Will there ever be a new large iMac (Pro)?

[teetoo]

Damm, I better order that RAM!

 

[Azrael9]

OK, Apple are proper messing with my head now!

Just checked my order again and shipping dates now reads 12th August!!! That's in two days! WTF?

This morning it was getting ready to ship 18-20 Aug!!!

18-20 Aug > 17 Aug > 12 Aug in the just a few hours. At this rate I'll be unboxing this evening

Neck Whiplash! Super quick!!! Gratzy.

12 Aug? Did you hit the order button on that iMac straight away???!?

Azrael.
[automerge]1597063967[/automerge]

Damm, I better order that RAM!

You'd better.

I'll have to do the same!!!

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

My data needs are starting to increase significantly. I’ll probably also go with 1TB when I upgrade, but then add something like the OWC Express 4M2. It has 4 NVMe slots attached by Thunderbolt 3. Flexible fast storage I can migrate to future new computers.

OWC Express 4M2

PWHOAR!!! Lookid dat!!!!

I want one of them...!

So you'll add the storage later via the OWC. You can load the bays up straight away or add it as you need to. As the prices in the higher capacity fall...you can upgrade it and 'store' the ones you replace.

Der-ROOL!

I WANT ONE!!!

Azrael.

 

[Voyageur]

Is it one of their MMO style games? ie. Can you download it from their Battle account and run it in demo mode? (You can download WoW and try it in demo mode 'free' until L20 (I think...or I did...)

It takes 5k at Extreme settings to get silent to low fan noise. 25 fps.

That's the 2015 model. AMD R9 m395x.

Azrael.

It is now free to play at the minimum level and available from Battle.net.

Thank you, I once saw this video, but Blizzard at some point increased the quality of the graphics (on my ex 27" late 2013 with GTX780m it became sharply worse in 2016-2017) + this video does not show what happens when a total carnage begins between 4x4 or 8x8 players: fps decreases several times.

+ for example, I saw the process of playing on a MacBook Pro 16" with 5500, and there were unplayable lags in multiplayer mode.

 

[teetoo]

Neck Whiplash! Super quick!!! Gratzy.

12 Aug? Did you hit the order button on that iMac straight away???!?

Azrael.
[automerge]1597063967[/automerge]


You'd better.

I'll have to do the same!!!

Azrael.

Ordered late on the Tuesday night, was waiting for them to appear in the Edu store. Have to say I due a fastone from Apple, last time I ordered a BTO MBP direct it was delayed four times, in the end for a month although they did bump me up to a new release. Nice that things tend to smooth out in the long run.

Right RAM, was thinking and extra 64gb from mrmemory.co.uk, they have Samsung 32s or Kingston HyperX 32s that are about £50 more expensive - are they worth it? hmmm? no idea?

 

[pldelisle]

Right RAM, was thinking and extra 64gb from mrmemory.co.uk, they have Samsung 32s or Kingston HyperX 32s that are about £50 more expensive - are they worth it? hmmm? no idea?

Only take certified RAM for mac : https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/memory-upgrade-compatibility-list-for-imac-2019-2020.2248911/

 

[teetoo]

Only take certified RAM for mac : https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/memory-upgrade-compatibility-list-for-imac-2019-2020.2248911/

Thanks, that was really useful

 

[Azrael9]

It is now free to play at the minimum level and available from Battle.net.

Thank you, I once saw this video, but Blizzard at some point increased the quality of the graphics (on my ex 27" late 2013 with GTX780m it became sharply worse in 2016-2017) + this video does not show what happens when a total carnage begins between 4x4 or 8x8 players: fps decreases several times.

+ for example, I saw the process of playing on a MacBook Pro 16" with 5500, and there were unplayable lags in multiplayer mode.

It's a not a 'full tilt' situation. When player/mob carnage happens that will hit fps.

That's why we order the best gpu we can on our iMac.

Blizzard DID increase the quality of graphics in StarCraft. I heard about that. And they certainly did in WoW with the Legion patch. It too fps from 100 fps in Vanilla to about 45-55 in fps Legion.

I'll might have a crack at downloading it when I have my machine and trying it out. Not my thing. But it might be a good stress test.

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

Linus is good, but he doesn't have a single clue about what a Mac is. He is good with normal hardware, but he clearly doesn't care at all of Apple.

Yeah. He's a devils advocate of the Mac platform. Or a PC guy's point of view.

I'd certainly take the iMac Pro's 'inadequate' cooling.

The Apple and Mac do have a history of gaming (back when the PC was green, black and white or primitive.) But it's not the Mac platform's modus operandi. But for the money paid. I expect the Mac to be 'just as good' with the caveat of form factor.

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

Another thing I'll def' be benching is Blender.

