the fans spin up even once, even under heavy load. Maybe they're just quiet enough that my conversations with Apple and developers were enough to mask them, and maybe I'd hear them in dead-silence if I pushed hard enough. But there's really no way to overstate how much power Apple had packed into iMac Pro while preventing the traditional fan noise that goes with it.

(Now if only Apple would make its own, similarly whisper quiet, eGPU enclosures!)

iMac Pro T2

MacBook Pro had a custom T1 chipset that handled Touch ID, Apple Pay, and offered a secure enclave to lock down not only those two features but things like FaceTime camera access and indicators. But, where T1 felt like an Apple Watch-style system-in-package (SIP), T2 feels more like an iPhone-style system-on-a-chip (SoC).

First and foremost, T2 unifies many of the disparate and discrete controllers Apple had previously been using on the Mac, including the system management controller (SMC), and audio and SSD controllers.

T2 also handles security and encryption. That includes cryptographically verifying the integrity of the entire startup process, from bootloader to firmware to kernel to extensions. You can disable it if you really want or need to, but otherwise it will make sure no one and nothing has tampered with your Mac, and it'll do it so fast you won't even notice it's there at all.

Thanks to a dedicated AES crypto engine, T2 also provides hardware encryption for the SSD storage. There's a unique key for each and every iMac Pro, and if you use FileVault, your own personal key to completely lock down your data as well. In real time. As you're reading and writing it. Which is ludicrously cool tech.

T2 even includes an image signal processor (ISP) for the new 1080p FaceTime camera, so you get auto exposure and white balance, face detection, and enhanced tonal mapping.

These are all features iOS has been benefiting from for years and it's great to see them, and more custom silicon, come to the Mac.

And the best part is — you don't even notice it's there. Not once in my weeks of working on the iMac Pro have I noticed anything even resembling slowdown, including anything attributable to ecrypt/decrypt. That's the best compliment I can give it. If you want to work on a Mac that's as secure as technology allows, without anything in the way of a performance hit, you want T2.

Two of the best features enabled by T1 on the MacBook Pro are Touch ID and, by extension, Apple Pay. When iMac Pro was announced, there was some hope we'd see a Touch ID-equipped Magic Keyboard to go with it. But we didn't. Then, when iPhone X and Face ID quickly eclipsed it, there was the briefest of hopes we'd see that instead. But we didn't either.

Caught in transition, too late for Touch ID and too early for Face ID, the debut iMac Pro instead focuses all its custom Apple silicon on security. And if any biometric conveniences are to come, they'll have to come in a future generation.

iMac Pro Memory & Storage

With great power comes... great memory. iMac Pro starts off with 32GB of 2666MHz DDR4 ECC memory but you can bump that up to 64GB or 128GB — twice as much as the standard iMac. Because the memory slots are positioned higher up on the back of the iMac Pro, you can't swap them out yourself if you want more later. But, you can take them to any Apple Store or authorized service center and have them swapped out and upgraded for you.

Unlike the standard iMac, there's no fusion drive option on iMac Pro. I love that. I understand what Apple was trying to do with fusion drive — bring together the speed of solid state with the capacity of platters — but once you go pure SSD on your MacBook Pro, fusion just feels slow on your iMac.

With iMac Pro you get 1TB of up to 2.8GB/s sequential read performance and up to 3.3GB/s sequential write performance to start with. Which is jaw-droppingly impressive. So much so, our resident iT writer, Anthony Casella, didn't believe the claim and spent a good half-hour in Terminal doing read/write tests only to walk away, shaking his head, picking his jaw up off the floor.

You can configure it up to 2TB or 4TB if you want more. You should think carefully about that, though. Unlike memory, you can't get the solid stage chips changed later, so you're stuck with what you buy — but only on the outside.

Thanks to Thunderbolt 3 and 10Gb Ethernet, you can hang additional solid state drives, RAID arrays, NAS, and SAN systems right off the back and transfer fast enough that you might not need all that much storage up front.

When I originally previewed the iMac Pro, I felt like 1 TB of storage is all I'd want inside and, for additional storage, external Thunderbolt 3 drives would be my go to. (That way, in the case of storage failures, wouldn't have to worry about trying to fix something locked inside the iMac — I'd simply have to swap out enclosures and backups.)

Having lived with 1 TB for several weeks, though, I now think 2 TB is the sweet spot. Even with Final Cut Pro X optimized media turned off, I'm still filling up the drive with 4K video much faster than I thought I would. And while I have 4 TB of external storage over USB-C (technically two 4 TB drives, mirrored), USB-C and HDD still isn't as fast as ThunderBolt 3 and SSD, but Thunderbolt 3 and SSD aren't nearly as ubiquitous or affordable as I would have hoped by now. And anytime I hit USB-C and HDD, hear those platters spin up, and watch those read/write speeds plummet, I get sad.

I would still get more external storage than internal, so that when they throw errors or fail, I only have to worry about fixing or swapping the disk, not taking my entire iMac in for repairs, but I'd double what I previously considered the minimum amount of "level 1" storage I have inside.

For now, I'm using two, mirrored LaCie 4 TB USB-C HDD drives because the Thunderbolt 3 SSD drives are still prohibitively expensive to stockpile.

I'll fill them up with VECTOR episodes, then get two more.

iMac Pro Input & Output

iMac Pro, unlike MacBook Pro, hasn't gone all-in on Thunderbolt 3 / USB-C. Instead, it's kept all the legacy ports of iMac and added the newer ports on top of them. Well, technically, beside them.

You've got four USB-A (USB 3) ports for all your external microphones, cameras, peripherals, and more. But then you've got four USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 ports as well for everything from double 5K displays or quadruple 4K displays, to multiple high-speed storage devices or eGPU. Those four ports are also split between two separate controllers, so each and every port gets full-on 40Gb/s throughput.

And, yeah, if you still need FireWire, Thunderbolt 2 / mini DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI, or VGA, you can use any of your old USB-A adapters or any of the new USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 dongles.

I'm using the Apple USB-C to Digital AV Multiport Adapter to get HDMI out to the HTC Vive. (Which makes me wish HDMI was built-in or Apple made a Thunderbolt 3 version just so I could stop worrying about any possible bandwidth limitations.)

There's a 3.5mm headset jack for wired headphones or audio gear, and an Ethernet port as well. That Ethernet port, though, is now 10Gb (NBASE-T on RJ45), so it'll automatically run at the highest speed the network allows — 1Gb, 2.5Gb, 5Gb, or 10Gb, based on the cable type and length, and switch type.

It can make network attached storage seem... almost local.

There's also a new, improved, 1080p FaceTime HD camera with a new, improved, microphone system that includes two on the front, one up top, and one on the back. Thanks to the image signal processor (ISP) in the T2 chip, you get a front-facing camera that captures almost as well — if not quite as easily moved around — as the one on an iPhone.

I've now done several episodes of MacBreak Weekly using the iMac Pro, with my Heil PR-40 microphone connected over XLR to a USBPre 3 interface, which connects over USB-A to iMac, and both the internal iMac FaceTime camera and a Logitech camera, also connected over USB-A. And it's been great.

I'm in the process of switching to a USB MixPre3, which has USB-C, which will let me connect dongle-free to the iMac Pro or MacBook Pro (and record locally to SD card) but the ability not to have to worry about any of that is terrific.

Speaking of SD cards, now that I'm filming YouTube videos with Panasonic GH5 cameras, the SD card slot on the iMac Pro is a terrific convenience. I have both a dongle and a hub I can use for it the MacBook Pro but of all the legacy I/O I miss, this is the one I miss most.

Because there's no fusion drive option on iMac Pro, there's no need to devote space to old-style hard drive platters, and so there's some extra room inside the enclosure. Like with iPad Pro, Apple has chosen to fill some of that space with bigger, much better sounding speakers.

Audiophiles will still want external speakers, I imagine, but after listening to them for a while, I don't think I will. From iPad Pro to iPhone 8 and iPhone X to iMac Pro, Apple has really upped its speaker game lately and it's really appreciated.

And yes, you can AirPlay right to HomePod from the iMac Pro if that's what you want to do as well.

iMac Pro Accessories

iMac Pro doesn't just come in space gray, it comes with space gray. That includes the new, extended version of Magic Keyboard with numeric pad, and the Magic Mouse. If you, like me, you're not a huge fan of the Magic Mouse or mouses in general, you can choose to replace it with the awesome Magic Trackpad — or get both.

You can't buy the space gray versions of the Magic accessories separately, at least not yet, which is a downer for people who own the space black MacBook Pro and would love them on their desks. It also remains to be seen how or if Apple will handle replacement space gray accessories for those who somehow lose or damage the ones they get at purchase.

The iMac Pro I'm testing only came with the Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse. I don't like mouses in general and Apple mouses in particular — it's the loose thread on the company's design afghan — so I've been using my old silver Magic TrackPad, like an animal. Aesthetics aside, they mix and match fine. I do hope Apple starts selling them separately, though. Especially because it would make docking a space gray MacBook Pro more visually appealing and less of a stainless steel lugs on a black Apple Watch experience...

All that aside, the space gray Magic accessories are otherwise identical to their silver predecessors. They work wirelessly to keep down clutter, but instantly pair and recharge with the included Lightning to USB-A cable.

Which, for iMac Pro, is black. Down to the pins. Hot. Damn.

iMac Pro Pricing & Availability

The iMac Pro starts at $4999. That's the model I've been testing. Depending on the number of cores, the graphics card, memory, and storage options you choose, you can easily double that price — or more.

While that might sound expensive, you're getting state-of-the-art components at prices not dissimilar to that of similarly equipped DIY Windows boxes. And in some cases, less. (Don't take anyone's word for that — go spec out a Xeon W and Radeon Vega PC with ECC memory yourself.)

If we break it down into units of standard iMac, you're getting roughly 3x to 4x performance for roughly 3x to 4x the price.

iMac Pro Conclusion

The definition of pro has grown and expanded over the years. For people like me who become jubilant at the thought of not just power users but empowered users, and for a company like Apple that has single-act-of-willed the democratization of computing technology from Apple ][ to iPad, it's incredible to see.

Once upon a time, it was graphics and publishing, and then eventually video and sound professionals, that defined the category. Now, developers are by far the biggest group. (Over 60% of developers submitting projects to the online code repository, GitHub, are doing so on the Mac.) And there's a whole new wave and generation of multi-faceted, multi-media pros already on their way.

And many of these pros value the characteristics of iMac — the clutter-free design, the display, and the ultra-quiet way in which it runs.

It's that combination of power and experience that feels especially compelling. For developers, it might be the ability to run three iOS simulators at once, alongside multiple virtual machines covering a range of operating system and web and browser environments (with so many tabs!), and still having headroom to spare — essentially being all-in-one on your all-in-one — will no doubt be terrific for app and web devs alike. For people like me, it's simply the ability to keep all the apps running at once without having to ever think or worry about closing some to open up resources for others.

But it also raises some important and highly individualized questions. Should you get a standard iMac and save yourself some money? Should you wait and see if a next-generation version with Face ID or the upcoming modular Mac Pro with its new pro display will even better suit your needs?

Here's how you answer that: Do you prefer the all-in-one to the tower, and would you benefit right now from all the power iMac Pro? You never know what the future will bring or how long it will take to get here. All you can do it make the best decision possible when it comes to what's right in front of you.

If a regular iMac is enough or if you want or need a desktop you can fuss with for years to come, then there's no point in buying the hot new machine just because it's hot and new.

If, right now, an iMac Pro would let you get more work done faster and pay for itself in time saved and money earned and Thunderbolt 3, external storage, and eGPU eliminates any upgrade concerns you might have — or if you have the cash to spare and you just want that space gray beauty of a beast on your desk — get it and enjoy the hell out of it.

For me, the 8-Core iMac Pro has been more than good enough to edit every episode of Vector while also running a ton of other apps to do everything else I do every day. Given how fast and convenient the internal storage is, I'd bump that up to 10 TB, and because Steam VR still isn't as slick as it needs to be on the Vega Pro 56, I'd think hard about going to the 64.

But after several weeks on the worst iMac Pro Apple currently makes, I haven't just survived. I've thrived. And at $4999 — and space gray! — that's a great point of entry to a workstation-class Mac with a 5K display.

See at Appley

Last month, we left our hero weighing his options, considering replacing his i5 Late 2015 iMac with 5K Retina display with an iMac Pro. After I wrote that column, Apple released final pricing details on the iMac Pro, so I sat down with my budget, a spreadsheet, and Apple.com loaded in my browser.

My initial plan was to pick up a 10-core model with 64GB of RAM, coupled with a 1TB SSD and the entry-level GPU. It seemed like the most well-rounded machine out of the near-countless possibilities that Apple's online configuration tools allow, but at $6,599, it wasn't something I could afford. I knew the $4,999 entry model was the only iMac Pro I could both justify and afford.

The standard iMac Pro is still a lot faster than my 2015 could ever be, but then I started looking at a fully loaded 2017 5K iMac. If I opted for third-party RAM, I could pick up a 4.2GHz i7 iMac with a 1TB SSD for $3,099. With this iMac, I would still have a noticeably faster machine on my desk, but with a lot more cash in the bank.

