“Intel today unveiled its full lineup of ‘Purley’ Xeon processors, most of which have already launched or are launching soon, but none of the chips in the lineup appear to be appropriate for Apple’s upcoming iMac Pro at the high end,” Juli Clover reports for MacRumors.
“When the iMac Pro was announced, Apple said it would use Intel’s Xeon processors, with 8, 10, and 18 core chips available as optional configurations with up to 42MB cache and maximum Turbo Boost up to 4.5GHz,” Clover reports. “[The Purley chips revealed today] max out at 4.2GHz Turbo Boost, so at least some of the processors Apple plans to use are not yet available from Intel.”
“In late June, Pike’s Universum dug up firmware files from the macOS High Sierra beta suggesting the iMac Pro will use Intel’s server-class LGA3647 socket rather than the desktop-class LGA2066 socket, pointing towards the use of server-grade ‘Purley’ Skylake-SP processors,” Clover reports. “Those same firmware files suggest the new iMac Pro will feature a Secure Enclave with an ARM coprocessor like the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, but it’s unclear what that functionality will be used for. Touch ID is, however, a possibility.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Whatever it ends up packing, Apple’s iMac Pro is going to be an absolute monster!
The bane of us upgrades is the need to also upgrade our software some of which is costly, so add a few thousand dollars to the Super iMac.
This guy has it 100% wrong if he truly believes Apple intended to include this new Xeon family (Skylake-SP) of chips in the iMac Pro. Apple never intended to do so and still does not intend to do so. These chips are SERVER class chips. They are not WORKSATION class chips. No one will put 768 GB of RAM in an iMac Pro (or 1.5 TB if you go with the higher end of these chips).
All of the iMac Pro configurations will be single CPU configurations. These new Xeon chips are specifically designed for multiple chips in a single server. There is extra hardware in them to accommodate that — hardware the iMac Pro will never use.
It is almost certain that Apple will be using the Skylake-X series for the iMac Pro. We’ve known the extremely high likelihood of this since the iMac Pro was pre-announced. They match the speeds, needed I/O, thermal envelope, and many other required specs.
Further, the very top end Skylake-X is currently rumored to cost about $2,000 per chip leading to a likely price for a fully maxed out iMac Pro being in the price range of $10,000. (It’s not shipping in full quantity yet, so there don’t seem to be any official cost numbers available yet.) Even the midrange Skylake-SP (“Purley”) chips are more than that with one of the 18 core chips being over $5,000. At that rate the top of the line iMac Pro would cost $15,000 or more!
I’m afraid this whole article might be FUD, something atypical from MacRumors.
IF (a truly huge IF) the Skylake-SP chips show up in any Mac, anywhere, it is be in the New Mac Pro next year. This *could* be why the groundwork for that is in the beta of High Sierra now.
Sorry but you’re only right about some parts.
The 18 core CPU will very likely be a Skylake-SP.
These are also for single processor high end workstations and servers. Not only multiple CPU configurations.
Skylake-X is a consumer SKU and I don’t think will have an 18 core version.
I’ve read the iMac pro could max out at over 15K with all the frills. The base model will be 5K to start, add a 6140 or 6150 CPU for 2 -3K. Not that hard to fathom.
That iMac (not Pro d.b.a. Pro) will also bake brownies in Jony’s skinny little box.