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

[DrRadon]

Right now i got a 1tb SSD in my very old iMac and i am using 300gb for bootcamp. For now thats actually very good. It rarely gets full and whenever it did i was usualy hoarding to much games i would not play anyway.
I just think that with video editing 2TB were a good choice for my new iMac. And for whatever happens 5 years from now as well.

 

[Dosing]

Mines is finally coming on Wednesday - so excited!

 

[DQ11]

400% more cpu power for me.
1000% more gpu power for me.

Coming from a late 2012 iMac 27 inch.

And the 5k display is transformative. There's nothing else like it short of the 6k or an 8k display. And those cost more than an iMac.

Azrael.

That is a nice upgrade....

I'm coming from a 2007 MBP 2.4ghz core 2 duo with 2GB ram to a 2020 imac....lol...And going from Logic Pro 7 to Logic Pro X 10.5. It might take me a bit to get adjusted to all the new stuff.

 

[DrRadon]

Mines is finally coming on Wednesday - so excited!

Still no movement of the needle here... but it can't be many more days. :->

 

[DQ11]

Same here....still in processing...Ordered on the 5th. This Thursday the 20th would be the earliest.

 

[krazzix]

1440p is a nice break point since:

1. you get "bonus" image quality for being exactly divisible by the native res.
2. most video cards don't quite push 4k at full frame rates without some real compromises, but do 1440p fine.
3. There's a decreasing benefit to pushing higher resolutions. 1080p to 1440p is a big step up ... 4k less so. 1440p to 4k is definitely noticeable, but you will forget it quickly while gaming.

However, the PPI of the 5K screen is high enough that worrying about the scaling really isn't necessary imo. I ran the Witcher at 4k on my 5K screen and while you could see just a bit of softness compared to 5k, it still looked really good.

Also, many games are modern enough that they push the UI overlays at 5K and render the in game engine at a lower res for performance. Sharp synthetic UI elements are what benefit the most from a high resolution, so you can get the best of both worlds if the game supports it.

I agree, 1440p is the sweet spot for gaming. When I'm working 5K is really nice for text and images and movies. But when gaming, 5K or 4K is way too heavy and barely noticeable when playing.

 

[Darajavahus]

I'm coming from a 2007 MBP 2.4ghz core 2 duo with 2GB ram to a 2020 imac....lol...And going from Logic Pro 7 to Logic Pro X 10.5. It might take me a bit to get adjusted to all the new stuff.

How did you have the strength and patience, I'm jealous of your resilience, I can barely cope with my late 2012 iMac, I hoped I could hold off for Apple Silicon but I just bought iMac.

 

[DrRadon]

How did you have the strength and patience, I'm jealous of your resilience, I can barely cope with my late 2012 iMac, I hoped I could hold off for Apple Silicon but I just bought iMac.

Make it about what you actually need.
I was very happy with my 2012 iMac 21.5 until i wanted to edit 4k footage.
Even the gaming was working surprisingly well still.
I am getting a new one now because i gained a actually need,
and not someone telling me that i need T2, that i need soldered on SSD, that i need 27 inch or whatnot.

 

[DrRadon]

Same here....still in processing...Ordered on the 5th. This Thursday the 20th would be the earliest.

Are you in Europe to?
Since i ordered express shipping i always assumed we will be in the same batch and i will just get it 1-3 days earlier.
So with me not expecting delivery in Germany today and the shipping process not even having begun in my Apple order tracker (as in, i don't think this will arrive tomorrow or even Wednesday) i would not get my hopes up for this week if i were you. Because if it's +3 days for you without no express shipping this is looking mighty 24th or later for you (24th being the final day for me according to the tracker).
But then i also ordered a day later than you sooooo....

 

[fireguy286]

Still no movement of the needle here... but it can't be many more days. :->

Same here....still in processing...Ordered on the 5th. This Thursday the 20th would be the earliest.

Same. Processing. Apple and I have very different definitions of "soon"

 

[DrRadon]

Same. Processing. Apple and I have very different definitions of "soon"

I think it depends on were you are. Americans seem to get UPS straight from China. I think us europeans miss a lot of the way because apple only hands it over to UPS in Ireland.

