I think we will see the iMac Pro in September

[Mr. Dee]

Apple is known for surprise and delight. When Steve Jobs announced the Intel transition, he indicated, the first Intel based Macs would start shipping in June of 2006. The transition was actually completed by June 2006 with the Mac Pro.

Apple is likely using a similar strategy with the iMac Pro. What could really require that additional engineering time up to December?

 

[Strelok]

For one the GPUs aren’t released yet and they are probably still tinkering with the software and/or minor design tweaks. Oh and of course making sure their supply chain is ready for the demand.

 

[44267547]

Apple announced the iMac Pro to launch in December. It won't release any earlier than that. Apple tends to never prerelease hardware earlier than what they originally announced. If they said "Fall 2017", that's more generalized and they can perhaps shift availability dates. But given all the variables with part suppliers, supply shipments and production dates, it will Be December as they stated, unless they alter plans come September.

 

[Shivetya]

I would be happy if they could put one in the hands of an independent reviewer by then. as it stands now it is nothing more than a pretty web page

 

[trsblader]

Apple is known for surprise and delight. When Steve Jobs announced the Intel transition, he indicated, the first Intel based Macs would start shipping in June of 2006. The transition was actually completed by June 2006 with the Mac Pro.

That was 11 years ago. While their product line may be surprise and delight (such as the surprising refresh of the iMac already this year), their timelines are not. If they said "Coming second half 2017" or "Coming later in 2017" then sure, maybe September. But they said December, and are advertising it on the iMac pro page of their website as December. I see zero reason why it would be any date other than December.

As the above said, maybe a reviewer will have it early, but the public will not.

 

[xsmi123]

For one the GPUs aren’t released yet and they are probably still tinkering with the software and/or minor design tweaks. Oh and of course making sure their supply chain is ready for the demand.

The GPU's were released on the 27th of June.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3202...vega-frontier-edition-vs-nvidia-titan-xp.html

 

[Strelok]

The GPU's were released on the 27th of June.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3202...vega-frontier-edition-vs-nvidia-titan-xp.html

Nope. They most likely are not using the frontier edition. The actual Vega lineup is launching later this month.

 

[xsmi123]

Nope. They most likely are not using the frontier edition. The actual Vega lineup is launching later this month.

That's the RX Vega, a gaming card. Apple has only used Radeon Pro Cards in the iMac and Macbook Pros. Radeon Vega FE is the Pro card of the Vega lineup.

 

[Strelok]

That's the RX Vega, a gaming card. Apple has only used Radeon Pro Cards in the iMac and Macbook Pros. Radeon Vega FE is the Pro card of the Vega lineup.

The RX 580 is not a “pro” card, neither are the MacBook ones. They are just called Radeon pro because that’s the name of the mobile GPUs.

 

[xsmi123]

The RX 580 is not a “pro” card, neither are the MacBook ones. They are just called Radeon pro because that’s the name of the mobile GPUs.

Look at the specs on the cards and you will see that they do not match the RX cards.

 

[Glockworkorange]

Apple announced the iMac Pro to launch in December. It won't release any earlier than that. Apple tends to never prerelease hardware earlier than what they originally announced. If they said "Fall 2017", that's more generalized and they can perhaps shift availability dates. But given all the variables with part suppliers, supply shipments and production dates, it will Be December as they stated, unless they alter plans come September.

And probably the end of December as well. I bet they picked the last possible month in the year to give them as much time as possible to drop it in 2017.

 

[Floris]

Apple is known for surprise and delight. When Steve Jobs announced the Intel transition, he indicated, the first Intel based Macs would start shipping in June of 2006. The transition was actually completed by June 2006 with the Mac Pro.

Apple is likely using a similar strategy with the iMac Pro. What could really require that additional engineering time up to December?

Sure, surprise and delight.

But there's financial responsibility and there's no need to announce december officially and then appear to the board that anything they throw out there is up for instant change .. I highly doubt it they're that unprofessional.

