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

[scotttnz]

I'm similar to you in terms of use. I had a one year subscription to Adobe that expired several months ago and since I haven't been out shooting I haven't renewed. I'm seriously thinking about switching to something else, be it Affinity, On1, Luminar, etc. I just have so many photos in my Lightroom library at this point and I'm used to the workflow.

What are you doing with all your old photos if you haven't installed Lightroom?

Like you, my subscription expired a few months ago. I decided months before that I wasn't going to renew it, but it was the new iMac that pushed me into making a decision about what I was going to do instead.
I culled by raw files fairly brutally a few years ago. Where I had 20 photos of the same thing I just kept the best 2 or 3. so all my raw files are now on my main drive, organised into folders by date. I will migrate the older ones to an external drive when I need the space.
Any photos I deemed worthy of being editing and shared (either online or printed) I also export to Apple Photos, where I tag them and organise into Albums as appropriate. So that way I can find photos I'm looking for, and find my way back to the raw files if needed. I don't want to load all the raw files into Apple photos, but I do want the good photos available on all my devices.
I'll see how I go using this method, and if I find I need better asset management I'll go looking for some software to do it, but the reality is that I'm not shooting enough recently that a bit of a manual process is bothersome. My goal was to shoot more this year, but then, you know Covid happened

 

[Azrael9]

I didn't want to install Adobe on my new iMac, so it pushed me to switch over to Affinity Photo. I was mostly a Lightroom user, and mostly really enjoyed it. But my photography hobby fluctuates from daily use to not picking up my camera, or editing any photos for months, and i'd had enough of paying the Adobe subscription no matter what.
Affinity Photo works really well, but there are some quirks to get used to. So far there is nothing that makes me want to start renting software from Adobe again.

I do wonder if Affinity's free upgrades forever is a sustainable business model though....

It's not 'free updates forever.'

Just up to but not including 2.0 products.

Which is fair enough, to me. They get the investment and development for developing software (in comparison to the competition and they're closing real fast. Great UI and Power. Mac style apps in my view...) and in return we get cheap software with free updates for a 'very long time.'

It's a good balance against the greed of the big boys.

After all. It's nothing personal...it's corporate, right?

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

Compare this to Corel Painter 2019. It doesn't support Catalina. I didn't buy it that long ago. And it's already had support pulled by omission?

That's 'ok.'

I'll just use an alternative. That's cheaper. Better. More Mac like.

I reward good 'company' behaviour. And punish bad corporate behaviour alike by removing my custom.

I don't have to rent Adobe. I don't have reward Corel with a purchase of Painter 2020 or 2021. I won't buy another Wacom tablet after they 'omit' driver support for Catalina.

The company's that are less 'corporate' in their attitude to customers and 'get it' I'll support.

Z-Brush? You buy it. You get free updates. I've had loads of free updates from them. Saved £££££.

Azrael.

 

[Freida]

Have you seen the A14 chip? The future looks bright And thats only for the iPad which for the first time ever got it before an iPhone. I'm super excited.
I was waiting for iPad Pro update but I think I'll save some money and will get the new Air instead.

Compare this to Corel Painter 2019. It doesn't support Catalina. I didn't buy it that long ago. And it's already had support pulled by omission?

That's 'ok.'

I'll just use an alternative. That's cheaper. Better. More Mac like.

I reward good 'company' behaviour. And punish bad corporate behaviour alike by removing my custom.

I don't have to rent Adobe. I don't have reward Corel with a purchase of Painter 2020 or 2021. I won't buy another Wacom tablet after they 'omit' driver support for Catalina.

The company's that are less 'corporate' in their attitude to customers and 'get it' I'll support.

Z-Brush? You buy it. You get free updates. I've had loads of free updates from them. Saved £££££.

Azrael.

 

[Benz63amg]

Have you seen the A14 chip? The future looks bright And thats only for the iPad which for the first time ever got it before an iPhone. I'm super excited.
I was waiting for iPad Pro update but I think I'll save some money and will get the new Air instead.

I can imagine them announcing a redesigned iMac with such emphasis on how superior it is to Intel chips in terms of performance. Boy that would be amazing. I’m holding off on purchasing the 27 inch iMac until that redesigned arm comes out.

 

[CWallace]

I was waiting for iPad Pro update but I think I'll save some money and will get the new Air instead.

If the Air works for you, go for it.

I am waiting for the 2021 iPad Pro with the A14X because I like the 12.9" display and I want ProMotion, LIDAR, the better camera configuration and the better multi-core and graphics performance. Also expecting a MiniLED backlight for better HDR.