I decided to take the conservative route, so I ordered the regular iMac. It showed up the day after Christmas. I slapped 32GB of OWC RAM in it — for a total of 40GB — and migrated my data from my trusty 2015 model.

Unfortunately, it didn't take long to realize that I had made a mistake. Even during the migration, I could hear the new iMac's fan blowing, and once I was logged in, it was even louder.

After any data migration, a Mac has a lot to do behind the scenes. Photos.app was busy reindexing my library, and Dropbox was working hard to make sure everything in its folder was supposed to be there. I let things run over night, thinking that by the next morning, this new iMac would be as quiet as my old one in normal usage.

Sadly, that wasn't the case. I've heard very mixed things about this from people on Twitter and friends with 2017 iMacs, so I can't say this is a universal truth, but the Core i7-powered iMac on my desk seemed to ramp up its fan far more often than my older i5, and when it did, the noise was noticeably louder than before.

This should not have been surprising, probably. As noted by iFixit, the 27-inch Retina iMac is cooled by one, solitary fan mounted in the middle of the case:

When Apple introduced the iMac Pro at WWDC in June 2017, the company made sure to address the system's thermals. The iMac Pro boasts an 80% increase in cooling capacity over the traditional iMac thanks to its new dual-fan design coupled with large vents at the bottom and rear of the case. You can see this new system in iFixit's teardown of the iMac Pro:

I was thinking about this, wondering if I should return the 2017 iMac when I read Jason Snell's first impressions of his entry-level iMac Pro:

That did the traditional iMac in for me. I felt as if I couldn't trust the machine to stay quiet when I was recording podcasts or shooting video in my small studio. I needed a computer that would only be loud when I pushed the CPU; the 2017 would spin its fan up with no obvious reason. I found myself popping into Activity Monitor to find some system process using 50% of the CPU, making the fan spin up.

So at the very end of the year, I returned my 2017 iMac and walked out of my local Apple Store with the standard configuration iMac Pro. At $4,999, it is the most expensive computer I have ever owned by a healthy margin, but in the week or so I've had it, I have been very happy with my purchase.

It doesn't blow away other iMacs in single-core tasks, but most of what I do is multi-threaded. Thanks to the 8-core Xeon CPU, it destroys my old iMac when it comes operations like podcast MP3 encoding and running my noise cancellation application, iZotope.

Even under load, this iMac Pro is silent. Like Snell wrote on Six Colors, the fans seem to spin all the time, but Apple has the machine tuned in such a way that they don't really ever speed up; the exhaust air just gets a little warmer. With my microphone less than a foot away, I don't have any fan noise in my recordings. That's a big win for me.

In the base-model iMac Pro, I have the slowest computer that will ever be fitted to this cooling system. In the i7 2017 iMac, I had the fastest computer ever coupled to its cooling system. I prefer having the headroom the iMac Pro provides than running a system that sure seems like it could use a second fan.

I have several podcast-making friends who are switching to the iMac Pro. It really seems to strike the right balance between performance and usability for those of us who use Macs to record and edit audio on a regular basis.

I still have my concerns about the iMac Pro. How will this machine fare over the next 2-3 years? Will it remain nice and quiet? If I want to upgrade the RAM at some point in the future, how much will Apple charge me? Will the company be able to update the line over time, or will the iMac Pro become stagnant over time?

I don't have those answers today, but what I do have is pretty great: the fastest Mac I've ever owned, buttoned up in the all-in-one design I've come to love over the years. It's quiet, it's in Space Gray and it makes my work more efficient and less frustrating.

Links

• MKBHD on Twitter
• MKBHD on YouTube
• iMac Pro: 1 Week Impressions!
• iMac Pro: Beauty of a Beast

Sponsors

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Transcript

[background music]

Rene Ritchie: I'm Rene Ritchie and this is "Vector." Vector is brought to you today by Mint Mobile. Mint Mobile is like one of those big bulk discount warehouses, but instead of giant packages of paper towels, you get US wireless service at low, low prices.

Right now, if you buy three months, you get three months for free. You'd also get free first-class shipping on any Mint Mobile purchase by going to mintsim.com and using promo code VTFREESHIP. Thank you, Mint Mobile.

Joining me today, a man who really needs no introduction, [laughs] but I'm going to give him one anyway, MKBHD himself, Marques Brownlee. How are you, Marques?

Marques Brownlee: I'm great. Thanks for having me on.

Rene: Thanks for being here. I usually get only to see you at shows. It's great to have a chance to talk to you when a million things aren't going on.

MKBHD: Exactly. We're usually super busy.

Rene: [laughs] You got to spend, was it 10 days now, it was a week originally, with an iMac Pro?

MKBHD: Yes, a couple days before it was starting to ship, and a little over two weeks now.

Rene: Awesome. Before we dive into the iMac Pro, could you give people just a sense of your general workflow? I want them to feel how hard you're actually hitting a machine.

MKBHD: That's a big part of the reason why Apple figured it would be well-tested in my hands. I am a YouTuber, so I work with a lot of video. A big part of that has been trying to make as high quality of video as possible.

I'm shooting 8K R3Ds from a Red camera, usually pretty high frame rate, low compression ratio, pretty taxing stuff for Final Cut Pro, but that's been a big part of...The difference between this machine and others is how well it handles that, so that's been pretty exciting to see so far.

Rene: Up until now, you were doing that on a 2013 Mac Pro?

MKBHD: Yes.

Rene: What was that like? Was it just slow with the rendering speeds? Was it everything?

MKBHD: [laughs] Pretty much everything.

Rene: [laughs]

MKBHD: Obviously, it's not the newest machine. In the past, I've been shooting 5K, 6K raw, and it could kind of keep up with that, which is still really impressive. If you're editing 4K and below, if you're editing ProRes, it's not raw. There's not a whole lot of transcoding to do.

Mac Pro will cut through that pretty quickly, but once you start to get above 5K, 6K, 8K, it starts to choke. It doesn't really keep up with playing back and not dropping many frames. That was definitely a not-so-hot experience, especially in the last two or three years of Mac Pro trying to keep up.

IMac Pro, the difference is actually night and day, and this is a 10-core iMac Pro with a 16 Gig Vega GPU. It's been great.

Rene: One of the things people may not be familiar with for people who do editing or any sort of creative work on the high end is that if you can't do real time, it's hard to get your flow going. If you have to apply and effect, come back...You go out to dinner, come back, it's very hard for you to do any sort of creative work.

MKBHD: 100 percent. Yeah. A lot of times, there would be things that I wouldn't catch in final export of the video until it's exported. There would be maybe one frame of something is missing or there's a split second of the camera shaking.

I'm editing at 15 frames per second on the Mac Pro. It's hanging in there and I have pretty good idea, but I'm not pushing it too far with plug-ins and color.

I sit there and wait an hour for it to export. I'm about to upload and I catch there's a dropped frame, or there's a frame of these artifacts in the video that I have to go fix that I didn't see when I was playing back in real-time. It definitely helps that I can handle that now.

Rene: It's fair to say that people who are at the high end of creativity are also at the high end of control. You really want to know exactly what every frame of your final video is going to look like.

MKBHD: Yeah, for sure. There's two playback settings in Final Cut Pro, better performance or better quality. I can, most of the time, deal with better performance, which is going to take a little bit of a hit to the quality, but that's just me doing the rough cut and chopping and things like that.

At the end of the day, when you go back through and you do all your coloring and you do all your visual effects, you want to have as accurate as representation of the final file as possible. Being able to look at it in better quality and have no frames dropped is a huge advantage.

Rene: It's not like you have an entire team of Pixar, or ILM, or Weta, and their server farm is behind you to do all this. [laughs]

MKBHD: Yeah. No, it's just one machine.

Rene: When you first heard about the iMac Pro, what did you think because it wasn't the Mac Pro reboot that we were hoping for? It was a very different machine.

MKBHD: I originally thought it was a trap.

Rene: [laughs] [inaudible 4:50]

MKBHD: I may mentioned, it might have been the same event, but they said, "OK. We're working on this new Mac Pro. It's gonna be great. It's gonna be modular. It's gonna come in the next two years. Just wait for it. It will be awesome."

Also, in the meantime, here is this iMac Pro and it will do mostly everything you seem to want. That's exciting obviously because I've been waiting for this upgrade for a more powerful Mac as a Final Cut editor.

It's a major advantage. My first impressions were hesitant like, "Well, should I jump on this or should I keep waiting?" I'm pretty glad I jumped on this.

Rene: You're extremely technical too and a lot of people at your level of expertise, they want to get their hands in there. They want to be able to play with the cards, the RAM, the storage, all those things.

MKBHD: Definitely. Even just the fact that you can't upgrade the RAM later puts some people off just because it's, air quotes over here, you can't see me, but a "pro machine." Immediately, people want to be able to upgrade it. It seems like it needs to be modular. It feels like a departure from what most pros are currently using, especially when they're doing heavy video editing and things like that.

It seems to keep up with and handle everything I'm throwing at it now, which is a great test of what I need it to do now. That's a question mark for the future.

Rene: I thought it was really smart what Apple did, because they gave the iMac Pro to you. They gave it to music editors, visual effects editors, scientists, a couple developers. You got a really well-rounded set of views from people from a variety of pro-level spectrums.

MKBHD: Definitely, and some people pushing it way harder than I am with their rendering and their effects. Obviously, the new version of Final Cut Pro has a bunch of new tools in it that I was really happy to play with, as well, so, just been messing with that.

The new color controls...I was using a combination of a couple different plugins to Final Cut Pro to mess with color. Haven't installed any of those in this new version, just using the built-in Final Cut Pro color effects, and they've been awesome.

It's a nice spectrum of different people using it for different things. It seems to handle all of them pretty well.

Rene: At the demos they ran last week, they had the Cinema 4D guys in there, and they had the main GPU running plus two eGPUs. They started to say they'd done much more than that, and Apple was like, "Shh, quiet. We haven't announced the number yet. We haven't told people how many they can use yet." [laughs]

MKBHD: It seems like it'll be very capable just because of, obviously, all the extra Thunderbolt 3 now. Which I had been waiting for, because I have a Promise Pegasus3 on my desk, which is a Thunderbolt 3 external RAID enclosure just for dropping media.

It's fast enough to edit from, but I was going through an adapter to get into the Mac Pro before. Now there's no adapter. Now it's way faster.

Rene: What did you think when it first arrived, from unboxing to setting it up and getting started with it?

MKBHD: Honestly, first thing I thought was, "Wow, this is really good-looking."

Rene: All that space gray? [laughs]

MKBHD: Yeah, and it's really that, because it's not the most modern look. It still has huge bezels. It's still not the best looking all-in-one, obviously. The space gray just matches a lot of what's already going on in here with my setup.

I was hesitant to switch to an iMac in the first place because of the display limitations. I liked using my own display, or plural, displays, previously. I ended up switching, and I don't think I regret any of it.

Rene: What kind of displays were you using before?

MKBHD: It was a pair of Asus 4K...I forgot the exact model number. I actually just looked that up earlier today, but it was a pair of Asus 4K displays. They're much less glossy than the iMac display. That was a big thing, because there's a lot of lights in here.

Rene: You're using a full studio setup. I remember when I first saw the 5K. It was just the plain vanilla first-year 5K. It was so dense at such a big size that it felt almost like a window, and then they added the P3 color spectrum to it. More recently, they added that temporal dithering to it, so the amount of colors...It's starting to look better than my real life, which I resent.

MKBHD: It looks great, especially with someone who works...If you're a photo editor or a video editor, this is a great display. Seeing it in person would confirm that faster than just knowing that it's 5K and glossy, and really bright. It's done pretty great.

Rene: Are you shooting in HDR? I know it's internally capable of HDR, but the screen is not OLED, so you won't get the full contrast ratio.

MKBHD: My workflow is still not HDR. I'm technically shooting footage that can be converted into HDR after the fact, just based on what Red's capable of, but my workflow is not HDR. I'm still publishing regular standard dynamic range footage.

Rene: This is fast enough that if you went to HDR, you wouldn't have too much of an issue. You got it set up, and again, you're coming from the Mac Pro. Did you just start throwing stuff at it to see how well it would work?

MKBHD: Pretty much. Final Cut was my first challenge. I was just dropping footage in there, putting plugins in it, adding effects and tracking and all that stuff just to see how fast it would go.

That was my first challenge, but obviously, being a 10-core, it's got a pretty great single-thread performance. I'm just messing around with, obviously, Skype here, Twitter, a couple browser tabs. It can handle real life, as well. It was pretty satisfying to see that. Really, my biggest test was Final Cut Pro.

Rene: The 10 core seems to be the sweet spot because that has the highest turbo frequency. They were showing us. Again, in the demo, they launched three different simulators, iPad, iPhone, iPhone X, Windows running Chrome in a virtual machine, an older version of Mac OS in a virtual machine, and Ubuntu in a virtual machine.

None of them were perceptibly slowing down as they were running them.

