iMac Pro - First Hands On Thread

[ThatSandWyrm]

Where are the new iMac Pro's assembled? curious to know if US made like some of the prior models.

thanks!

Mine was shipped from Shanghai according to UPS. Which makes sense. They made modifications to an existing chassis for the iMP for faster development and cost savings. Those gains would not have happened if they'd had to set up a new factory in the US to make it. All of the expertise they're leveraging is in China. Which is maddening, but that's just how it is.

 

[ThatSandWyrm]

Ok, so to balance out my disappointing results with PhotoScan, here's my impressions of playing around with the Unreal Engine editor:

HOLY CRAP IT'S FAST NOW!!!

The difference in performance between my 10-core, Vega64 iMP, and my Late 2015 i7 iMac is so astounding that I don't even need to run exact benchmarks to see the difference.

1) Initial post-install compilation of the 3000 or so built-in shaders finished in just 2 minutes. Normally I'd be waiting around for 10+ minutes as they ticked down one-by-one.

2) Changing a master material (and thus all of its instances too) in a project I'd worked on before, recompiled in 7 seconds. With the results appearing in the viewport in about half a second. I'm used to this taking 20-30 seconds on the older iMac for the recompile, and 5-10 seconds for the materials to actually update in the preview window. This will speed up my material editing exponentially.

3) The biggest gain is in rebuilding the scene's light maps. Went from 3-4 minutes, to ~25 seconds. With the CPU being fully utilized for a good chunk of that.

Obviously Unreal Editor is very well optimized for multi-core systems.

 

[sputnikBA]

Ok, so to balance out my disappointing results with PhotoScan, here's my impressions of playing around with the Unreal Engine editor:

HOLY CRAP IT'S FAST NOW!!!

The difference in performance between my 10-core, Vega64 iMP, and my Late 2015 i7 iMac is so astounding that I don't even need to run exact benchmarks to see the difference.

1) Initial post-install compilation of the 3000 or so built-in shaders finished in just 2 minutes. Normally I'd be waiting around for 10+ minutes as they ticked down one-by-one.

2) Changing a master material (and thus all of its instances too) in a project I'd worked on before, recompiled in 7 seconds. With the results appearing in the viewport in about half a second. I'm used to this taking 20-30 seconds on the older iMac for the recompile, and 5-10 seconds for the materials to actually update in the preview window. This will speed up my material editing exponentially.

3) The biggest gain is in rebuilding the scene's light maps. Went from 3-4 minutes, to ~25 seconds. With the CPU being fully utilized for a good chunk of that.

Obviously Unreal Editor is very well optimized for multi-core systems.

I just wanna say thanks again for adding this. its one of the few detailed 3D related comments for iMac Pro and your mention of being able to edit materials is super useful to me as someone who will spend a lot of time iterating on shaders/mats and lighting. If you have any other commentary to make please share anything else you can.

 

[macsforever]

Ok, so to balance out my disappointing results with PhotoScan, here's my impressions of playing around with the Unreal Engine editor:

HOLY CRAP IT'S FAST NOW!!!

The difference in performance between my 10-core, Vega64 iMP, and my Late 2015 i7 iMac is so astounding that I don't even need to run exact benchmarks to see the difference.

1) Initial post-install compilation of the 3000 or so built-in shaders finished in just 2 minutes. Normally I'd be waiting around for 10+ minutes as they ticked down one-by-one.

2) Changing a master material (and thus all of its instances too) in a project I'd worked on before, recompiled in 7 seconds. With the results appearing in the viewport in about half a second. I'm used to this taking 20-30 seconds on the older iMac for the recompile, and 5-10 seconds for the materials to actually update in the preview window. This will speed up my material editing exponentially.

3) The biggest gain is in rebuilding the scene's light maps. Went from 3-4 minutes, to ~25 seconds. With the CPU being fully utilized for a good chunk of that.

Obviously Unreal Editor is very well optimized for multi-core systems.

These machines are built for that...
These iMP’s smash!

