10-core Vega 64 iMac Pro first impressions video posted by prominent YouTuber MKBHD

AppleInsider · December 12, 2017 2:40PM

Apple has granted YouTube video creator Marques Brownlee an iMac Pro, and he has published a video about his first week with the high-end device.

Brownlee has been using the iMac Pro for a week editing video. The unit he was provided for video has a 3.0GHz 10-core Intel Xeon W processor, 128GB of DDR4 ECC RAM, 2TB of SSD storage, and a Radeon Pro Vega 65 with 16GB of video RAM.

The video discusses benchmarks only briefly. Notably, the PCI-E based flash storage delivered "3000 megabytes per second" in testing.

Regarding video editing, Brownlee says that he has been watching 8K footage with effects applied in the preview with "few if any" frames dropped along the way during the editing process -- a feat his older 6,1 Mac Pro was incapable of, with it frequently "choked" on the task.

The video is not a full review. Questions posed by Brownlee include long-term thermal management, and if the 18-core version is notably better than the 8-core or 10-core version.

Both Brownlee and Apple note that the 8-core and 10-core models are available at launch, with 14- and 18-core models shipping in 2018.

gmgravytrain · December 12, 2017 3:21PM

Yeah, he had said earlier in the year that the iMac Pro is some sort of a trap or words to that degree. I wasn't sure what he meant. I think the iMac Pro is just a desktop that isn't quite a Mac Pro and comes with a display. It will definitely be good enough for me as I don't intend to do any expanding or updating and will pay for what I need for upfront and live with it for five years.

tipoo · December 12, 2017 3:23PM

Giving the X to youtubers first was fine I guess, giving the iMac Pro to a bunch of youtubers first is kind of a chuckle lol.

Here's the most detailed tests I've seen, numbers of course look good

http://hrtapps.com/blogs/20171212/

mr o · December 12, 2017 3:24PM

Is this machine suitable for mining cryptocurrency, like Bitcoins, and Litecoins?

It'd be great if the iMac Pro could earn its investment back while you're doing your creative work.

>:x

tipoo · December 12, 2017 3:27PM

mr o said:

Is this machine suitable for mining cryptocurrency, like Bitcoins, and Litecoins?

It'd be great if the iMac Pro could earn its investment back while you're doing your creative work.

>:x

It's 83% of a regular Vega 64s performance with the top end GPU for mining crypto. So a good miner, but a horrible use of over 5000 dollars for mining. If you have a pro workstation need that this fills, it'll be good for mining on the side yes, just not the best you could do per dollar.

https://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/2871/radeon-rx-vega-64

https://www.apple.com/ca/imac-pro/

Eric_WVGG · December 12, 2017 3:47PM

first impressions on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/thomasgcarter/status/940588794067214336

6toecat · December 12, 2017 4:07PM

Oh gawd, why isn't he using REDcine-X ? The RED raw HUD in FCPX is so limited. This guy is NOT a Pro.

k2kw · December 12, 2017 4:08PM

This sounds like a pretty powerful computer and also a good value at the same time.
Apple may actually want to sell plenty of these.

polymnia · December 12, 2017 4:25PM

6toecat said:

Oh gawd, why isn't he using REDcine-X ? The RED raw HUD in FCPX is so limited. This guy is NOT a Pro.

Troll.

polymnia · December 12, 2017 4:32PM

k2kw said:

This sounds like a pretty powerful computer and also a good value at the same time.
Apple may actually want to sell plenty of these.

the All-in-one has ling been one of Apple's greatest strengths. The 2017 iMacs are pretty sweet as-is. I just bought a top-spec BTO 2017 iMac earlier this month since I have client work piling up that begs for a faster machine. I couldn't wait for the iMac Pro.

I don't think I'm going to return this iMac to buy an iMac Pro.

But if timing had worked out differently, I would have gone for the iMac Pro in a heartbeat.

The way I look at it, by the time I need a new Mac, the New New MacPro will be on to its v2 and we will all know if the redesign is a success or not. Maybe my next Mac will be a MacPro?

Last time I bought in at that tier was the original PowerMac G5.

1STnTENDERBITS · December 12, 2017 4:36PM

gmgravytrain said:

Yeah, he had said earlier in the year that the iMac Pro is some sort of a trap or words to that degree. I wasn't sure what he meant. I think the iMac Pro is just a desktop that isn't quite a Mac Pro and comes with a display. It will definitely be good enough for me as I don't intend to do any expanding or updating and will pay for what I need for upfront and live with it for five years.

Here's what said. Actually it's pretty spot on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvXmktAurSQ

applecored · December 12, 2017 4:39PM

polymnia said:

k2kw said:

This sounds like a pretty powerful computer and also a good value at the same time.
Apple may actually want to sell plenty of these.

the All-in-one has ling been one of Apple's greatest strengths. The 2017 iMacs are pretty sweet as-is. I just bought a top-spec BTO 2017 iMac earlier this month since I have client work piling up that begs for a faster machine. I couldn't wait for the iMac Pro.

I don't think I'm going to return this iMac to buy an iMac Pro.

But if timing had worked out differently, I would have gone for the iMac Pro in a heartbeat.

The way I look at it, by the time I need a new Mac, the New New MacPro will be on to its v2 and we will all know if the redesign is a success or not. Maybe my next Mac will be a MacPro?

Last time I bought in at that tier was the original PowerMac G5.

As long as they update it on a near annual basis, like their iPhones, then this machine should be regular hit.

appex · December 12, 2017 6:20PM

Bad. Programmed obsolescence. All-in-one (AIO) computers like iMac are a huge aggression to planet Earth. Computers may last for seven years or less, whereas displays may last for more than 20 years. I am using an Apple Cinema Display 22-inch purchased almost 18 years ago and it works great. And it has been on an average of 15 hours a day, 356 days each year.

