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iMac Apple

The iMac Pro Is Being Discontinued (techcrunch.com) 77

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
The iMac Pro is soon to be no more. First noted by 9to5Mac, TechCrunch has since confirmed with Apple that the company will stop selling the all-in-one once the current stock is depleted. From a report: One configuration of the desktop is still available through Apple's site, listed as "While Supplies Last" and priced at $5,000. Some other versions can also still be found from third-party retailers, as well, if you're so inclined.
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The iMac Pro Is Being Discontinued More

The iMac Pro Is Being Discontinued

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  • No wonder they are not making any more. Why would any spend that much money when a Mac mini with a nice monitor is much cheaper?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Teckla ( 630646 )

      No wonder they are not making any more. Why would any spend that much money when a Mac mini with a nice monitor is much cheaper?

      Apple has not been good about keeping the Mac mini updated, thus it was either a badly outdated Mac mini (for too much money), or an updated (but all-in-one) iMac.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by I75BJC ( 4590021 )
        Apple recently released the Mac Mini with Apple Silicon, M1.

        The current M1 Mac Mini is selling like hotcakes. I'm sure that Apple will move the Intel Mac Mini out of its lineup, particularly as the M1x and M2 chips go live.

        Please try to keep up!
        • Prior to the M1 update, Mac mini hadn't seen a meaningful update since 2014 -- perhaps even 2012 as the processor updates in 2014 were considered by many to be a downgrade (quad core to dual core). I'm pretty sure this is what GP was referring to.

          • Prior to the M1 update, Mac mini hadn't seen a meaningful update since 2014 -- perhaps even 2012 as the processor updates in 2014 were considered by many to be a downgrade (quad core to dual core). I'm pretty sure this is what GP was referring to.

            Bzzt! Sorry, thanks for playing!

            The outgoing version of the Mac mini was introduced in late 2018, and was a significant update.

            Do try to keep up...

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Teckla ( 630646 )

          I was talking about the Intel versions.

          When it comes to the Apple Silicon versions of the Mac mini and iMac, I agree with you.

    • Re:$5000 for an iMac? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by UnknowingFool ( 672806 ) on Monday March 08, 2021 @10:56AM (#61136194)
      Mac Minis do not come with 10-18 core Xeons and ECC RAM that’s why. As for a nice monitor, 5K professional grade monitors are not cheap. The iMac Pro was designed for professionals in mind not the average consumer.

      • If I'm spending that much money I'm just going to get a Mac Pro. Which is likely what most people did, hence why the iMac is being discontinued.

        • Re:$5000 for an iMac? (Score:5, Insightful)

          by DamnOregonian ( 963763 ) on Monday March 08, 2021 @11:30AM (#61136336)
          Do you know what kind of Mac Pro you could get in 2017? Hint- it's a trick question.

          Yes, that's why they're discontinuing it. Because there *is* a Mac Pro, now.
        • You can buy whatever you want but bear in mind Mac Pros had not been updated in years but the iMac Pro has been. So you might be spending lots of money for older tech. But remember the iMac Pro is being discontinued not the iMac. I think the main reason is if Apple is shifting to Apple Silicon, this previous version might be one of the more likely candidates to be discontinued.

          • You can buy whatever you want but bear in mind Mac Pros had not been updated in years but the iMac Pro has been. So you might be spending lots of money for older tech. But remember the iMac Pro is being discontinued not the iMac. I think the main reason is if Apple is shifting to Apple Silicon, this previous version might be one of the more likely candidates to be discontinued.

            Who let all the stupids out?

            The Mac Pro was given a 100% redesign in mid 2019, including both a Tower and Rack-Mount configuration.

            What is wrong with you people?

      • Mac Minis do not come with 10-18 core Xeons and ECC RAM that’s why. As for a nice monitor, 5K professional grade monitors are not cheap. The iMac Pro was designed for professionals in mind not the average consumer.

        A top-of-the-line Mac Mini, will run you $3000.

        I wonder what kind of "average" consumer, buys those.

        • Mac Minis still do not come with Xeons and ECC RAM. Those are workstation parts. As for buys a $3000 Mac Mini, I do not know. An average consumer does not need a 18 core Xeon.
    • I have a feeling that the iMac Pro and Mac Mini are aimed at different... types of computer users.
      I suppose you could try make a Beowulf cluster of 16 M1 Mac Minis and see what you could do with that. Of course it still wouldn't have the GPU power, but at least you could have the RAM.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by v1 ( 525388 )

        I suspect the iMac Pro was targeted at the "prosumer" market of graphic designers for their little self-owned business. Users trying to get a foot-hold in their market by taking on jobs that would normally be a bit out of their reach, with hopes of starting a more significant business.

