Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Rumors of the 2017 iMac and iMac Pro

Tim Hardwick:

Apple’s new range of iMacs will launch in the second half of 2017 and will include a “server-grade” model to cater for the high end creative professional market, according to Taiwan-based supply chain sources.

Apple has already confirmed it is working on new iMac models for release later this year, but today’s report offers another hint at what could be in store for creative pros and puts a more specific timeframe on those plans. According to the report, production of two new iMacs is said to begin next month, with a view to launching the consumer desktops between August and October and a “server-grade model” at the tail end of 2017.

We’re not out of the woods yet. Given that Apple was planning a more powerful iMac before it committed to updating the Mac Pro, I would have expected the iMac Pro to be farther along. And the regular iMac is on track for about two years between updates, the longest interval on MacRumors’ guide. I guess that’s the one I’ll wait for because a 4-core Xeon E3 would likely be much more expensive than an i7, for little benefit. The current i7 model (27-inch, 4 GHz, 32 GB of RAM, 1 TB SSD—no 2 TB option) is already $3,789 with a VESA mount. I don’t even really want the 5K display, but the 4K model tops out at the 3.3 GHz processor, 16 GB of RAM, and 512 GB SSD. I already have a display, and if I’m going to be limited to one drive, anyway, why not a Mac mini? Because it’s limited to a 3 GHz dual-core i7 and 16 GB of RAM ($1,999). There just don’t seem to be any good options right now to improve my MacBook Pro’s processor and RAM. Hopefully before fall.

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