Apple today made the iMac Pro available to order from its online store, with 8-core and 10-core models shipping in late December, but customers looking to see or purchase one at an Apple Store will have to wait a little bit longer.
MacRumors has learned from a reliable source that Apple will begin selling select iMac Pro configurations at its retail stores by mid next week.
We don't know if all of Apple's retail stores around the world will have in-store stock by mid next week, but it's safe to assume that many locations will have the iMac Pro both on display and available to purchase in limited quantities. We can't confirm when authorized resellers like Best Buy will have iMac Pro availability in stores.
Update: Apple confirmed the iMac Pro will be available at Apple Stores by mid next week at a private media briefing on Wednesday, according to iMore's Rene Ritchie, backing up the information provided to MacRumors.
Apple stated this outright during the briefings yesterday. — Rene Ritchie (@reneritchie) December 14, 2017
iMac Pro starts at $4,999 for a base 8-core model in the United States, with 10-core models available from $5,799. 14-core and 18-core models start at $6,599 and $7,399, but they aren't estimated to ship for 6-8 weeks.
Every configuration has optional upgrades available for storage, memory, and graphics, with prices topping out at $13,199 for a maxed-out, high-end model with an 18-core Intel Xeon processor, 4TB of SSD storage, 128GB of ECC RAM, and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 graphics with 16GB of HBM2 memory.
First impressions of the iMac Pro have generally been very positive. YouTube reviewer Marques Brownlee, for example, said the iMac Pro is very fast and even fairly priced, although he said its lack of upgradeability is a weakness.
Fortunately, for customers who want upgradeability, Apple today confirmed that it continues to work on a modular Mac Pro that will be released alongside a new Apple-branded high-end display. Apple hasn't provided a release date for these products, beyond noting that they won't be available in 2017.
In the meantime, at least the iMac Pro's RAM will be upgradable by Apple and Apple Authorized Service Providers. Still, we recommend future-proofing your iMac Pro by choosing tech specs that will meet your needs over the long term.
Top Rated Comments
(View all)$5k? $13k? It's too expensive. I have two MB cars of 10 times each and a house of 100 times in cash but $5k~$13k for a desktop computer or $1.2k for a phone with apple care+ is too much for me. I'm out.
These machines aren't meant for Facebook browsing or editing instagram photos with Photoshop Elements. They're meant for true professionals who crunch large amounts of data may it be with graphics or video. While I'm not necessarily in the market for an iMac Pro, I'm always a Mac Pro user that spends $5,000 or more on Macs. I see it as a long term investment that will help me work faster and have quicker turnarounds for clients. You will never understand :) Specially making comments like these when Pro computers no matter if you go Mac or PC have always been expensive.I have the budget to buy it, yet I will stick to the IMac. Why? Because I’m afraid Apple will forget about it like they did with the Mac Pro.
That makes no sense.Apples reputation on this is terrible
Once you buy it -- whether iMac, iMac Pro, Mac Pro or anything else -- it doesn't much matter if Apple continues to develop followup machines in the line. Whether they do or not, you're still going to have the computer sitting on your desk.
Why would any pro user want to spend that much on a machine that they can't upgrade?
I did. I figure I can resell the machine if the Mac Pro is really that much better. Plus theres no guarantee that it is actually coming out next year, and I (amongst other pros) need it NOW.Roll on the proper Mac Pro next year! (Just don't rip us off!!)
Why would any pro user want to spend that much on a machine that they can't upgrade?
Because the professional users just want a machine that gets the job done as fast as possible so they can move onto the next job quickly and efficiently and know that whatever gets thrown at it, that the machine can handle things. We don't care about the ability to upgrade, for the reason that when you spend the kind of money that it'll be held onto for a while, be it 3 years or more.Roll on the proper Mac Pro next year! (Just don't rip us off!!)
Roll on the proper Mac Pro next year! (Just don't rip us off!!)