Apple iMac Pro review – in pictures
The clue is in the name when it comes to Apple’s most powerful Mac
Apple iMac Pro review – in pictures
In computing, terms like ‘pro’ are thrown around like confetti. That’s not the case here. Apple’s latest iMac looks almost identical to those that preceded it; but inside, the iMac Pro is a very different beast. This is not a Mac for the masses. You get a sense of that on clocking the price, which starts at an eye-watering £4,899/US$4,999.
Apple iMac Pro price: bang for buck
Through Apple’s build-to-order options, you can get the price tag to top 12 grand. Yet even the entry level model (such that it can be considered ‘entry level’ in any meaningful sense of those words) has an 8-core 2.3Ghz Xeon W, a Radeon Pro Vega 56, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.
Apple iMac Pro specs: big numbers
For review, Apple sent Stuff a mid-range unit – 10-Core; Radeon Pro Vega 64 graphics; 128GB RAM; 2TB storage. And someone lobbed a trackpad into the box, which was nice of them. Total outlay: a cool £9,188 (or US$9,599).
Apple iMac Pro design: stunning
Naturally, the first thing that popped into my head when setting the thing on a desk was: “That looks nice”. The stereotype Apple user briefly emerged. Visions entered my head of a bearded hipster using Safari on a nine-grand computer to hunt for yet more new shiny kit with which to beat his bank account senseless.
Apple iMac Pro design: successful formula
But there is a point to all this. Apple cares about design. The iMac already looked great, and Apple’s managed to squeeze a ton of extra power into a thin, gorgeous case. The new iMac isn’t suddenly an inch thicker because it’s sporting absurdly powerful innards.
Apple iMac Pro design: practical, too
Also, the space grey finish has practical benefits. The obnoxious chin/Apple logo combination fades into the background a little more. That – and the colour better suiting pro app dark interfaces – seems ideal for professionals. And this is very much a machine for professionals.
Apple iMac Pro performance: a bit wasted
On firing up the iMac and poking around, it responds pretty much instantly. The Pro feels like it never has to think – which you’d probably expect in a machine costing over nine grand. But there’s a sense that this power might be wasted on most people. The odd second saved when opening apps or faffing about with Safari aren’t worth the price of a second-hand car. Even Photoshop and music apps doesn’t need this kind of power.
Apple iMac Pro performance: good for graphics
Everything changes if your life is spent buried in complex video, audio or 3D: with video, the iMac Pro is capable of editing VR footage on-the-fly. It can chew through 8K video like nobody’s business, and smoothly preview changes and effects live, rather than you laboriously rendering shots first.
Apple iMac Pro performance: music maestro
The lack of judder extends to audio, too: launching Logic Pro X and adding a ridiculous number of synths to the demo track, the iMac wasn’t fazed at all – while my own iMac became a stuttering wreck. Even duplicating instances of power-hungry modules, the Pro far eclipsed my older iMac before it reached its breaking point.
Apple iMac Pro heat and noise: cool customer
Whatever was thrown at the iMac Pro during review, it stayed surprisingly cool and quiet. The fans seem to blow a bit all of the time, but only to a mildly irritating degree. The case rarely got hot, and certainly no more than other iMacs I’ve used. And even running with Reduce Noise enabled, the Pro had my older iMac beat – though not always by as much as you’d think.
Apple iMac Pro ports: get connected
Round the back, you get the usual headphone jack, an SDXC slot, four USB 3 ports, four (rather than two on the 5K iMac) Thunderbolt 3 ports, and 10Gb Ethernet. Apple notes that the Thunderbolt ports are on two independent controllers, and in tandem with the Radeon Pro Vega GPU can drive four 4K displays or two 5K displays. And that’s in addition to the iMac’s own (broadly superb) screen.
Apple iMac Pro verdict: do you really need it?
The main question when faced with the iMac Pro isn’t whether you want one (of course you do), but whether you need one. Chances are, you don’t. In the Mac space, there’s nothing comparable, and even the smartest PC experts around have struggled to make savings of much more than ten per cent on a broadly equivalent spec. In short, if you simply must have the most powerful Mac Apple’s ever made, you won’t be disappointed.