MKBHD: Nice, but can it run Minecraft though?

Rene: [laughs] That is the big question, or any of those electronic apps. What was it? Did it change your workflow at all? Did you start to be able to do things you couldn't do before?

MKBHD: I think so, yeah. Again, a lot of the plug-ins I was using for Final Cut Pro were four-color. Things like applying 3D Lutz or applying color masks to images and then adjusting specific colors of certain objects or certain hues in a shot. Plug-ins like Colorista or Color Finale were pretty big resource hogs.

I don't know if they're well optimized at all because sometimes they could literally bring the Mac Pro to a crawl, and I wouldn't be capable of opening Safari at the same time. The fact that I don't have to use any of those plug-ins, and I can still do all those same things I want and still play back in real time is completely unheard of. It did change my workflow in that way.

[music]

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[music]

Rene: It goes up to 6K now in Final Cut, not the full 8K? Or does it go to the full 8K for you?

MKBHD: Yeah. H.264 is limited to 4K, but you can export 8K today, if you wanted to. You just couldn't play it back, obviously, because of the display.

Rene: I think Judd was showing off the 8 -- was it the 6K playback -- and it was going pretty fast.

MKBHD: You can playback. If you're shooting 6K, you can play it back. Hopefully, it won't drop any frames. That's definitely not something you could do before.

Rene: You mentioned expandability before, and that really is the stress area there. Obviously, for some pros, if you're a developer, it might not hit you for years. If you're someone on cutting edge media, I assume if they start shipping 16K Red cameras next week, you'd buy one.

[laughter]

Rene: How do you look at it? Do you think that this will last you for a while, or do you think Thunderbolt 3 eGPUs are going to be a solution for you? How are you seeing that?

MKBHD: I'm on the fence about it because it's four Thunderbolt 3 ports right now. On my desk, I have three Thunderbolt 3 accessories already. I have the Ray, which is one. I have an Apollo Twin, which is my audio interface going to my Yamaha. That's two. What is the third? I have a third. Oh, it's my Red Mag reader.

That's already three of the four taken up. If I want to add two displays, or if I want to add a GPU, I'm already reaching that max. I still think that Mac Pro that's upcoming is probably going to be the answer to people who'll do more with it. I think having, maybe, six or eight is ideal.

For now, it's handling what I'm throwing at it.

Rene: You're still stuck with two controllers, so even if you threw a hub on there, you'd have to start splitting bandwidth at some point.

MKBHD: Right, which is not good for an eGPU, if that's the last thing I want to add. That's not too great.

Rene: Also, it's interesting because the eGPU will make things more parallel. We'll have to wait and see what eGPUs come out, but theoretically, putting that on you're still Thunderbolt 3 constrained. You're going to be constrained about what drivers and what companies to support it, theoretically.

MKBHD: Is Apple still making one, or is that a thing that we can still buy? I remember they showed that at one of the latest events. They had a developer kit, eGPU. Is that something we can get?

Rene: You can get that off the developer site. You can buy it. I bought one just to test it because I only have the regular. I feel bad now because I only have the regular iMac, and I needed that to plug the HC5 into.

They're planning on shipping it this spring, the actual versions of it. That was the thing that surprised me because in your video you show how quiet it was. When Cinema 4D was running multiple eGPUs, it was no longer quiet. The enclosures for the eGPUs are fan-based.

MKBHD: Yeah, the enclosures, obviously. The iMac Pro, I haven't gotten it to spin up loudly in any way, which is impressive. I've gotten it to heat up a lot. I put my hand behind it, and I can feel it pulling cool air in from that big bottom slot.

Then, hot air comes out the middle, but I haven't heard it at all, which is impressive.

Rene: It made me wish that Apple would design an eGPU enclosure when they make that new Mac Pro so that it's just as quiet as everything else is going to be.

MKBHD: Yes, please.

Rene: That was the thing. When Apple stopped making the displays, my biggest worry is that it's surrendering the experience because the screen is how you look at the computer, how you interface with it. I'm staring now at this LG screen, and that's not what I want.

It turned out the displays weren't great. They would turn off if you would put them next to a router. Those are all things that wouldn't happen if Apple was still making those Cinema displays.

Especially at the Pro level, it's great they're making the Pro display, but I think if they just own that entire experience, it's better for everybody.

MKBHD: I wondered about that when that LG 5K became the default display. They're, obviously, going to have to step that back up when the new Mac Pro comes out, owning the whole experience again. I'm expecting that at this point.

Rene: It's like, for some reason, they ran out of insulating tape in Korea for an entire generation of products.

[laughter]

Rene: If they'd just put tape on everything, we would not have problems earlier in the year.

MKBHD: They've learned from that, too.

Rene: Totally. How are you using it now? Do you shoot, you go right into the iMac Pro?

MKBHD: Yeah, again, I have the Red SSD reader. Basically, as soon as I'm done shooting everything, I have everything I have on this media card, I can import it all.

What I do is I bring it all to the interior SSD, which used to be a one terabyte. Now, it's a two terabyte. You can get up to four, which is awesome for people like me.

I do all of the editing locally. Once I've done that, exported, uploaded, and everything, then I can take all that footage and archive it externally. Basically, when I do all my editing, it's from all the local media, which is super useful, if you have 900 gigs of footage to import.

Rene: Would four terabytes be your sweet spot?

MKBHD: Yeah, I think so. I ordered [laughs] an 18 core maxed out. I made sure to make sure it's the four terabyte, of course. That's going to be a killer machine.

Rene: For sure. It depends on what your profession is, but the speed on those internal SSD...Some people still think they're drives, but they're chips. It's almost like a smartphone, they're just folded right on the board, and the throughput was amazing.

MKBHD: Yeah, it's a big deal. When you're editing, and you're playing back that footage, it's reading and writing every single time. If I'm playing back 8K, high-bit rated video from an external drive, it can be really fast and still drop frames, because it's not quite keeping up.

Being able to keep all of it locally is pretty important for, again, that whole real-time workload experience, and then dumping it later.

Rene: They added that P2 chip now which takes all the controllers and puts it into a single unified place and then just does all the processes in hardware-accelerated real-time. You're not even paying a software penalty for a lot of the stuff that you're doing.

MKBHD: Yeah. I have to read about that because a lot of that's not user-facing...

Rene: [laughs] Yeah.

MKBHD: I'm not aware of it as it's going on. I didn't have the reviewer's guide. I just had to use it and figure things out, but now, reading about, that's all super impressive stuff, also. I'm glad it works that well.

Rene: Is that kind of stuff like real-time encryption, is that important to you? Are you concerned about like locking everything down and follow-up on it all?

MKBHD: Minimally, just because there may be a bit of a target on my data, I guess I have to have a peripheral awareness of that. It's never really been a huge concern. I'm glad they're making that so easy, I don't have to think about it, but I don't think it would ordinarily be a reason why I'd buy the iMac Pro. It's a nice bonus.

Rene: That's the important questions, Trackpad or mouse?

MKBHD: I use both.

Rene: [laughs]

MKBHD: I know that makes me weird. People were asking about that when I was first showing my iMac Pro set-up. I'm a right-hand on the mouse and left-hand-on-the-Trackpad type of person. I might be weird.

Rene: Do you use them simultaneously, or are they for different tasks?

MKBHD: I swipe through spaces on the Trackpad, and then I scroll out on the Trackpad, but everything else is a mouse. It just seems to be a waste mover that way. If I try to scroll with the step wheel on this Logitech. I don't know if you can hear that?

Rene: Yeah.

MKBHD: It does pretty well, but obviously OS X does it really smoothly with the Trackpad.

Rene: I've tried doing gestures on the Magic Mouse and it seems like the worst possible surface to do all that stuff on.

MKBHD: It's terrible. I hate Magic Mouse. [laughs]

Rene: I've never liked any of their mouse. It's almost like that one thread on the app scan. It's the one thing that Apple can't do well is make a mouse.

MKBHD: You would think they could just like buy up Logitech real quick and have a great fleet of mice. I know, the Magic Mouse is pretty bad.

Rene: I don't know. Tim Cook's fovea change, like a change in the fovea, you could just pull it out and buy a mouse company, like they did with Beats, and then just start shifting that stuff.

MKBHD: Exactly.

Rene: We talked a little bit previously about what Apple is doing with the Mac Pro. How would you like to see that computer play out?

MKBHD: It's skewed because I used the 2013 iMac Pro for so long, so I imagine a bigger version of it with more ports and faster internals, but that thing also turned out to be a bit of a thermal nightmare. I've had GPs die in that thing twice, and a third one, the last one I was using, was in the process of dying.

I would like to see a better focus on airflow and thermals and not trying to make it so pretty and small. You can make it full, big, desk-top. I'll buy that.

I've seen people even mess with the old iMac Pro enclosure and put really high-end workstation stuff in it and that things great thermally. That's, I guess, concern number one. Other than that, I have faith that they'll put in...I'm expecting a Thunderbolt 3 ports, full-sized USB.

It'll probably be aesthetically brilliant just because it's Apple, but that's not a huge concern, and then just a step above iMac Pro.

Rene: I have the Nehalem, the cheese grater Nehalem Mac Pro, and it's genius, like the way you can just take the side off. You didn't have to do, because I was working on PCs for a long time, and you had to unscrew everything. You needed a toolkit, and you had to get through the wires.

This you would just pull it out, drop a hard drive in, close it, and screw it back. You needed no tool. That, I think, is the brilliance that was lost when they went to the trash can Mac Pro.

MKBHD: Yeah, if they want to focus on being modular, they should do that again. They should make it big, easy to get a drive out and a new drive in. That would be awesome.

Rene: Some people are like, "Why don't they just make it like a perfect little core, like an Apple TV with the most amazing processors in it?" but then you start dangling everything out again. It's just a mess of wires and cables and it will never be as fast.

MKBHD: Yeah. External expansion only means so much if it's limited. You want to be able to do as much internally as possible before you have to leave.

Rene: Absolutely, totally. I had a friend who, on the current Mac Pro, he would just run "Tomb Raider" on one of the graphics cards and "Batman Arkham Asylum" on the other one until the entire machine would just fall down.

[laughter]

MKBHD: It sounds like a good stress test to me.

Rene: The machine has to be more than that. It has to be something that's super robust and that you can configure the way you want it, and a sound engineer the way they want, and a scientist the way that they want it. The Mac Pro is good for all those things, and they have a variety of skews, and you can choose your memory and all those thing.

But, when it comes to the Mac Pro, I think it has to be one of those things where you can choose your video card and then change it if your needs change the next year, and swap out your 2-terabyte drives for 4-terabyte drives, and suddenly you're at 16 internal terabytes.

MKBHD: To think, as tech changes like where all the specs that comes with it are great now, but if a pro is using a machine for like five years and they can't add RAM. Obviously that's not a good situation to find yourself in, so being able to add drives when a 16-terabyte drive is standard, and I want to just drop it in, that should be as easy as possible.

Rene: Is anything on your wish list for Final Cut to run on those sorts of dream machines?

MKBHD: The collar controls are so good this time. Honestly, I don't have that many things on my wish list for Final Cut Pro. They just added a 360 degree video. That's awesome. I'm excited.

I don't really do that much 360 consumption or viewing now, but the fact that it's showing up on Final Cut Pro could mean we start seeing a little mini rebirth of that. I'm pretty satisfied with Final Cut Pro at this point. I just think it's a matter of the hardware.

Rene: It was neat how they have the ACC Vibe with a viewing monitor for the 360 videos.

MKBHD: That was cool. I liked that demo.

Rene: Are you playing around with the Vibe on the Mac Pro at all?

MKBHD: I have it on the iMac Pro. When we did that little demo, he was showing me that, so basically editing and then just looking around your own edit in the Vibe, which is awesome.

At this point the only thing I've used the Vibe for is a couple of VR games, which have been just seeing what they're like, and they're pretty cool.

Rene: It seems like we're on the crux of that. We're going to enter that VR world, maybe through AR at some point, but it's still leading-edge technology. If you made an iMac Pro for it, you wouldn't be able to produce video for a lot of people who could watch it. [laughs]

MKBHD: Yeah, definitely.

Rene: Your final thoughts on the iMac Pro. It wasn't the machine you wanted, but it's the machine you have. If feels like the end of dark night that way.

[laughter]

Rene: Are you going to use it for the next year at least?

MKBHD: Yeah. As long as it's the most powerful Mac, I will be using it. I said I would give it a chance and obviously it's a big upgrade over the Mac Pro I was using. It's way more powerful. It's faster, so yes, I'm happy with what it's doing for me right now.

My big concerns with future proofing will play out in the future. We'll find out as maybe a new Red camera does come out pretty soon that starts shooting 12K, 16K. Maybe compression ratios get better. Maybe we need to push more data.

That's the point where we'll really see if this thing holds up a year, two, three, four years down the line, but for now, I'm a satisfied user and hopefully that lasts.

Rene: Just to cap us off, I remember Apple would stagger the release of Mac Pros and iMacs for a while, and they put out the first iMac with the 27-inch screen, and they did not update the cinema display, and I went and bought one. Then, as soon as the Mac Pro came out, I used target display mode to turn the entire iMac into a screen.