 

[Azrael9]

I don't really feel like 512gb of SSD is a very future proof option.
I know it depends on what you want to do with your computer and more and more "average joe" stuff is streaming or cloud based... but if you actually do work on your computer it is also a truth that all programs get bigger, all file sizes get bigger.
There is a reason the more powerful large MacBook Pro comes with minimum 1TB standard for almost a year now.

If you were just going Mac (No Bootcamp) and keeping it as a boot drive. Fine. Plenty for the OS. And external drives for Apps and Data.

As soon as you Bootcamp it...

'Tight.'

During my last iMac experience...the 128 gigs SSD did eventually fill up leaving me with a much slower boot experience. And I was doing lots of video work or anything data hungry.

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

Random Q on gaming. Does anything other than native res look weird? Aka 4k on a 5k screen, 1080p is a no go imo. 1440p may be ok(ish), as it is half the native resolution.

Not to mention, anything other than a 30/60fps lock isn't going to cut it, unless you love screen tearing.

The new iMac looks fine on HD. Super high frame rates. A lot smoother.

2440p. Getting about 68 fps on the ultra setting. It looked a lot crisper.

The monitor only refreshes at 60 hz...

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

Yes I debated 512GB vs 1TB at the time I got mine, glad I went bigger as since then I partitioned 1/3 of it as a Bootcamp Win10 for gaming. Interesting though @Azrael on my relatively puny AMD 580 with i7 from 2017 in Win10 Bootcamp I can play 2160p games on high detail or 1440p games on ultra detail fine, both with 50-60fps which is OK for me (mostly driving sims).

These days we're just getting 'more' fps on games in HD and 2440p. A lot of the sales pitch has been on higher refresh monitors and gpus to drive FPS ever higher.

Whilst we've been waiting for gpu tech to get up to speed on 4k.

The new gpus should be. Ampere and RDNA2.

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

I have been doing very well with 30 FPS forever and ever. And since the iMac can only do 60 anyway i am fine with the GPU delivering 50-60. xD

50-60 used to be the gold standard.

I remember 25 fps was playable enough. And 50-60 seemed super smooth.

I'd rather have a 60 fps on 4k. But even the 5700XT can't do that. It might be able to on some old games.

I'd expect the 5700XT to be in the 4k 30-40 fps range.

Azrael.

 

[wave84]

Az, is there any chance you can test it in Overwatch @1440p or native res with 50% scaling (can be low settings even) and tell us if there's any fan noise?

Thanks a million.

 

[DrRadon]

Az, is there any chance you can test it in Overwatch @1440p or native res with 50% scaling (can be low settings even) and tell us if there's any fan noise?

Thanks a million.

I am fairly certain overwatch was visible in some of the videos we had here. From what i remember it is a well optimised game that is not to demanding on the system anyway and ran very well.

 

[wave84]

I am fairly certain overwatch was visible in some of the videos we had here. From what i remember it is a well optimised game that is not to demanding on the system anyway and ran very well.

I'm pretty sure it runs well, because it runs well on an iMac 2017 with a quad core i7 and a Radeon 570 that I have at work. It also runs silently.

As opposed to my Macbook Pro 16 which, although in theory is a much more powerful computer, it throttles to the point that the game becomes unplayable, and it also sounds like a jet.

So basically what I'm worried about is that 125W i7/i9 generating lots of heat and noise in the process. I so wished we could have specced the i5 with a 5700.....

 

[Azrael9]

With great power comes great heat.

The new iMac is powerful. 10 cores and a 5700XT that isn't that far away from a 2080TI. In a tight enclosure. With (in my view) inadequate venting and cooling (tiny fan. Really Apple?)

But that comes at a price.

Pushing Unigine to ultra settings the temps go from 52 to 93 degrees.

If you run this thing on the edge with cpu or games. You'll get 'low key' fans kicking in.

But for old games. There should be less of an issue. Running an iMac in a warmer environment appears to be a contributing factor as well.

