Some new iMac and MacBook Pro models will need upgrades right out of the box, with Apple today releasing a version of macOS Sierra 10.12.5 that's specific to the new iMacs and a Touch Bar update for the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar.
macOS Sierra 10.12.5 for 2017 iMacs is identical to the version of macOS 10.12.5 that was released on May 15, with the following bug fixes:
- Fixes an issue where audio may stutter when played through USB headphones
- Improves reliability when connecting an external display or waking it from sleep
- Enhances compatibility of the Mac App Store with future software updates
- Adds support for media-free installation of Windows 10 Creators Update using Boot Camp
The Touch Bar update will need to be installed on all 2017 13-inch MacBook Pro machines that feature a Touch Bar. According to Apple's release notes, the update resolves issues with system stability and graphics corruption on the 2017 13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar.
Apple's new 2017 iMac and MacBook Pro machines are available for purchase starting today. They feature upgraded Kaby Lake processors, improved GPUs, and faster SSDs.
Top Rated Comments
Those who need and can afford it will likely be turned off by the form factor and mandatory purchase of a new monitor (ie. Mac Pro buyers), and everyone else will have a hard time justifying the cost.
Bottom line: This model works and is more profitable than ever since customers are forced to configure whatever they're buying properly right from the start. They omit just enough from the base models to force this.
Still until the iMac Pros are released we can't really pass judgement on them. For the price they're probably rock solid reliable and they are noticeable thicker than the regular iMacs. With the 4 TB3 ports high end external monitors can be used in the case of any built in display failure while they're repaired. I would guess most buying one would have at least a 2-3 monitor setup anyway. The weak link will again be the GPU which is limited to 11 TFLOPS. This is really powerful for today but GPUs are seeing exponential gains much like what we saw with CPUs over the past two decades culminating with the core i7s where gains from one gen to the next started to really slow down.
I think the game changer from WWDC will be native eGPU support. This really puts me at ease after buying the 2016 15". The machine is nearly perfect except for the GPU. This will provide the versatility to use enclosures with AMD cards for those areas where they excel and Nvidia for CUDA now that Nvidia is releasing mac drivers. Supposedly they will be mainstream next year and this for me was the most exciting announcement from the entire keynote.