It was like a screen...

[crosstalk]

MKBHD: I like that idea. I like that for literally just meshing them because they work that well aesthetically. That's not the worst idea I've heard.

Rene: If you could do that, and then just plug the Mac Pro into your iMac Pro over Thunderbolt, or over a 10-gigabyte Ethernet, and then just have the machines make almost like a Euro-style cluster network.

MKBHD: Yeah, and I could keep them both around.

Rene: Exactly. Apple would do that. All right, I really appreciate your time. That was terrific.

MKBHD: No problem.

Rene: If people want to find you, everyone knows where to find you, but just in case there's a couple of people haven't found you yet, where can they go?

MKBHD: On YouTube, MKBHD. That's where the videos are. If you want to find me anywhere else on social, it's that same acronym -- Twitter, Instagram, Facebook -- all of them, .com/MKBHD.

Rene: Thank you so much for your time.

MKBHD: Thanks for having me.

Rene: You can find me @reneritchie on Twitter and Instagram. You can contact me, rene@IMware.com, with your thoughts on the show. I'd love to hear them.

I want to thank you so much for listening. If you haven't already, you could subscribe. The links are in the show notes below.

Please, if you go to iTunes or Apple Podcast and leave a review or leave a rating, it really helps them learn that people love the show. Maybe they'll promote a little bit more and we'll get a few more people to love it as much as I love making it.

Thank you all so much. Have a great day. We are out.

[music]

Late last year Intel announced its partnership with semiconductor rival AMD to create a new 8th generation mobile chip with RX Vega M graphics that has CPU performance that Intel is known for and integrated GPU performance that Intel isn't known for.

Intel has now officially launched these chips and is touting a 3X performance boost in frames per second for devices as thin as 17mm. It also has up to 4GB of second-generation High Bandwidth Memory (HBM2) that allows for very high speed data transfer on a very thin profile. What does this mean for the future of our beloved MacBooks?

No more excuses

We all love our Apple devices. The integration of software and hardware make for some of the best computing experiences you can have in day to day computing. However, I've always have had my reservations about the anemic graphical components that came with our mobile and iMac lines.

But the alliances they are a-changin' . With the integration of AMD's Radeon RX VEGA in the new iMac Pro and now with Intel's release of these new RX VEGA M-enabled CPUs, Apple can finally say that it too has graphical capabilities that rival the best gaming laptops on other OSes. No more can tech enthusiasts and developers say that Apple just can't cut the polygon count for running and developing software that requires high-performance components in the CPU and GPU fronts. I can't predict if we'll see more cross-platform high performance software being developed for macOS, but I can say that there will be no more excuses to not create them due to the performance aspect.

Improvements Across the board

AMD is expecting to have VEGA improve performance over many domains such as machine learning and OpenCl, and greatly improved gaming performance for both traditional flatscreen games and for the currently high-end-only VR gaming.

Apple, as we already know, has a keen interest in AR and VR development and instead of having end users requiring an unwieldily external GPU to run or develop high performance applications, we'll be able to use the integrated graphics on the new Intel/VEGA chips. The less cumbersome a technology is, the more quickly it will be adopted and grow. Will MacBook become the go to system for machine learning or gaming? Time will tell but as of this point forward, it's capabilities will be in line with that goal.

Final thoughts

How are you reacting to having three times the graphical performance in upcoming Mac products? Is it much needed? A happy update or simply not useful at all? Let us know in the comments!

Secure Boot is a feature exclusive to the iMac Pro that lets your machine verify that it is booting a legitimate or supported version of macOS. Used through the iMac Pro's Startup Security Utility, Secure Boot offers different levels of protection based on your needs.

Secure Boot comes with three settings:

• Full Security - Using this setting, the only operating systems that can boot on your iMac Pro are the version that is currently installed or a signed OS trusted by Apple.
• Medium Security - Any signed version of an operating system trusted by Apple can run on your iMac Pro.
• No Security - No requirements are enforced on on bootable operating systems.

Here's how you can use and manage Secure Boot on your iMac Pro.

How to use Secure Boot on the iMac Pro

To use Secure Boot, you'll need to enter the iMac Pro's Startup Security Utility immediately upon startup of your machine.

1. Immediately press Command (⌘) and R at the same time right after turning on your iMac Pro.
2. Click Utilities in the Menu bar in the Utilities window.
3. Click Startup Security Utility.
4. Click Enter macOS Password when asked to authenticate.
5. Select an administrator account.
6. Enter the account password.
7. Choose Full Security, Medium Security, and No Security.
8. Close Security Startup Utility.
9. Click the Apple icon in the Menu bar.
10. Click Restart to restart your iMac Pro with your new security settings in place.

Questions

If you've got any further questions about using Secure Boot on the iMac Pro, ask away in the comments.

As we all know, Apple released its most powerful (and arguably most beautiful) desktop computer yet, the iMac Pro, earlier this month. The machine can be outfitted with an up to 18 core Xeon processor — yes, really — making it capable of some serious heavy lifting in the data processing department. In addition, the iMac Pro boasts Turbo Boost speeds up to 4.5GHz, new AVX-512 vector instructions and a new cache architecture, giving it the capacity to handle all that data incredibly quickly (making it the perfect machine for creators). Now, I hear you — "but that information can all be gleaned from glancing at the iMac Pro's overview on the Apple website!" Okay, okay, fair. However, recently dropped Geekbench scores confirm that the iMac Pro pretty much lives up to the hype surrounding it.

When compared to the benchmarks of other Apple computers, the 10-core model of the iMac Pro definitely holds its own. Its highest single-core score is 5270 — nothing to sneeze at, certainly, but also a bit less than two other already-released iMac models (the late 2015 27" Retina iMac and the mid-2017 27" Retina iMac). Its highest multi-core score, however, is an extremely impressive 35412, which essentially blows all other existing Macs so far out of the water that they may never come back down again. To put it in perspective, the nearest iMac's multi-core score is a mere 19353.

If you want to get your hands on an ultra-powerful iMac Pro for all your creative needs, you can grab one starting at $4,999 from Apple's web store here.

Thoughts? Questions?

What do you think of the iMac Pro's Geekbench scores? Give us a shout in the comments!

When considering a new iMac Pro for your desk, you have several factors worth weighing as you configure it: number of processor cores, RAM, video cards, and whether you should get all the space gray accessories, of course.

But there's one more feature worth considering when building your iMac Pro: your internal storage space.

All iMac Pro options come with NVMe-based SSD (solid-state drive) storage — there's no Fusion Drive model to be found here. SSD storage is both faster and sturdier than a traditional spinning-disc hard drive, and allows you to access your projects faster, boot up more quickly, and run through massive number-crunching at full speed.

Like its fellow upgrades, your SSD isn't user accessible on the iMac Pro: What you buy at launch is what you get forever.

That said, it's a lot easier to augment your storage space than your internal processor or RAM: The iMac Pro comes with 4 Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports, which support connecting multiple RAID arrays; these are systems made up of multiple hard drives, and can be used either to help support network storage or as direct add-ons to your Mac.

You'll also find a single 10Gb Nbase-T Ethernet port, which allows users to connect directly to their network's attached storage (NAS).

Who should get the 1TB SSD?

The 1TB SSD ships as the iMac Pro's standard $4999 configuration; its solid-state storage should provide fast boot times for the system itself, as well as speedy local storage for files in progress.

Unlike most of the iMac Pro's optional upgrades, the 1TB SSD standard is a more reasonable base for most pro users. Thunderbolt 3 RAID enclosures have brought external storage options closer to the speed of internal drives, and also made backing up your system an easier prospect.

Users who spend a lot of time working with external storage should be fine with the 1TB standard drive, as well as those who work via network storage.

If you instead need ultimate speed for your files, you might want to look at the 2TB or 4TB SSD.

Who should get the 2TB SSD?

For $800, you can double your Mac's on-board SSD storage to 2TB; this is the same price as the 64GB RAM or 10-core CPU upgrade.

Were you to look for a portable USB-C SSD in the same storage range, you'd find prices ranging from $800-$2000; Thunderbolt 2 RAID systems run around $1000 (no pre-packaged Thunderbolt 3 SSD RAID systems currently exist on the market). As such, if you need the storage and the speed an SSD provides, it may well be cheaper to opt in to Apple's upgrade.

Of course, the bigger your drive, the bigger your backup system. There are various ways to back up your Mac, including traditional spinning-platter hard drives; for instance, you can buy a 12TB Thunderbolt 3 RAID drive for $800.

If you rely on SSD speed and frequently work locally on big projects, the 2TB SSD may be a valuable upgrade; if speed is less of a concern than overall storage, consider sticking with 1TB and buying an external Thunderbolt 3 RAID array with spinning-platter disks, instead.

Who should get the 4TB SSD?

The 4TB SSD upgrade will cost prospective iMac Pro buyers a whopping $2800 to upgrade, and for good reason: It's one of the largest, fastest SSDs you can buy in a Mac. You can get external SSD storage at a slight discount (VectoTech offers a portable 4TB SSD for a mere $1600), but even USB 3.1 speeds won't compare to a built-in system.

Why would you want to spend more than half the cost of a baseline iMac Pro on hard drive space? Simple: You need high-speed local storage for space-hogging projects. 8K video and rendering files, VFX, VR work, complex computations — all of these require huge amounts of storage, and saving them locally makes the process of editing, effects work, and the like that much easier.

If you work in an industry where speed and space are musts, the 4TB upgrade can help get what you need from your Mac. (It's worth noting, however, that if you're opting for the 4TB hard drive upgrade, you may also want to consider upgrading your processor, RAM, and graphics card to match.)

If you can manage instead with external drives and NAS, save yourself the cash and opt for one of the iMac Pro's other upgrades.

What iMac Pro SSD size would you get?

Considering an iMac Pro? Which SSD size would you opt for? Let us know in the comments.

Xbox vs. Playstation. iPhone vs. Android... There are these polarizing little pieces of tech that have the world divided in one way or another, but at the top of that list is the Windows vs. Mac (or iMac Pro right about now...) debate, and it's been raging for years.

Now we're asking the big question and want to know your thoughts: Are you switching from Windows? Maybe to an iMac Pro? Why or why not? Is there a particular Mac or Apple product that's stolen your Windows-loving heart?

We're wondering why you'd ever switch from Windows, so hop on into the iMore forums and join the discussion today about whether or not you'd go from Windows to iMac Pro!

The iMac Pro is now Apple's biggest, baddest desktop computer. With up to 18 cores on a Xeon W processor, the all-in-one machine can power fast single-threaded tasks and monster multi-threaded workflows.

iMac Pro review: Beauty of a beast

As such, it's no surprise that Apple also offers a massive amount of RAM for the machine: The baseline iMac Pro ships with 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 ECC RAM (a true monster sentence of acronyms), but you can also upgrade to 64GB or 128GB when you configure your computer.

This is also the only configuration you can upgrade after the fact — though, due to the complications of adding components to such a small package, currently you're restricted to having it done at an Apple Store or Authorized Reseller. (The days of opening up your iMac yourself and swapping out RAM chips are gone.)

Which configuration should you buy with an iMac Pro? Read on.

Who should get 32GB of RAM in their iMac Pro?

As mentioned above, 32GB comes standard in the $4999, 8-core iMac Pro configuration. It's likely (though not confirmed) that we're looking at four 8GB DDR4 sticks, given the build of the Xeon W processor.

It's a good starting configuration for the machine, and allows Apple to offer it without completely destroying prospective buyers' bank accounts. 32GB will suit you for most mid-level single-threaded and multithreaded tasks, though you're always going to get more performance for your multithreaded tasks as you upgrade.

That said, the first upgrade point — to 64GB — is an $800 jump. That's the same cost as upgrading from the 8-core to 10-core processor; in the long run, if you have to choose between upgrading one of those, you might be better suited in upgrading the processor first, then ordering the RAM at a later date.

If you can't afford the RAM upgrade at launch, you can get along just fine for most tasks with 32GB. If you can afford to sink some money into your purchase, however, opt for 64GB.

Who should get 64GB of RAM in their iMac Pro?

64GB will be the RAM sweet spot for most iMac Pro users: By doubling the initial configuration and supplying four 16GB sticks, you'll get a noticeable improvement on an 8- or 10-core machine, and be able to keep up with the processing power of a 14-core model.

If you plan on doing intermediate to advanced video editing, 2D or basic 3D graphics work, development, or other mid-range pro tasks, 64GB of RAM should suit you nicely.

If you're working on more advanced tasks (VR development, 3D FX, or massive multithreaded computing), you've likely already upgraded to the 14- or 18-core model; as such, you should similarly consider upgrading to 128GB of RAM for your iMac Pro's best performance.

Who should get 128GB of RAM in their iMac Pro?

