iMac Pro
The most powerful iMac Apple has ever created.
At a Glance
The iMac Pro is a top-of-the-line iMac with Xeon processors, Radeon Pro Vega graphics, Thunderbolt 3, and a special Space Gray chassis, which was announced at the 2017 Worldwide Developers Conference. In March 2019, a new 256GB RAM and Radeon Pro Vega 64X upgrade options were introduced.
Features
- Xeon processors, up to 18 cores
- Radeon Pro Vega graphics
- Up to 4TB SSD
- Up to 256GB RAM
- Space Gray body
- New thermal architecture
- 4 TB3 ports
What's Next for the iMac Pro
Apple is working on a new version of the iMac Pro that has a mini-LED display, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who also has precise insights into Apple's plans.
Mini-LED technology can allow thinner and lighter product designs while also providing good performance in the wide colour gamut, high contrast and HDR, and local dimming, which dims the backlight behind the screen's black areas while keeping bright sections lit. In the fourth quarter of 2020, Kuo believes Apple will release the latest iMac Pro, but analyst Jeff Pu has indicated that the iMac Pro mini-LED could be released in 2021 instead of 2020.
iMac Pro
Mini-LED technology can allow thinner and lighter product designs while also providing good performance in the wide colour gamut, high contrast and HDR, and local dimming, which dims the backlight behind the screen's black areas while keeping bright sections lit. In the fourth quarter of 2020, Kuo believes Apple will release the latest iMac Pro, but analyst Jeff Pu has indicated that the iMac Pro mini-LED could be released in 2021 instead of 2020.
Apple upgraded its base iMac Pro models to a 10-core processor in August 2020, so the entry-level iMac Pro now ships with a 10-core processor rather than an 8-core processor.
The iMac Pro uses the same design as the standard iMac, but with an all-flash architecture and a new thermal design that supports a Radeon Pro Vega top-of-the-line graphics Intel Xeon processor with up to 18 cores. 10- to 18-core models are provided by Apple.
The SMC, image signal processor for the camera, audio control, SSD control, a Protected Enclave and a hardware encryption engine are incorporated into a dedicated Apple-designed T2 processor, adding new features to the iMac and ensuring greater security.
The iMac Pro is fitted with a high-quality K display that supports 1 billion colours and comes with matching (and exclusive) space grey accessories in a special space grey enclosure, plus a black Lightning cable that was first released by Apple. The iMac Pro is otherwise identical in nature to the current 27-inch iMac, apart from these specific design elements.
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IMac Pro boasts four powerful enough Thunderbolt 3 ports to drive several 5K displays at once and supports up to 4TB of solid state storage, 256GB of ECC RAM, and a 16GB HBM2 ram Radeon Pro Vega 64X graphics card.
Design
With an ultra-thin slim-bodied design and a minimal footprint, the iMac Pro looks more like a regular iMac, but it is differentiated by a special space grey enclosure and a new thermal design that delivers 80 percent more cooling capacity and 75 percent more airflow to accommodate up to 500 watts of power, equivalent to 67 percent more power than the previous iMac.
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A larger ventilation grill at the back of the unit results in the revised thermal design. While standard 27-inch iMacs have a hatch at the back to allow RAM to be upgraded, the iMac Pro does not have such a hatch, as it can not be upgraded. One of the big downsides to the new computer is the lack of upgradeability, with no way for users to switch out the RAM, processor, or hard drive.
Owners of iMac Pro can update the RAM in the unit, but this requires it to be taken to an Apple retail store or Apple Certified Service Provider. Apple can not instal RAM from third parties on the system, and the company allows service providers to instal RAM modules supported by Apple.
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There are four Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports on the back of the iMac Pro, 4 USB-A 3.0 ports, a 10Gb Ethernet port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a slot for the SD card
.
The iMac Pro features a Retina 5K display, like the standard 27-inch iMac, that supports a billion colours with a broad colour gamut for P3. It has over 14.7 million pixels and a brightness rating of 500 nits, which is 43% brighter than previous iMac displays.
The iMac Pro features a Retina 5K display, like the standard 27-inch iMac, that supports a billion colours with a broad colour gamut for P3. It has over 14.7 million pixels and a brightness rating of 500 nits, which is 43% brighter than previous iMac displays.
