iMac Pro and new iMac first look: Apple’s VR-ready machines are now available to buy

Thomas McMullan Read more June 6, 2017

The iMac Pro is available to buy from today, but if you want one, be prepared to spend big. The entry level iMac Pro with its 8-core Xeon processor, 32GB RAM, 1TB storage and 8GB Vega graphics card will set you back £4,999.

iMac Pro and new iMac first look: Apple's VR-ready machines are now available to buy

Who needs a five-grand Mac, you might ask? Well, Apple’s answer to that is professionals who really need the best possible performance. The press release boasts that 3D designers will be able to render models and scenes up to 3.4 times faster than with their previous best quad-core iMac. Likewise, deveopers will apparently be able to compile code up to 2.4 times as fast, while scientits can visualise data via simulations up to five times faster.

These are big claims and need to be tested in the labs fully, but for now I’ll leave you with our original first look from back in June.

The original first look continues below

Apple is billing the new iMac Pro as “the most powerful Mac ever”, but at a glance it looks like something that would set you back a fraction of its wallet-melting price tag. The setup looks a lot like the 27in, 5K iMac; a familiar façade that hides some engineering wizardry to stop its powerful specs from overheating.

A dual centrifugal fan setup cools the iMac Pros internals, which encompasses an Intel Xeon processor with either 8, 10 or 18 cores, a Radeon Vega GPU with up to 16GB of VRAM, and up to 128GB of system RAM. Those are pretty beasty numbers, so here’s hoping the fans do a good job of stopping the iMac Pro from an early death.

My few minutes with the iMac Pro were nowhere near long enough to see how the machine performs under stress. In fact, I wasn’t even able to touch it. All I could do was stare at its sinister dark grey body and its 5K monitor, and imagine its internal thermal architecture whizzing around. Starting at $4,999, maybe it’s best it remains a conceptual computer. imac_pro

I was, however, able to play around with the revamped 21.5- and 27in iMacs. These have been given faster processors, faster storage options, brighter Retina displays and Thunderbolt 3. Over a short demo I was shown how the 27in model could do a 4K video render using editing suite DaVinci Resolve on the fly, then a similar quick render using Cinema 4D Pro.

Another demo of F1 2016 looked gorgeous, thanks in part to the iMac’s seventh-generation Kaby Lake processor and a display that manages 500 nits of brightness. imac_2

As well as film and design work, the new iMac is pitched as a strong machine for VR – now in the picture with the new macOS: High Sierra. While the exterior of the machines looks relatively unchanged, this internal capability could mean big things for how Apple positions itself in the developing virtual reality market. Coupled with the iPad Pro’s nascent interest in augmented reality, could Apple take VR and AR into the mainstream?