By consumer standards, 128GB is a truly ridiculous amount of RAM. No Mac offers the configuration aside from the iMac Pro, and for good reason: The only reason to have this much memory is when you're pairing it with a powerhouse processor like the 14- or 18-core Xeon W. If you plan on pushing your iMac Pro to its limits, you're going to want to upgrade its RAM alongside processor and video card upgrades. This will allow you to work within more projects and apps simultaneously; it'll also afford gigantic data sets the memory they need to properly compute in time.

Don't get 128GB of RAM unless you're opting for the 14- or 18-core processor, or you think you'll truly push the Apple's 10-core to its max: Consider 64GB instead.

What RAM would you get in your iMac Pro?

If you're planning on buying an iMac Pro, which RAM configuration would you choose? Let us know in the comments.

Forget the aging Mac Pro: Apple's iMac Pro has the fastest, most capable processors in a desktop Macintosh. When configuring your machine, you can choose from 8-, 10-, 14-, or 18-core Intel Xeon W processors; these processors are designed to handle heavy rendering tasks without needing the power of the full-fledged Xeon CPU.

iMac Pro review: Beauty of a beast

But which of these monster processors is right for your pro rendering needs? Let's take a look.

Let's talk about Intel's Xeon W processor

As mentioned above, the Xeon W is designed as a workstation-class processor: It fits between the heavy-hitting (and power-consuming) Xeon CPU and the iMac-powering Core i7 consumer processors.

Here's what Anandtech had to say about Xeon W:

All Xeon W processors feature Intel's Turbo Boost and hyper-threading; they also offer four slots for DDR4 ECC RAM, 1MB of L2 cache, 1.375MB of shared L3 cache, and support for AVX-512 vector instructions. This provides an extra boost to both performance and throughput for intense computing tasks.

Xeon W is based on Intel's Skylake chip architecture, rather than the newer Kaby Lake chipset: As a result, processor-accelerated HEVC (H.265) encoding and decoding is limited to 8-bit, not 10-bit.

That said, the iMac Pro can still put its processors to work through macOS High Sierra: Those extra cores can help power software-based HEVC 10-bit much, much faster than a standard Kaby Lake iMac can through hardware alone.

How does Xeon W in iMac Pro compare to Core i7 in the standard iMac? Craig A Hunter, writing for Hunter Technology Research:

It's also worth noting that while you can upgrade your RAM after ordering at an Apple Store or Authorized Retailer, the same is not true for the chip — you're stuck with what you order at launch. As such, it's a decision worth weighing before you click that Add to Bag button.

Who should get the 8-core Xeon W processor?

The 8-core Xeon W processor is part of the iMac Pro's base model configuration. It features a 3.2Ghz base speed, with an up to 4.2Ghz boost.

It's the fastest processor at its native speed (3.2Ghz) compared to the other cores, though it's slowest when boosted (4.2Ghz vs the 4.3 and 4.5Ghz of the other processors). It's also the cheapest option of the processors: You'll get the 8-core along with 32GB of RAM, an 1TB SSD, and the Radeon Pro Vega 56 with 8GB of video memory.

The 8-core is an excellent choice for anyone looking to get into the iMac Pro environment: It provides enough solid single- and multi-threaded processing power for most basic pro tasks (like video editing or 2D game development) without breaking the bank. It's also the cheapest option for those who are crazy enough to spend $5000+ on getting a computer in space gray.

If you can't afford to upgrade your processor, you don't need the extra power the higher-core processors provide, and you want to get your computer as quickly as possible, the 8-core is an excellent option for the iMac Pro. You can further augment it with more RAM and the Vega 64 graphics processor for better video, 3D, and VR performance.

Who should get the 10-core Xeon W processor?

The 10-core Xeon W processor is the first step up Apple's processor configurator, and it's a great upgrade: The 10-core model features a 3.0Ghz base speed and 4.5Ghz turbo speed.

It offers the fastest turbo speed of any desktop Mac Apple sells for just an $800 increase in price, along with more cores for multithreaded workflows.

Those who run multiple applications, use applications with multi-threaded workflows, and want the absolute fastest single-core speed during Turbo Boost will do well with the 10-core iMac Pro. Given its relatively-reasonable upgrade price, this model will likely be the popular choice among most iMac Pro users who don't need the mammoth core options present on the upper tiers.

If you can afford to throw a little more money at your iMac Pro and you need great multi-threaded performance and the best single-core Turbo speed, get the 10-core iMac Pro. If you don't have additional cash to spend on extra RAM, you can always make those improvements at a later date.

Don't get the 10-core iMac Pro if you plan on doing a ton of multithreaded processing work (like CPU rendering or running multiple virtual machines) — look instead to the 14- or 18-core machines. If you don't think you'll use a ton of multithreaded processing or you simply don't have the money to upgrade, the 8-core might be the best choice for you.

Who should get the 14-core Xeon W processor?

Here, the big guns come out: The 14-core Xeon W processor is nearly double the upgrade price of the 10-core model ($1600 vs $800), and provides an extra four cores for multithreaded processing. Its Turbo boost is identical to the 18-core model (4.3Ghz), while its standard core is 2.5Ghz.

Users who need massive amounts of multithreading power without having to put down the equivalent of a car payment will appreciate the 14-core model: It's currently the most powerful Mac on the market, and offers lots of processing power for its price.

If you need to render VR environments, compile multiple projects, or use CPU power for massive computations, the 14-core will get you close to maximum power without the price tag of the full 18-core machine.

Don't get the 14-core if you have unlimited funds — the 18-core will suit you better — or if you'd be better suited with a hybrid of single- and multi-threaded tasks, as the 10-core offers.

Who should get the 18-core Xeon W processor?

The biggest, baddest processor Apple has ever put inside a Mac is available with the iMac Pro — as long as you're willing to pay for it. For the simple price of $2400, you can build an iMac Pro with eighteen Xeon W cores, each tagged at 2.3Ghz with 4.3Ghz turbo speeds.

Yup: For the price of a baseline 15-inch MacBook Pro, you can add an additional 10 cores to your computer's baseline model, and get an outrageous amount of multithreaded computing.

It may go without saying, but this model of iMac is not the kind of thing you buy without excess need: without any other improvements, the 18-core upgrade will cost you $7399 — and chances are, you'll want to add some more memory and the better graphics card to fully take advantage of all the machine has to offer.

If you work in VR development, astronomy, or any other field requiring a truly massive amount of multithreaded work — and you have the cash to front for it — the 18-core iMac Pro is the best Mac you can get for the job.

If you don't have the cash, the 10- or 14-core Xeon W will still do a pretty good job. And if you don't work in the above fields, consider looking at the 8- or 10-core models instead.

Which processor would you get?

Planning on buying an iMac Pro? Which processor would suit you? Let us know in the comments.

Apple is now offering some instructions for iMac Pro owners who might find that their new Mac becomes unresponsive under certain circumstances, including a power failure during an update. If something like this occurs, you'll need to restore your iMac Pro. To restore your iMac Pro, you'll need to put it into Device Firmware Update (DFU) mode and to do that, you're going to need a few things.

First things first, you're going to need access to a second Mac running the latest version of macOS High Sierra, as well as Apple Configurator 2.6, Apple's device management software. You'll also need a supported USB-A or USB-C to USB-C or Thunderbolt cable that supports both power and data and can be used with a Thunderbolt to USB-C adapter.

Once you have everything you need, here are the steps that you'll need to follow to restore your iMac Pro.

How to restore your iMac Pro using Apple Configurator 2

1. Update your second Mac to the latest versions of macOS High Sierra and Apple Configurator 2 if you haven't already.
2. Plug your Mac into a power source.
3. Quit iTunes.
4. Launch Apple Configurator. The version should be 2.6.
5. Plug your USB or Thunderbolt cable into your Mac.
6. Disconnect your iMac Pro from power.
7. Plug your cable into the Thunderbolt port on closest to the Ethernet port on the iMac Pro.
8. Hold down the power button.
9. Connect your iMac Pro to power and continue to hold the power button for another three seconds. Apple notes that at this point, you should not see anything on the screen of your iMac Pro.
10. Select the iBridge device in the device browser of Apple Configurator on your other Mac.
11. Click Action.
12. Click Restore.
13. Quit Apple Configurator after your iMac Pro reboots.

Questions

If you have any more questions about restoring your iMac Pro, let us know in the comments.

At WWDC 2017, Apple announced its first new professionally oriented desktop since 2013, the iMac Pro. Using the same basic design as the rest of the iMac lineup, the iMac Pro blows past its brethren with a massive boost in power, including Intel Xeon processors, AMD's upcoming Vega graphics chips, a 5K Retina display, and much more. Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming iMac Pro.

Read Rene Ritchie's review of the iMac Pro

December 14, 2017: iMac Pro available to order, shipping estimates 1 - 2 weeks

Apple made available for pre-order the iMac Pro today and shipping times are estimated at 1 - 2 weeks out, which will either get it to your door just before Christmas or just after, depending on your luck. Otherwise, you can check it out at Apple Retail Stores starting middle of next week.

Why do we need an iMac Pro?

Great question. In Apple's mind, this sits in-between for folks who want the iMac's all-in-one design along with powerful internal hardware. Not only will it theoretically fill a hole for graphics and video professionals, but the Mac's increased processing and graphics power will also make this the first VR-capable Mac desktop.

The iMac Pro is also Apple's first entry into its new line of professional desktop Macs: The company is also planning on releasing a Mac Pro redesign in 2018-2019.

Who is this for?

Currently, Apple is targeting this machine toward high-end professionals who need to do 4K video editing work, software development, and virtual reality development. In addition, it's the second desktop Mac that will be able to support VR headsets out of the box, joining the highest-of-high-end iMacs.

How is the iMac Pro different than the iMac or Mac Pro?

Apple is packing this computer full of professional-grade components: Intel Xeon Processors, AMD Vega graphics chips, more memory than an iMac's ever seen, as well as faster storage. In addition, the computer comes with its own Security Enclave, the T2 chip.

Apple is currently offering 8-, 10-, 14-, or 18-core configurations for its Intel Xeon W processors. All Xeon W processors feature Intel's Turbo Boost and hyper-threading; they also offer four slots for DDR4 ECC RAM, 1MB of L2 cache, 1.375MB of shared L3 cache, and support for AVX-512 vector instructions. This provides an extra boost to both performance and throughput for intense computing tasks.

Xeon W is based on Intel's Skylake chip architecture, rather than the newer Kaby Lake chipset: As a result, processor-accelerated HEVC (H.265) encoding and decoding is limited to 8-bit, not 10-bit. That said, the iMac Pro can still put its processors to work through macOS High Sierra: Those extra cores can help power software-based HEVC 10-bit much, much faster than a standard Kaby Lake iMac can through hardware alone.

Which iMac Pro processor should you get?

Apple has also opted to use AMD's new Radeon Pro Vega graphics architecture in the iMac Pro. By default, the iMac Pro will come with a Radeon Pro Vega 56 graphics processor with 8GB of HBM2 memory. You can bump this to a Vega 64 chip with 16GB of memory if you need the extra power.

[Which iMac Pro video graphics card should you buy: Radeon Pro Vega 56, or Vega 64?](/radeon-pro-vega 56-vs-vega-64-which-imac-pro-video-card-better)

Storage and memory

All iMac Pro options come with NVMe-based SSD (solid-state drive) storage — there's no Fusion Drive model to be found here. SSD storage is both faster and sturdier than a traditional spinning-disc hard drive, and allows you to access your projects faster, boot up more quickly, and run through massive number-crunching at full speed. Andlike its fellow upgrades, your SSD isn't user accessible on the iMac Pro: What you buy at launch is what you get forever.

That said, it's a lot easier to augment your storage space than your internal processor or RAM: The iMac Pro comes with 4 Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports, which support connecting multiple RAID arrays; these are systems made up of multiple hard drives, and can be used either to help support network storage or as direct add-ons to your Mac.

Which iMac Pro storage size do you need?

It's also no surprise that Apple also offers a massive amount of RAM for the machine: The baseline iMac Pro ships with 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 ECC RAM (a true monster sentence of acronyms), but you can also upgrade to 64GB or 128GB when you configure your computer.

This is also the only configuration you can upgrade after the fact — though, due to the complications of adding components to such a small package, currently you're restricted to having it done at an Apple Store or Authorized Reseller. (The days of opening up your iMac yourself and swapping out RAM chips are gone.)

How much iMac Pro memory do you need?

Ports & Peripherals

The iMac Pro comes with four Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports; there are also four USB 3 type-A ports for legacy peripherals, along with a 10Gb Ethernet port, SDXC card slot, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. You'll also get an extended space gray version of Apple's Magic Keyboard 2, along with the choice of either a Magic Mouse 2 or Magic Trackpad 2 (or both!).

Should you buy the iMac Pro's Space Gray Magic Trackpad, Magic Mouse, or both?

Displays

The iMac Pro features a 27-inch 5K Retina display with a resolution of 5120x2880. Like its iMac predecessor, it sports a screen with a 500-nit brightness rating and support for the P3 wide-color space.

You can also connect up to four external displays to your iMac Pro (depending on the resolution of those screens) via Thunderbolt 3; you can hook up four 4K UHD (3840x2160) displays, which will operate at 60Hz; four Cinematic or True 4K (4096x2304) displays, also running at 60Hz; or two external 5K displays running at 60Hz.

