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iMac Pro

The iMac Pro is a discontinued all-in-one personal computer and workstation made by Apple Inc. from 2017 to 2021. It was one of four desktop computers in the Macintosh lineup, sitting above the consumer range Mac Mini and iMac, and serving as an all-in-one alternative to the Mac Pro.[2][3]

Not to be confused with Mac Pro or iMac.

Developer

December 14, 2017

March 5, 2021

Background[edit]

In 2013, Apple replaced its tower Mac Pro workstation with a radically-redesigned cylindrical model. The 2013 Mac Pro languished for years without any updates, and Apple later said that its small design and focus on dual graphics-processing unit had been a mistake. In April 2017, Apple convened a roundtable of journalists and executives to restate their commitment to professional Macs. As part of the announcement, Apple said a new monitor and Mac Pro were being developed but would not arrive that year. In June, Apple announced the iMac Pro to fill the gap.[4][5][6]

Design[edit]

The iMac Pro uses the same chassis as the 27-inch iMac it was sold alongside, but comes in a darker "space gray" finish, with a color-matched Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad.[7] The iMac Pro also has more connectivity options than the iMac, with four Thunderbolt 3 ports, four USB-A ports, a headphone jack, Ethernet port, and SDXC card slot. The iMac Pro uses Xeon-W processors and includes a larger cooling system.[8] The iMac Pro was the first Mac equipped with Apple's T2 chip, a custom Apple co-processor. The T2 handles security, encryption and some video encoding and decoding.[9][10][11]


The processor, memory, and storage are not soldered and can be removed.[12] Unlike the 27-inch iMac, the iMac Pro does not have a memory access hatch; memory upgrades require disassembling the display.[13][14] The solid state drive is user-replaceable, but requires disassembly of the iMac Pro and an Apple Configurator restore after the new storage modules are installed.[15] The iMac Pro's stand is user-replaceable with a licensed OEM VESA mount kit sold by Apple. The mount uses zinc screws that may be prone to breaking.[16]

Release[edit]

The iMac Pro was announced at WWDC on June 5, 2017, and was released in December 2017. Apple billed it as "the most powerful Mac ever made".[17][18] The configurations included an 8-, 10-, 14-, or 18-core Intel Xeon processor, 5K display, AMD Vega graphics, ECC memory, and 10 Gigabit Ethernet.


The iMac Pro received minor updates after release. Configuration options for 256 GB of memory and a Vega 64X GPU were added on March 19, 2019. Apple discontinued the 8-core model on August 4, 2020, making the 10-core model the base model.[19] The iMac Pro was discontinued on March 5, 2021; Apple continued to sell the computer while supplies lasted.[20][21] It was delisted from Apple's website and online store on March 19, 2021.[22] An indirect successor, the Mac Studio, was released on March 18, 2022, alongside the Apple Studio Display.[1][23]

– official site at Apple, archived at the Wayback Machine on March 10, 2021

iMac Pro