Apple Teases Upcoming Space Gray iMac Pro, "the most powerful Mac ever" • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple Teases Upcoming Space Gray iMac Pro, "the most powerful Mac ever"

#141

Post by smitherfield » Mon, Jun 05, 2017, 6:59 PM UTC

sz4kerto wrote: post #4

I'm watching this iMac announcement and .. hm, I still find it underwhelming. The top-spec'd iMac will be less powerful (when it comes to CPU) in Jan/2018 than my current desktop I bought in mid-2015. We'll see the actual pricing though. I don't think that forcing high-perf components into a small desktop chassis makes a lot of sense, but it might me only me.

>The top-spec'd iMac will be less powerful (when it comes to CPU) in Jan/2018 than my current desktop

Your current desktop has a more powerful CPU than an 18-core Skylake Xeon?!

Re: Apple Teases Upcoming Space Gray iMac Pro, "the most powerful Mac ever"

#142

Post by slg » Mon, Jun 05, 2017, 6:59 PM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #108

jordache wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how is a mac pro not a pre-packaged solution? You choose from a few pre-configured setups if you wish.

In that the iMac displays are some of the best in the industry in a very competitive price (competitive displays cost nearly the same for the display alone).

The biggest problem is that the effective lifespan of a good display is much longer than a high performance computer. Even ignoring the compromises made to the computer to allow for the two to be merged, you are simply wasting money upgrading the monitor every time the computer needs to be upgraded. By attaching the two together this machine is even less practical to upgrade than the old trashcan Mac Pro.

Re: Apple Teases Upcoming Space Gray iMac Pro, "the most powerful Mac ever"

#143

Post by toufka » Mon, Jun 05, 2017, 7:00 PM UTC

Joeri wrote: post #133

toufka wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was the exact statement made about the Mac Pro when it was released in 2013. Look how well that went.

The mac pro did not feature external GPU, just external storage. The only thing you won't be able to upgrade in this machine is the CPU. The RAM is not soldered on those high end iMacs, and disk and gpu can be external over TB3.

Thunderbolt promised there would be external GPUs, but IIRC there were licensing and corporate disputes that prevented such hardware from ever materializing (after the design and debut of the Mac Pro). But it definitely was the promise of such a compact machine: "external everything!"

Non-soldered RAM is a good start, but what about multiple ethernet ports, what about any standard scientific/medical/experimental PCI card, what about the new SSD/HDs that come out in 3 years? What about upgrading the CPU? What about upgrading the screen! Much less using Apple's "most powerful computer" headless?

Re: Apple Teases Upcoming Space Gray iMac Pro, "the most powerful Mac ever"

#144

Post by andreasley » Mon, Jun 05, 2017, 7:00 PM UTC

mysterydip wrote: post #48

mpweiher wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is Apple's answer to their negligence to the Pro market, Nah, this is the stopgap they talked about when they had their "Come to Jesus" meeting with bloggers. A real big boxy Mac Pro is supposed to come after 2017. Pre-announced, which Apple never does. See: https://daringfireball.net/2017/04/the_mac_pro_lives EDIT: They didn't actually say 2018, just "not in 2017"

Then why release anything now? Who is this for, if pros will wait for the "real" one and consumers already have one? Will the "stopgap" model be around/supported in two years?

It's for people like me. I need something with more power than my current "classic" Mac Pro, preferably with fewer cables and more energy efficient. 2 SSD slots are sufficient for my internal storage needs, especially considering the Nbase-T Ethernet port. Vega-based graphics should be able to properly run the 5K display for the next few years.

I've swapped out a lot of parts in my old Mac Pro, but at this point, I'd rather have something that "just works". And if my needs change, the resale value of this thing will still be good.

But I'm just an iOS developer, doing some multimedia and web stuff as well. Maybe that's not a "pro" by today's definition. :)

Re: Apple Teases Upcoming Space Gray iMac Pro, "the most powerful Mac ever"

#145

Post by e40 » Mon, Jun 05, 2017, 7:00 PM UTC

zymhan wrote: post #107

DoofusOfDeath wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like the target audience for the new Mac Pro will be people who can afford to spend $10k on a quad-CPU machine. I'm sure those people will be happy. But what I want is an upgradable / self-servicable machine that costs under $3k. I hope Apple isn't about to miss the plot again .