What else can you tell me about the iMac Pro?

All of the power in this machine creates a lot of heat, so Apple has created an all-new thermal architecture for the iMac Pro. It features dual blowers, extra venting, and a huge heatsink array

Can I buy one right now?

Yup! The iMac Pro is available now starting at $4,999 for the base model and no upgrades. If you go all in and max out the beast, you should plan on spending as much as $13,278 (more if you get both the Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad), and that's not including copies of Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, or AppleCare for your iMac.

Should you get AppleCare+ for your iMac Pro?

Shipping time is currently estimated at approximately 1 - 2 weeks.

See at Apple

Questions?

If you want to know more about the iMac Pro, be sure to let us know in the comments.

Updated December 21, 2017: Added buyers guides.

If you've added the iMac Pro to your cart and you're just about to check out, you've likely been prompted to add AppleCare+ to your bag. You may be thinking, "I've already spent more than $5K on this thing," or you may be thinking, "what's a few hundred more going to hurt?"

Does Apple's standard warranty, the one that comes with your iMac Pro for free, cover everything you think you might need? Or should you break down and take it to the next level?

• AppleCare vs. AppleCare+
• AppleCare+ extensions
• AppleCare+ service fee
• AppleCare+ vs. credit card benefits
• Who shouldn't get AppleCare+?
• Who should get AppleCare+?

AppleCare vs. AppleCare+

Every Mac, iMac, MacBook, and Mac mini comes with a standard-level warranty for free called AppleCare, which includes:

• One year limited hardware warranty
• 90 days of free technical support

If something isn't working right or your built-in software programs aren't running the way they should during the first three months of owning your iMac Pro, you can call 1-800-APL-CARE and get help over the phone troubleshooting your issue.

If your physical computer, the battery, RAM, hard drive, keyboard, mouse, or power cord fail, and it's not due to accidental or intentional damage, Apple will repair or replace it.

For example, if the internal hard drive just goes kaput in the first year, AppleCare will cover the cost to repair or replace it. If you drop your iMac Pro while trying to set it up and break the screen, you're out of luck.

Unless you have AppleCare+.

AppleCare+

For an additional cost, you can add AppleCare+ and get additional coverage for longer. AppleCare+ for iMac Pro includes:

• Three years (total) limited hardware warranty
• Three years (total) technical support
• Coverage for two incidents of accidental damage (subject to a service fee of $99 for screen damage or $299 for other damage)

You'll get technical support over the phone, via chat, and in-store at your local Apple retail store for three full years. If you are having software issues with any built-in Apple programs or the operating system itself, you can call 1-800-APL-CARE for assistance.

If your hard drive borks after two-and-a-half-years, AppleCare+ has you covered.

If you drop your iMac Pro off of your standing desk ... twice ... and crack the screen, Apple will repair or replace it for $99 (or up to $299) each time.

AppleCare+ service fee

If you go all-in with AppleCare+, your iMac Pro is covered for damages caused by accidents, but there will be a fee, a hefty one in some cases. The standard service fee for accidents is:

• $99 for screen damage
• $299 for other damage

AppleCare+ vs. credit card benefits

Some credit card companies provide additional warranty protection when you make your purchase using their card. For example, American Express Gold has a decent warranty extension for up to five years in most U.S. states. Each credit card company is different and has different warranty benefits for some states.

If you like the warranty that your credit card company provides, it might be the alternative you need. Keep in mind, however, that credit card companies can't offer technical support, which is usually what Mac owners end up needing the most.

Check out your credit card company's warranty policy, and make sure you fully understand its benefits, before choosing it over AppleCare+

Who shouldn't get AppleCare+

• If you just dumped your entire savings into your iMac Pro and don't have a few hundred to spare, don't starve to death just to get that added protection.
• If you are pretty darn good at troubleshooting software issues on Mac and you're shop savvy enough to know how to get a killer deal on replacement parts, you might be able to repair your iMac Pro for cheaper than the service fee.
• If you purchased your iMac Pro with a credit card that has an extended warranty policy and you're pretty darn good at troubleshooting software issues on Mac (remember, credit card companies don't provide technical support), you'll probably skate buy without needing to actually use AppleCare+ over a three-year period.

Who should get AppleCare+?

• If you feel better knowing that your iMac Pro is covered and someone will be around to help you whenever you need it, get AppleCare+.
• If you're accident prone, get AppleCare+. The service fee to repair or replace something on your iMac Pro will be far less expensive than doing so out of warranty.
• If your credit card company doesn't have an extended warranty policy or if you don't totally trust that your credit card company will follow through with its promise, AppleCare+ is more reliable.

See at Apple

Still not sure about AppleCare+?

If you're still on the fence about whether you want to spend the extra money for the extended warranty, hop over to our iMac Pro discussion forums. The iMore readers are friendly and always happy to give advice.

Stop me if you've heard this one before: At the company's worldwide developer conference in June, Apple announces a hot new supercomputing appliance that'll ship at the end of the year. You're sure that'll be near midnight on New Year's Eve — in American Samoa. But, just as December gets going, Apple puts its hyper Mac up for order and then you, pro user and aficionado alike, have to decide whether to buy it the moment it goes live or risk waiting weeks for the second or third wave to start shipping.

Ok, don't stop me. Because this iMac Pro isn't that Mac Pro. This isn't a beloved tower reimagined inside Darth Vader's helmet — an OpenCL monster designed for a future that never quite materialized. This is the same iMac many of us already know and love, just gutted of its consumer-grade engine and rebuilt for a very different kind of pro. The kind that was already sold on the all-in-one but always wished it was hit by enough gamma rays to make it more hulkingly pro.

And that's exactly what Apple is delivering: A sleek space-gray chassis filled to the aluminum limit with next-generation Intel, AMD, and Apple muscle. Starting at $4999.

And I just got to spend some time with it.

See at Apple

iMac Pro Design & Display

iMac Pro looks like… an iMac. No surprise there. From the outside, it is millimeter-for-millimeter the exact same chassis as the existing 27-inch iMac. There are some differences in the mics, speakers, ports, vents, and mounting options but you'd be hard-pressed to tell it apart. Except for this: It's anodized in space gray. And it looks so badass, I'm guessing money-is-no-object customers might buy it just for the new finish.

The biggest and most welcome change are those mounting options: You no longer have to choose between a stand mount or VESA mount at time of purchase. If you buy both, you can switch between both at any time. Hallaluja.

The Retina 5K display remains the same as the current generation iMac non-Pro, which is about as good as an ISP panel can be right now. Here's what I wrote about it in my review:

It looks as good as the iPad Pro displays — and is perfectly color-matched thanks to Apple's hardware calibration and software management — and that's saying a lot. It's about as close as you can get to full HDR without going OLED.

Speaking of which, some may be disappointed Apple didn't take the opportunity to redesign its classic all-in-one, delete the bezels, go edge-to-edge across the display, and thin it fully down to 2D.

Personally, I can't wait to see what might be next for iMac's design language. But this wasn't about making a new outside. This was about cramming the existing outside full-to-busting with all new insides. It was about making the iMac… pro.

iMac Pro Processors

The heart of the iMac Pro is neither commercial-grade Intel Core processors nor full-on server-class Xeon processors. It's something new — something that Intel intends to sit in the middle. It's called Xeon W (as in "workstation").

Here's what Anandtech had to say about Xeon W:

Apple is offering up 8-, 10-, 14-, or 18-core versions, and each of those are double threaded. Here's how their base and turbo frequencies break down:

• 8-core: 3.2GHz base, 4.2GHz turbo.
• 10-core: 3.0GHz base, 4.5GHz turbo.
• 14-core: 2.5GHz base, 4.3GHz turbo.
• 18-core: 2.3GHz base, 4.3Ghz turbo.

So, if single core is important to you, the 10-core version has the absolute fastest turbo frequencies. If massive parallelism is where you're at, you can go all the way to 18.

All of them have 1MB of L2 cache, 1.375MB of shared L3 cache and support for AVX-512 vector instructions. That provides an extra boost to both performance and throughput for intense compute tasks.

Because Xeon W is based on Skylake architecture, processor-accelerated HEVC (H.265) encoding and decoding are limited to 8-bit, not 10-bit like on the Kaby Lake-based standard iMacs. Because iMac Pro has such a resource advantage, though, Apple can still deliver software-based HEVC 10-bit much, much faster than the standard iMac can through hardware.

How does Xeon W in iMac Pro compare to Core i7 in the standard iMac? Craig A Hunter, writing for Hunter Technology Research:

Commercial computers are typically like sports cars: fast and agile and super exciting if you don't need to haul a load. Servers are more like trucks: reliable and scalable but not as zippy. Xeon W is meant to be more like an SUV: maintain a good amount of pep but be ready to haul when you need to haul.

The new version of Final Cut Pro X that's launching alongside iMac Pro, for example, can now handle 360 video and up to 8K frames, and a lot of it in real time. Same with the Logic Pro X update and it's ability to handle far more tracks with far more demanding effects, including Alchemy, and play it all back in real-time.

After talking to a variety of developers, including Osirix MD and Twinmotion, one theme came up again and again: real-time. The sheer power of iMac Pro let their apps and their customers work in real-time in a way that simply wasn't possible on any previous hardware. Sure, it cut down wait times on intensive tasks like compiling and rendering, but it also removed wait times so completely on so many tasks that it allowed for an all-new, all interactive experience.

And that was invaluable.

iMac Pro Graphics

iMac Pro uses the new AMD Radeon Pro Vega chipsets. At the upper end, they provide up to 64 compute units with 4096 stream processors. Those stream processors can deliver up to 11 teraflops of single precision (FP32) or 22 teraflops at half-precision (FP16). All of that with high bandwidth memory (HBM2) that sports a 2048-bit wide bus and delivers 400MB/s of bandwidth. So. Much. Numbers.

You can go with either the Radeon Pro Vega 56 with 8GB of on-package HBM2 or ratchet that up to a Radeon Pro Vega 64 with 16GB of HBM2.

They're not cards; they're soldered inside the iMac Pro and the iMac Pro is sealed. That means two things: You don't get the option for Nvidia (and CUDA), and you can't swap out the card for a newer, more advanced one next year or any year after that.

Apple and Nvidia seem to be at loggerheads over who gets to own our graphics destiny, with neither willing to cede control to the other. So, AMD.

The more specific knock against Vega Pro is that it's more of a jack-of-all-trades card and not something that's optimized for hard core gaming, for example. Yet, talking with developers like those who work on Cinema 4D, it became clear that a combination of Metal 2 and AMD produced results better than they'd seen with similar or even better graphics hardware on other platforms.

I think that can be attributed to how much Apple gets out of the way and opens up access to as much compute power as possible, something that's enabled by the company's tight integration of hardware and software, and relationship with AMD.

As of macOS High Sierra, Apple has also provided beta support for external GPU (eGPU). There's no word yet on how many you can hang off an iMac Pro but I got to see two eGPU running today and, from what the developers were saying, they'd managed more in their own testing. Once eGPU comes out of beta, concern over future internal vendors and upgrades could well become a thing of the past. Fingers crossed.

How does the AMD Radeon Pro Vega perform? Mike Seymor, writing for fxguide:

I've had a chance to see and try out several VR apps on iMac Pro, using the HTC Vive headset and controls, and they all worked tremendously well. I've used the Vive previously on PCs, and while it remains to be seen how many and how well the game situation matures, everything from design applications like Gravity Sketch, to 360 video editing in Final Cut Pro, to fully immersive creative environments like Electronaught, all ran terrifically well.

Because of both the Xeon W and the Radeon Pro, neither CPU nor GPU proved to be a constraint and the developers managed to deliver seamless VR experiences right out of the gate.

It was also whisper quiet. I don't recall hearing the fans spin up even once, even under heavy load. Maybe they're just quiet enough that my conversations with Apple and developers were enough to mask them, and maybe I'd hear them in dead-silence if I pushed hard enough. But there's really no way to overstate how much power Apple had packed into iMac Pro while preventing the traditional fan noise that goes with it.

(Now if only Apple would make its own, similarly whisper quiet, eGPU enclosures!)

iMac Pro T2

MacBook Pro had a custom T1 chipset that handled Touch ID, Apple Pay, and offered a secure enclave to lock down not only those two features but things like FaceTime camera access and indicators. But, where T1 felt like an Apple Watch-style system-in-package (SIP), T2 feels more like an iPhone-style system-on-a-chip (SoC).

First and foremost, T2 unifies many of the disparate and discrete controllers Apple had previously been using on the Mac, including the system management controller (SMC), and audio and SSD controllers.

T2 also handles security and encryption. That includes cryptographically verifying the integrity of the entire startup process, from boot loader to firmware to kernel to extensions. You can disable it if you really want or need to, but otherwise it will make sure no one and nothing has tampered with your Mac, and it'll do it so fast you won't even notice it's there at all.