 

[wavesm]

Have you seen the A14 chip? The future looks bright And thats only for the iPad which for the first time ever got it before an iPhone. I'm super excited.
I was waiting for iPad Pro update but I think I'll save some money and will get the new Air instead.

What is the bright thing about the A14? It was compared against the MOST SOLD laptop/tablet that is not the FASTEST but probably even belo average.

This is not showing Apple AS will blow Intel out of the water for desktop. Edge will be on mobile devices due to power consumption. I do see the benefit on laptops/tablets but not sure on Desktops for a few years.

 

[Freida]

I do like/want the 12.9 but I'm coming from Air 2 and what was crucial for me was pencil 2 support.
I'll probably get 12.9 eventually but I just need to replace this air 2 and for the price and features I feel its amazing value.
All the features you've listed are not that important to me but yeah, eventually iPad Pro 12.9 will be coming to my home also.

If the Air works for you, go for it.

I am waiting for the 2021 iPad Pro with the A14X because I like the 12.9" display and I want ProMotion, LIDAR, the better camera configuration and the better multi-core and graphics performance. Also expecting a MiniLED backlight for better HDR.

 

[Homy]

What is the bright thing about the A14? It was compared against the MOST SOLD laptop/tablet that is not the FASTEST but probably even belo average.

This is not showing Apple AS will blow Intel out of the water for desktop. Edge will be on mobile devices due to power consumption. I do see the benefit on laptops/tablets but not sure on Desktops for a few years.

Here is my unscientific speculation based on the presentation of A14:

A12 6.9 billion transistors, 6 CPU cores, 4 GPU cores, Geekbench 5 single core 1112, multi-core 2866, Metal 4641

A12X 10 billion transistors, 8 CPU cores, 7 GPU cores

A12Z 10 billion transistors, 8 CPU cores, 8 GPU cores, Geekbench 5 single core 1118, multi-core 4631, Metal 10337

A13 8.5 billion transistors, 6 CPU cores, 4 GPU cores

A14 11.8 billion transistors, 6 CPU cores, 4 GPU cores, 40% faster CPU than A12, 30% faster GPU than A12, Geekbench 5 single core 1557, multi-core 4012, Metal 6033

A14Z 17.1 billion transistors, 8 CPU cores, 8 GPU cores, 40% faster CPU than A12Z, 30% faster GPU than A12Z, Geekbench 5 single core 1565, multi-core 6483, Metal 13438

A14Z Mac SoC 25.8 billion transistors, 12 CPU cores, 32 GPU cores, 50% faster multi-core than A14Z, 300% faster GPU than A14Z, Geekbench 5 single core 1565, multi-core 9725, Metal 53752

That would put A14Z Mac on par with 10-core i9 in iMac 2020 and the GPU between RX 580 and RX Vega 56.

 

[321Martian123]

I'm similar to you in terms of use. I had a one year subscription to Adobe that expired several months ago and since I haven't been out shooting I haven't renewed. I'm seriously thinking about switching to something else, be it Affinity, On1, Luminar, etc. I just have so many photos in my Lightroom library at this point and I'm used to the workflow.

What are you doing with all your old photos if you haven't installed Lightroom?

I would recommend running an older version of Photoshop and Lightroom on your Mac. You might have to run High Sierra on an external hard drive, but there are plenty of people on the Bay selling old versions of Adobe for Mac stuff. A lot of the Adobe Creative Suite versions had Acrobat, Photoshop, Illustrator and In Design. Lightroom can be purchased separately. There may be some drawbacks about not having the latest software, but if you buy it then you own it as long as your Mac can run it. Or if you are really cheap you could probably find an old version of Aperture and run that on your Mac.

 

[Azrael9]

Have you seen the A14 chip? The future looks bright And thats only for the iPad which for the first time ever got it before an iPhone. I'm super excited.
I was waiting for iPad Pro update but I think I'll save some money and will get the new Air instead.

Hello Freida,

I did catch the news on the iPad Air update. It looks a knockout release. A '11 inch' device. Sexy design and power packed. I wonder what's the point of paying £800 for the entry iPad Pro 11. (The design for the AS iMac I wonder...in 5 delicious flavours...)

I'd like to see the benches of A14 vs the A12z. Geekbench?

A14. That's a excellent improvement on an already speedy performer. Without fans.

It augurs well for the future iPad Pro and any A14x which should be quite beastly.

We have good reason to be super excited for the pending 'Pro' update.

Anybody thinking of buying the iPad Air with A14 are going to get a blistering speed demon in a svelte package.

