Apple’s $5000 iMac Pro Goes on Sale Later This Week

Apple unveiled the company’s new iMac, the iMac Pro, back at WWDC earlier this year. The company is finally opening sales of the workstation later this week, starting at $4999.

Apple’s new iMac Pro is one monster of a computer. The device includes a lot of power, and Apple is targeting it towards creative professionals who need this kind of power for their work every day. The iMac Pro comes with a seemingly astonishing 27-inch Retina 5K display with 500 nits of brightness. The base model of the iMac Pro boasts an 8-core Intel Xeon processor, but you can get 10 or 18 cores if you are willing to spend more. The device sports up to 128GB of RAM and up to 4TB SSD for the storage, with the base model coming with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD.

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Pushing all the graphics on the 5K display is the AMD Radeon Pro Vega with 8GB of HBM2, enabling the device to fetch data at up to 400GB per second and pushing up to 11 teraflops of power. If 8GB memory isn’t enough for the GPU, you can get it configured with 16GB instead.

Put simply, this thing is an absolute monster. This device obviously isn’t meant for everyone, even if you consider yourself to be a professional user who requires a lot of power. The iMac Pro is meant for those who edit and render 4K videos regularly, or render a lot of sophisticated 3D content.

Like the iPhone X launch, Apple is letting YouTubers try out the new iMac Pro before every other tech publications. This time around fashion bloggers aren’t the ones testing the company’s upcoming product, so here is tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee showing off all the power of the iMac Pro:

Apple’s going to start selling its latest iMac this Thursday for $4999. The device’s itself comes in a hot new space gray colour, and Apple is also bringing the fresh splash of colour to the Magic Keyboard, the Magic Mouse 2, and the Magic Trackpad 2.

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  • ErichK

    Premium Member
    12 December, 2017 - 12:02 pm

    <p>That's a spicy meat-a-ball!</p>

    • VancouverNinja

      Premium Member
      12 December, 2017 - 1:17 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#226730"><em>In reply to ErichK:</em></a></blockquote><p>Problem is it is OSX….and no touch screen for $5,000! Better off getting a Windows 10 PC for the price, more specs and less $$$$. </p>

      • Ajay213

        Premium Member
        12 December, 2017 - 3:23 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#226773"><em>In reply to VancouverNinja:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Honestly the price looks pretty decent for the level of specs, which is something you can't always say when it comes to Apple. You could build a similar powered PC, but it will cost you $5+k as well. A Dell 5k or 8k monitor runs over $1k (touchscreens at big monitor sizes at that resolution are crazy expensive). A W series XEON is over $1k. 128GB of ECC RAM is $1500. AMD Vega video card is close to $1k. </p><p><br></p><p>You can obviously compromise those specs, but by the time you're done you'll have quite a bit less power as well. That's fine for most folks, it' s a nice hardware setup. I wish I had an excuse to buy one. </p>

  • Locust Infested Orchard Inc.

    12 December, 2017 - 1:25 pm

    <p>Appreciate the latest product announcements, Mehedi, from the fruity company, however I'd just to clarify a few points if I may be permitted.</p><p><br></p><h6>Quote by Mehedi: "This device obviously isn’t meant for everyone, even if you consider yourself to be a professional user who requires a lot of [self-indulgent Mac] power."</h6><p><br></p><p>Surely this ought to have been written in one of two possible ways, either as:</p><p><br></p><p><strong>'This device obviously isn’t meant for everyone, other than for those who already possess a phone with embedded notch, seeking to add to their collection of half-bitten logo embossed gadgets, sanctioned by fashion bloggers'.</strong></p><p><br></p><p>Or as:</p><p><br></p><p><strong>'This device obviously isn’t meant for anyone, other than to look pretty in the office where onlookers can gawk and sqwark at the monstrosity that is the $5000 iMac Pro'.</strong></p><p><br></p><p>The following statement by Mehedi is particularly pertinent as to why iPhones always get rave reviews,</p><h6>"Like the iPhone X launch, Apple is letting YouTubers try out the new iMac Pro before every other tech publications. This time around fashion bloggers aren’t the ones testing the company’s upcoming product"</h6><p><br></p><p>Today I have been enlightened with the truth ― as I suspected all along, the iPhone is all flash, no substance ― designed for fashionistas (hence why possession of the latest iPhone is considered to be a must-have fashion accessory for one's own ego boost, else it's back to those dreaded depressive streaks, unless a shot of Prozac remediates the bizarre state of mind within the iSheeple community).</p><p><br></p>

    • evox81

      Premium Member
      12 December, 2017 - 1:34 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#226775"><em>In reply to Locust Infested Orchard Inc.:</em></a></blockquote><p>Thank you for adding value to the conversation. /s</p>

      • Locust Infested Orchard Inc.