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

NVIDIA teases upcoming GeForce RTX 30 "Ampere" Series - VideoCardz.com

The teaser season has begun. NVIDIA teases upcoming Ampere series for August 31st An Ultimate Countdown has started. A mysterious teaser has been published by NVIDIA on social media. The company has not revealed the name of the series, nor did it confirm the exact launch date. A video teaser...

videocardz.com

Ampere. August 31.

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

The pressure is on for AMD's RDNA2.

Nvidia cranking up for the PR heat. (Don't expect Nv' to do us any favours on price...)

Or expect to see one in any Mac soon. (Especially in an iMac even it Apple and Nv were on speaking terms.)

But from a gpu tech' situation? Entirely appropriate to see what competing platforms offer you for the money you pay out for eg. iMacs.

The 5700XT (a decent card...MID-range gpu LAST YEAR!) and will be 'mighty' fine in any Intel iMac.

But it has come a year and half (almost) later to the mainstream Mac.

And the 'PC' side of things is set to comet sling gpu performance onto another level.

Azrael.

 

[yellow_lupine]

Here is an interesting review for the top CPU and GPU version: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...rks-the-last-intel-imac.2248978/post-28761041

... temperatures and fan noise as always -.-

 

[Jashue]

Hello Jashue,

If you're a data hoarder then you've answered the 1st question. A large SSD. (I went for the upgrade to the 1TB SSD but I couldn't stomach Apple's pricing up to the 2TB SSD.) But for you, you've made your mind up for the 4 TB SSD. You know your data use better than anyone. And as you say, you can always add external SSDs. They're coming down in price all the time.

Handbrake and Photoshop. The 8 core is more than good enough. Plenty. More than plenty. It's standard on the top tier now and it outperforms the previous 8 core. Even the 6 core is close to last gen 8 core. If you were doing 3d rendering 8 core would still be good. But in that instance I'd push for the 10 core. And I have.

GPU. I can't see what you're doing that required more than an 5500XT. It's less than a Vega 48 (but it's not that far behind it and this was previously a £450 option give or take...) but the 5500XT has VCN.1 AMD encoders. Showing 1-3x improvements over previous gpu. (See Max Tech' videos.) So if you take up any video work in Final Cut to augment your Photoshop workflow you'll be well catered to here.

If it was me? I'd future proof this with a 5700 8 gig. If you're going to pay the extra on a 4TB SSD. I don't see the point on future proofing your data but not your gpu. (But I have a thing about gpus. I'm just thinking about system balance. 4TBSSD. 8 core. 40 gigs of Ram. Go for the better gpu. Helps with system smoothness as apps become more dependent on gpus going forwards.)

If you're coming from a 2011? This is going to seem like a speed demon. :O

4TBSSD.
8 core.
5500XT (should be quite a step up from what you currently have...however, I'd go for the 5700xt 8 gig.)
8 gig of Ram. (Buy your own 2x16 gig sticks. 32 gigs. Add to the 8. Gives you 40 gig for PShop usage.)


I think that would be the machine you'd be needing. Your call on the gpu. But better to add it now. As the eGPU option will be very pricey later. The 5700XT is a real sweet spot for performance. Who knows what you'd need the gpu power for later. It's lower clocked so may well perform well within capability when running the odd game or application that you run into re: the future. And by what you save not opting for a 10 core you can opt for the 5700XT 8 gigger. This is the 1st iMac which some may pass the fit and proper gamer's test. So treat yourself with a game of your choice to take a break from all that Photoshoping.

My favourite tipple back in the day was Marathon Infinity by Bungie. When Photoshop 4 was my Love Goddess of choice...and my High Priest mistress was a Power Mac Tower.

Azrael.

Good stuff! Thanks man!

 

[Azrael9]

I was in Laval so I had a look there

Check out Dr. Radon's post re: decibel level of the new iMac in the benchmark thread.

Here is an interesting review for the top CPU and GPU version: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...rks-the-last-intel-imac.2248978/post-28761041

... temperatures and fan noise as always -.-

Interesting.

The quietest iMac yet..?

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

Anyone who buys that £2299 model is getting a decent deal from Apple.

8 core. Decent gpu. SSD. Most of the benefits of the iMac Pro for less than half the price! What's that? 50-60% off the previous entry iMac Pro.

Less ram. Smaller SSD. No 'serious' cooling. But that's a trade off I'd take given the price reduction.

Azrael.

 

[KrazyKanuck]

Anyone who buys that £2299 model is getting a decent deal from Apple.

8 core. Decent gpu. SSD. Most of the benefits of the iMac Pro for less than half the price! What's that? 50-60% off the previous entry iMac Pro.

Less ram. Smaller SSD. No 'serious' cooling. But that's a trade off I'd take given the price reduction.

Azrael.