Keep dreaming bud. If you want upgradeability and self-serviceability, build it yourself.

You mean like the previous Mac Pro?

Re: Apple Teases Upcoming Space Gray iMac Pro, "the most powerful Mac ever"

#146

Post by ericd » Mon, Jun 05, 2017, 7:00 PM UTC

wiredfool wrote: post #60

rayiner wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it's an 8-core Xeon, it's gotta be an E5. So the CPU alone could run $2,000 (pricing for E5 2667 v4, this probably uses an equivalent Skylake Xeon which isn't out yet).

One of the slides says 18 core Xeon, which is the equivalent of the newly announced core i9. But they're also saying ECC memory, so they are in server chip land.

Yeah they explicitly said it's a Xeon, and based on the core count, it's in the E5 range.

Re: Apple Teases Upcoming Space Gray iMac Pro, "the most powerful Mac ever"

#147

Post by Slackwise » Mon, Jun 05, 2017, 7:01 PM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #109

wnevets wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Also, I want that black keyboard! is this satire?

Or, you know, a legitimate preference. People like cool looking stuff. Welcome to earth.

Sure, cool looking stuff is great, but if you type for 8+ hours a day, you might want to consider something that won't give you RSI.

I mean, there's no lack of cool looking mechanical keyboards, even ones that match Apple products: https://input.club/k-type/

(That one is even USB-C and fully programmable/hackable with an open source firmware.)

Re: Apple Teases Upcoming Space Gray iMac Pro, "the most powerful Mac ever"

#148

Post by LeifCarrotson » Mon, Jun 05, 2017, 7:02 PM UTC

zymhan wrote: post #107

DoofusOfDeath wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like the target audience for the new Mac Pro will be people who can afford to spend $10k on a quad-CPU machine. I'm sure those people will be happy. But what I want is an upgradable / self-servicable machine that costs under $3k. I hope Apple isn't about to miss the plot again .

Keep dreaming bud. If you want upgradeability and self-serviceability, build it yourself.

I (and the parent) want this - and don't mind doing it ourselves - on Mac-supported, stable hardware. A supported, stable, updateable Hackintosh.

Please, Apple, sell me a big Apple motherboard, a quality case, and write OS-X with boot and driver software that supports various CPUs, RAM, storage, GPUs, power supplies, and peripherals. You know, like Windows and Linux have done for years. Whitelist or blacklist as necessary to make it reliable and dependable, but no more than necessary. The model works - but Apple doesn't work with the model, which is why my current machine isn't a Mac anymore.

Re: Apple Teases Upcoming Space Gray iMac Pro, "the most powerful Mac ever"

#149

Post by lowbloodsugar » Mon, Jun 05, 2017, 7:08 PM UTC

ebbv wrote: post #115

DoofusOfDeath wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like the target audience for the new Mac Pro will be people who can afford to spend $10k on a quad-CPU machine. I'm sure those people will be happy. But what I want is an upgradable / self-servicable machine that costs under $3k. I hope Apple isn't about to miss the plot again .

> But what I want is an upgradable / self-servicable machine that costs under $3k. Yeah that's never going to happen. The Pro iMac starts at $5k. When the Mac Pro does come out it will at least start at that as well, if not higher.

Which is why the "Pro" iMac completely misses the point. Don't want a built in screen. Do want upgradability. $5k to add what I don't want and package it in a way that prevents what I do want.

Re: Apple Teases Upcoming Space Gray iMac Pro, "the most powerful Mac ever"

#150

Post by Quequau » Mon, Jun 05, 2017, 7:10 PM UTC

I'm still using my Mac Pro from 2008 and a still older 30" cinema display. I really need a new set up but so far I've not found the iMac or Mac Pro offerings really compelling.

I'm not really sure I want to sign up for an all in one design because displays are often useful for much longer than workstations and the last generation of Mac Pro didn't really seem like they were worth the cost.