[ad_1]
Apple Introduces New Macintosh iMac Pro at WWDC 2017 Developer Conference in San Jose, USA, 5 … [+]
image alliance via Getty Images
On Friday, MacRumors reported that Apple’s powerful iMac Pro was no longer available with custom settings. Only the base model remained, and even that one had a “while supplies last” tag stuck to it. It smelled like Apple was discontinuing its more powerful iMac, and sure enough on Saturday Apple confirmed it.
Without a doubt, the iMac Pro, with its 27-inch Retina 5K display, a 32-gigabyte base of memory to correct errors, 1-terabyte SSD, and a 3.0 GHz Intel Xeon processor with up to 18 cores, was a beast. It even looked menacing, with Apple’s Space Gray finish. It was Mac’s Darth Vader.
Its price was also formidable, starting at $ 4,999.
SAN JOSE, CA – JUNE 5: The new iMac Pro is displayed during the 2017 edition of Apple Worldwide Developer … [+]
fake images
But impressive as it was, at the time it was introduced, the iMac Pro was something of a placeholder in the Mac lineup. When it launched in December 2017, it had been more than four years since the company introduced the Mac. Cylindrical Pro, which was quickly dubbed the “Mac Trash.” That workstation-level desk was showing its age.
On top of that, in April 2017, Apple did something very different from Apple. During a product launch event, then-Senior Vice President of Marketing Phil Schiller previously announced a new Mac Pro, admitting that it wouldn’t be launching anytime soon. As professional and creative users of Apple’s higher-end Macs fretted, Schiller’s glimpse under the store was a “please bear with us” movement.
And that’s one of the reasons Apple added the iMac Pro to its lineup. A new Mac Pro wouldn’t be available until December 2019, a full six years after the Mac trash can. The iMac Pro gave designers, developers, animators, and others who needed maximum computer power a new Mac to buy. And indeed, it was an impressive product.
But it wasn’t all that hardcore professional users needed. That wouldn’t come until the new Mac Pros rolled off its US assembly line in Austin. And once that happened, the iMac Pro probably won’t be long in coming into this world. After all, it never received significant updates during its lifetime, and it’s hard to know how well it sold. It was a stopgap solution.
And its fate was sealed with the development and subsequent release of Macs built around Apple’s own processors. At some point, perhaps very soon, we will have iMacs that use an upgrade from the M1 Apple Silicon chips used in all three models the company introduced last year. Those CPUs run rings around their equivalent Intel chips, and those capabilities are likely to be even more impressive in upcoming iMacs. Plus, they can come in sweet and sweet colors!
I always liked the look of the iMac Pro, and when I broke down and bought my own 27 ”iMac last year, I really wish it had been available in Space Gray, but over $ 5000 was not in my budget. Maybe these incoming iMacs will give us that foreboding look and awesome power, without the daunting price tag.
Sign up for my release notes newsletter, giving you information, help and practical advice on consumer technology. It falls every Tuesday morning.