My thoughts exactly. $505 (Canadian) more for an i9 with a 10% boost in CPU performance. $375 more for the 5700 for an extra 20% in GPU performance or $625 more for the 5700XT and, say, a 40% boost over the 5500XT. You've got to really want/need those upgrades. Upgrading to an i9 and a 5700XT is an extra $1130 CAD and probably about 40% of the cost of a forthcoming AS iMac, which will no doubt out perform it. The T1 and T3 bases are pretty good values as far as values can be had with Apple.

 

[pldelisle]

My thoughts exactly. $505 (Canadian) more for an i9 with a 10% boost in CPU performance. $375 more for the 5700 for an extra 20% in GPU performance or $625 more for the 5700XT and, say, a 40% boost over the 5500XT. You've got to really want/need those upgrades. Upgrading to an i9 and a 5700XT is an extra $1130 CAD and probably about 40% of the cost of a forthcoming AS iMac, which will no doubt out perform it. The T1 and T3 bases are pretty good values as far as values can be had with Apple.

Yeah. Base tier-3 is totally fine for 95% of people looking for a 27" iMac.

As you said, you must really need these costly upgrades. But iMac must target general audience AND specific needs. I think this last version of iMac excels in doing this.

I personally fall in the second category.

• Standard glass
• 3.6GHz 10-core 10th-generation Intel Core i9 processor
• 8GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory with upgrade to 64 GB of Crucial memory.
• Radeon Pro 5700 with 8GB of GDDR6 memory
• 1TB SSD storage
• 10 Gigabit Ethernet

Would be my config. Plenty of fast storage for datasets, 10 cores to play with. And Radeon Pro 5700 because


BUT if my Late-2013 doesn't explode 'til ARM iMac (not expected this year thought) I'll wait I'm definitively convinced that Apple Silicon based Macs will be a lot better than any Mac Intel released to date.

 

[fireguy286]

My thoughts exactly. $505 (Canadian) more for an i9 with a 10% boost in CPU performance. $375 more for the 5700 for an extra 20% in GPU performance or $625 more for the 5700XT and, say, a 40% boost over the 5500XT. You've got to really want/need those upgrades. Upgrading to an i9 and a 5700XT is an extra $1130 CAD and probably about 40% of the cost of a forthcoming AS iMac, which will no doubt out perform it. The T1 and T3 bases are pretty good values as far as values can be had with Apple.

The economics of the best you can buy will never be there that way. You buy it because it's best you can get, regardless of what it costs. Whether that premium is worth it or not is up to each person. For me, it was. As time wears on, those performance differences matter if you want to hang on to your machine for a decent amount of time, those cheaper components will age quicker. That has a value that doesn't show up in the benchmarks. And in the case of the last Intel Mac, perhaps even more so.

 

[KrazyKanuck]

The economics of the best you can buy will never be there that way. You buy it because it's best you can get, regardless of what it costs. Whether that premium is worth it or not is up to each person. For me, it was. As time wears on, those performance differences matter if you want to hang on to your machine for a decent amount of time, those cheaper components will age quicker. That has a value that doesn't show up in the benchmarks. And in the case of the last Intel Mac, perhaps even more so.

Exactly, you've really got to want or need those upgrades. I want my new iMac to last a long time, but I also seem to lack self control. So I'm not sure that I won't get a little weak in the knees when a new 32", cool running, AS iMac drops. For me, there are far too many variables (and far too many of those are unknown) that are at play in trying to determine how long this new machine will keep my eyes from wandering to AS iMacs.

 

[pldelisle]

For me, there are far too many variables (and far too many of those are unknown) that are at play in trying to determin how long this new machine will keep my wandering eyes from AS iMacs.

Same thing for me.

I don't want to spend 4500$ CAD on a 2020 iMac when the AS iMac will for sure equal it of even beat it with more features (FaceID for instance) while running cooler. If really I don't have choice I'll buy it but I still have the choice. And still have a backup workstation to work on if the MBP blows the battery out of its case.

 

[KrazyKanuck]

Something for me.

I don't want to spend 4500$ CAD on a 2020 iMac when the AS iMac will for sure equal it of even beat it with more features (FaceID for instance) while running cooler. If really I don't have choice I'll buy it but I still have the choice.

I upgraded from a 2013 27-inch, which I have been using with cracked glass since I dropped a book on the top edge. Last week a bug crawled into the display and died between the laminations. I took that as a sign...

 

[pldelisle]

I upgraded from a 2013 27-inch, which I have been using with cracked glass since I dropped a book on the top edge. Last week a bug crawled into the display and died between the laminations. I took that as a sign...

Definitively ahaha

Bugs going inside the screen seems a real problem thought. Not the first time I hear about that.

 

[anthony13]

Out for delivery, looking forward to increased rendering performance!

 

[pldelisle]

Out for delivery, looking forward to increased rendering performance!

8 or 10 core ?