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 Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Thursday January 15, 2026 10:56 am PST by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another eight months, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we have recapped 12 features rumored for the iPhone 18 Pro models, as of January 2026: The same overall design is expected, with 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes, and a "plateau" housing three rear cameras Under-screen Face ID...
Read Full Article • 73 comments
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

These 5 Apple Products Will Reportedly Be Upgraded With OLED Displays

Friday January 16, 2026 7:07 pm PST by
Apple plans to upgrade the iPad mini, MacBook Pro, iPad Air, iMac, and MacBook Air with OLED displays between 2026 and 2028, according to DigiTimes. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that the iPad mini and MacBook Pro will receive an OLED display as early as this year, but he does not expect the MacBook Air to adopt the technology until 2028 at the earliest. A new iPad Air is...
Read Full Article • 77 comments
2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Adjusts Trade-In Values for iPhones, Macs, and More

Thursday January 15, 2026 11:19 am PST by
Apple today updated its trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models. Trade-ins can be completed on Apple's website, or at an Apple Store. The charts below provide an overview of Apple's current and previous trade-in values in the United States, according to the company's website. Most of the values declined slightly, but some of the Mac values increased. iPhone ...
Read Full Article • 54 comments
Apple Wallet ID Illinois

Apple Plans to Expand iPhone Driver's Licenses to These 7 U.S. States

Friday January 16, 2026 12:12 pm PST by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Apple Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, and then use it to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. The feature is currently available in 13 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, and it is expected to launch in at least seven more in the future. To set up the...
Read Full Article
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

New Leak Reveals iPhone 18 Pro Display Sizes, Under-Screen Face ID, and More

Wednesday January 14, 2026 7:09 am PST by
While the iPhone 18 Pro models are still around eight months away, a leaker has shared some alleged details about the devices. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo this week, the account Digital Chat Station said the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will have the same 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes as the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Consistent with previous...
Read Full Article • 66 comments

Top Rated Comments

AcesHigh87 Avatar
AcesHigh87
105 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
105 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
105 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
105 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
105 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
105 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