iMac Pro Compared to 5K iMac and MacBook Pro

by

MacRumors videographer Dan recently got his hands on the new 8-core iMac Pro, and he decided to compare it to his other machines, a 2015 5K iMac and a 2016 MacBook Pro to see how it measures up when it comes to his everyday video editing workload.

In the video below, Dan takes a look at how well the iMac Pro performs on tasks like editing video, exporting video, and reading and writing data. If you're wondering whether the entry-level iMac Pro is worth the $5,000 price tag when you've already got hardware on hand like an iMac or a MacBook Pro, this video is worth checking out because it might help you make a decision.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.

Dan compared the entry-level 8-core iMac Pro with a 3.2GHz Intel Xeon W processor to a late 2015 iMac with a 3.2GHz 6th-generation Intel processor, 24GB RAM, 1TB Fusion Drive, and AMD Radeon M390 graphics card and a late 2016 MacBook Pro with a 2.7GHz 6th-generation Intel processor, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, and AMD Radeon Pro 455 graphics card.

Unsurprisingly, the iMac Pro was much faster when it came to benchmarks and performance tasks, and compared to the iMac and the MacBook Pro, the overall experience is smoother due to the sheer power of the processor and the GPU. It's ultra quick when editing video, even with multiple system intensive apps open, and it's quiet as a mouse with no loud fans.

The 5K iMac did win out slightly on video exporting time over the iMac Pro, but the iMac Pro wasn't far behind and it came out on top in all other tests.

Pricing on the iMac Pro starts at $4,999 for the entry-level 8-core model with 32GB 2666 MHz ECC RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a Radeon Pro Vega 56 graphics card, but goes up to $13,199 depending on the upgrades you choose. Even at $4,999 it's a couple thousand dollars more expensive than an iMac or a MacBook Pro, but it has the potential to be fully worth the asking price if you do system intensive creative work like video editing.

For more details on the iMac Pro, make sure to check out our iMac Pro roundup.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
Read Full Article • 309 comments
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.1 Coming Soon, Likely With iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro Fix

Thursday September 18, 2025 9:17 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to release iOS 26.0.1, according to a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing information about future iOS versions. The update will have a build number of 23A350, or similar, the account said. It is likely that iOS 26.0.1 will fix a camera-related bug on the new iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models. In his iPhone Air review, CNN Underscored's Henry T. ...
Read Full Article • 65 comments
iPhone 17 Pro Colors

iPhone 17 Pro Max Teardown Reveals Qualcomm's Snapdragon X80 Modem for 5G

Friday September 19, 2025 7:39 am PDT by
While the iPhone Air is equipped with Apple's custom C1X modem for cellular connectivity, all of the iPhone 17 models are outfitted with Qualcomm modems still. A teardown video shared on Chinese platform Bilibili today (via Reddit) appears to confirm the iPhone 17 Pro Max is equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X80 modem in particular. The same modem is likely used in the iPhone 17 and iPhone ...
Read Full Article • 34 comments
iphone 17 pro max techwoven

Here Are The Best Cases You Can Buy for Your New iPhone 17 and iPhone Air

Friday September 19, 2025 6:46 am PDT by
Apple's new iPhones launch today, and there are plenty of options to choose from when it comes to protecting your new device from drops and scratches. In this article, we're taking a look at some of the best options for iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Air cases, as well as a few charging accessories. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
Read Full Article • 61 comments
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

iOS 26's Liquid Glass Design Draws Criticism From Users

Wednesday September 17, 2025 2:56 pm PDT by
It's been two days since iOS 26 was released, and Apple's new Liquid Glass design is even more divisive than expected. Any major design change can create controversy as people get used to the new look, but the MacRumors forums, Reddit, Apple Support Communities, and social media sites seem to feature more criticism than praise as people discuss the update. Complaints There are a long...
Read Full Article • 612 comments
iphone 17 pro inside

iPhone 17 Teardowns Confirm SIM and eSIM-Only Battery Capacities

Friday September 19, 2025 8:39 am PDT by
YouTube channel REWA Technology today shared an iPhone 17 Pro teardown video, offering a closer look inside the model with a SIM card tray. We are still waiting for repair website iFixit to share a more comprehensive teardown of the latest iPhone models, but this video provides a good look in the meantime. The device features various internal design changes, including larger rear camera...
Read Full Article • 39 comments

Top Rated Comments

AcesHigh87 Avatar
AcesHigh87
100 months ago
It’s weird that a 2 year old iMac handled the video export better... encoding is almost all CPU based on this Xeon should be far stronger.
[doublepost=1516315801][/doublepost]
...but goes up to $13,199 ..

"So honey, we have a chance to buy a new small car for our daily tasks in the city, or we can buy an overpriced garbage that has apple logo on it and it'll be outdated in about a year?"
No one in the market for an iMac Pro would ever be having this conversation though. These are workstation machines, not consumer machines. People that need workstations will easily make up the cost with a few projects.
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CWallace Avatar
CWallace
100 months ago
Nobody should ever be jealous at anybody who pays 13.000$ for a computer that isn't light years ahead of competition and brings nothing new to the table.
An HP Z4 with an 18-core W-Series Xeon, 128GB of ECC RAM, a 1TB M.2 drive (largest available) and Quadro P2000 GPU (best available) is $12000. So for $1000 more, you get a 5K display, 3TB more SSD capacity and a better GPU.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JimmyBanks6 Avatar
JimmyBanks6
100 months ago
...but goes up to $13,199 ..

"So honey, we have a chance to buy a new small car for our daily tasks in the city, or we can buy an overpriced garbage that has apple logo on it and it'll be outdated in about a year?"
Any new car for 13k is truly garbage, and a car is outdated each year as well.

I can read the jealousy in this post.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kylelerner Avatar
kylelerner
100 months ago
The gentleman in the video incorrectly stated that the disk speeds were measured in megabits per second rather than megabytes per second. Just to clarify, Disk speeds are almost always measured megabytes per second, including in this video. There is a huge difference.

100 MB/s (megabytes per second)
100 Mbps (megabits per second, which is 12.5 MB/s)
There are 8 bits in a byte.
Usually only networking speeds are measured in bits.



Sorry - just a pet peeve.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ignatius345 Avatar
ignatius345
100 months ago
...but goes up to $13,199 ..

"So honey, we have a chance to buy a new small car for our daily tasks in the city, or we can buy an overpriced garbage that has apple logo on it and it'll be outdated in about a year?"
Given that the iMac Pro is clearly a tool for doing paid professional work, let's talk about how many billable hours (say) a video editor could rack up in a day with this machine, vs how many hours... you could drive for Lyft in that hypothetical cheap car?

Great comparison though, please keep posting.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Smartass Avatar
Smartass
100 months ago
...but goes up to $13,199 ..

"So honey, we have a chance to buy a new small car for our daily tasks in the city, or we can buy an overpriced garbage that has apple logo on it and it'll be outdated in about a year?"
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments