High Sierra firmware suggests Secure Enclave, Intel 'Purley' chips coming to iMac Pro
A report on Thursday suggests Apple's forthcoming iMac Pro all-in-one will run Intel's server-class "Purley" Xeon platform, as well as a Secure Enclave Processor similar in function to the ARM-based chip embedded in the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar.

According to Pike's Universum, code in the latest macOS 10.13 High Sierra beta release suggests iMac Pro will be Apple's first desktop to feature Secure Enclave integration.
Borrowed from the iOS line of products, Secure Enclave Processor technology was introduced to the Mac platform with the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar late last year. Like its iPhone and iPad siblings, the MacBook Pro uses an ARM processor to authenticate Touch ID operations.
Today's report notes Secure Enclave compatibility will extend to a variety of system-level hardware and software functions including AppleSecureBootPolicy, ApECID, ApChipID, ApBoardID, ApSecurityDomain, ApProductionStatus and ApSecurityMode. The presence of a Secure Enclave also opens the door to Touch ID access, though Apple did not mention such capabilities when it previewed iMac Pro at WWDC.
As for processors, High Sierra code points to the use of Intel's LGA3647 socket, a server-grade component reserved for the Purley Xeon platform. Purley is based on the Xeon E5 and E7 platforms and supports high-end Skylake class Xeon silicon. The information lines up with Apple's promise to equip the desktop with 8-, 10- or 18-core Xeon processors. Entry-level 8-core versions are expected to start at $4,999.
Pike's Universum also found reference to Intel's Basin Falls chipset, high-end hardware that supports the chipmaker's new Core X-Series processors. The X299 chipset is interoperable with Kaby Lake-X and Skylake-X parts, the latter of which is being offered with up to 18 cores.
Beyond the inclusion of Xeon processors and Radeon Pro Vega GPUs, Apple has said very little about iMac Pro's specifications. The company is expected to provide more detail as the desktop's December launch date nears.

According to Pike's Universum, code in the latest macOS 10.13 High Sierra beta release suggests iMac Pro will be Apple's first desktop to feature Secure Enclave integration.
Borrowed from the iOS line of products, Secure Enclave Processor technology was introduced to the Mac platform with the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar late last year. Like its iPhone and iPad siblings, the MacBook Pro uses an ARM processor to authenticate Touch ID operations.
Today's report notes Secure Enclave compatibility will extend to a variety of system-level hardware and software functions including AppleSecureBootPolicy, ApECID, ApChipID, ApBoardID, ApSecurityDomain, ApProductionStatus and ApSecurityMode. The presence of a Secure Enclave also opens the door to Touch ID access, though Apple did not mention such capabilities when it previewed iMac Pro at WWDC.
As for processors, High Sierra code points to the use of Intel's LGA3647 socket, a server-grade component reserved for the Purley Xeon platform. Purley is based on the Xeon E5 and E7 platforms and supports high-end Skylake class Xeon silicon. The information lines up with Apple's promise to equip the desktop with 8-, 10- or 18-core Xeon processors. Entry-level 8-core versions are expected to start at $4,999.
Pike's Universum also found reference to Intel's Basin Falls chipset, high-end hardware that supports the chipmaker's new Core X-Series processors. The X299 chipset is interoperable with Kaby Lake-X and Skylake-X parts, the latter of which is being offered with up to 18 cores.
Beyond the inclusion of Xeon processors and Radeon Pro Vega GPUs, Apple has said very little about iMac Pro's specifications. The company is expected to provide more detail as the desktop's December launch date nears.
Comments
I seriously doubt Apple doesn't really give a shit about the Hackintosh community. At the same time, I doubt they're concerned about it either. Its not like most people are willing to go through all of the crap you have to in order to make a Hackintosh and keep it running properly. The people who really need to use a Mac for work will just buy one because well, time is money and most don't have time to continuously screw around with a Hackintosh.
I wish I would just get a regular 27" iMac in Space Gray. I'm kinda sick of the current design. Its been the same way for years now. Just something simple like a space gray model changes that.
You will recall that H.264 encoding is slower on the existing Mac Pro (Xenons) that current iMacs due to the lack of a hardware encoder in the XENON chip. Will we have similarly silly problems with the new XENONS that are to be used in the iMac Pro?
Time Machine backups are going to also need some serious storage. It all adds to the cost of moving forward with the technology.
Keeping a mainstream operating system away from enthusiasts (and other special needs users) has been shown to result in a special event opening with a new CEO announcing that the latest edition will boot "Linux in a subsystem" [google], though the delay before that consequence may exceed the retirement parameters of current decision makers rofl
I really wish Apple just give me a ProSumer iMac, Core i9, Normal Top range Radeon VEGA Graphics.
The improved GPU in iMac is still not good enough.
And how about a new Design? I mean we could use a Thinner Bezel now.
At $0.78/GB, given the 1TB base storage, this means a 3TB upgrade cost, so $2400. They charge $1200 for a 1.5TB upgrade for the MBP. I doubt SSD prices will have changed by the end of the year. This model with the upgrade would be $7400.
External storage is a bit cheaper at $1500 for a full 4TB so you could have 2TB internal for $800 plus a 4TB external for $1500 for 6TB total vs 4TB internal. However, the 4TB internal would be much faster at ~3GB/s vs ~0.5GB/s over SATA.
They won't change the design for the sake of change, but I wouldn't be surprised if in the second half of 2018 (or around a year after the iMac Pro is released) the space grey becomes an option for the non-Pro 27" at the very least, or a possibly tweak of the design.