        These machines were also nice for their smaller footprint than say, a mac pro, which is a nice bonus when you've just converted the study into a home office and are crunched for space.

        With so many people working from home, th

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Malc ( 1751 )

          Or maybe it was just a stop-gap because the replacement for the 2013 Mac Pro was so late?

        • I can only speak to why my boss got his:
          There was no competing Mac Pro.
          It's that simple. He dropped, IIRC, around 10k on his. Price wasn't an factor.
          No idea if he represents the average iMac Pro purchaser... but for that price, it's conceivable.

    • No wonder they are not making any more. Why would any spend that much money when a Mac mini with a nice monitor is much cheaper?

      Because you're an educational institution with a budget to spend??

      At the local University here there's rooms and rooms full of iMacs.

    • Re: (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Ed Avis ( 5917 )
      What nice monitor would you recommend with your Mac Mini? The main reason to get the iMac is the high resolution 5k screen. The LG 5k monitors do not have a good reputation for reliability. I was using Dell's 5k screen, the UP2715K (also not a stellar reputation, but a bit better) but it seems that recent Mac OS versions broke compatibility with it so you can no longer get 5k resolution. Apple's 6k display looks nice, but is $$$.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by xyankee ( 693587 )

        "Do not have as good reputation for reliability" according to who?

        I bought 2 LG 5K refurbs off Woot for $500 each a couple years ago and they have worked perfectly and endured multiple cross-country moves.

        I have recommended the display to others who have paid retail for new models and are totally pleased.

        Do you think LG would push the same $1300 display for years knowing it's got problems?

        As usual, the few people with issues are probably vastly outnumbered by those without any, but we're typically a quiet b

      • One of the reason to get a Mac mini is that you get to pick your own damn monitor to use with it. For example, how long do you think it will it take for Apple to offer an ultra-wide iMac?

        And the older you get, the less your eyes can see a difference anyway even on the anti-aliasing of the text. So why bother paying for an expensive 5K display that requires an expensive and power-hungry GPU that generates more heat if you can't see the difference?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by dgatwood ( 11270 )

          One of the reason to get a Mac mini is that you get to pick your own damn monitor to use with it. For example, how long do you think it will it take for Apple to offer an ultra-wide iMac?

          The main reason to get the Mac Mini is that you don't have to throw away a perfectly good monitor just because Apple dropped support for your computer or because you decided that it wasn't fast enough. I still have computer monitors that are in active use after more than twenty years. I don't generally keep using computers for more than five.

          The iMac is quite possibly the ultimate middle finger towards the environmental movement, because it's basically 18 pounds of e-waste on top of that three-pound compu

          • The iMac is quite possibly the ultimate middle finger towards the environmental movement, because it's basically 18 pounds of e-waste on top of that three-pound computer.
            Seriously?

            Every iMac can be "retired" and used as an external monitor.

            During time of introduction Mac Minis were not underpowered. And my old ones just work fine as CI servers. No idea why people complain. Blame the game industry which think they have to push forward demands on machines. A current day guys who was happy with a computer 10 y

            • Every iMac can be "retired" and used as an external monitor.

              Using a MiniDP, HDMI or DisplayPort (these are the only 3 options I have on the back of my graphics cards) to MiniDP cable certainly doesn't work. What do you have to do to use it as an external monitor?

              • Better google with your model.
                But it should have an hardware switch that switches of the computer and only activates the monitor (I mean an extra switch, not the ON/OFF switch).

    • I know right! I use my computer just to browse websites so I conclude that precisely zero people in the world could possibly ever have use for a "workstation". Those people buying expensive "workstations" to run their "businesses" are all mad.

      Does my comment sound stupid to you? I hope so because I'm mocking you.

      • Mac mini's are workstations too you dumbass. $5000 dollar iMac Pros are expensive workstations that failed to achieve a market. Otherwise they would not be discontinued.

        Maybe a $5000 iMac workstation is too expensive. Maybe the people who need to spend $5000 on a workstation would be better of with a Mac Pro or a linux cluster.

        • Where are you going with this?

          Between an iMac Pro and a Mac Mini is the iMac obviously. Comparing an iMac Pro to a Mini makes absolutely no sense. Compare any other combination of those three, just not those two.