The iMac Pro ships with matching space-gray accessories that are unique to the high-end computer and not otherwise available to Apple users to complement its current space-gray enclosure. A wireless Magic Keyboard with a numerical keyboard, a black Lightning cable, a black Thunderbolt 3 cable and either a Magic Mouse 2 or a Magic Trackpad 2 are included in these accessories.
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CPU and GPU
As an optional configuration with Turbo Boost up to 4.5GHz and up to 42MB of cache, the iMac Pro uses Intel Xeon-W processors with 10, 14 and 18 core chips. The Intel-W, launched in August of 2017, is an Intel workstation-class processor. The Intel Xeon-W processors are based on the Skylake-SP architecture and use an LGA2066 socket. The CPU of the iMac Pro is not soldered, but as Apple uses custom hardware, it may not be user-replaceable.
The entry-level 10-core model with a 3.0GHz Intel Xeon processor has been indicated by iMac Pro benchmarks to be 45% faster than the high-end 2013 Mac Pro and up to 93 percent faster than the top-of-the-line 2017 27-inch 5K iMac. In terms of multi-core computing operations, the 14 and 18-core versions have even more substantial performance enhancements than the 10-core model.
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The iMac Pro has been shown to deliver performance improvements in Apple's testing for a number of workflows and applications, including Autodesk Maya 2018, Maxon Cinema 4D, OsiriX MD, Wolfram Mathematica, Adobe Photoshop CC, Logic Pro X, Final Cut Pro X, and more. For instance, Final Cut Pro X produced much faster rendering speeds for the 10 and 18-core iMac Pro models than the 12-core Mac Pro and the 4-core iMac.
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It supports AMD's newest Radeon Pro Vega with the advanced thermal cooling built into the iMac Pro and features a next-generation computing core and up to 16 GB of on-package high-bandwidth memory (HBM2) and 400 GB/s memory bandwidth.
The high-end Radeon Pro Vega 64 offers 11 single-precision computing power teraflops and up to 22 half-precision computation output teraflops, which means that it is efficient enough for real-time 3D rendering and immersive, high VR frame rate. The iMac Pro supports VR hardware, like Apple's new iMacs.
Apple says the Radeon Pro Vega is more than three times faster, packing the power of a double-wide graphics card into a single chip than any previous iMac GPU.
While the base iMac Pro is fitted with a Radeon Pro Vega 56 with 8GB HBM2 memory, the Radeon Pro Vega 64 with 16GB HBM2 memory has an upgrade option. Apple has also added a new Radeon Pro Vega 64X upgrade option in March 2019.
T2 Chip
The iMac Pro is fitted with a custom Apple-made T2 chip alongside the Intel Xeon-W processor, the successor to the T1 chip in the MacBook Pro that drives the Touch Bar.
The T2 contains the device management controller, camera image signal processor, audio control, SSD controller, Protected Enclave and encryption engine for hardware.
The T2 image signal processor brings to the FaceTime HD camera improved tone mapping, enhanced exposure control, and face detection-based auto exposure, and it works to encrypt all the data on the SSD using dedicated AES hardware without affecting the output of the SSD.
It also guarantees a safe boot to ensure that your software is not tampered with and that only Apple loads trustworthy OS software at start-up. Because of the T2, a second Mac and Apple's Configurator software may be needed for an iMac Pro that requires restoration.
SSD and RAM
With up to 4TB of solid state capacity, the iMac Pro can be configured, while the base computer ships with a 1TB SSD. It also supports 2666MHz DDR4 ECC memory of up to 256GB, which minimises data errors. The $4,999 entry-level computer comes with 32GB RAM, and after purchase by Apple or an Apple Approved Service Provider, RAM can be upgraded.
There are four 8GB DIMM RAM modules in the entry-level machine, while updated versions feature 4x16GB and 4x32GB arrangements. Although the iMac Pro supports quad-channel memory, all four modules need to be replaced by customers who intend to upgrade the RAM after purchase. When buying from Apple, the RAM limit, 256GB, needs to be purchased as upgrading to 256GB after purchasing is not an option.
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