The macbook pro doesn't come close the iMac pro they are hard to compare.
From a purely benchmark view the vega 56 is roughly 60% more powerful. Although the iMac pro will throttle its no where near the same issue as it is in the macbook pro in sustained loads the iMac pro is better in almost every single aspect and really is about the same price as a 15" loaded macbook pro.
But you cant take the iMac pro with you.
The problem for me is that the macbook pro is so expensive and has a lot of great tech in it but it is really let down by the form factor. Its really a lot more of a compromise than people want to admit especially when you are spending north of £4000 on one with apple care and lets be honest with all the issues the macbook pro has you would be an idiot not to buy it. Call it £4400 with the 2.9 32gb 1tb and vega 20.
Refurb iMac pros are £4159 +189 for apple care £4348.
https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/produ...58e21d0e8163b235a7084b62ab614a67b53df44b6ef32
When you compare what you get the iMac pro is far better. For me the imac pro is pointless for 90% of people the Xeons are slower for normal tasks and also dont have quicksync. The Ram is also expensive and because its ECC its far more likely to fail. Ive had 6 sticks in the last 10 years go in my mac pro. Because its sealed you cant swap them out so you will loose it for 2 weeks at apple just to swap out a stick. Plus good luck getting it back in the same condition you gave it in.
What is an interesting difference is the 2017 iMac it performs similarly than the macbook pro i9 although in real use is faster because of thermal issues and you can get a i7 512gb 8gb 580 model for £2289 on the refurb store add 32gb or ram yourself for £200 and your all in for under £2500 leaves you £2000 budget.
The 580 is also 50% faster than the vega 20. My 580 benches at 148000 the vega 20 is about 65000.
You could get a refurb 2.6 512 16gb 560X for £2289
https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/produ...75cf85c8430e62a2da7005ce26199b55b396684577edb
TBH the 2.6 and 2.9 are pointless upgrades in my mind the machine cant cope with them and even under synthetic benchmarks the 2.2 i7 performs so similarly it seems like the peach in the options. You could get one of those and save some money.
You can have both...
