Forthcoming iMac Pro versus In Development MacPro

amcliz

Hi there....

I'm a seasoned MacPro user... never actually had an iMac before as I just really felt it didn't suit my needs, not powerful or upgradeable enough for my needs.... but the world has changed and so has the limits of my uses for a computer. I'm an old school graphic designer from the prehistoric print days... so I use Quark Xpress 2017, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Lightroom, Parallels, Suitcase Fusion as my Core apps for my day to day... then for my hobby activities and free time I use Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Premiere and Adobe After Effects only for editing home video essentially in 1080p... maybe possibly the new iPhone X 4K @ 60fps footage.... but that would be it really. I'm not a video editing expert and never really will be. I do a lot of brochure design work, annual reports and a lot of signage, large format... but my MacPro 2010 12 Core with 64GB is pretty much able to handle anything I throw at it... actually when I visit my signage suppliers they even struggle to open and process my file sizes as their standard iMacs all have about 8-16GB Ram and just aren't fully spec'd up like my MacPro... but.... the imminent arrival of the new iMac pro changes all that... I had been anxiously waiting for the new MacPro... and the announcement that it would be 2018 was amazing.... but then this new iMac Pro got sneak previewed and I said to myself... this machine actually delivers on all my needs and more.

I would love to wait for the new MacPro... but I will need a new 5K screen with that... my last MacPro cost €9,000 Euros for the box only... 512GB SSD and I used Crucial Memory to top up over the years to a new current 64GB. The new MacPro I reckon is going to cost me a hell of a lot more than that... I always go for the maxed out specs... just the way I have always been and my machines have lasted me and my family a long time (still using a MacPro Dual Core). I reckon new MacPro could be in the €13,000 Euros range.

Starting at $4,999... not sure of the equivalent in Euros... I reckon a spec'd out iMac could be all I need.

What would you suggest.... I recently purchased a new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, full spec.. as far as I could push it and I love all the modern features and the modern connectivity I/O..... not sure if I can wait until the end of 2018 or start of 2019 for a new MacPro.... do you think for my needs the new iMac Pro can more than deliver ? I love the idea of a super computer and 5K screen all in one... with 128GB Ram... possibly 18 cores... depending on price.

I'm 50 years old next year and I would hope this next purchase would last me another 7 - 10 years just like my last MacPro 12 Core so loyaly has.

is the new MacPro going to be really targeted at the hardcore 4K content creator or VR or AR creator using insane 3D computing power, stuff I will never be involved with or have expertise in.

Any comments suggestions most welcome.

tenthousandthings

amcliz said:

[...] so I use Quark Xpress 2017, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Lightroom, Parallels, Suitcase Fusion as my Core apps for my day to day... then for my hobby activities and free time I use Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Premiere and Adobe After Effects only for editing home video essentially in 1080p... maybe possibly the new iPhone X 4K @ 60fps footage....

[...] I had been anxiously waiting for the new MacPro... and the announcement that it would be 2018 was amazing.... but then this new iMac Pro got sneak previewed and I said to myself... this machine actually delivers on all my needs and more.

I would love to wait for the new MacPro... but I will need a new 5K screen with that... [...] not sure if I can wait until the end of 2018 or start of 2019 for a new MacPro.... do you think for my needs the new iMac Pro can more than deliver ? I love the idea of a super computer and 5K screen all in one... with 128GB Ram... possibly 18 cores... depending on price.

[...] is the new MacPro going to be really targeted at the hardcore 4K content creator or VR or AR creator using insane 3D computing power, stuff I will never be involved with or have expertise in. [...]

I think your initial reaction was correct -- the iMac Pro should easily handle 4K home video. My principal concern would be heat and durability. AppleCare is a must for a new (internal) design like this. I can't argue with future-proofing if you can afford it, but it's hard to imagine you needing the top-end W-2195 for that. The W-2155 or the W-2145 seem like more than enough -- both are mid-range Skylake Xeon W.

