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                        Apple Discontinues the iMac Pro

   Josh Centers

   Over the weekend, MacRumors broke the news that Apple had quietly added
   a 'while supplies last' tagline to its [1]iMac Pro product page and
   Apple has since [2]confirmed to MacRumors that it is phasing it out.

   Apple first introduced the iMac Pro in 2017 as a stopgap in the lull
   between the 2013 Mac Pro and the 2019 Mac Pro (see '[3]Apple Releases
   the iMac Pro,' 15 December 2017). However, other than resetting [4]the
   core model from an 8-core processor to a 10-core processor in 2020, the
   iMac Pro languished without any updates from Apple.

   The iMac Pro had a few things working against it. Along with a hefty
   price tag that started at $4999, the iMac Pro suffered from a lack of
   expandability and repairability, both key to professional users. The
   iMac Pro was also poorly supported by Apple. When one of Linus
   Sebastian's employees broke an iMac Pro, [5]Apple refused to fix it for
   any price. Linus eventually [6]recruited independent repairman Louis
   Rossman to help fix it.

   IFRAME: [7]https://www.youtube.com/embed/9-NU7yOSElE?feature=oembed

   When Apple rolled out the redesigned Mac Pro in December 2019 for only
   $1000 more the iMac Pro, there was little reason for professionals to
   opt for the iMac Pro instead (see '[8]2019 Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR:
   Big Iron for Big Bucks,' 10 December 2019). The Mac Pro was not only a
   much more powerful machine, it had the expandability and
   [9]repairability pros want, even if the support hasn't improved much
   (see '[10]Apple's Mac Pro Support Reportedly Lacking,' 14 March 2020).

   The true death knell for the iMac Pro was Apple's M1 processor,
   however. It offers such a massive leap in performance over Intel
   processors that the base-model MacBook Pro [11]beats even the Mac Pro
   in single-core benchmarks, and gives it a run for its money in
   multi-core tests. And that's the M1, which Apple tweaked for power
   efficiency for its low-end Macs.

   We expect Apple to start releasing significantly faster successors to
   the M1 for professional-level desktop Macs within the next year. It's
   not inconceivable that an Apple silicon-powered iMac Pro could return,
   but given Apple's lack of enthusiasm for it in the past, it seems more
   likely that Apple will focus on the iMac and the Mac Pro.

References

   Visible links
   1. https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/imac-pro
   2. https://www.macrumors.com/2021/03/06/apple-confirms-imac-pro-will-be-discontinued/
   3. https://tidbits.com/2017/12/15/apple-releases-the-imac-pro/
   4. https://www.macrumors.com/2020/08/04/imac-pro-processor-bump/
   5. https://youtu.be/9-NU7yOSElE
   6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdwDvz47lNw
   7. https://www.youtube.com/embed/9-NU7yOSElE?feature=oembed
   8. https://tidbits.com/2019/12/10/2019-mac-pro-and-pro-display-xdr-big-iron-for-big-bucks/
   9. https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Mac+Pro+2019+Teardown/128922#teardownConclusion
  10. https://tidbits.com/2020/03/14/apples-mac-pro-support-reportedly-lacking/
  11. https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/11/17/m1-benchmarks-proves-apple-silicon-outclasses-nearly-all-current-intel-mac-chips

   Hidden links:
  12. https://tidbits.com/wp/../uploads/2021/03/iMac-Pro-listing.jpg

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