I currently own the base iMac pro. I was considering selling it to upgrade to the rumored 2020 iMac. I mainly use it for video editing so I'm wondering if the new components of the high end 2020 iMac (CPU, ram, GPU) would be faster and more capable than the base 2017 iMac pro. I know no one really knows whats the specs are going to be but I know a lot of people on the forum have an idea of whats available on the market and what apple might use.
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Base iMac Pro vs 2020 iMac
- Thread starter verduzco
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I would compare 10900K benchmarks with the iMac Pro CPU you currently have. They might go in a totally separate direction and use their own processor though (ARM).
If they go with Intel, newest generation processors, you’re looking at a 20-30% speed increase.
CPU Comparison: 20-30% faster
GPU: 20-30% faster (most likely)
If they go with Intel, newest generation processors, you’re looking at a 20-30% speed increase.
CPU Comparison: 20-30% faster
GPU: 20-30% faster (most likely)
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Hard to say. Apple could be waiting for AMD to release RDNA 2. In which case there may be a decent GPU boost. CPU boost won't be much. While there is the 10900K. Unless Apple revamps the iMac design for heavier duty cooling. I can't imagine it could keep that little furnace cool. Under full turbo boost Tomshardware is showing power loads up to 60W higher than the 9900K.
Remember that the iMac Pro is expected to get a refresh towards the end of this year / early next year, as well, with new Xeon CPUs and better GPUs then the 2020 iMac [Navi 22/23 vs. Navi 10(+)] as well as a MiniLED display with better HDR and brightness.
It really doesn’t make sense to me to update the iMac but not the iMac Pro.
Who is going to pay more for less?
Who is going to pay more for less?
Both will be updated, it is just the iMac Pro's updates (Navi 2x GPUs, MiniLED displays, etc.) will not be ready until later this year.
I love to hear your optimism regarding a new iMac Pro 2. Tough call on verduco question. Me personally I would never trade a Pro machine against a Consumer machine, never ever. But that's just me, it all depends on the perspective what is really important. If its just speed, it might make sense to change. But when it comes to durability, I would not change and wait for the iMac Pro2. But the question remains, how important are some highly theoretic geekbench numbers. Will a 5% speed increase with a 20% decrease in machine durability help you to have more content output towards your customer in the end?? Only he can answer that.
I would never go from the iMac Pro to the 2019 iMac, the CPU will be the same performance but slightly better sustained on the Pro from the upgraded i9, the GPU is better on the Pro, it has much better thermals for cooling, better web cam, speakers, microphones, 2 more TB3 ports.
I'd argue if the non-Pro 27" gets the same 5600M HBM2 option as the 16-inch Macbook Pro (or its next generation equivalent), then go with that. Vega is old, it's inefficient.
16-inch MacBook Pro 5600M versus desktop Macs
real world speed test results for performance minded Macintosh users
barefeats.com
Unless one absolutely needed ECC or quad-channel memory or a ton of HBM2, which I don't think this topic even covers, then the difference just comes down to a price/performance ratio for a high-end consumer use. If you don't max out a base iMac Pro, a new iMac with some options can reach performance parity. At least enough to consider warrant the price difference to pocket or reallocate elsewhere.