A serious accusation
The accusation was serious, and it came from the very core of users who have followed this company for decades: “Apple is neglecting its personal computers” If there was a place to prove otherwise, it was its latest WWDC, and what it placed on stage is certainly impressive. The new iMac Pro boasts the most advanced specifications ever seen in this line of computers, and at the same time announces that Cupertino still has a place in high-performance computing.
The road to WWDC
In the first weeks of April, we shared a video showing a $1,530 computer giving a beating to a Mac Pro workstation worth more than $5,000. That video confirmed what many Apple users suspected: the desktop was no longer a priority. Add to that several questionable decisions regarding their MacBook Pro, and the outlook for some bordered on apocalyptic. And so came the 2017 edition of WWDC, with many doubts spread across the entire Mac line. One of the things the company did was confirm the launch of updated models in both iMac and MacBook, now with Intel Kaby Lake processors. However, the star of the event was the iMac Pro.
The specifications
Straight to the tech: 27 inches of Retina display with 5K resolution (5,120 by 2,880 pixels). Options for Xeon processors with 8, 10, and 18 cores. 32 GB of DDR4 ECC RAM, with the ability to raise that number to 64 or 128 GB. One terabyte of solid-state storage, but if that is not enough, the buyer can order two or four terabytes. Radeon Pro Vega 56 graphics with 8 GB of HBM2 memory, or alternatively, a Radeon Pro Vega 64 graphics chip with 16 GB, also HBM2. Stereo speakers, four microphones, 3.5mm audio output, SDXC card slot, four USB 3.0 ports, four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, 10-gigabit Ethernet, WiFi ac, Bluetooth 4.2, keyboard and mouse.
Price and availability
A while ago, the controversial founder of Oculus VR, Palmer Luckey, said that Mac support for the Rift headset would arrive when Apple makes a good computer. Well… I think the iMac Pro more than meets those parameters. The technical specifications speak for themselves, and virtual reality is just one of the goals Cupertino has in mind. The only somewhat predictable thing was the price: Apple wants $5,000 for the iMac Pro in its basic configuration. First deliveries, in December.
