iMac Pro Teardown Highlights Modular RAM, CPU and SSD Along With Redesigned Internals

With the iMac Pro now in the hands of customers and available at Apple retail stores, popular repair site iFixit has acquired one of the $4,999 machines and has opened it up to see just what's inside. iFixit tore down the base iMac Pro model with an 8-core processor, 32GB RAM, and a 1TB SSD.

iFixit found that the RAM, CPU, and SSDs in the iMac Pro are modular and can potentially be replaced following purchase, but most of the key components "require a full disassembly to replace."

imacproteardownifixit
Standard 27-inch iMacs have a small hatch in the back that allows easy access to the RAM for post-purchase upgrades, but that's missing in the iMac Pro. Apple has said that iMac Pro owners will need to get RAM replaced at an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider. iFixit says that compared to the 5K 27-inch iMac, replacing the RAM in the iMac Pro is indeed "a major undertaking."

imacproifixitteardown2
Apple is using standard 288-pin DDR4 ECC RAM sticks with standard chips, which iFixit was able to upgrade using its own $2,000 RAM upgrade kit. A CPU upgrade is "theoretically possible," but because Apple uses a custom-made Intel chip, it's not clear if an upgrade is actually feasible. The same goes for the SSDs -- they're modular and removable, but custom made by Apple. Unlike the CPU, the GPU is BGA-soldered into place and cannot be removed.

The internals of the iMac Pro are "totally different" from other iMacs, which is unsurprising as Apple said it introduced a new thermal design to accommodate the Xeon-W processors and Radeon Pro Vega GPUs built into the machines. The new thermal design includes an "enormous" dual-fan cooler, what iFixit says is a "ginormous heat sink," and a "big rear vent."

Apple's iMac Pro appears to be equipped with the same LG display panel that's used in the standard 27-inch 5K iMac, but because of new cables and a different camera setup, screens can't be swapped across models.

iFixit gives the iMac Pro a repairability score of 3/10, because despite its upgradeable RAM and CPU, it's difficult to open and tough to get to internal components that might need to be repaired or replaced.

The iMac Pro became available for purchase in mid-December, and the machine is now available to order from Apple's website, with 8 and 10-core configurations shipping out in just a few days. Many Apple retail stores around the world also have the base model in stock and available for immediate purchase. Higher-priced 14 and 18-core configurations can be ordered, but won't ship out for several weeks.

imac pro 2
Pricing on the iMac Pro starts at $4,999 for the base machine with an 8-core 3.2GHz processor, 32GB ECC RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a Radeon Pro Vega 56 graphics card, and goes up to $13,199 for a maxed out iMac Pro with a 3.3GHz 18-core processor, 128GB ECC RAM, a 4TB SSD, and a Radeon Pro Vega 64 graphics card.

Related Forum: iMac

Popular Stories

Apple Glasses Purple Feature

Apple Smart Glasses Launching in 2026

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:22 pm PDT by
Apple is planning to launch a set of smart glasses by the end of 2026, reports Bloomberg. The glasses will be comparable to the Meta Ray-Bans and the Android XR glasses that Google showed off earlier this week. Apple's smart glasses are expected to include cameras, microphones, and AI capabilities, much like the Meta Ray-Bans. The glasses will be able to take photos, record video, provide...
2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Raises iPhone Trade-In Values For Limited Time — Here's the List

Friday May 23, 2025 6:48 am PDT by
Apple has temporarily increased its iPhone trade-in values in select countries, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, U.K., and China. Apple says the extra credit towards a new iPhone is available through June 18. In the U.S., the maximum estimated trade-in values increased by only $5 to $30, with the full changes in that country outlined below. ...
top stories 2025 05 24

Top Stories: iPhone 17 Air Details, Apple's Smart Glasses, and More

Saturday May 24, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
WWDC is coming up quickly with a number of software announcements in store, but we're also looking further ahead to hardware launches like the iPhone 17 lineup and even Apple's smart glasses project. This week also saw big news with former Apple design guru Jony Ive joining forces with OpenAI to build future AI-driven devices, while Fortnite returned to the U.S. App Store for the first time...
Apple Glass

Apple Smart Glasses: Everything We Know So Far

Wednesday May 21, 2025 8:21 am PDT by
Google recently made waves by showcasing a set of lightweight smart glasses featuring deep Gemini integration and an optional in-lens display. The demo has reignited interest in Apple's own smart glasses project, which has been the subject of rumors for nearly a decade. Here's a recap of where things stand. Current Development Status Apple is actively working on new chips specifically...
Apple CarPlay Ultra instrument cluster themes 01

Apple's CarPlay Ultra Is Here – Does Your iPhone Support It?

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:17 am PDT by
Apple's recently announced CarPlay Ultra promises a deeply integrated in-car experience, but not all iPhone users will be able to take advantage of the new feature. According to Apple's press release, CarPlay Ultra requires an iPhone 12 or later running iOS 18.5 or later. This means if you're using an iPhone 11, iPhone XR, or any older model, you'll need to upgrade your device to access...
General Calendar Feature

Apple Calendar App Revamp Confirmed by Job Posting

Friday May 23, 2025 3:12 am PDT by
A new Apple job listing has provided more evidence that the company is working on a major overhaul of its Calendar app. A senior software engineer position for "Calendar Experience," spotted by Macworld's Filipe Espósito, explicitly states that Apple seeks candidates to join a team that will "reimagine what a modern calendar can be across Apple's platforms." Listed on April 29, the posting ...
maxresdefault

Sony's New WH-1000XM6 Headphones vs. AirPods Max

Friday May 23, 2025 11:12 am PDT by
Sony recently came out with a new set of high-end over-ear noise canceling headphones, so we thought we'd compare them to the AirPods Max to see how Sony's 2025 headphones measure up to Apple's headphones that haven't seen a notable update since their 2020 launch. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The WH-1000XM6 headphones are the latest in Sony's WH-1000X headphone...

Top Rated Comments

soupcan Avatar
97 months ago
Yeah sure, modular. Modular means I as end user can replace and upgrade parts myself with just a screwdriver. It does not mean taking the entire bloody thing to a store to have them tear the entire screen off of the thing just so you can get at the RAM or SSD (which oh by the way isn't even a normal standard so good luck upgrading that on your own).
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cb3 Avatar
97 months ago
Apple, design these with a hinged door or something so the whole thing opens up and can be worked on and upgraded easily. Design is not just about looks. Function is important too.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pat500000 Avatar
97 months ago
Meh. So what if it’s upgradable? It’s not user’s upgradable. You have to pay for the service. Shessh. My eye is on mac pro..bring that out.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nwcs Avatar
97 months ago
Does it get throttled when its battery is under 80% capacity?
Does it have a battery? It’s ok to use sarcasm but at least do it on the right threads...
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tallscot Avatar
97 months ago
Pros don’t need to upgrade. They can buy what they need and throw it out after 2 years to get another one if they wish.

Since when did the word “Pro” get tied to “upgradeability”? The two have nothing to do with each other.
And what do you do for a living? I have over a dozen friends who are designers, photographers, editors, 3D animators, special FX artists, color graders with Davinci Resolve...and all of them have switched to Windows PCs because of this issue.

The last friend to do so was last year. He was a Mac user with two Macs. He used Premiere Pro to edit indie movies. He had a guy build him a custom PC tower and he now uses the Adobe Creative Cloud suite on that. It cost him $2K. Unlike my $6K 2013 Mac Pro, his PC does Thunderbolt 3 because he just popped in a card. And, no, I don't want to buy a $5K iMac Pro (minimum) just so I can have Thunderbolt 3, even though Thunderbolt 3 RAID drives are 3X faster than my Thunderbolt 2 RAID.

The idea that content creators are throwing out $6K Macs every 2 years and happy to do so is just simply idiotic. It's the dumbest thing I've read on these forums.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vicviper789 Avatar
97 months ago
Does it get throttled when its battery is under 80% capacity?
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)