Intel today officially announced its lineup of 10th-generation “Comet Lake” desktop processors, which includes a number of new processors that could find their way into Apple’s next-gen iMac and iMac Pro lineups.
At the top of the list is the flagship Core i9-10900K that Intel calls the world’s fastest gaming processor. The i9-10900K features 10 cores and a base frequency of 3.7 GHz, while Intel’s Thermal Velocity Boost can push single-core speeds to 5.3 GHz. It’s also the successor to the i9-9900K chip currently used in the highest-end iMac configurations, so it’s likely the new chip will make its way into Apple’s lineup…
Natural replacements for the 21.5-inch iMac lineup include the new Core i3-10100, Core i5-10500, and Core i7-10700, while the 27-inch iMacs would see the Core i5-10500, Core i5-10600, and Core i5-10600K, in addition to the high-end i9 option.
While these are reasonable guesses at what we might see in the next-generation iMac, there’s no guarantee that Apple will go with direct successor chips at each spot in the lineup. That’s particularly true since rumors are pointing to a “substantial” refresh of the lineup with a potential redesign, including a rumored 23-inch model.
Dr. Ian Cutress for AnandTech:
The range of 32 (!) new processors from Intel will vary from two core Celeron parts at 35 W all the way up to ten-core Core i9 hardware rated for 125 W, with per-unit pricing from $42 to $488. The standard rated TDP is 65 W, with the overclocked models at 125 W, the low-power T models at 35 W, and Pentium/Celeron at 58 W. All of the Core i3, i5, i7, and i9 processors will have HyperThreading, making the product stack a lot easier to understand. Certain models will also have F variants without integrated graphics, which will have a slightly lower per-unit cost.
Check out Intel’s full “Comet Lake” lineup via Anandtech here.
MacDailyNews Take: If so, hopefully it’s the last time we see Intel processors in iMacs.
Big, hot, and power-hungry is no way to go through life, Mac.
Bring on the Apple-designed ARM-based Macs, Apple!
I believe this much rumoured 23” iMac will be the same overall dimensions as the current 21” model, but with a much reduced silver bezel at the bottom of the screen.
Hope they do the same for the 27 inch model – increase screen size and reduce bezel.
MDN,
While I’m all in for ARM based Macs, If such a machine ever sees the light of day, it’s because Apple is absolutely sure ARM can serve the whole Mac line better than x86, now and in the future. Only then we will see a multi year transition plan. It wouldn’t make sense for Apple to release an ARM on Mac only to remain stagnate on Intel as well. After all, duo architectures for Mac is just not Apple’s style!
Apple as been boxing itself in for the last few years with more expensive offerings and kicking the regular people out of it’s eco sphere. Remember when Apple made Macs for normal people? Not anymore. The os is flat and cold, too much fat and needs to be trimmed down, no one really wants to use some of the features that eat up cpu time. Remember you can change the themes on macs? where did that go? it wasn’t complicated it was personal, but that was against what apple wanted. Apple wants to squeeze every penny out of it’s user while not making the user part of it’s community with cold os/hardware. they want to rotate their products ever 2 years in and out the users hands. They used to last 10 years plus.
Jeez I have been reading this repetitive junk for near on 30 years now, this guy must be the grandson of the original who stumbled across his original notes, it’s that similar. Meanwhile the company has grown from minor irritant in the computer market to the leading mindset brand and dominantt business that everyone admires and copies, so must, despite Cook be doing something right to be that popular and influential. So this regurgitated junk can be filed in the bin like his grandad’s original garbage.
Is he Wrong though? no. Right on the Money.
