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   The iMac Pro Arrives on December 14th

   Josh Centers

   Were you worried that Apple wasn't going to ship the [1]iMac Pro before
   the end of 2017, as the company had promised it would? Put your worries
   to rest, since Apple has now updated the iMac Pro's Web page to
   indicate that it will be available on 14 December 2017. The new machine
   is aimed at professional Mac users, especially those editing video or
   creating virtual reality content.

   [2][tn_iMac-Pro.jpg]

   The iMac Pro starts at $5000, and besides coming in a cool space gray
   design, it has serious specs, including:
     * 5K Retina Display
     * Intel Xeon CPU with 8, 10, or 18 processor cores (the 18-core model
       won't ship until 2018)
     * 32, 64, or 128 GB of 2666 MHz DDR4 ECC memory
     * 1, 2, or 4 TB SSD
     * Radeon Pro Vega 56 graphics processor with 8 GB of HBM2 memory,
       which can be upgraded to a Radeon Pro Vega 64 graphics processor
       with 16 GB of HBM2 memory.

   Also, it features four USB 3 ports, four Thunderbolt 3 ports, 10 Gbps
   Ethernet, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, a SDXC card slot, and yes, a
   3.5mm headphone jack. There are four microphones on the case, along
   with stereo speakers.

   For input, it comes with a Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad and a
   Magic Mouse 2, with the option of exchanging the Magic Mouse for a
   Magic Trackpad. All accessories are space gray, even the optional Magic
   Trackpad, but choose carefully, since you cannot yet buy them
   individually.

   As seems to be Apple's preference lately, the first people to get
   review units were YouTubers.

   In Jonathan Morrison's [3]video, he inexplicably set his iMac Pro up
   outside, without any sort of cover or weather protection, as one does
   with a $5000+ machine. After that, he talks at length about the space
   gray finish and how the various accessories he has arranged around the
   iMac Pro complement it aesthetically (or not).

   IFRAME: [4]http://www.youtube.com/embed/Wl7V4LwkfQE

   Marques Brownlee more sensibly put his iMac Pro indoors, and his
   [5]video is a pretty good analysis of how it works for video production
   with the latest version of Final Cut Pro X.

   IFRAME: [6]http://www.youtube.com/embed/h-h5Mhlt6O0

   Brownlee points out a major drawback of the iMac Pro: it is completely
   sealed and not upgradeable. Unlike the regular 27-inch iMac, you can't
   even upgrade the RAM. However, he also points out that for the hardware
   you get, 'I don't think the price is that insane.' He also praised the
   iMac Pro's low noise and temperature.

   If you're hoping for an upgradable professional machine, your best bet
   is to hold out for the promised modular Mac Pro redesign, which Apple
   said would appear sometime after 2017. The company has given no hints
   as to what it will look like, how much it will cost, or what its specs
   might be.

   London-based video editor Thomas Carter wrote up his [7]initial
   impressions for Randi Altman's postPerspective. In short: 'These tests
   really blew me away. They aren't necessarily going to be everyday
   scenarios for most people, or even me, but they make it possible to
   imagine editing workflows in which you're working at close to the
   highest quality possible throughout the entire process'¦ on a desktop
   computer.'¦While I really haven't had enough time to do a deep dive,
   it's clearly the best Mac I've ever used ' it's stupidly powerful and
   great to work on.'

   At least one developer received an early iMac Pro: Craig A. Hunter of
   Hunter Research and Technology, who tested the iMac Pro with a number
   of NASA tools for aerodynamic design and development. He sums his
   [8]review up with:

     There's an old saying about money burning a hole in one's pocket.
     Every once in a while, a product comes along that has a similar but
     reverse effect on me ' it's a product that's so compelling, so
     exciting, so gorgeous to look at, that it causes my wallet to heat
     up and maybe even burst into flames. The new iMac Pro is one of
     those products.

References

   1. https://www.apple.com/imac-pro/
   2. http://tidbits.com/resources/2017-12/iMac-Pro.jpg
   3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl7V4LwkfQE
   4. http://www.youtube.com/embed/Wl7V4LwkfQE
   5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-h5Mhlt6O0
   6. http://www.youtube.com/embed/h-h5Mhlt6O0
   7. http://postperspective.com/first-impressions-apples-new-imac-pro/
   8. http://hrtapps.com/blogs/20171212/

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