 

[macsforever]

That that is the million-dollar question. No Xeon has ever had Quick Sync except some low-end four-core versions. Some early rumors indicated the iMac Pro used a customized Xeon with Quick Sync. The earliest sketchy FCPX benchmarks indicated the iMP was either using that or maybe the similar UVD/VCE transcoding hardware bundled on AMD GPUs.

However more recent benchmarks are starting to look like the iMP Xeon doesn't have Quick Sync and maybe FCPX isn't using AMD's fixed-function transcoding logic -- at least for H264.

It is a complex and fragmented picture because FCPX on the iMP seems very fast at encoding H265/HEVC which definitely requires some kind of hardware acceleration -- it is about 10x as compute-intensive as H264.

However in the real world, H264 and variants like Sony's XAVC-S and Google's VP9 and AV1 are the dominate codecs today. It is increasingly vital that any computer targeted at video editing must have hardware acceleration for H264 and similar codecs, not just H265/HEVC.

Maybe further benchmarks will illuminate this area but it's a bit disturbing that Max Yuryev's tests showed the 8-core Vega56 iMP was slower on several FCPX H264 benchmarks than a 2017 iMac 27.

Lots of people use other video editing software but FCPX is a good indicator of what's possible since Apple optimizes it for their own hardware. If FCPX isn't using hardware acceleration for H264 on the iMP, that's not a good sign.

Not everyone is in H264... 265 is the future and the machine smashes the iMac on encoded 265 material!

 

[rnsinput]

I am interested in the iMac Pro and I was a bit startled to see your fps when my 2017 5k iMac 4.2 GHz i7 w/the RadeonPro 580 has 128 fps.

These can't be the same tests can they?

I'm unsure how to place the screenshot of my Cinebench R15 run here so if someone can tell me how I will. Thx for your help in advance. Also I am looking at the iMac Pro with the 10c and a Turbo Boost of 4.5 GHz. Does anyone know of a Cinebench R15 result for that configuration?

 

[phobos]

Hey rnsinput
The Cinebench results for the 10 core Vega 64 are the following.
Open GL: 138.04fps
CPU: 2056CB

Even if the Open GL performance is not so much better than your card I'm willing to bet that GPU rendering on the iMac PRO will be easily twice as fast.

I'm preparing a small video review of the iMac Pro as we speak and it's concentrating on 3D mostly.
Hopefully it'll be up sometime tomorrow. Working really hard to finish it today.
Crossing my fingers!

 

[mossback]

Many of us have had these machines for a few weeks now. I love the computer- one hell of an upgrade from the six year old iMac I had prior. Between Premiere, Arriraw converter and RedCineX my entire workflow is faster. It brings joy to my heart.

Love the space gray. Love the I/O. Love the display. Love the speed of the internal SSD. Love the RAM capacity. I've been impressed with the Vega 64. Impressed with render and encoding times overall. Not only faster but more robust and reliable. In mixed resolution timelines with a hodgepodge of effects, looks and other layers I would get errors on the prior system and have not had one with the iMP.

I have quite a bit of legacy TB2 drives and arrays for media storage. To connect those I got a few TB3>TB2 adapters and while not ideal they have functioned well thus far.

I purchased a Satechi USB-C hub and it's nice to have such an integrated, clean solution for ports in the front. Very convenient.

Also bought some magic grips for the mouse. I'm sure they have been around a while but are new to me and wonderful. I greatly prefer the grip and feel with them. And they look stock with the space gray.

I'm still getting used to the lower profile keys. I'm not sure they are an advancement. Perhaps in a few months it will be second nature. For sure, future keyboards never need to be any slimmer or lower profile. I do wish it was backlit.

I miss the start up chime.

 

[phobos]

I'm also impressed by the graphics card. I guess because I read a lot of reviews about how power-hungry Vega 64 is and Nvidia still being the king I expected the card to be slow. But it's actually fast.
Mossback we basically share the same impressions: Machine is fast, the keyboard is weird and I also miss the startup chime!

To those interested and to also avoid spamming the website I posted my video review on the iMac Pro for 3D here
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/imac-pro-for-3d.2101522/#post-25748317

If you guys have any questions let me know!