 

[JVNeumann]

... And in doing so, screw with all the people who ordered an iMac in June because they couldn't hold off for 6 months. On top of the fact that it wouldn't give people any lead-in time to mull over the specs/pricing. Not a great plan, if you ask me.

Hopefully they'll open it up to orders around October-ish, giving us time to see the pricing structure and final specs, but it won't start shipping before December. If they thought there was any chance of a pre-December release, they'd just call it a Q4/summer release window, or not announce any window at all. Flat out lying about the release month isn't 'delightful', it's unprofessional.

 

[Mr. Dee]

Sure, surprise and delight.

But there's financial responsibility and there's no need to announce december officially and then appear to the board that anything they throw out there is up for instant change .. I highly doubt it they're that unprofessional.

Apple didn't become a publicly traded company 5 years ago, they have done this under promise and over deliver strategy before.

 

[kazmac]

With the specific parts not available, I would politely disagree OP. And it wouldn't be far fetched to think Apple wants to get the iMac Pro as right as possible before releasing in December. Considering the flack they got for the 2016 MBPs and the lack of "pro" machines overall, I'd wager they'll be tinkering almost up until the December release. They have to deliver on every front.

 

[Brookzy]

We won't see the iMac Pro before December.

2012 iMac 21.5" - promised for November, arrived 30th November.
2012 iMac 27" - promised for December, arrived just before Christmas.
2013 Mac Pro - promised for December, arrived 30th December.

And then looking at other delayed products, e.g. white iPhone 4, AirPods... Apple doesn't bring forward release dates.

 

[CWallace]

Nope. They most likely are not using the frontier edition. The actual Vega lineup is launching later this month.

Frontier Edition is the workstation level GPU which is what the iMac Pro will have. If you look at the specs, they match the Vega 56 and Vega 64 GPUs the iMac Pro will have. So I am quite confident this is what will be in the iMac Pro.

Based on announced core counts and four-socket RAM, the iMac Pro is most likely going to be using Xeon Gold CPUs (Skylake-SP) on the LGA 2066 socket. Those should start rolling out over the next few months, which would support a late 2017 ship date.

 

[Floris]

Apple didn't become a publicly traded company 5 years ago, they have done this under promise and over deliver strategy before.

If you're so set to a september release, then why ask for our input

SURE, I will completely agree with you - they WILL release in September.

(read: december, if they do not delay it, which they are good at too)

 

[Mr. Dee]

If you're so set to a september release, then why ask for our input

SURE, I will completely agree with you - they WILL release in September.

(read: december, if they do not delay it, which they are good at too)

The subject matter wasn't posed as a question, really creating discussion. Don't take it so deep, geez.

 

[BurgDog]

They will open for orders just after midnight PST Dec 26 for delivery on Dec 30. Those who get in and place an order in the first 5 minutes might actually get one on the 30th. The rest of us will see a 3 month delay in delivery. Commitment to December met, wide availability likely in March 2018. Might actually be best to not get the first rushed units and wait for initial problems that will likely be fixed for the later deliveries. I currently plan to wait for actual user reviews before placing my order and it may take a while for that to happen. If things go well for Apple they might have stock (likely one) of the base unit in their stores on the 30th. I might try for that instead of ordering online depending on my mood at the time.

 

[xsmi123]

They will open for orders just after midnight PST Dec 26 for delivery on Dec 30. Those who get in and place an order in the first 5 minutes might actually get one on the 30th. The rest of us will see a 3 month delay in delivery. Commitment to December met, wide availability likely in March 2018. Might actually be best to not get the first rushed units and wait for initial problems that will likely be fixed for the later deliveries. I currently plan to wait for actual user reviews before placing my order and it may take a while for that to happen. If things go well for Apple they might have stock (likely one) of the base unit in their stores on the 30th. I might try for that instead of ordering online depending on my mood at the time.