Thanks to a dedicated AES crypto engine, T2 also provides hardware encryption for the SSD storage. There's a unique key for each and every iMac Pro, and if you use FileVault, your own personal key to completely lock down your data as well. In real time. As you're reading and writing it. Which is ludicrously cool tech.

T2 even includes an image signal processor (ISP) for the new 1080p FaceTime camera, so you get auto exposure and white balance, face detection, and enhanced tonal mapping.

These are all features iOS has been benefiting from for years and it's great to see them, and more custom silicon, come to the Mac.

Two of the best features enabled by T1 on the MacBook Pro are Touch ID and, by extension, Apple Pay. When iMac Pro was announced, there was some hope we'd see a Touch ID-equipped Magic Keyboard to go with it. But we didn't. Then, when iPhone X and Face ID quickly eclipsed it, there was the briefest of hopes we'd see that instead. But we didn't either.

Caught in transition, too late for Touch ID and too early for Face ID, the debut iMac Pro instead focuses all its custom Apple silicon on security. And if any biometric conveniences are to come, they'll have to come in a future generation.

iMac Pro Memory & Storage

With great power comes... great memory. iMac Pro starts off with 32GB of 2666MHz DDR4 ECC memory but you can bump that up to 64GB or 128GB — twice as much as the standard iMac. Because the memory slots are positioned higher up on the back of the iMac Pro, you can't swap them out yourself if you want more later. But, you can take them to any Apple Store or authorized service center and have them swapped out and upgraded for you.

MKBHD puts the iMac Pro through its video editing paces.

Unlike the standard iMac, there's no fusion drive option on iMac Pro. I love that. I understand what Apple was trying to do with fusion drive — bring together the speed of solid state with the capacity of platters — but once you go pure SSD on your MacBook Pro, fusion just feels slow on your iMac.

With iMac Pro you get 1TB of up to 2.8GB/s sequential read performance and up to 3.3GB/s sequential write performance to start with. And you can configure it up to 2TB or 4TB if you want more. You should think carefully about that, though. Unlike memory, you can't get the solid stage chips changed later, so you're stuck with what you buy — but only on the outside.

Thanks to Thunderbolt 3 and 10Gb Ethernet, you can hang additional solid state drives, RAID arrays, NAS, and SAN systems right off the back and transfer fast enough that you might not need all that much storage up front.

Putting higher volume storage, especially platters, on the outside is my preference anyway. That way, when and if they throw errors or fail, I only have to worry about fixing or swapping the disk, not taking my entire iMac in for repairs.

And performance isn't really an issue anymore, especially with iMac Pro. Photographer Vincent LaForet:

iMac Pro Input & Output

iMac Pro, unlike MacBook Pro, hasn't gone all-in on Thunderbolt 3 / USB-C. Instead, it's kept all the legacy ports of iMac and added the newer ports on top of them. Well, technically, beside them.

You've got four USB-A (USB 3) ports for all your external microphones, cameras, peripherals, and more. But then you've got four USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 ports as well for everything from double 5K displays or quadruple 4K displays, to multiple high-speed storage devices or eGPU. Those four ports are also split between two separate controllers, so each and every port gets full-on 40Gb/s throughput.

And, yeah, if you still need FireWire, Thunderbolt 2 / mini DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI, or VGA, you can use any of your old USB-A adapters or any of the new USB-C / Thunderbolt 3 dongles.

There's a 3.5mm headset jack for wired headphones or audio gear, and an Ethernet port as well. That Ethernet port, though, is now 10Gb (NBASE-T on RJ45), so it'll automatically run at the highest speed the network allows — 1Gb, 2.5Gb, 5Gb, or 10Gb, based on the cable type and length, and switch type.

It can make network attached storage seem... almost local. Trim Editing video editor Thomas Carter, writing for The Post Perspective:

There's also a new, improved, 1080p FaceTime HD camera with a new, improved, microphone system that includes two on the front, one up top, and one on the back. Thanks to the image signal processor (ISP) in the T2 chip, you get a front-facing camera that captures almost as well — if not quite as easily moved around — as the one on an iPhone.

I didn't get a chance to try out the mics but I imagine the number and the position help with clarity and noise canceling as well. Now, all we need is FaceTime conference calling to save us from the horrors of New Skype.

Because there's no fusion drive option on iMac Pro, there's no need to devote space to old-style hard drive platters, and so there's some extra room inside the enclosure. Like with iPad Pro, Apple has chosen to fill some of that space with bigger, much better sounding speakers.

Audiophiles will still want external speakers, I imagine, but after listening to them for a while, I don't think I will. From iPad Pro to iPhone 8 and iPhone X to iMac Pro, Apple has really upped its speaker game lately and it's really appreciated.

iMac Pro Accessories

iMac Pro doesn't just come in space gray, it comes with space gray. That includes the new, extended version of Magic Keyboard with numeric pad, and the Magic Mouse. If you, like me, you're not a huge fan of the Magic Mouse or mouses in general, you can choose to replace it with the awesome Magic Trackpad — or get both.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bcr7ovWFTFQ/

You can't buy the space gray versions of the Magic accessories separately, at least not yet, which is a downer for people who own the space black MacBook Pro and would love them on their desks. It also remains to be seen how or if Apple will handle replacement space gray accessories for those who somehow lose or damage the ones they get at purchase.

All that aside, the space gray Magic accessories are otherwise identical to their silver predecessors. They work wirelessly to keep down clutter, but instantly pair and recharge with the included Lightning to USB-A cable.

Which, for iMac Pro, is black. Down to the pins. Hot. Damn.

iMac Pro Pricing & Availability

The iMac Pro is available now and starts at $4999. Depending on the amount of cores, the graphics card, memory, and storage options you choose, it can come out to double that or more.

While that might sound expensive, you're getting state-of-the-art components at prices not dissimilar to that of similarly equipped DIY Windows boxes. And in some cases, less. (Don't take anyone's word for that — go spec out a Xeon W and Radeon Vega PC with ECC memory yourself.)

If we break it down into units of standard iMac, you're getting roughly 3x to 4x performance for roughly 3x to 4x the price.

iMac Pro First Impressions

The definition of pro has grown and expanded over the years. For people like me who become jubilant at the thought of not just power users but empowered users, and for a company like Apple that has single-act-of-willed the democratization of computing technology from Apple ][ to iPad, it's incredible to see.

Once upon a time, it was graphics and publishing, and then eventually video and sound professionals, that defined the category. Now, developers are by far the biggest group. (Over 60% of developers submitting projects to the online code repository, GitHub, are doing so on the Mac.) And there's a whole new wave and generation of multi-faceted, multi-media pros already on their way.

And many of these pros value the characteristics of iMac — the clutter-free design, the display, and the ultra-quiet way in which it runs.

It's that combination of power and experience that feels especially compelling. The ability to run three iOS simulators at once, alongside multiple virtual machines covering a range of operating system and web and browser environments (with so many tabs!), and still having headroom to spare — essentially being all-in-one on your all-in-one — will no doubt be terrific for app and web devs alike.

But it also raises some important and highly individualized questions. Should you get a standard iMac and save yourself some money? Should you wait and see if a next-generation version with Face ID or the upcoming modular Mac Pro with its new pro display will even better suit your needs?

Here's how you answer that: Do you prefer the all-in-one to the tower, and would you benefit right now from all the power iMac Pro? You never know what the future will bring or how long it will take to get here. All you can do it make the best decision possible when it comes to what's right in front of you.

If a regular iMac is enough or if you want or need a desktop you can fuss with for years to come, then there's no point in buying the hot new machine just because it's hot and new.

If, right now, an iMac Pro would let you get more work done faster and pay for itself in time saved and money earned and Thunderbolt 3, external storage, and eGPU eliminates any upgrade concerns you might have — or if you have the cash to spare and you just want that space gray beauty of a beast on your desk — get it and enjoy the hell out of it.

See at Apple

The new iMac Pro is almost here, and it is a beauty. With up to 18 cores of processing power, a VR-ready GPU, and an almost unthinkable amount of memory — up to 128GB of DDR4 ECC RAM and 4TB SSD internal storage — it's an all-in-one truly made for professional users.

Your average iMac owner may not need this power, but do you, dear reader? Let's go over the reasons why you should (or shouldn't) upgrade to Apple's newest professional machine.

Can you spare the cash?

Before we get into the iMac Pro's specs, let's face the facts: You're going to need a fair chunk of change (or line of credit) to afford this machine. The $4999 starting price for the 8-core, 32GB RAM, and 1TB model is bad enough, but if you want any of the iMac Pro's offered upgrades, you'll likely be looking at a price tag closer to $6000-$9000.

For reference, 32GB of DDR4 ECC ram goes for around $330; 64GB jumps up to $699, while 128GB is roughly double that. In short, expect to pay upwards of $1200 if you want to fully max out your RAM (and, considering that the iMac Pro can't be upgraded after sale, you may want to).

Processor power will likely be an equally big jump: Apple currently charges an additional $1200 to upgrade from an 8- to a 12-core processor on the Mac Pro; I wouldn't be surprised to see an $800-$1000 cost for the 10-core, and a possible $2000 upgrade price for the 18-core model.

Hard drive pricing is likely to add another $600-$1500 to the price, depending on whether you choose a 2GB or 4GB internal solid-state drive.

Having gone through that again: Can you (or your credit card) afford a $5000+ expense at the end of the year? If the answer is yes, an iMac Pro may well be in your wheelhouse.

Do you need multi-core efficiency?

One of the iMac Pro's biggest potential selling points among professionals is its multi-threading prowess. Rendering video, audio, and graphics work takes its toll on a processor, and computers have built out multi-core systems to help distribute that work load and make the process easier (and faster).

An 8-core machine like the iMac Pro's base model will shred through tasks a 2- or 4-core machine struggles with. A 10- or 18-core Xeon processor will make that render feel like magic.

We don't yet have full benchmarks from the new machines, but early reviews are promising. From Pulitzer-winning photographer Vincent LaForet:

If you regularly use programs that require heavy processing power or are designed for multi-threaded operations, the iMac Pro is currently the best computer Apple has to offer in that department.

How do you like your display?

The iMac Pro's display is a fantastic 5K LCD panel, providing 500 nits of brightness, 14.7 million pixels, and support for the P3 color space. But there's another computer rocking an identical display: Apple's 27-inch top-line iMac. It may not be space gray or have the processing power of its pro sibling, but if display is the only thing you care about, you can get an equally beautiful picture while paying a fraction of the price.

If you need pro graphics and pro processing power, however, the iMac Pro may be the computer for you.

How much memory and storage do you want?

While I still remember the days when 4GB of memory felt absurdly luxurious, those days are long gone. The new iMac Pro comes with 32GB of DDR4 ECC memory built-in, and you can custom order a computer with a whopping 64 or 128GB. To compare, the current iMacs and Mac Pros max out at 64GB (at a $1400 and $1200 price increase, respectively, for last-generation's DDR3 memory).

Aside from the literal upgrade cost, there's a different price for making room for all that memory: user-upgradeability. The new iMac Pro models have the memory built in, which means no post-purchase RAM upgrades (at least, not without some hefty tech repair knowledge). As such, if you want the possibility of having 128GB of memory down the line, you have to pay for it up-front. (Think of it like college tuition for your iMac.)

The same goes for solid-state storage: The iMac Pro comes with 1TB, and that's upgradeable to 2 or 4TB. With 3GB/second throughput, you'll be getting lightning-fast file reading and writing; that said, chances are if you're buying an iMac Pro, you're also going to be using an external hard drive array for most of your projects. Regardless, if you need a large amount of local storage, the iMac Pro's options are again the best you can get from Apple at present.

If you're the type of user that needs a ton of memory and storage, you can't do better than the iMac Pro when considering an Apple computer.

Do you want VR?

When it launches, the iMac Pro will be one of Apple's only options for playing in — and designing — VR spaces. Radeon's Pro Vega chip blazes past iMac models of old, offering a slew of impressive numbers on teraflops, memory, and bandwidth.

It's not the best card in the world for VR — in part due to Apple's reliance on Radeon cards over NVIDIA — but it's far from the worst. And if you don't want to hook up an external GPU solution to a MacBook Pro or pay the cash for a fully-specced 27-inch iMac with the the Radeon Pro 580, it's one of your only VR options if you want to stay in the Apple ecosystem.

If you're interested in playing or developing in VR space, the iMac Pro is the best option yet from Apple.

Do you rely on Thunderbolt 3?

Apple only offers a few computers with fully compatible Thunderbolt 3 ports, and the iMac Pro is one of them. The company has put four Thunderbolt 3 ports on the all-in-one, which together support connecting up to two 5K monitors and two RAID systems.

While the 2013-era Mac Pro technically supports driving more display power (up to 3 dual-cable 5K displays), it comes at the expense of up-to-date ports. Apple only offers Thunderbolt 2 on the current Mac Pro, and 4 USB 3 ports with the old one-way cable.

The iMac Pro also supports up to 10Gb Ethernet (for incredibly fast intranet and network storage) along with a similar SDXC slot to the one on the iMac (though the iMac Pro's also supports UHS-II).