 

[h9826790]

Hey rnsinput
The Cinebench results for the 10 core Vega 64 are the following.
Open GL: 138.04fps
CPU: 2056CB

Even if the Open GL performance is not so much better than your card I'm willing to bet that GPU rendering on the iMac PRO will be easily twice as fast.

I'm preparing a small video review of the iMac Pro as we speak and it's concentrating on 3D mostly.
Hopefully it'll be up sometime tomorrow. Working really hard to finish it today.
Crossing my fingers!

Cinebench OpenGL test is a well known CPU limiting test. Unless you have a super fast CPU and super slow GPU. It can't test the GPU at all, but has a very linear relationship with the CPU's single thread performance.

 

[SecuritySteve]

I also miss the startup chime!

I read this, and my heart sank. "No, it cannot be true!" I thought to myself, and I googled it. I found out you were correct, and now I feel sad that when I do receive my iMac Pro, it will not roar to life with the startup chime that I've come to love since my childhood.

Oh man this is brutal. Damn you designers!

 

[phobos]

Cinebench OpenGL test is a well known CPU limiting test. Unless you have a super fast CPU and super slow GPU. It can't test the GPU at all, but has a very linear relationship with the CPU's single thread performance.

The Cinebench test is more of a general guide of what you can expect from the GPU card. I mostly pay attention to what happens when I load up the scene and navigate around it. And I'm very happy to say that it performs really well. With all effects enabled (SSAO, AO, DOF etc) the viewport is smooth as butter. It's brilliant!

I read this, and my heart sank. "No, it cannot be true!" I thought to myself, and I googled it. I found out you were correct, and now I feel sad that when I do receive my iMac Pro, it will not roar to life with the startup chime that I've come to love since my childhood.

Oh man this is brutal. Damn you designers!

It's really funny because the sound is so ingrained in my brain that whenever I press the button in my head I'm playing back the sound!
I think it's going to take a while before I stop doing that!

 

[SecuritySteve]

It's really funny because the sound is so ingrained in my brain that whenever I press the button in my head I'm playing back the sound!
I think it's going to take a while before I stop doing that!

Open terminal, type this:

sudo nvram BootAudio=%01

Throw the administrator password in when it prompts, and you will have the restored chime. To disable, use 00 instead of 01.

 

[hfg]

Open terminal, type this:

sudo nvram BootAudio=%01

Throw the administrator password in when it prompts, and you will have the restored chime. To disable, use 00 instead of 01.

Is this only for the iMac Pro ... or does it work for any "chime-less" Mac?

 

[SecuritySteve]

Is this only for the iMac Pro ... or does it work for any "chime-less" Mac?

Should work for all.

 

[h9826790]

The Cinebench test is more of a general guide of what you can expect from the GPU card.

Do I miss something? We are talking about the Cinebench R15 OpenGL test (the short video that a car driving around), isn't it? All HD5870, HD7950, HD7970, R9 380, R9 Nano, R9 Fury, RX580, Vega 64.... even a Titan X get the same OpenGL score with the same CPU on the same computer (only graphic card changed). This isn't sounds like a valid GPU test at all.

AFAIK, Unigine Valley, Unigine Heaven is a much more reliable OpenGL benchmark for GPU. And the graphics are much more enjoyable as well

Running Unigine Valley at 5k resolution should like running an extremely beautiful screen saver

 

[Bradleyone]

Open terminal, type this:

sudo nvram BootAudio=%01

Throw the administrator password in when it prompts, and you will have the restored chime. To disable, use 00 instead of 01.

Hate to break it to you, but this a myth.

It was reported on one Mac site when the 2016 MBP came out and then plagiarized on all the others. None of them actually tested it.

The chime sound file has been removed from the ROM. There is no magic command to bring it back.

 

[RedKite]

My desktop iMac is close to death now after 8 years of great service so I think I’ll get a Pro next. Very happy to hear how powerful it is. Currently Im using one of my MBPs for my main machine.

