Apple's new Mac Pro and iMac Pro: is the upgrade worth it?



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Modularity is the word of the day for Apple's newly announced and redesigned Mac Pro. The computer offers a return to the old "cheese grater" appearance, but redesigned and with great concern for flexibility and expansion.

The question for owners of the latest Mac Powerhouse, the iMac Pro, will be: Should I abandon my current system for the new Mac Pro, which will start at $ 5,999? (The iMac Pro starts at $ 4,999, but includes a 27-inch 5K display.) We reviewed the specifications of the current iMac Pro, launched in December 2017, and the results announced today. for the new Mac Pro. which will be shipped this fall.

But before entering the specifications, an important difference: the new Mac Pro will be configurable by the user and the iMac Pro is not. That alone can make a huge difference, especially for creators or companies who may want to improve their systems.

processors

The iMac Pro and the new Mac Pro 2019 are both equipped with the Intel Xeon W processor, introduced for the first time in August 2017 and updated since. The iMac starts with an eight-core, 3.2 GHz processor and mounts to an 18-core, 2.3 GHz processor with 19 MB of cache. The Mac Pro starts with a more powerful 3.5 GHz eight-core processor with 24.5 MB of cache and zooms to an impressive 28-core 2.5 GHz processor with a cache of 66, 5 MB

Memory

The iMac Pro supports DDR4 ECC memory of 32GB / 64GB / 128GB / 256GB. The new Mac Pro will handle 32GB to 1.5TB of ECC DDR4 memory and will be fully configurable by L & # 039; 39; user.

Graphic

The iMac Pro comes with an AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 graphics processor with 8GB of HBM2 memory; you can also choose the higher-end Vega 64 and 64x processors with 16GB of memory.

The Mac Pro will allow you to configure two of Apple's new MPX modules with up to four GPUs. Choose between the AMD Radeon Pro 580X graphics card (8GB GDDR5 memory), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II motherboard (32GB HBM2 memory) and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo motherboard, delivered with two GPU Vega II and 64 GB of HBM2 memory.

Expansion and ports

This is where the advantage of the Mac Pro is particularly evident. It will ship with eight PCI Express card expansion slots: two MPX bays (which can also be used as four PCI Express slots), three full-length PCI Express slots, and one half-length PCI Express slot. This slot will contain an I / O card with two USB 3 ports, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, and a 3.5mm audio jack; the system will also include two Thunderbolt 3 ports at the top through the power button and two 10Gb Ethernet ports at the back. The iMac Pro offers an Ethernet port, a UHS – II supported SDXC card slot, four USB 3 ports and four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports – none of which can be modified or upgraded. level.

Our conclusion? Of course, we will not be able to judge the value of Apple's new Mac Pro until we have the program in hand and can test it thoroughly. But judging by the initial specifications, it could be a truly awesome machine for creators and others who need speed, flexibility, and the ability to upgrade when they want it.

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