Not as noisy as the whiny Athlon I had back in 2000...

Azrael.

 

[The_Lord_of_Apple]

Not as noisy as the whiny Athlon I had back in 2000...

So in a nutshell those who complain about the fan noise, need to take a teaspoon of concrete and harden up a bit?

At the end of the day, it is not as noisy.

 

[Azrael9]

So basically what I'm worried about is that 125W i7/i9 generating lots of heat and noise in the process. I so wished we could have specced the i5 with a 5700.....

It depends on what you're doing.

My preliminary testing?

3D rendering? Blender? Two 'stress' tests got the fans the loudest I've heard them so far.

Unigine which is infamous for crushing consumer Mac gpus? The iMac bossed the benchmark on HD and QHD. On Ultra.

But your temps are going to rise playing at that 'level' of game quality. And the fans kick in. Not to the same hair dryer degree as on the 3D rendering.

But it's noticeable to me. The achievement of being able to finally hammer 3D renders and 3D gaming is balanced by the fact temps will rise. Clearly this isn't satisfactory to Apple. As they're moving to their own silicon. Which speaks for itself. But whilst Intel and AMD have 'done their best' I question why iMac Pro cooling was't brought to the iMac. There is plenty of room for it.

As it would be if you're doing 2D or Office work work in the main. This kind of stuff isn't going to push it.

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

So in a nutshell those who complain about the fan noise, need to take a teaspoon of concrete and harden up a bit?

At the end of the day, it is not as noisy.

It's relative to the sun, Lord of Apple.

I'm sensitive to noise. I can hear a high pitch (almost dog whistle...) style whine from the TV. So the iMac fans are def' noticeable on a Blender stress test (HSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Is the sound...) and lower on the Unigine slow climb to cookery, (WHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!). More low key. But to me? Still very noticeable. But we have to be reasonable. You're clobbering Unigine on Ultra settings on HD and QHD.

The Athlon was really irritating after a long session on a computer. Reminded me of a vacuum cleaner after a while. Whiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrr!!! Maybe a hairdryer. But worthy of receiving a hammer to keep it quiet...

I play an old game from 2004. No fan noise. (Unless the Attic Studio gets really warm. And Britain has just suffered record breaking temps and humidity. Not my fav' kind of weather, I'll be honest.)

The iMac. I can't say I'm not a trifle disappointed at the cooling to offset and temper my excitement about the performance which is immutably impressive.

This is a kick ass around and substantial boost.

But you don't get the design update.
You don't get iMac Pro level cooling. Which too me, is the worse offender out the two.

Sure. We can point the finger at Intel and AMD. They haven't draped themselves in glory.

But Apple, with the thing that was under their control? They had 3 years to improve the iMac's cooling. And they didn't.

We know about the access to ram thing. But they're a 2 trillion company with billions in the bank and I paid them £3400 to fix it and it's not there in this product.

Bar the cooling. I'm less concerned about the design being the same. Ironic. As I thought I would be. I get this is the end of the road for Intel.

*Opens the Attic window for some cool air.*

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

So in a nutshell those who complain about the fan noise, need to take a teaspoon of concrete and harden up a bit?

At the end of the day, it is not as noisy.

Short answer. Not as noisy as an Athlon from 2000.

And a damn sight more powerful and a damn sight prettier.

And it's a Mac.

Azrael.
[automerge]1597670425[/automerge]

So in a nutshell those who complain about the fan noise, need to take a teaspoon of concrete and harden up a bit?

At the end of the day, it is not as noisy.

As for hardening up a bit. Migraine today.

But Porridge seems to have done the trick.

Azrael.

 

[xgman]

You don't get iMac Pro level cooling. Which too me, is the worse offender out the two.
Azrael.

Yeah, this is a hard one to understand. How expensive could that imp fan retrofit be into the im? They have to be aware of the ongoing fan noise complaints for the last couple years. I don't really get why they wouldn't cure that.

 

[Azrael9]

Still no movement of the needle here... but it can't be many more days. :->

Still in processing?

Azrael.