“Apple’s iMac Pro desktop computer boasts a bevy of top-notch tech specs,” Ken Mingis writes for Computerworld. “It starts with an 8-core Intel Xeon W chip, a high-end graphics card with 8GB of HBM2 memory, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD for storage and 8 USB ports (four of them USB-C/Thunderbolt). Oh, and it has a 5K retina display and comes in a space gray case to distinguish it from lesser iMacs.”
“Prices start at $4,999 – and with a few upgrades (18-core processor, anyone?) can easily top $10,000,” Mingis writes. “Even so, Apple expert Michael deAgonia told Computerworld Executive Editor Ken Mingis he’s getting a new iMac Pro this month, and went on to explain why. In a word: video.”
Mingis writes, “Thus ensued a debate between DeAgonia and IDG Enterprise video producer Chris Hebert – in his Mingis on Tech debut – on the merits of spending high-roller money on a computer.”
Read more and listen to the podcast in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote just yesterday, “If you’re in the market for such a beast, you likely know exactly which apps you need and how they’ll perform on machines with varied cores. Have fun supercomputing, iMac Pro users!”
SEE ALSO:
iMac Pro shootout: 8-core vs. 10-core – March 7, 2018
iMore reviews Apple’s new iMac Pro: Beauty of a beast – March 1, 2018
Ars Technica reviews Apple’s iMac Pro: It’s MUCH faster – February 18, 2018
Apple’s powerful iMac Pro is ready for the enterprise – February 16, 2018
Apple’s powerful new iMac Pro is actually cheaper than the original Mac – February 7, 2018
Aerospace engineer Dr. Craig Hunter reviews Apple’s 18-core iMac Pro: A bargain at $11,199 – February 3, 2018
Apple begins shipping 18-core iMac Pro units to customers – January 31, 2018
Macworld reviews Apple’s new iMac Pro: ‘Mac Pro power in the shape of an iMac’ – January 19, 2018
Apple’s iMac Pro has a Thunderbolt 3 storage surprise for you – January 19, 2018
What if Apple’s iMac Pro had TWO Vega GPUs? – January 16, 2018
Benchmarks: 8-core and 10-core iMac Pros running pro apps – January 11, 2018
iMac Pro PCIe-based flash storage: How fast versus other Macs? – January 5, 2018
Benchmark shootout: iMac Pro with Pro Vega 56 GPU versus optional Pro Vega 64 – January 4, 2018
Apple’s low-end 8-core iMac Pro benchmarked running pro apps – December 29, 2017
Low End iMac Pro versus two Mac Pros and one iMac 5K – December 27, 2017
Extrapolating iMac Pro GPU performance using RX Vega 64 – December 14, 2017
Apple’s monstrously potent iMac Pro is for these professional computer users – December 14, 2017
How pros are already using Apple’s powerful iMac Pro – December 14, 2017
Apple’s iMac Pro, the most powerful Mac ever made, is now available starting at $4,999 – December 14, 2017
Apple’s monstrously potent iMac Pro is for these professional computer users – December 14, 2017
How about I have $5k to throw away and like the idea of a Black iMac?
Enterprise hates sealed up boxes and throwaway stuff. This is both- no upgrade path. In business it is called a forklift upgrade.
Based on my experience, many businesses lease equipment with a refresh period of a few years. Those refresh periods are, by your definition, “forklift” upgrades. But the equipment is not “throwaway,” even if the company owns, rather than leases, its computers. The older ones can be handed down or sold, and Apple Macs tend to retain good resale value.
So what, exactly, is your point? That sealed, all-in-one computers are bad? That depends on a lot of things, including how those computers are designed, their reliability and useful lifetime, and the objectives of the people who buy them. You are an example of only one particular viewpoint, and your viewpoint may not be representative of the greater market. Of course, you could not possible believe that, DavGreg, since you are the center of the universe.
First, register using a name.
Second, most business will not sell HW without removing the storage media. There is not a Law Firm, Bank, Medical Office, Brokerage or anyone else with private data that will sell a computer and risk that.
These iMacs are not easily opened, repaired or upgraded. No IT department is going to clown around with all the glue and stuff.
Back before Apple started sealing up everything you could open an iMac or eMAc or PowerBook or iBook or PowerMac/MacPro and swap out the HD and install fresh copy of OS X and sell it with no worries. That is not possible this way.
This is a BFD for many people and most enterprise.
“…most business will not sell HW without removing the storage media…”
THIS.
For our enterprise, they go to the crusher.
And sure, Apple can look upon this as a way to reduce their cannibalization against used version of their own products, but the simpler reality is that Apple’s choices ends up making a worse environmental nightmare because the end product of chipped-up stuff can’t be recycled.
Perhaps the ‘green’ monitors will take this as a cue to start to take this into consideration as a means to move Apple out of their “Disposable Appliance” rut that isn’t anywhere near as Green as Tim Cook likes to try to claim.
Sure, $5K to $10K is a lot of money for most people, and even for many small businesses. But, for businesses/people who need the power of an iMac Pro, the cost is more than offset by the benefits of the new capabilities and time efficiency.
In the 1980s, relatively crude and very low-performing computers (by modern standards) could run upwards of $7K. over three decades later, you can purchase a device that probably outperforms many thousands of the installed computers of the time combined for roughly the same amount of money – less if you also factor in the time value of money to determine equivalent buying power.
Is the iMac Pro expensive? It is to me, but that is a matter of perspective. Is the new iMac Pro a good value? That is also a matter of perspective. Since I do not run my own business, it would serve as more of an expensive toy than as an investment. But a person deserves a new toy now and then…
Just not as great a value as a Mac Pro that can be easily upgraded in me humble opinion. Those of us who can’t invest in “disposable” iMacs instead of doing a simple component upgrade on a Mac Pro demand the extra & more versatile value. Upgraded 2010 & 2012 Mac Pro’s attest to this.
There always needs to be different model strokes for different folks. And I think Apple has a few bucks banging around to accomplish this easily. I don’t think there is any real argument to this.
Apple is doing a disservice to its Mac brand by labeling sealed products “Pro”, even if they did stuff nice Xeon chips in it.
Apple has chosen to design disposable, irreparable hardware in a crass attempt to sell Applecare subscriptions. Some businesses are okay with that, some are not. One thing is certain is that it doesn’t serve all Pro users adequately. Apple can only blame itself for that. They have lost touch with the needs of its former core user groups.
I will wait to see the next Mac Pro, thanks.
I would like a pro machine with separate components. If a HD or Graphics Cards fails, I want my computer up and running in hours, not the days or week it will take sending it ou for repair.