        12 December, 2017 - 4:16 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#226792"><em>In reply to evox81:</em></a></blockquote><p>You are most welcome.</p><p><br></p><p>If ever in need for a review concerning an Apple product, never hesitate to call upon me to give an totally unbiased comment, for I endeavour to always bring the truth to the fore, however much it may cause discontent in the iSheeple camp.</p>

    • Jeffsters

      14 December, 2017 - 1:24 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#226775"><em>In reply to Locust Infested Orchard Inc.:</em></a></blockquote><p>It's not your fault.</p>

  • MikeGalos

    12 December, 2017 - 1:42 pm

    <p>Yes, because "creatives" and "professionals" really want a locked-down all-in-one that has to be totally replaced (including the "seemingly astonishing" $1,500 worth of display) whenever they are due for a minor upgrade like adding more RAM or upgrading the GPU. </p><p><br></p><p>Let's remember that the entire purpose of this hacked together product is as a stop-gap when Apple realized their "trash can" Mac Pro was architecturally incapable of being upgraded to modern architectures. </p><p><br></p><p>Apple made the wrong assumptions about how GPUs and GPU cards would evolve, bet on a dead-end architecture and had to essentially kill their professional product line very publicly and announce the replacement wouldn't be ready for a couple of years but that people really desperate could get this while they worked on the real replacement.</p>

    • Stooks

      12 December, 2017 - 2:36 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#226805"><em>In reply to MikeGalos:</em></a></blockquote><p>"whenever they are due for a minor upgrade like adding more RAM or upgrading the GPU.&nbsp;"</p><p><br></p><p>Well good thing is with the maxed out Surface Studio (iMac contender) you can upgrade the RAM and GPU…..oh wait for $4200 it does not have upgradable RAM or GPU. RAM is capped at 32gig and you get a laptop GPU that is not replaceable.</p><p><br></p><p>Nice try Mike.</p>

      • PincasX

        12 December, 2017 - 6:49 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#226828"><em>In reply to Stooks:</em></a></blockquote><p>Mike's comments are particularly funny given how much effort he put into defending the Surface Studio. If I remember correctly he defended the price based on the display alone. It makes his concern troll act about the display on the iMac Pro particularly rich. </p>

    • PincasX

      12 December, 2017 - 4:06 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#226805"><em>In reply to MikeGalos:</em></a></blockquote><p>Let’s remeber that you:</p><ol><li>make up events that didn’t happen.</li><li>push conspiracy theories.</li><li>when caught in a lie claim that the fact that you lied is further proof of the argument you were promoting with the lie.</li></ol><p><br></p><p>You should just save yourself a lot of typing and just say “I have no credibility” because that is all you are saying in the end. </p>

    • GT Tecolotecreek

      13 December, 2017 - 2:26 am

      <blockquote><a href="#226805"><em>In reply to MikeGalos:</em></a><em> Yes, because "creatives" and "professionals" really want a locked-down all-in-one that has to be totally replaced (including the "seemingly astonishing" $1,500 worth of display) whenever they are due for a minor upgrade like adding more RAM or upgrading the GPU.</em></blockquote><p>Sounds like you are referring to the MS Surface Studio. </p>

    • dontbe evil

      13 December, 2017 - 7:00 am

      <blockquote><a href="#226805"><em>In reply to MikeGalos:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>still waiting to see how will throttle everything (xeon + vega) inside that case because over heat</p>

      • Stooks

        13 December, 2017 - 10:08 am

        <blockquote><a href="#227022"><em>In reply to dontbe_evil:</em></a></blockquote><p>Reviews I have seen show no throttling even under max load. Looks like Apple nailed the cooling this time around. They pretty much had too.</p>