          Workstation is an overloaded word, but in the given context, iMac Pro, it's obvious we're talking about the Xeon/ECC/Quadro/other niche variety not the "used for work" meaning.

          If you need Xeon/ECC reliability in a workstation, then that's what you get. What you keep asking is like why don't you h

        • Apple doesn't like to have too many different configuration possibilities and the introduction of ARM-based Macs is just likely to complicate things too much.

          The iMac Pro had what? More horsepower, better screen and perhaps some features like ECC. Perhaps they are planning on re-introducing a new one with an ARM processor (or perhaps a good/better/best ARM iMac not called "Pro")? It is possible that their upcoming ARM iMac is powerful enough that they can't really justify the iMac Pro?

        • Mac mini's are workstations too you dumbass.

          LOL. Kid learn to read spec sheets. Your Mac minis in their best configuration don't match the performance of the iMac Pro. Especially not 2017 when it didn't exist.

          It's hilarious that someone so stupid has the audacity to call someone else a dumbarse. No ironic, hilarious. Honestly I was mocking you before, but man did I not go anywhere near far enough.

        • Mac mini's are workstations too, you dumbass.

          You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

      • Yeah but your pages would load much faster with that Pro Machine!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tsa ( 15680 )

      Indeed. Why would anyone buy the big SUV while the car company also sells a cheap city car?

  • What's pro about it? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Monday March 08, 2021 @10:47AM (#61136148) Homepage Journal

    Soldered GPU, nightmare to service, non-upgradable CPU even though it's soldered, CPU is slower than AMD offerings which cost less... I guess the ECC RAM is a pro feature?

    Anyway now that it's been disco'd it's a short trip to loss of software support if Apple pulls their usual, so you'd have to be daft to be "so inclined" as to purchase one of these.

    • non-upgradable CPU even though it's soldered

      I meant socketed

    • Only real good thing is that the RAM is upgradable. However, with Apple switching chip architectures, I would not expect Intel stuff to be supported very long.

      Maybe if one wanted a Windows PC, because if one turns the T2 chip to medium or off, Windows will install and work to some extent, but the iMac Pro has been sitting around without a refresh for such a long time, its death was pretty much inevitable, similar to the cylinder shaped Mac Pro.

      I sort of wish Apple would split Macs into two divisions. Ente

      • Enterprise mac needs
        raid 1 not 0
        non locked disks to the MB as an choice.
        an way to pair need ssd blades with out need an 2th mac
        at least 1 level / limited time of os rollback on new hardware.

        maybe an server OS that can run on an VM ON ANY HARDWARE. If just to have local updates / config server / ect.

    • CPU is slower than AMD offerings which cost less...

      These days, wildly so.
      In 2017- not the case.
      It would have competed against Zen1 EPYCs... and it wasn't a pretty sight.
      Zen2s changed that, however.

    • Let’s start with the Xeon CPUs which Intel considers workstation class and will charge you workstation prices for it. That is Intel charging you, not Apple. And by slower, most server and workstation CPUs are clocked slower but will absolutely crush consumers grade ones in heavy workloads. As for ECC RAM, that is a limitation put on by Intel; AMD unofficially supports ECC on consumer platforms; Intel has not. Also if you can buy a 5K 500 nit professional grade display for less than $800, go ahead. I h

    • I mean that's been the case for a Mac "workstation" for the best part of a decade now. They have all been incredibly restrictive each in different ways.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by fermion ( 181285 )
      I knew some scientists that bought it as between a slow base model and the unaffordable pros. They used it to run simulations and such. Many have software that costs many thousands, so as in the old days, the costs of the machine is not so critical. It has to run the software.

    • it's a short trip to loss of software support if Apple pulls their usual

      My 2010 MacBook Pro 17" is still receiving updates.

      Since the "usual" is 10+ years of support, I am pretty OK with that and wouldn't consider that "short" especially dealing with computers. Anyone buying one now can expect quite a long period of support, and there are reasonable use cases for a fairly powerful all in one system that's easy to move around.

      Another thing that is pro is the cooling, even with the system maxed out the fans

  • It was always meant as a stop-gap solution (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Sebby ( 238625 ) on Monday March 08, 2021 @10:48AM (#61136154)

    The only reason they came out with a ‘Pro’ iMac was that their ‘Pro’ desktop at the time (the Mac Pro) was inadequate and showing its age, and they came out with this iMac as a temporary stop-gap solution while they redesigned the Mac Pro into something more useful for professionals.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      There's another possibility. They are planning to move the iMac over to ARM and the "Pro" label is a bit of a joke when you look at the performance of their parts compared to the Xeons in the current models.