I have to reiterate, We Prosumers Need a Mac Pro with a i9/i7 Processor in it that’s cheaper than the current mac pro. paying $6k is ridiculous. If I can cobble one up with pc parts and make it into a hackintosh for $1500, Apple surely can make and sell one for $3k. Fill that niche and make people happy. There are people out there gonna say that’s the Apple tax and I say BS. no computer for Mid range people should cost $6k. If your a corporate user and your budget is fat yeah sure go ahead, But if your small business or a self-employed person that can’t afford $6k+ What’s your choice? a piddly imac? NO. Apple Has no Excuses what so ever. They know they can make a Pro-sumer Mac Pro to fill that gap, take some PC sales away and gain that customer base that it’s been ignoring or shuddering away with less than impressive imacs. An iMac Pro, is $5k. as everyone knows it’s not expandable/upgradable, imacs often overheat and your stuck with whatever it has from day one. I WANT A PRO-SUMER MAC PRO!
First the Mac pro variants (iMac Pro and Mac Pro) use Xeon processors and Apple will likely continue to do so until Apple stops using Intel processors some day in the far future.
Second, if you can build a true Mac Pro equivalent with all the functionality of a Mac Pro for just $1,500 I’d like to know what stolen parts you are using. Just the base components of a basic, but real Mac Pro cost more than that.
Maybe you’re not looking for a real Pro machine but rather the fabled (and likely to never show up) Mac mini tower that is based upon consumer grade everything: no hardware encryption, no ECC RAM, only two or three PCIe slots, etc. You could probably build a Hacintosh with those limited capabilities for less than $1,500.
And why would someone need hardware encryption for? if your using it to make stupid videos or editing photos, don’t need it. and Xeon is not a super special magic chip( as Intel has classified a hyped up i9 as a Xeon), it’s overpriced and under utilized. a normal person won’t use the power it’s capable of. I can pull 100 people and probably 1 will ever use a computer with it’s capability, everyone else will browse the web, play games or do stupid crap with it like make a video or edit pictures, Be Real. out of all the fancy ability barely any of it gets used, it’s flash and bang nothing impressive. Apple puts these things in one year and takes it out two years later. I can pull up a Dozen things the last three years and no one uses it now. Your gonna say security, ya sure. sone china hack is gonna grab jo blo’s data. Big woop, it’s out there already with the massive data breechs. the OS needs a overhaul as it IS bloated. I agree a prosumer mac pro IS warranted and needed. Open the shades and look what apple is really doing as your stuck in the clouds.
Your entire comment boils down to why would anybody who isn’t a pro require the pro features on the Mac Pro? True enough, but that’s why it’s called a Mac Pro—it has additional features used by pros. For those who need those features, it is not overpriced. Those who do not need those features should buy something else.
Apple did not grow to become one of the biggest companies in the world by ignoring market research. They obviously think that the high end configurations of the MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, iMac, and iMac Pro adequately fill the gap below the low end Mac Pro for most customers. The customers who demand a mini-tower prosumer Mac are just not numerous enough to justify the development costs for a new distinct platform.
The mini-tower crowd wants one to feel special without paying the Mac Pro price. They know they can’t justify it because their work doesn’t require that much power, but they still want the dopamine boost and something they can tinker with. I have no doubt that the rest of Apple’s lineup from their Macbook Pros to their iMacs and iMac Pros fills all the gaps in computing needs and I’m not counting ten-year upgradeability and lifespan as a need.
No one reasonably demands that cars last for 100k miles a year with little or no maintenance for a decade, but that’s the type of hard use that many of us put our computers through. If the work you do requires anywhere near what the Mac Pro offers, you will be able to buy one no problem with the salary you should be making.
I completely agree and I gave up on Apple this year. I built my own machine with Ubuntu. I’ll pick up Mac laptops but will never develop on a Mac again… if your a developer and know Unix then go the Mac / Linux route.
Right, because Ubuntu developers are making so much money.
Should be $2500, and memory upgradeable without taking apart the computer….
I wish “ the little birdie” would speak soon.
My cc is itching.
MDN, don’t show an iMac Pro when you know that these chips will never show up in that machine. The iMac uses the Core series of processors, and the iMac Pro uses Xeons.
These chips will show up in an iMac sometime between September and next September (2021) if Apple’s latency/lag in getting new Intel chips into Macs continues like in the last few years.
“Big, hot, and power-hungry is no way to go through life, Mac.” Animal House, Nicely done!
hahahaha
to Flounder, “Big, fat and stupid …”