£600. A fair price for the power, design and efficiency you get.

It looks like the future of Apple Silicon is very promising indeed.



Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

Here is my unscientific speculation based on the presentation of A14:

A12 6.9 billion transistors, 6 CPU cores, 4 GPU cores, Geekbench 5 single core 1112, multi-core 2866, Metal 4641

A12X 6.9 billion transistors, 8 CPU cores, 7 GPU cores

A12Z 6.9 billion transistors, 8 CPU cores, 8 GPU cores, Geekbench 5 single core 1118, multi-core 4631, Metal 10337

A13 8.5 billion transistors, 6 CPU cores, 4 GPU cores

A14 11.8 billion transistors, 6 CPU cores, 4 GPU cores, 40% faster CPU than A12, 30% faster GPU than A12, Geekbench 5 single core 1557, multi-core 4012, Metal 6033

A14Z 11.8 billion transistors, 8 CPU cores, 8 GPU cores, 40% faster CPU than A12Z, 30% faster GPU than A12Z, Geekbench 5 single core 1565, multi-core 6483, Metal 13438

A14Z Mac SoC 11.8 billion transistors, 12 CPU cores, 32 GPU cores, 150% faster multi-core than A14Z, 400% faster GPU than A14Z, Geekbench 5 single core 1565, multi-core 9725, Metal 53752

That would put A14Z Mac on par with 10-core i9 in iMac 2020 and the GPU between RX 580 and RX Vega 56.

Without fan pulsing in...

Translation. Right now. I'd take an A14z on a par with a 10 core i9 and a GPU between an RX580/RX Vega 56...in a svelte iPad design?

If they can do that without a fan. I'll be seriously impressed.

However, I do believe Apple won't do 'AS Mac' unless they pound Intel into the sand.

The AS countdown is on. A year from 2020 WWDC we're going to see new AS Macs.

At least one by the end of the year. (November? AS Macbook?). And maybe an AS iMac by Spring next year..?

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

I can imagine them announcing a redesigned iMac with such emphasis on how superior it is to Intel chips in terms of performance. Boy that would be amazing. I’m holding off on purchasing the 27 inch iMac until that redesigned arm comes out.

It's probably going to happen. Without pulsing fans.

Bloomberg muted 50-100% faster. (Native perf' probably.)

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

I do like/want the 12.9 but I'm coming from Air 2 and what was crucial for me was pencil 2 support.
I'll probably get 12.9 eventually but I just need to replace this air 2 and for the price and features I feel its amazing value.
All the features you've listed are not that important to me but yeah, eventually iPad Pro 12.9 will be coming to my home also.

The Air 2 was a great iPad.

Moving to the A14 will be a performance warp speed improvement. We're mostly getting an iPad Pro at their former £575 prize point. So it's a price rise for an iPad Air or a price cut for an iPad Pro.

A kick az iPad.

iPad 12.9 with an A14X. Will be a monster. I'd like a 17 inch model. I'd be lost in that.

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

What is the bright thing about the A14? It was compared against the MOST SOLD laptop/tablet that is not the FASTEST but probably even belo average.

This is not showing Apple AS will blow Intel out of the water for desktop. Edge will be on mobile devices due to power consumption. I do see the benefit on laptops/tablets but not sure on Desktops for a few years.

It's showing that Apple can give potent performance without running hot or a fan pulsing.

As for AS. The pudding will be in the eating.

The A14 speaks for itself. That kind of performance in such a thin device with great design?

And it's fan less. I used to dream about stuff like this.

Star Trek tech'.

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

And well done 'TheNickDude' for helping me to get my venerable Wacom Intuos working in Catalina!

He really is 'The Diamond Geezer Dude.'

So I can enjoy my Wacom drawing tablet with my new iMac 2020.

Maybe Apple have a 'two in one' device for a future 'iMac/iPad/Wacom' hybrid device on the horizon..?

(See what I did there? I brought it around to keep the thread on topic.)

Azrael.

 

[DrRadon]

Sony hitting the console marked at 399$ (no disc drive) and 499$ (with BluRay Drive) highly competitive for all you RDNA2 nerds.

 

[Azrael9]

The PS5...the cheapest entry point to 4k gaming and will drive 4k adoption to finally go mainstream. £399.

The 3070 and 3080 offer compelling 4k performance...but they're expensive, you have to buy a display and probably upgrade your whole pc rig. And they run hot. Something AMD got panned for when they launched high watt gpus.

RDNA2 launch is pending too. I hope it offers compelling price and performance.