      I have a feeling they will keep the Mac Pro as an x86 machine and make everything else mid-range and ARM based.

      • The Mac Pro will eventually be ARM based, but i assume it will have a dedicated (exclusive) chipset, with a ridiculous core count

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Luthair ( 847766 )
      It always seemed like a pointless format that no one should ever buy, one part failure means replacing both screen and PC. They should just sell a separate screen, if they like the form factor integrate a mount point for the mac mini.

      • I agree, most people buying an iMac would be better off with a separate monitor and computer. But with Apple, you lack choice so a lot of people end up with an iMac despite not being in the market for an all in one.

        • Apple needs to make some kind of mini-Mac where you can hook up your own monitor.

          • From what I understand the iMac can be configured to be more powerful than the mini. Or at least was the case before the M1.
            The Mac Pro always been overpriced as a single socket CPU desktop. So a lot of people end up with the iMac as the only "midrange" desktop option.

          • It is called "Mac mini" my friend under the rock.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Ed Avis ( 5917 )
        You can replace the panel and the motherboard separately. Unfortunately the ultra-thin glass means that the whole panel needs to be replaced if the glass cracks. I bought the iMac 5k when it first came out in 2015, it worked well for a few years before the cleaning lady fell off a bookshelf onto it (Mrs Doyle style) and the glass cracked. A replacement panel was hard to source cheaply, and soon after the motherboard also failed, converting it into a doorstop.

      • In general, the longevity of the iMac is quite good; the things that always failed in my old ones were the hard drives, and with SSDs that's a much reduced concern. Honestly, Apple is likely to stop supporting the machine long before the hardware actually fails, and they give their computers a good 6-8 years of OS updates.

        At the time the 5k iMacs came out, you couldn't even buy a standalone 5k monitor for that price. Now the PC world has settled on 4k monitors, so if you want a 5k monitor, it's way easier t

    • The only reason they came out with a âProâ(TM) iMac was that their âProâ(TM) desktop at the time (the Mac Pro) was inadequate and showing its age

      I agree with that, even so they might have continued the all-in-one form factor...

      But another big thing the iMac Pro had going for it, was a massive quiet fan-based cooling system. With the M1 chip not needing cooling of that magnitude, even if you were going to do a new all in one pro model, it could be totally different because you could ditc

    • stop-gap solution while they redesigned the Mac Pro into something more useful for professionals.

      So why are they discontinuing the Pro iMac then? Don't tell me what they came up with with the Mac Pro was their answer as "useful for professionals". If it is they need to go back to the drawing board. They can start by actually supporting NVIDIA GPUs. God knows no one in professional video or AI research uses AMD willingly.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

        So why are they discontinuing the Pro iMac then? Don't tell me what they came up with with the Mac Pro was their answer as "useful for professionals". If it is they need to go back to the drawing board. They can start by actually supporting NVIDIA GPUs. God knows no one in professional video or AI research uses AMD willingly.

        Probably because parts are getting hard to come by that Apple needs.

        Steve Jobs was ruthless and he'd discontinue anything that didn't sell. Tim Cook is a bit more pragmatic and simply s

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Sebby ( 238625 )

          But Apple probably can't get a part they need, so it's discontinued - Apple has a few on hand (warranty and other purposes) as well as handling a few off channel sales for those who really need one.

          There's also the fact that in certain places (California for example), they have to keep warranty/parts available until they declare the product "obsolete" [apple.com] - so the earlier they discontinue it, the earlier it can be 'obsolete'.

  • They're getting pretty powerful, so it may not make a difference.

  • 27-inch imac is an better buy right now

  • I bought an iMac Pro shortly after it was first released, but only because I was able to take advantage of a $1000 off sale that Micro Center stores ran on it. (I think shortly after I bought it on that sale, they changed the sale to $400 off or something like that ... but then it fluctuated and the $1000 off deal happened again for a week or two.)

    I had been a loyal fan of the Mac Pro workstations in the past, having owned one of the G5 PPC models followed by a 2006 and a 2008 edition of them. But then I

  • We have seen before when the old models are discontinued in advance of the new models being released people will cry about the sky falling.

    Maybe they actually are discontinuing the entire line, but no one is presenting any evidence to distinguish that case from the "new models coming soon" case.

  • In honor of the iMac Pro's demise, I'm posting the "inside out" desktop background I made for my machine at work: https://github.com/isonno/iMac... [github.com]

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