Mike Wuerthele · December 12, 2017 7:07PM

appex said:

Bad. Programmed obsolescence. All-in-one (AIO) computers like iMac are a huge aggression to planet Earth. Computers may last for seven years or less, whereas displays may last for more than 20 years. I am using an Apple Cinema Display 22-inch purchased almost 18 years ago and it works great. And it has been on an average of 15 hours a day, 356 days each year.

As I said in another thread. Cease with this demonstrably false spam statement.

Persisting beyond what you've posted by 2:00 PM ET on December 12, 2017 will earn you a ban. If you post it again in another thread in the future about any and all iMacs, you will also earn a ban.

[Deleted User] · December 13, 2017 12:02AM

Can we just put it to a group vote so that we can collectively ban him already? I’m not a South Park watcher but there was an episode where everyone in the town dumps their SUV’s for Priuses and instead of smog problem they develop a “smug” problem. Sounds a lot like the poster.

grifmx · December 13, 2017 12:20AM

nice computer. it's Pro, until you get a bad drive, and have to scramble to rent another machine to meet a deadline while it takes days to a week at Apple to replace a drive, which should be a 5 minute job, if they'd put a drive access door on the back! "THOU SALL NOT INSTALL YOUR OWN RAM AND DRIVES" -APPLE

Mike Wuerthele · December 13, 2017 4:23AM

wemclaughlins said:

Can we just put it to a group vote so that we can collectively ban him already? I’m not a South Park watcher but there was an episode where everyone in the town dumps their SUV’s for Priuses and instead of smog problem they develop a “smug” problem. Sounds a lot like the poster.

Warnings here, and in messages (which he will get in his email) about the matter have been sent. Good for now.

I have faith that the behavior will change. If it does not, then there will be consequences.

polymnia · December 13, 2017 5:46AM

grifmx said:

nice computer. it's Pro, until you get a bad drive, and have to scramble to rent another machine to meet a deadline while it takes days to a week at Apple to replace a drive, which should be a 5 minute job, if they'd put a drive access door on the back! "THOU SALL NOT INSTALL YOUR OWN RAM AND DRIVES" -APPLE

Easy solution: buy two

cgWerks · December 13, 2017 8:19AM

polymnia said:
the All-in-one has ling been one of Apple's greatest strengths. The 2017 iMacs are pretty sweet as-is.

Yes, so long as they make the non-all-in-one, too!

Actually, if they would bring back video inputs, I might consider it. (I have no idea why they got rid of that.)
My main worry is heat dissipation. That's too expensive a machine to run hard and shortern it's life if it can't truely get rid of all heat.

theothergeoff · December 13, 2017 1:37PM

applecored said:

polymnia said:

k2kw said:

This sounds like a pretty powerful computer and also a good value at the same time.
Apple may actually want to sell plenty of these.

the All-in-one has ling been one of Apple's greatest strengths. The 2017 iMacs are pretty sweet as-is. I just bought a top-spec BTO 2017 iMac earlier this month since I have client work piling up that begs for a faster machine. I couldn't wait for the iMac Pro.

I don't think I'm going to return this iMac to buy an iMac Pro.

But if timing had worked out differently, I would have gone for the iMac Pro in a heartbeat.

The way I look at it, by the time I need a new Mac, the New New MacPro will be on to its v2 and we will all know if the redesign is a success or not. Maybe my next Mac will be a MacPro?

Last time I bought in at that tier was the original PowerMac G5.

As long as they update it on a near annual basis, like their iPhones, then this machine should be regular hit.

Personally, if they just 'tick-tock-tock' this on a 3 year cycle, it would be great. Chassis upgrade every 3 years, CPU/GPU upgrades every year would be great.

Unlike the iPhone, where Apple engineers almost all of the 'physics' of the device, The main issue with this is Apple builds none of the chips that matter.

My guess is by the 3rd year, the thermal envelope will be pressed to the limit.

The keys will be staying at the top of the 'market' with USB/TB bandwidth. The concept of a 'pro' device that requires side cars is one to get used to. Pretty soon, TB best stand for 'TerraByte' and not ThunderBolt., given that 20-30Gbit/second can pretty much consumed by backplane of this system now. Having a couple hundred Tbytes of data sitting in a shoebox sidecar will be reality fairly soon.

Otherwise, I'm salivating. I'm really a prosumer... I don't 'make money' with my desktops. I just want extensibility for a 5-10 year run. I see me being in the Used iMac Pro Market next year, so the tighter the upgrade cycle the better. I had a used G5 iMac for 5 years. My 87 year old mother retired it last year for an mac mini and 32" monitor (just big fonts and "big pictures of grandkids", she said), 14 years of service. To avoid the 1-3 week hassle of upgrading an desktop/laptop every year is my main goal.

My son still has his 8yo MacbookAir [and he rebuilt his G4/800 titanium from spare parts and $200 of Ebay shopping after college]. But he's a professional millenial... his iPhone 7+ his goto computer, as he's a mobile Pro (along with his wife).

With the picture/movie capabilities of the iDevices now, GB(yte) Lightning/Wireless will be critical for seamless migrations.

Finally, having a 'Pro' model can only help drive/beta technologies to the iMac for the masses.

keithw · December 13, 2017 2:37PM

There are pro apps out there (e.g. Lumion) that have not and will not port to Mac because traditionally the graphics was too weak. Perhaps now with the iMac Pro (and modular MacPro coming in '18) and the ability to use eGPUs, that may change.

10-core Vega 64 iMac Pro first impressions video posted by prominent YouTuber MKBHD

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