Switched back to 2017 iMac 5K from iMac Pro 10-Core: iMac Pro a Net Losing Proposition for Me
Thank you for buying your 2017 iMac 5K and/or iMac Pro at B&H Photo, and for upgrading it at OWC MacSales.com. Both vendors made and make my extensive tests of the Apple iMac Pro and other Macs and gear possible.
Not sure which Mac you need, or how to configure it, plan for backup, etc? Consult with Lloyd.
A few days ago I wrote about switching to the iMac Pro (the one on loan from B&H Photo) for my daily work. I found little of value for my work, along with a number of negatives. For the key things I do, all were no faster or actually slower—see 2017 iMac Pro: Usage Observations and Conclusions.
There are many plusses to the iMac Pro (fans for one thing, silent with the iMac Pro), but on balance, it’s a net losing proposition for me in terms of my workflow efficiency. Combined with the excessive cost and 50% higher power consumption at idle, the value proposition utterly fails compared to a 2017 iMac 5K.
I’ll wait for a 6-core 2018 iMac 5K, which I expect will trounce the iMac Pro for the things I do, and narrow the gap considerably on the things the iMac Pro is faster at.
8K displays
The final nail in the coffin is that the iMac Pro does not support external 8K displays—and there is some chance that the next iMac 5K will do so, since the HDMI 2.1 specification is ratified, and Intel already has released the 'Titan Ridge' Thunderbolt 3 chipset with DisplayPort 1.4. The Titan Ridge chipsets support two DisplayPort 1.4 connections for driving 8K displays at 30Hz without compression or at 60Hz when Display Stream Compression is used. The only new tech that I really lust after is something like a 34-inch 8K display so that I can see the entire resolution of my camera images (or nearly so). Waiting makes even more sense given that longstanding dream.
Dell UltraSharp 32 Ultra HD 8K Display is Shipping, Dec 2017 iMac Pro Already Behind the Curve.
Nikon D850: Time Lapse is a Breakthrough for Nikon DSLRs... First Solid 8K Support?
Accordingly, I’ve switched back to my trusty 2017 iMac 5K, which in my view is the best Mac value that Apple has ever produced. See my Mac wish list for recommended iMac 5k and iMac Pro models.
MacPerformanceGuide.com in-depth review of Apple iMac Pro
2017 iMac Pro: Usage Observations and Conclusions