 

[SecuritySteve]

Hate to break it to you, but this a myth.

It was reported on one Mac site when the 2016 MBP came out and then plagiarized on all the others. None of them actually tested it.

The chime sound file has been removed from the ROM. There is no magic command to bring it back.

Sigh ... perhaps theres a way to inject it into the ROM?

Bah who am I kidding ... why mess with something so critical over something as esoteric as nostalgia?

 

[jetjaguar]

I’m considering getting an iMac pro because I don’t know if I can continue to wait for the Mac Pro.

The base model is fine for me but I really want the Vega 64 but being able to buy the base model for 3999 makes it awful difficult to swallow upgrading the gpu and paying almost 2k more

 

[SecuritySteve]

So I have a couple of concerns and excitements regarding the iMac Pro I received, and the results of some of my benchmarks.

Geekbench CPU:
5.4-5.5k Single Core 44-45k Multi
Geekbench GPU:
175k
Cinebench CPU:
2755 cb
Cinebench GPU:
81.89 FPS
BlackMagic:
3 GB/s read and 2.3 GB/s write

GPU Gaming test:

World of Warcraft (macOS):
5k Resolution at graphics setting level 8 on my densely populated server ... Stormwind City 55 FPS
2k Resolution at graphics setting level 10 in the same location ... 60 FPS
5k Resolution at graphics setting level 8 in a battleground - 40 FPS
2k Resolution at graphics setting level 10 in the same location - 60 FPS

So it does look like the Vega 64 GPU is capable of decent 5k gaming experiences ... quite impressive. But I'm probably going to stick with 2k simply because of mouse cursor size issues

My silicon rollout on my CPU must be godlike, that single core score is almost identical to the 10 core version. Definitely glad I went with my 18 core option.

Noted Bugs (on day 1 ... seriously?)
Installing Razer Synapse was a PAIN IN THE *** due to the "you must enable Razer Ltd" security center issue. I had to install Synapse twice before macOS allowed it to run. What a pain. That said after it was installed the devices worked beautifully ... no jumping mouse or unclear mic audio, and the keyboard obviously works flawlessly (hard to screw that up tho)

Before and after installing the drivers, macOS is EXTREMELY LAGGY on the login page from a restart or power on. After I am logged into my desktop, all is well. This only occurs when Razer devices are attached to the computer at power on or reboot. I hope this issue gets patched out as macOS updates roll out. I already had a kernel panic during the same time period, so there has to be some kind of device incompatibility issue or the T2 coprocessor is going nuts during login and causing a conflict.

I haven't had the chance to set up my professional use cases yet ... but will update this thread after I do.

(Edit: Also posted this in the delivery thread as promised, but it is appropriate here)

 

[dimensional]

Thanks for the updates Steve. Have you done any Windows 10 gaming testing?

In particular, I've noticed terrible frame rates in Overwatch under Windows 10 in Bootcamp on the Mac Pro (except for in the practice grounds, those work great).

 

[SecuritySteve]

Thanks for the updates Steve. Have you done any Windows 10 gaming testing?

In particular, I've noticed terrible frame rates in Overwatch under Windows 10 in Bootcamp on the Mac Pro (except for in the practice grounds, those work great).

Not yet. Most of my work will be on macOS, but I am planning on running some CFD applications for testing on Windows. I will also try to run some games on Windows while I'm at it for a decent comparison ... though I hear the bootcamp drivers blow, so brace yourself. I will be busy setting up the macOS side for the next few days, so perhaps in a week I will get around to Windows testing.

 

[MacRS4]

There's a video run through of my 8 core here should anyone be interested:

 

[flimpy]

Noted Bugs (on day 1 ... seriously?)

My experience exactly. I was using 4TB SSD as an external drive with my old iMac on Sierra (via Seagate Thunderbolt adapter) without any issues. When I connected it to iMP (via SATA to USB3 adapter) High Sierra that came with iMP has refused to mount it ("The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer"). I will find a way around it eventually, but I can't say I was surprised. Post-Jobs Apple just can't release any software without major bugs.