    • ZDigital2018

      13 December, 2017 - 2:51 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#226805"><em>In reply to MikeGalos:</em></a><em> </em></blockquote><p>Hacked together product? Saying that Apple is took a successful design and repurposed it into a higher performance product is akin to telling Porsche that they hacked together the 911GT2 RS.</p><p><br></p><p>Yes, this model is a stop gap for Pro users who may want the Mac Pro, but it is also a product that can stand on it's own for those Pro users who have no desire to noodle around inside a tower computer and blow out dust bunnies every few months while wrestling with a monitor cable, a keyboard cable and a mouse cable as PC users have for decades and seem to relish as much as they despise.</p><p><br></p><p>Yes, Apple made the wrong assumptions for the way GPUs were headed and gave pro users an elegant looking dead-end. Lots of companies do this. They have not been contrite enough…not by a long shot, but no one outside of Apple can control their response.</p><p><br></p><p>One cannot help but look at the Surface Studio and see a gorgeous tiltable touch-screen with a multipurpose Dial and wonder what "Design by Committee" decided to cripple it with a 45w mobile CPU, a two year old mobile GPU, hybrid SSHD storage instead of pure Flash, only USB 3.0 connectivity inside a tiny sealed box and THEN said, "Lets sell it for $3000-$4000 and see who bites!"?</p><p><br></p><p>iMacs have gotten by with mobile GPUs for a time and that was never ideal, so I can forgive Microsoft a bit for that, but the Studio pales in comparison to even the iMac 5K, much less the iMac Pro in terms of everyday horsepower and expandability.</p><p><br></p><p>After 4 long years of the 2013 Mac Pro and it's shortcomings, with high spec iMac 5K equalling and beating it in some scenarios, Apple releases a beast of a computer that will run rings around the Mac Pro and the Surface Studio. I am betting it lasts most Pro users the 3 years they typically budget for lifespan and in some cases, it may even last 5 years. Re-sell it or pass it down, the machine can last another 5 years for a less demanding user, because at this point, most people can get by with the current cornucopia or low- and mid-range PCs that are sold day in and day out.</p><p><br></p><p>While RAM might be a minor upgrade, 32GB of RAM will suffice for everyone who does not already know they need more RAM. A new GPU is not a minor upgrade. If you have already bought the best of the best for your computer, I have a hard time believing you want to spend that amount again on a 5 year old PC and not want to replace other components.</p><p><br></p>

    • Jeffsters

      14 December, 2017 - 4:54 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#226805"><em>In reply to MikeGalos:</em></a></blockquote><p>Giving new meaning to why I don't comment on things I have no clue about, or experience with, I would like to correct our resident Apple Hating Curmudgeon with WAY WAY WAY too much time on his hands. YOU CAN UPGRADE THE RAM POST PURCHASE! It must be done by an Apple Authorized Service Provider and yes you can BYOR! Mike I would like to offer that perhaps you might want to use some of this free time to do some research before you post?</p>

  • MikeGalos

    12 December, 2017 - 1:47 pm

    <p> Oh, and, can we stop pretending "space gray" is a thing? It's really silly to call it "hot" and "new" or "the fresh splash or colour". (odd that we got the UK spelling in the article)</p><p><br></p><p>It's just gray.</p><p><br></p><p>Boring, neutral, inoffensive, middle of the road gray.</p><p><br></p>

    • Bob Shutts

      12 December, 2017 - 3:50 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#226808"><em>In reply to MikeGalos:</em></a></blockquote><p>This beast scores of 37000 in GeekBench multicore and you're fretting about the color of the case?</p>

      • MikeGalos

        12 December, 2017 - 4:23 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#226868"><em>In reply to Bob_Shutts:</em></a></blockquote><p>No. I'm fretting about the repetition of Apple marketing speak verbatim.</p>

    • dontbe evil

      13 December, 2017 - 6:59 am

      <blockquote><a href="#226808"><em>In reply to MikeGalos:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>space gray is +999$</p>

    • Jeffsters

      14 December, 2017 - 4:55 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#226808"><em>In reply to MikeGalos:</em></a><em> "</em>Boring, neutral, inoffensive, middle of the road gray."</blockquote><p><br></p><p>Looking at your picture I was like…oh the irony! </p>

  • dontbe evil

    13 December, 2017 - 6:56 am

    <p>ROTFL</p>

  • melinau

    Premium Member
    18 December, 2017 - 7:37 am

    <p>It's a decent enough gadget, but most of the "Professionals" I know, and have worked with, demand at least 2 Screens, and a variety of input options. I'm sure you can plug-in additional monitor(s), but what happens when you need a bit moore pixel-pushing "oomph"? In my previous incarnation as IT supremo, I would always ensure expandupgrade-ability: The "beige box" has reigned supreme in the workplace for a good reason, and the ability easily to upgradeenhance is one of its big strengths.</p><p><br></p><p>Apple is clearly targeting a very specific type of "Professional", and I'm sure they will be happy with the new iMacs.</p>

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