If you need the latest in Thunderbolt and USB technology and like having extra ports for Ethernet and SDXC, the iMac Pro is the only way to go.

How badly do you want space gray?

Of all the features Apple has brought over to the Mac from its iPhone production line, I'm perhaps the biggest fan of aluminum anodization. It looked fantastic on the MacBook Pro, but it looks even better on Apple's desktop Mac. The iMac is perfectly-suited to the darker shade, and the additional anodization of its keyboard, mouse, and optional trackpad is a dynamite look for a professional desk.

If you can't live without space grey, the iMac Pro can't be beat.

Do you want to wait for the Mac Pro?

Apple's current Mac Pro — first released in 2013 — is old and aging. But there's a successor waiting in the wings. Apple is working on a new Mac Pro, which should be released… sometime before the next decade.

And therein lies the problem. We don't know how long we'll need to play the waiting game on the new Mac Pro, and if you need a new machine for your work, waiting may not be an option.

If you know you can hold off, there may be some major benefits to waiting. For one, you won't be an early adopter of Apple's newest iMac fan design; the company always has one or two minor quirks to fix in the first generation of a product, and I don't doubt the first production units of the iMac Pro will have similar foibles.

You also might be waiting for a machine with more upgradeable and swappable components: Apple executive Phil Schiller acknowledged the 2013-era Mac Pro's lack of upgradeability as one of its major flaws, and I wouldn't be surprised to see that addressed in the next version.

As such, if you know you can wait, you might be better off waiting for the new Mac Pro. But if you don't need upgradeability or prefer the ease of use of an all-in-one, the iMac Pro is mighty tempting — and available now.

Are you upgrading to an iMac Pro?

Let us know in the comments!

Though Apple announced back in June the new iMac Pro would be available for purchase sometime this month, today we finally got an actual release date: Thursday, December 14. However, if you're looking to purchase the fastest possible unit, YouTuber Marques Brownlee says you're going to have to wait until sometime in 2018 to get your machine.

According to Brownlee, only the 8- and 10-core models will be available when the iMac Pro launches this Thursday — the standard 8-core for a cool $4,999, the more memory-heavy 8-core for $6,399, and the 10-core for either $7,199, $7,999, or $9,599 (depending on your configuration). At the moment, only the 8-, 10-, and 18-core models are listed on Apple's website, but Brownlee confirmed in a response to AppleInsider's Roger Fingas that the 14-core option will be announced on the 14th. That unfortunately means that if you've got your eyes on the two more powerful Pros, you're going to have to wait a bit longer for them, as the 14- and 18-core models aren't expected to ship until sometime in 2018.

In addition to the iMac Pro, Apple revealed back in April that its working on an improved version of the Mac Pro, also slated to be released sometime this coming year. Though details have been incredibly scant, according to John Gruber at Daring Fireball, the new Mac Pro will have a modular design that will make it user-upgradable (unlike the iMac Pro).

This flood of new and more powerful Apple computers is reportedly due to feedback from professionals who requested more high-end Macs that can tackle some real heavy lifting. If the iMac Pro's specs and a multitude of reviews are anything to go by, the company has definitely succeeded in giving those users what they want: the base-level model, priced at $4,999, will have an 8-core processor, 32 gigabytes of RAM, a 1-terabyte SSD, and an 8-gigabyte AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 GPU.

Questions?

Got any pressing questions about the new iMac Pro? Give us a shout in the comments!

This morning, Apple updated its website to announce that the shiny new iMac Pro will finally be available for all us regular folk to purchase on Thursday, December 14. If you can't wait until then to get an in-depth look at it, though, don't worry — we can't either. So we've rounded up a few reviews and first impressions to sate your all-consuming iMac Pro hunger.

Marques Brownlee

Marques Brownlee was one of the first to make his first impressions public. After using the iMac Pro in secret for a week to do a lot of heavy lifting data-wise (like editing high quality video with programs like Final Cut Pro), he praises its speed and performance. He also notes that its design is almost identical to the 27" 5K iMac with the exception of the color and the extra ventilation slots, and the improvements have all been made internally.

Jonathan Morrison

Jonathan Morrison was another one to quickly release a first look at his perfect iMac Pro setup (outdoors, even!). He also applauded the machine's speed and adeptness at handling demanding tasks, calling it "insanely fast." In addition, he lists a myriad of must-have accessories for the Pro so that you can work even more efficiently.

Thomas Grove Carter

Thomas Grove Carter, video editor for Trim, took to both Twitter and postPerspective to share his initial thoughts on the iMac Pro. Though he hasn't had the Pro long enough to do a full editing job with it yet, he claims that is experience with it so far has "blown [him] away," citing super-fast delivery of H.264 exports and flawless playback of a color-corrected 8K sequence.

Vincent Laforet

Director and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Vincent Laforet shared his two cents about the iMac Pro on his blog. He noted that yes, the iMac Pro's design was beautiful, but that's to be expected from Apple. His real concern was "how fast is this thing, and how much time will it save me in my everyday imaging tasks?" He found that the new computer was consistently 2-3 times faster than his current iMac — a pretty staggering difference, as the usual increase in speed between Mac models is approximately 20%-30%.

Craig A. Hunter

Craig A. Hunter of Hunter Research and Technology was given a 10-core unit to try, and, like Laforet, shared his experience on his blog. He "spent just short of a week running the machine through [his] typical workflows in aerospace engineering and software development" as well as running benchmarks and tests, and reports that it's one of the fastest systems he's ever tested "by a notable margin." He gets into very specific detail in his post, so if you're into engineering and really want to know the ins and outs of the iMac's performance, it's a must-read.

Cabel Sasser

Co-founder of Panic Inc Cabel Sasser shared six initial impressions of the iMac Pro in a Twitter thread. He, like many others, noted the computer's impressive speed. However, he also emphasized its improved security measures, touching on how storage encryption keys "pass from the secure enclave to the hardware encryption engine" without ever leaving the iMac's new T2 chip.

Check back here for more first looks — we'll be adding more as we find them!

Thoughts?

What do you think about the iMac Pro? Share your first impressions with us in the comments!

My current workstation is a Late 2015 iMac with 5K Retina display. It has a 3.3 GHz Core i5 processor, 32 GB of RAM and an AMD Radeon R9 M935 GPU. When new, this was the mid-range processor and the best GPU option available. It is by far the fastest Mac I've ever owned. At two years old, it feels just as powerful and responsive as it did the day I unboxed it.

If I tune out my overwhelming nostalgia, I think I can say that it's my favorite Mac of the many that have occupied space on my desk over the years. Even under load, it's quiet, and the all-in-one form factor means I can have a whole bunch of equipment plugged into it without creating much in the way of a mess. Everything flows from the ports on the back, keeping things nice and tidy on my desk. I'm sold on the form factor.

I make stuff for a living. While even one of my old PowerBooks is enough computer to blog with, the podcasts and videos I produce follow Parkinson's Law: "Work expands to fill the time available." The same is true for computing. No matter how fast my Mac may be, the applications I use will steal every scrap of power available.

Take something like Forecast, the encoder I use to crush my podcasts down to MP3s: It's a multi-threaded application, which spreads out the encoding workload to as many of my machine's cores as possible. It's much faster, as it harnesses more of the power out of my iMac's processor, but that speed comes at a cost. Here's what Activity Monitor (and its CPU Usage window) look like when putting Forecast through its paces:

Forecast is doing what its supposed to do; running each core on my iMac's i5 as hard as it can to make encoding take as little time as possible. I still have a short wait on longer podcast episodes, but it's much faster than a single-core tool.

Other apps like Final Cut Pro X peg every core on a regular basis. Every time the app needs to render something, CPU usage goes through the roof. Need to de-noise some audio in iZotope? Better go grab a cool drink.

There's not much I can do about this. I could have opted for one of the Core i7 iMac models, but to see a real breakthrough in performance at this level, most users would need to look at a Mac Pro.

... Ahhh, right. The "current" Mac Pro is a relic from 2013, and Apple's mentioned-but-not-yet-reveled next-gen Mac Pro isn't here yet.

But there is another.

Promised back in April, and shown off at WWDC 2017, the iMac Pro is Apple's new top-of-the-line Mac. This new, space gray all-in-one is the most power a user can have while using macOS for the foreseeable future*, and it's launching on December 14.

*I assume the new Mac Pro will be even more powerful, but until it ships, the iMac Pro will undoubtedly be the machine of choice for power users. Even once the Mac Pro is on the market, the iMac Pro's all-in-one design and lower (relative) price point will keep it on the radar of many pro users. But all of that is a conversation for a different time.

Even the base model 8-core iMac Pro should handily beat other Macs in multi-threaded tasks. And coupled with its new Radeon Pro Vega GPUs, the iMac Pro is the fastest Mac ever made — full stop.

Apple is delivering this in the same form factor as the existing 27-inch Retina iMac — the very same computer I own, just in a different space grey shade. According to Apple, the computer's redesigned thermal system should be able to more than handle the increased heat generated by the cores and graphics card, and I believe them. (Hopefully that's not just my love of Space Gray hardware talking.)

But who is all of this power for? Starting at $4999, this is not a cheap computer. That and the power of this computer speaks about who it is for. If you edit 4K video, work with a bunch of audio, or pay the rent as a software developer, this machine is a great option. The iMac Pro offers up to 18 cores of Intel Xeon power (though the 18-core option won't be available until 2018); those cores will light a giant fire to power programs like Forecast, Final Cut Pro X, Xcode, and more. If your workload consists of tasks that are multi-threaded, the iMac Pro is absolutely worth considering. It could radically increase your efficiency, speeding up all types of work.

If you're a regular user, getting along just fine on an iMac today, I don't think the extra horsepower is worth the cash. The iMac Pro is for pros; it says so right in the name.

For me, it's a temptation I'm not sure I'll resist. Much as I love my current Retina iMac, I am extremely interested getting one of these beasts. But I won't be pressing that pre-order button on the 14th: I want to see how the dust settles over real-world benchmarking before I fork over any cash.

If the results are what we think they will be, however, the expense is worth it. If the iMac Pro lets me work with more efficiency and less frustration, I'm in. Depending on final prices and benchmarks, I'd consider the 8-core with a mix of more RAM and the more powerful GPU; that said, I'm hoping the 10-core is a nice balance of power and price. Either way, it'll be faster and way more Space Gray-ier than my current rig.

Apple's announced an upcoming iMac Pro at WWDC 2017 this year and that announcement has certainly spurred excitement in the creative/professional sector. With up to 18 CPU cores, 4.5 GHz boost, 42MB of cache, and a new Radeon Pro graphics card, what's not to be excited about?

Well, if you've read some of the early reviews for the discrete Radeon Vega GPU — newly available for Windows and Linux — there's talk of it being too late, expensive, power hungry, and underperforming. Will this news over the Vega GPU portend similar moaning and groaning over the iMac Pro's Radeon Pro Vega GPU? Not quite.

What is the Radeon Pro Vega GPU?

Vega is the latest graphics architecture from AMD. The Radeon Pro Vega GPU will be the internal GPU available for the soon-to-be-released iMac Pro. A GPU creates all of the on-screen visuals, such as the ones you see in complex 3D games, and in many cases also performs calculations of various mathematical models and helps in the rendering of images and films.

Although we don't know the final specs of the iMac Pro's Radeon Pro Vega, we do know that it will espouse 11 TFLOPS (trillions of floating point operations per second) of single precision calculations and 22 TFLOPS of half precision calculations. When you compare those numbers to the current the standalone versions of Vega, however, it looks to be similar to Vega 56, a cut-down version of the Vega GPU architecture where 56 relates to the number of computing units available. At first glance, this sounds like a disappointment; however, Vega 56 offers a better performance per watt than its bigger brother Vega 64 (yes that's 64 compute units) — and at a lower cost, too.

The Radeon Pro Vega will sport 8 to 16 GB of high bandwidth memory (HBM). HBM is the latest in high-speed graphics memory; some have questioned its utility in a gaming workload where GDDR5+ is the cheaper (yet still quite fast) variant, but memory speed is king when it comes to scientific modelling and analytics in a business setting. The faster the better, and AMD is leading the charge in this forward-facing technology.

What does this technology mean in practice?

Nvidia released a similar-performing card last year with a lower power requirement that costs slightly less than the newly released Vega counterpart called a GTX 1070. In terms of the discrete Vega graphics card, if you're a gamer, it's pretty disappointing since you could have this level of performance last year for a slightly lower price and less power consumption. However, for professionals not interested in gaming the results for productivity workloads is not only very good but some are better than more expensive Nvidia counterparts. AMD is catering to the professional crowd with this release and it shows.

How does this affect Apple?

In spite of Apple's recent push to have developers work on VR applications using the HTC Vive and the eGPU development kit, macOS is not the go-to platform for gaming. That may or may not change in the future; in the meantime, for workload that professionals need, the iMac Pro's Vega GPU architecture looks to be very promising for content creators. Its HBM and high-productivity performance will be a welcome asset in the iMac Pro line. Higher memory speeds with high performance in computation? With luck, it'll be just what the doctor ordered.