4 ms·

Might be worth noting that the top-of-the-line iMac was, at least in terms of semi-real world benchmarks, was beating the iMac Pro. https://barefeats.com/2020-

Might be worth noting that the top-of-the-line iMac was, at least in terms of semi-real world benchmarks, was beating the iMac Pro. https://barefeats.com/2020-iMac-5K-8core-versus-2017-iMac-Pro-8core.html https://barefeats.com/2020-iMac-5K-8core-versus-2017-iMac-Pr... And at quite the discount. You give up ECC RAM, and I think the fans on the non-Pro iMac ramp up like turboprop, but that iMac Pro was getting long in the tooth. I am a bit out of the Xeon loop; was there even an appropriate Xeon to update the Pro?

jeffbee 6y ago
No. The iMac Pro has the latest Cascade Lake parts. Arguably the “Gen 2 Refresh” bunch of Xeon SP parts are newer, but in workstation scenarios they’re not really faster.
giobox 6y ago
You also 10-gig ethernet and 4 TB3 ports which is pretty nice as well, given TB3 is only way to expand the computer if you want PCI-E devices (more likely if you are a serious customer for a 5k computer...). The standard iMac only has two, of which one will likely be used up powering an external monitor in a professional workstation. For a "Pro" machine, these kind of things often matter. My current top-of-line iMac (non-pro) setup has both TB3 ports consumed with just an eGPU and a monitor, but I would otherwise agree for cost conscious buyers its the better machine. I'm not sure if the updated 2020 non-pro iMac ever got the T2 line rate encryption feature the iMac Pro has either.
- minimaxir 6y ago
  The latest 27in iMac has upgradeable 10gig Ethernet and a T2 chip.
  - jeffbee 6y ago
    The current model iMac is a monster and a pretty good deal, too. The 10g ethernet option is only $100, half the price of a thunderbolt 10g peripheral, and 1/3rd the price of a 10g add-in card like the Intel X550 or X710. The main thing you give up is ECC memory.
    - StillBored 6y ago
      Well new X540-T2's are usually available for < $100 from various sources. For a newer design the Aquantia/Marvell boards are generally in the ~$90 range too, although I don't know if anyone has mac drivers for them.

jeffbee 6y ago

No. The iMac Pro has the latest Cascade Lake parts. Arguably the “Gen 2 Refresh” bunch of Xeon SP parts are newer, but in workstation scenarios they’re not really faster.

giobox 6y ago

You also 10-gig ethernet and 4 TB3 ports which is pretty nice as well, given TB3 is only way to expand the computer if you want PCI-E devices (more likely if you are a serious customer for a 5k computer...). The standard iMac only has two, of which one will likely be used up powering an external monitor in a professional workstation. For a "Pro" machine, these kind of things often matter. My current top-of-line iMac (non-pro) setup has both TB3 ports consumed with just an eGPU and a monitor, but I would otherwise agree for cost conscious buyers its the better machine. I'm not sure if the updated 2020 non-pro iMac ever got the T2 line rate encryption feature the iMac Pro has either.

minimaxir 6y ago
The latest 27in iMac has upgradeable 10gig Ethernet and a T2 chip.
- jeffbee 6y ago
  The current model iMac is a monster and a pretty good deal, too. The 10g ethernet option is only $100, half the price of a thunderbolt 10g peripheral, and 1/3rd the price of a 10g add-in card like the Intel X550 or X710. The main thing you give up is ECC memory.
  - StillBored 6y ago
    Well new X540-T2's are usually available for < $100 from various sources. For a newer design the Aquantia/Marvell boards are generally in the ~$90 range too, although I don't know if anyone has mac drivers for them.