iMac Pro iMac Pro: are you happy with your new iMac Pro?

[MarcoTogni]

After I had some problems on two iMacs, I am thinking to buy an iMac Pro but I am quite shocked about how many people are having some problems (I read about backlight problems, startup issues, display wifi speed problem, etc.)

My question is: are you happy with your new purchase? or your iMac Pro is having some problems?

 

[Bradleyone]

None of those issues here. Very happy with the product, it's exactly as I expected.

Don't forget that the effect of specialist forums is to amplify the 1% of defects that inevitably all tech products will have.

If you are going to hear about any problems, the forums will make them sound widespread, when really the majority of the many thousand that Apple must have shipped by now will be perfectly fine, you just won't see any posts about them.

 

[Brookzy]

After I had some problems on two iMacs, I am thinking to buy an iMac Pro but I am quite shocked about how many people are having some problems (I read about backlight problems, startup issues, display wifi speed problem, etc.)

My question is: are you happy with your new purchase? or your iMac Pro is having some problems?

To be fair, after reading the three problems you've linked, 1) was standard backlight variation (and the exact same panel as the 2017 iMac is being used anyway), 2) transpired to be normal, and 3) seemed to resolve itself.

Order one and if it's faulty or otherwise unsatisfactory, send it back! That's what Apple's great return policy is for.

 

[dimensional]

I love mine. Only issue I have is terrible AMD Drivers for Bootcamp -- hopefully this won't take months and months to resolve.

 

[Trolle]

None of those issues here. Very happy with the product, it's exactly as I expected.

Don't forget that the effect of specialist forums is to amplify the 1% of defects that inevitably all tech products will have.

If you are going to hear about any problems, the forums will make them sound widespread, when really the majority of the many thousand that Apple must have shipped by now will be perfectly fine, you just won't see any posts about them.

I wish we could offer this message at the beginning of each thread

 

[thefriendshipmachine]

I'm holding out to see if pro owners start complaining about thermal problems and image retention. Personally I think it's just a matter of time before these things start frying. If there's one thing apple cannot do its build an imac that doesnt overheat.

 

[dimensional]

I'm holding out to see if pro owners start complaining about thermal problems and image retention. Personally I think it's just a matter of time before these things start frying. If there's one thing apple cannot do its build an imac that doesnt overheat.

I played Fortnite for 4-5 hours at max settings @ windowed fullscreen 2560x1440 and barely heard the fans. The thermals have definitely leveled up. When playing WoW I can't even hear the fans running at 9/10 settings while on my 2016 maxed-out iMac I heard them constantly when playing at 5/10 settings.

When doing software dev and long builds I never hear the fans.

Super happy so far with the thermals. Apple says the thermals are 80% better, but in my experience that seems like an understatement if anything.

 

[thefriendshipmachine]

I played Fortnite for 4-5 hours at max settings @ windowed fullscreen 2560x1440 and barely heard the fans. The thermals have definitely leveled up. When playing WoW I can't even hear the fans running at 9/10 settings while on my 2016 maxed-out iMac I heard them constantly when playing at 5/10 settings.

When doing software dev and long builds I never hear the fans.

Super happy so far with the thermals. Apple says the thermals are 80% better, but in my experience that seems like an understatement if anything.

Hopefully in the long term they stay good too. Apple has a long history of screwing up cooling machines (i.e. the G5 Pro, 2014 imac, 2017 imac with 7700).

I was the guinea pig when they first released the retina iMac in '14 and for me that went up in flames (almost literally the GPU fried itself and the screen). I'll let you folks test this machine out for awhile before I decide to buy one down the road.

I think over 2-3 years what really killed my 2014 iMac was running an external 4k display, and running xcode on it daily for my job. At first the iMac could cool itself but by the end the GPU was running at 99C all the time, the screen had been replaced several times due to image retention developing after use, and the entire computer basically wore out.

It barely lasted 3 years and for a $4,000 iMac that p***** me off. iMacs to me are kind of like the inverse of a steve jobs quote: you baked a cake with beautiful icing, but inside its full of s***.

 

[everythingapplerainbow]

I played Fortnite for 4-5 hours at max settings @ windowed fullscreen 2560x1440 and barely heard the fans. The thermals have definitely leveled up. When playing WoW I can't even hear the fans running at 9/10 settings while on my 2016 maxed-out iMac I heard them constantly when playing at 5/10 settings.

When doing software dev and long builds I never hear the fans.

Super happy so far with the thermals. Apple says the thermals are 80% better, but in my experience that seems like an understatement if anything.

Buying an iMac Pro just for Fortnite?
Such a waste of ...
Never mind, you’re rich, I’m just jealous

 

[dimensional]

Buying an iMac Pro just for Fortnite?
Such a waste of ...
Never mind, you’re rich, I’m just jealous

No. I bought it to speed up software development and I have been very happy with the improvements there vs. my 2016 iMac. But I work remotely out of my house so my work computer is also my fun computer at night.

---

As far as cost, these computers are actually free for me. Whenever I buy an iMac I keep all the boxes, don't use the mice/keyboard (leave them wrapped up in the box), and get AppleCare (which is only $169 for the iMac Pro BTW -- an absolute steal). Then when the next iMac/iMac Pro/Mac Pro comes out I sell the current one on craigslist for around 75% resale value and then, because I am a contractor, write off the purchase on taxes. So between the resale and tax writeoffs I get a brand new free computer every year (well, not free, but like 85% off).

Apple's resale value is the unsung hero. Whenever people talk about how "overpriced" Macs are I always say in my mind "but the resale!!!" If you resell at the generation - 1 stage with 2 years remaining on AppleCare they sell very quick.

My biggest worry is that Apple will only release a new iMac Pro/Mac Pro every few years rather than every year which might break this scheme (resale on a two year vs. one year computer drops precipitously).

 

[shadow82x]

Yes I love it! (And I was the one who reported the backlight bleed problem.) I will be exchanging it for another but I don't regret the purchase. I'm sure plenty of the display panels are fine.

 

[maxq]

Super happy so far with the thermals. Apple says the thermals are 80% better, but in my experience that seems like an understatement if anything.

Mine is certainly cooler than the Thunderbolt Display next to it in normal use, and even when pushed it hasn't felt even vaguely hot, just a little warm (and virtually silent).

And yes I'm very happy with it in overall use too, my development tasks run significantly faster than they did on the 2013 Mac Pro, as does everything else, and so far I've had no problems with the backlight, image retention, startup delays, or anything else for that matter (always tempting fate to say that of anything electronic of course, but so far so good).

I would very much agree with the point about only hearing from those who have complaints. That's normal across the interweb, where there is usually a storm of complaints about any new product which come from a small minority of buyers. Of course that's not to say they aren't genuine problems for the people who have them, but it might be one in a hundred or one in a thousand who have a particular problem, and they're still the only ones you're likely to hear from which makes it sound like everyone's having problems. If you let that put you off you'll never buy anything!

 

[kingjames1970]

Yes, love it even more now I'm actually doing work on it.

 

[Unfair]

So far, in my limited time use of it so far (got it late Tuesday, 10c/64gb/1TB/Vega64) and I haven't had much time to put it through its paces. It is a slick machine. Beautiful all around and FAST.

The (...possibly nit-picky...) things I've noted:

• Screen and text on screen seems much clearer than my 2014 5K iMac.
  • It seems to have a 'pink tint' to it according to the wife. I don't see it, but she says "it is noticeable" ... I guess it looks a shade 'warmer' than my 2014 iMac but I don't see it being 'pink' /shrug
• The speakers, are loud, and with some music, almost an improvement, but in Apple's attempt to make them sound 'bass-y' it makes dialog based audio harder to hear (to me and my ears) and more distant / hollow sounding.
• Fans... I've done some basic testing quick renders in FCPX and some large RAW Photo files, loaded up a game (Guild Wars 2), and just tried to do things things that would make my 2014 iMac howl ... the iMac Pro was dead silent. Ran everything like a champ, and speeds that make my 2014 look like a paper weight.
  • HOWEVER... There's something that started last night and curious if other people have this issue as well, when the system wakes from sleep (or goes to sleep it seems now...), the fans kick on, FULL BLAST. Stay on for maybe 15-20 seconds, then eventually slow down and are silent again. Under normal operation, fans never come back on, always completely silent, but if I go away a bit, come back, wake the system, 2 out of 3 times, the fans will flare up again. Also seems to do this on a fresh boot from a shut down.

I'd say it is a hell of a machine, but I need a bit more actual 'work time' with it to know for sure how it will play out and if I can confidently say it is a keeper!

 

[bxs]

I'm holding out to see if pro owners start complaining about thermal problems and image retention. Personally I think it's just a matter of time before these things start frying. If there's one thing apple cannot do its build an imac that doesnt overheat.

My MP6,1 6-core and 12-core models do not ever overheat and they get used constantly over past 4 years.

 

[RimasM]

No. I bought it to speed up software development and I have been very happy with the improvements there vs. my 2016 iMac. But I work remotely out of my house so my work computer is also my fun computer at night.
<...>

Which configuration have you chosen?

 

[dimensional]

Which configuration have you chosen?

