Apple just revealed a new iMac Pro:

https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/5/15741540/apple-imac-pro-announced-price-specs-release-date-wwdc-2017

The tldr; is that it's beefing up processors, throwing in the new Radeon Vega graphics chip, with a 5k display, 1 Terabyte SSD, 32 gigs of RAM, with a starting price of $5000. (I've definitely missed some of the features there). The claim is that this machine is ideal for graphics, machine learning/AI, and video editing work also. As a long time Mac/Apple enthusiast, I do remain somewhat unconvinced that this machine does add a much needed update, there are still better options out there imo, unfortunately.

What are your thoughts?

I was eyeing a Mac laptop, but only until I saw a discounted Acer Aspire S13. It costs me less than half with even better graphics.

Bottomline, I'm sure you get better/cheaper hardware from anybody but Apple.

My $0.02:
It still has the fundamental issue, lack of upgradability.

What are your thoughts?

Xeons are unnecessarily overpriced for what most users would get out of them.

32GB and 1TB are good.

The 5K display sounds nice but is also increasing the price unnecessarily like the Xeon is.

I haven't researched the Radeon Vega so I have no opinion about it yet.

I think mentioning machine learning/AI is silly because no end users are going to do that on their own workstations.

The total price has at least $1500 of markup compared to what you'd pay if you built a *nix/Windows computer yourself, even after paying the $200 cost for a new copy of Windows.

What are your thoughts?

It is the Apple ecosystem, and it follows their historical model.

The machines they build are high quality, made with good parts that work together well. They don't allow the random mishmash of parts common in the PC world, where someone may buy a great processor, fast memory, and a leading-edge graphics card only to have their entire system perform badly due to a cheap motherboard. With Apple's device you know they all play well together.

And also typical for Apple, when they revise their hardware they put together systems that are good for a wide range of people for the foreseeable future. That is a beefy machine. Three years from now it will still be a beefy machine.

They charge a premium price for it, but that also comes with guarantees about certain software and operating system updates, so it is less painful when considered as a whole. Even so, it is a painfully big transaction for most people.

Xeons are unnecessarily overpriced for what most users would get out of them. The 5K display sounds nice but is also increasing the price unnecessarily like the Xeon is.

The total price has at least $1500 of markup...

Any Apple product should be expected to be about 500% markup. Apple customers are buying a brand, not a computer :lol:

So personally I think that this is great; them offering an actual honestly high-end machine that almost justifies their outrageous prices. I mean, the specs on that thing are on par with our rack-mounted render farm PC's!

My $0.02:
It still has the fundamental issue, lack of upgradability.

That's always remained a fundamental issue. I'm even willing to pay a premium it's just that I'll be forced to buy a new machine down the line.

What are your thoughts?

It is the Apple ecosystem, and it follows their historical model.

The machines they build are high quality, made with good parts that work together well. They don't allow the random mishmash of parts common in the PC world, where someone may buy a great processor, fast memory, and a leading-edge graphics card only to have their entire system perform badly due to a cheap motherboard. With Apple's device you know they all play well together.

And also typical for Apple, when they revise their hardware they put together systems that are good for a wide range of people for the foreseeable future. That is a beefy machine. Three years from now it will still be a beefy machine.

They charge a premium price for it, but that also comes with guarantees about certain software and operating system updates, so it is less painful when considered as a whole. Even so, it is a painfully big transaction for most people.

I absolutely love Mac hardware and software, for much the reasons you've posted, though many will disagree with that. It's definitely a premium machine though.

Apple claims that a similar specced machine on the market without a 5k display would cost about $7000. Is this true? And I guess, since @[member='Hodgman'], mentioned it, are those specs really that out of this world, in most people's opinions?

Apple claims that a similar specced machine on the market without a 5k display would cost about $7000. Is this true? And I guess, since @Hodgman, mentioned it, are those specs really that out of this world, in most people's opinions?

Depends on which parts you get exactly... I just had a quick look at my local cheap HW stockist and got some prices on top of the line parts (Australian dollar == 70% of a US dollar!) in the maximum quantities they mentioned:

128GB ECC RAM= $2000
Motherboard to match - $500
14 core Xeon - $3100
Radeon - $500
4TB SSD - $4000

So around $10K AUD, which is somewhere around $7k USD. So it's plausible depending on exactly which parts you choose.

The $5000 USD is the starting price, though. That's for the 8-core processor and who knows what RAM/SSD amounts. There may be some apples-to-watermelons comparisons going on here.

If Apple intends us to compare their entry level price vs. building something twice/thrice as powerful from parts for just a tiny bit more, then I'll just smile and nod. :)

That's always remained a fundamental issue. I'm even willing to pay a premium it's just that I'll be forced to buy a new machine down the line.

I'm not sure it's any different *in practice* on the PC side.

Yes, you can throw a couple of bigger DIMMs in your box, and/or incrementally upgrade the CPU or GPU. But as soon as a few years have passed, you'll need a new socket for that new CPU. Maybe you want faster RAM, support for a newer wifi standard, faster ethernet, USB 3 or C ports... any of that necessitates a new motherboard. And you'd better replace that PSU every few years, or it might up and take your shiny new components with it.

Last few times I've upgraded, about all I've been able to keep is the case and the peripherals. And even those are starting to look long in the teeth...