On the 2018 Mac Pro, there should be options that meet your needs without overkill. I don't think it will just be aimed at the sort of high-end content creators you mention. I'll guess pricing similar to the current Mac Pro structure, with two base configurations, one starting at $3000 and the other starting at $4000. This reflects the base price differences between Xeon-SP Silver versus Xeon-SP Gold. If they go dual-processor, then the starting points would be around $3500 and $5000.

In sum, I'll guess it will be possible to get a 2018 Mac Pro with the new display for somewhat less than the base iMac Pro configuration. But once you add comparable processing power, RAM, and graphics, the base iMac Pro might seem like a bargain?

tenthousandthings

My ability to edit the above comment has timed out, so I'll add this here:

We don't really know at this point how Apple plans to position the iMac Pro versus the Mac Pro. Unlike iMacs and MacBooks, however, the Mac Pro leverages the economics of the data-center world, so the platform will be cost-effective by the time it is released.

Beyond that, it's hard to say. How will they price the new display? What graphics processors will be used? What SSD technology will they use? WTF is going on with memory prices? [64 GB might seem like enough when you price 128 GB!]

polymnia

Any thoughts on fully loaded 2017 iMac 27" versus the mythical iMac Pro for the same usages as the original poster mentions?

My usages: Old-school print design. My twist is that I also do lots of high resolution Photoshop photocomposition work (1GB+ PSD files, lots of Smart Objects, etc). Also Lightroom/ACR processing of large DSLR RAW files. Oh, yeah, I also run a 4K DCI Eizo hardware color managed display.

I'm considering a new iMac (Pro?)...well, I've already purchased a stock 2017 iMac 27". More in a moment on that.

I've been limping along on a maxed out 2015 MBP 15". You'd be surprised how well it does the job (with some patience), but the latest Adobe update is finally pushing me over the edge. The new features are worth upgrading hardware to get acceptable performance.

I marched down to the Apple store to buy the best stock-config 27" iMac they had (this is just to get me through a big client project, I'll be returning it in about a week, when the iMac I describe next arrives). Then I placed an order for a BTO maxed-out 27" iMac that I'm hoping will be my main production machine for a few years (to arrive just after Thanksgiving). Though I am wondering if I should actually order an iMac Pro when they are available?

There is a special Apple holiday return period allowing me to return the BTO machine until January 8.

Hopefully the iMac Pro is on sale by then.

Is the iMac Pro going to be overkill?

Even the stock iMac 27" is noticeably more responsive in my photocomposition work, without upgraded RAM.

Perhaps a maxed-out 2017 iMac 27" will meet my needs?

tallest skil

Whatever you decide, note that the iMac Pro can’t have its RAM upgraded, but the regular 27” iMac can. Apple, please.

If you can wait, at least to see the first benchmarks of the iMac Pro, I would do that. It’s highlighted on the Mac page of apple.com right now and still says ‘available December’, so that’s only… okay, they’ll probably do it on the 20th or something, won’t they.

polymnia

tallest skil said:

Whatever you decide, note that the iMac Pro can’t have its RAM upgraded, but the regular 27” iMac can. Apple, please.

If you can wait, at least to see the first benchmarks of the iMac Pro, I would do that. It’s highlighted on the Mac page of apple.com right now and still says ‘available December’, so that’s only… okay, they’ll probably do it on the 20th or something, won’t they.

I had noticed the non-upgradable RAM when it was announced. Its kind of annoying, but I suppose its the trade-off for a thermal design the can cool Xeons in a skinny iMac case? I don't mind it as long as there is a tangible benefit to me. I guess Xeons in an iMac case is a tangible benefit.

It does make me consider the original poster's thoughts of iMac Pro versus hypothetical New New MacPro.

Unfortunately, I don't have the time to wait for a New New MacPro.

When I consider benchmark scores, what should I be looking at to judge large-file Photoshop and RAW photo processing performance? I'm not much of a benchmark-reader.