AS Mac pending in the next month or so.

So it's all happening...tech' wise.

I'm still quite impressed by the A14 iPad Air. I'm more concerned with how efficient tech' is. And that offers a lot of bang in such a slender enclosure.

Azrael.

 

[Benz63amg]

The PS5...the cheapest entry point to 4k gaming and will drive 4k adoption to finally go mainstream. £399.

The 3070 and 3080 offer compelling 4k performance...but they're expensive, you have to buy a display and probably upgrade your whole pc rig. And they run hot. Something AMD got panned for when they launched high watt gpus.

RDNA2 launch is pending too. I hope it offers compelling price and performance.

AS Mac pending in the next month or so.

So it's all happening...tech' wise.

I'm still quite impressed by the A14 iPad Air. I'm more concerned with how efficient tech' is. And that offers a lot of bang in such a slender enclosure.

Azrael.

I was very impressed with the A14 chip as well, I can certainly see Apple having a desktop class Apple Silicone chip that can outperform the current intel lineup of CPU’s as Apple seems to be very dedicated to achieving this goal

 

[Azrael9]

I was very impressed with the A14 chip as well, I can certainly see Apple having a desktop class Apple Silicone chip that can outperform the current intel lineup of CPU’s as Apple seems to be very dedicated to achieving this goal

They're a lot close to it with the A14. And it makes an AS chip that can Kick Intel's Az more imaginable. Super impressive A14 in that iPad Air. Beautiful design and power packed efficiency. It augurs well for any future AS iMac product..if this is what they can do when they're not even 'trying.'

The A14x pending in the iPad Pro version.

And the AS promising a 50-100% speed up (native?) according to rumours coming to Macs. I'm getting more and more excited about the prospect of an AS based iMac.

The latter (50%+) seems very possible. Apple does it. Or goes home.

I like the power of the Intel 10 core. But I'm far from impressed by it's efficiency.

I've just seen the PS5 'sizzle reel.' Very impressive. All change in the next half a year.

Ampere. RDNA2. PS5.

AS...? If it's anything like Homy's or Bloomberg's predictions...

Azrael.

 

[pldelisle]

I was very impressed with the A14 chip as well, I can certainly see Apple having a desktop class Apple Silicone chip that can outperform the current intel lineup of CPU’s as Apple seems to be very dedicated to achieving this goal

Pretty easy for Apple to deliver something impressive when you work tightly with TSMC and when you bought all 5nm nodes for the next 1.5 year , forcing even Nvidia to go with Samsung?

 

[iPadified]

Pretty easy for Apple to deliver something impressive when you work tightly with TSMC and when you bought all 5nm nodes for the next 1.5 year , forcing even Nvidia to go with Samsung?

A14 looks good but very expected. Nothing unusual for a node shrink. I wonder how l the latest i9 would look like if made on TSMC 5nm process. TDP of 40-50W with the same performance? Acceptable but Apple would include a decent GPU in that TDP as Homy indicate above.

 

[George Dawes]

Exciting times ahead for Apple and us !

 

[Azrael9]

Pretty easy for Apple to deliver something impressive when you work tightly with TSMC and when you bought all 5nm nodes for the next 1.5 year , forcing even Nvidia to go with Samsung?

True.

Process used to be Intel's advantage.

Azrael.

 

[Azrael9]

A14 looks good but very expected. Nothing unusual for a node shrink. I wonder how l the latest i9 would look like if made on TSMC 5nm process. TDP of 40-50W with the same performance? Acceptable but Apple would include a decent GPU in that TDP as Homy indicate above.

40-50 W. Would be an improvement on the touchy i9 in the iMac.

The A14 is a solid improvement without fans. Quite amazing to have such a chip in such a svelte enclosure.

That's before Apple's issues a kick az A14x for the Pro' edition.

As for the AS. We'll have to see. Apple will have a point to prove to show what they can do when they are 'trying.'

They only have to beat a mid range 'so last year' GPU. The 5700XT is 'great' to have in an iMac (but it's far from AMD at the top of their game...) I'm looking forward to Apple bringing a fresh look to gpus to the Macs and tuning that to workflow. GPU performance in the iPads has been one of the strong aspects.

And a cpu company struggling on a 14+++++ process and evolutionary i9 cpu. It's not like the i9 is anything special. Don't get me wrong, 10 cores is great for performance but on the thermal level (so disappointing) it's quick to anger and at the end of the day, isn't it just yet another variation of Skylake?

If Apple can trounce both by 50% and retain the iPad's thermal poise...in an iMac?

Azrael.