8-core, 1TB, 32GB, 64 Vega

I possibly wish I had gotten a 10-core though (supposedly that is not only faster at multi core but also at single core due to a higher boost clock rate even though the base clock rate is lower?)

 

[RimasM]

Thank you for the info. Currently I'm trying to decide what to upgrade.
I'll definitely going to look for Vega 64, 1TB and not less than 10 cores. I've tried the base model already and Xcode was really happy with all those cores, therefore I still have some doubts about number of cores (even with the lower max clock speed). VMs would like RAM too, but that could be "easily" upgraded later.

 

[phobos]

It's been only a couple of hours since I got my machine so things might change in the future but so far I'm extremely impressed.
It spits out renders without any hesitation and it's silent throughout the process.
Incredibly amazed!

 

[thefriendshipmachine]

My MP6,1 6-core and 12-core models do not ever overheat and they get used constantly over past 4 years.

I don't own the 2012 mac pro so I cant comment too much on its thermals. I know two generations before its time though, the G5, had *tons* of cooling problems which got really nasty with liquid cooling systems either clogging or leaking everywhere and destroying units.

It is simply outstanding how bad apple is at building systems that run cool when they've had so many failed attempts. You'd think they would learn but they never have yet.

 

[bxs]

I don't own the 2012 mac pro so I cant comment too much on its thermals. I know two generations before its time though, the G5, had *tons* of cooling problems which got really nasty with liquid cooling systems either clogging or leaking everywhere and destroying units.

It is simply outstanding how bad apple is at building systems that run cool when they've had so many failed attempts. You'd think they would learn but they never have yet.

I've owned the tower G3, G4, G5(liquid cooled) and none ever overheated and the liquid cooled one never leaked. I think you will find that the issues you mentioned were experienced by a small fraction of the user base owning those models. Issues get reported and discussed. Non-issues are rarely discussed.

 

[bplein]

I’m super impressed with my iMac Pro. The visual bug in the Wifi networking is just that. Someone at Apple didn’t test with this model.

It runs a hexk if a lot faster than my i7 iMac, quieter on all loads, sounds better although I agree with the post that says it sounds a bit bassy on speech. It renders 4K video quickly and I can spin up a bunch of VMs in Fusion lickity split for testing things.

 

[mcaswell]

Happy with mine so far. One thing that really impressed me was how, during a 1-2 hour Handbrake encode, with all 8 cores pretty much maxed out, it didn't seem to break a sweat... could not hear the fans running at all.

 

[Redneck1089]

So far I have been really happy with mine. It's wicked fast, the panel is a good one (minimal back light bleed), and it's silent.

The only thing that's annoying me is my Dell 5K seems a bit wonky with it. Every once in awhile the panel decides to stretch the image, while still reporting 5k. The only way to fix it is to actually unplug the power cord from the monitor and plug it back in. This happens when the display goes to sleep and is then awakened later, but only randomly.

I'm using a special Sonnet dual DisplayPort to since Thunderbolt 3/USB C adapter.

I have had trouble with my cMP and the Dell 5K, sometimes having to power cycle it for it to perform properly, but nothing like this.

My nMP, while I had it, also worked flawlessly with the monitor. So this is a bit strange and disappointing. Nothing I can't work around, but just ...annoying.

 

[floridaman]

So far, in my limited time use of it so far (got it late Tuesday, 10c/64gb/1TB/Vega64) and I haven't had much time to put it through its paces. It is a slick machine. Beautiful all around and FAST.

• Fans... I've done some basic testing quick renders in FCPX and some large RAW Photo files, loaded up a game (Guild Wars 2), and just tried to do things things that would make my 2014 iMac howl ... the iMac Pro was dead silent. Ran everything like a champ, and speeds that make my 2014 look like a paper weight.
  • HOWEVER... There's something that started last night and curious if other people have this issue as well, when the system wakes from sleep (or goes to sleep it seems now...), the fans kick on, FULL BLAST. Stay on for maybe 15-20 seconds, then eventually slow down and are silent again. Under normal operation, fans never come back on, always completely silent, but if I go away a bit, come back, wake the system, 2 out of 3 times, the fans will flare up again. Also seems to do this on a fresh boot from a shut down.

I'd say it is a hell of a machine, but I need a bit more actual 'work time' with it to know for sure how it will play out and if I can confidently say it is a keeper!

I noticed exactly the same thing with my Imac Pro. It was a sleep for a couple of hours and upon waking it the fan was running what seemed to be at full blast. I also noticed the cpu temp and video card temp were much higher than normal. As you said the fan was on for maybe 20 seconds and then turned off. I thought it was a bit strange especially coming out of sleep mode. There must be a big causing this issue. In my case due to a couple of major issues I have a replacement in transit to me and this one is going back.