Is the iMac Pro Still Worth Buying in 2023?

Question

Zauważyłem, że ceny iMaców Pro pociągnęły w dół. Czy uważacie, że jest to wciąż jakaś dobra oferta w Apple w 2023 roku?

Answer 1

Yes, the iMac Pro can still make sense economically within the realm of Apple computing. That is of course if you are able to secure a bargain. It may be an old model but it does boast an impressive display, provide acceptable camera quality and decent performance for its price. As the mid-tier Apple offering is quite limited, the iMac Pro may be a good option for those who are looking for a strong desktop but do not want to pay for the latest models.

Comments

It might not be the latest and greatest, but I think the iMac Pro is low-key the best Intel Mac ever made. Do you agree? Also, thanks to Omaze for sponsoring! Enter now at https://www.omaze.com/lukemiani

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Nothing beats the space gray colour and the Xeon’s and Vega 64 graphics in these things are still bananas fast compared to some M1 family chips… that’s incredible that prices are going down!

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I bought an iMac Pro base model 1,5 year ago but after about six months I noticed that the fans started spinning up a lot more (=more noise) and temperatures rising. First I thought it was because of recent MacOs updates but some months later just for fun I tried blowing condensed air into the vents and exhausts on the back and holy moly a ton of dust came out of it alongside big chunks of fluff. After that "cleaning" the temperature and noise has gone down a lot so I highly recommend this procedure if you like me don't have the skills to open it up completely.

Also another thing I really like about this Intel based iMac Pro is that I can still use boot camp for gaming

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Every time I see the space grey and black accessories it makes me wish Apple brought them back. Hopefully they do so with the 202X iMac Pro.

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Unfortunately $3000 to $4000 is Still way too high for me to afford. I'm like dirt poor.

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100% love your take here Luke. Can’t believe how good of value this is when you really break it down like you did in this content. And the speakers in this thing might just be one of the most impressive I’ve ever heard in a computer, aside from the new MacBook Pros (simply bc of their size-to-speaker volume/quality ratio). Thanks for taking the time to make this instead of just up and selling the iMac Pro.

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Completely agree! You can score some killer deals on these (better than 2020 iMacs) so as long as you don't need really fast single-core performance these can do a great job. We just sold ours to a photographer for $2000 and it's going to do a great job for lightroom classic.

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This is an outstanding post!  When Apple, Inc. discontinued the 27-inch iMac Pro and their prices started to drop, I was saying to others  ow appears to be the time to buy.  Then after Apple, Inc. discontinued the last version of the 27-inch iMac and the prices of the iMac Pro's continued to drop, I said time to jog not walk and pick-up a used model.  But, after the introduction of the new Mac Studio and Studio Display and the prices of the iMac Pro's kept dropping, I said from the "hill tops" ...time to buy a used iMac Pro.  A few months ago, I had to decide between a $2,200 base 8-core 27-inch iMac Pro and a 2014, $1,200 trash can size 6-core D-700 Mac Pro.  Only picked-up the 2014, Mac Pro because, I all ready had an Apple 27-inch Cinema LED (none thunderbolt) display.  However, within the next three (3)-year's, I will be added for sure the 27-inch iMac Pro to my desktop collection (smile...smile).

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I'm a freelance editor and colorist, so I mainly work in Adobe and Davinci Resolve. I have a 16 inch MacBook Pro, the 8 core i9 version with 64 gb of ram and 8gb of video ram. Works well for a mobile machine. But my desktop was getting pretty weak, its just a normal 5k iMac from 2017, quad core i7 with 32 gb of ram and the graphics isn't too bad with the radeon 580 also with 8gb of video ram. I was considering the Mac studio and getting a separate monitor. But ultimately for various reasons and the price, I felt it best to skip it for now. I had considered the iMac Pro, as it felt like a solid middle ground between the Mac Pro and what I have now, especially with the machine I needed basically being the holdover until my next big upgrade. But admittedly with iMacs, I don't like buying used. Never know how well someone cared for it, mainly in regards to utilizing fan speed apps to keep the cpu as cool as possible (apple allows CPU temps to get way too high), and also dust build up. I thought about refurbished from apple, but it was still very expensive. So I did some digging, and OWC is selling refurbished iMac Pros right now, for less than half the price. Some of the specifics confuse me, but OWC is obviously very reliable so I trusted them, and I don't regret it. What it seems is that I got refurbished unit, sealed by apple, but then upgraded by OWC, so it's as close to a new machine as possible. All of these refurbished models come with the 10 core xeon(my personal favorite since it has the highest turbo boost and still above 3ghz base clock) and the radeon Vega 56 graphics card, and 1tb of storage. This tells me these are base model machines from 2019 when apple cut off the 8 core model. The nice part however is OWC will open the machine up and upgrade the ram for you. So I put in 128gb of ram. Buying this exact model from apple would've cost nearly $7000, I got it for $2500. It runs very well, installing a fan speed app and setting it to max speed when it begins to heat up keeps temps below 75C under load, and ultimately it just works great for what I do

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The iMac pro is a wonderful package. Right now, there's nothing like it. Sure there is the smaller M1 iMac but I really prefer the luxury, throwing any peripherals I like. 4x USB-A's + 4 USB-C's + Card Reader + Headphone Jack on the back and all that with a beautiful 5K display. That alone makes it an absolute work horse. Performance wise it's more than enough for most 'PRO' use cases.

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Hi Luke, thanks for this fantastic content. I just recently bought an Imac Pro 8C with 64GB Ram, 2TB SSD and the Vega 58 for €2100 here in Hamburg, Germany. I am super happy with it, I mounted it to the wall behind my desk and I love the space grey colour of it. It still has enough power to run Battlefield V at 1440p, Anno1800 and even X-Plane 11 at decent settings via Bootcamp. The display is phenomenal and the webcam is fantastic. I wanted to replace my 16" macbook pro (2019) with it but sadly no one wants to buy that laptop for more than €1300. For that little money I will keep it, since that also is a very good machine. Keep up your very good work. Always looking forward to new content. Best regards, Dominik.

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I am not surprised this computer is still decent. These high end Macs do last a long time. I was shocked how many years I was able to get out of my 2010 Mac Pro. Good content Luke and see you at the next one.

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I bought my iMac Pro 14 core with 64gb ram vega 64x and 1 tb ssd for $2800 total after taxes in September of 2021 off ebay. fantastic deal. Its a juggernaut. Theyre even cheaper now, so i should have waited a little longer but theyre great computers.

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It still sure is a powerful machine. My concern would be dropping 3 grand  on a computer that won’t get macOS updates in about a year from now

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the fact that there's no Apple Silicon 27" iMac basically saves this machine haha

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how about.. a base model macbook pro, for 2000 dollars (maybe with the memory upgrade if needed)
then for the rest of the money saved (1700) you could get a great display as well.
and you'd be able to travel with it
you'd have a built in trackpad and keyboard
and you wouldn't have wasted your money on some 5 year old intel system that is essentially being phased out... (losing out of upcoming macOS updates, would also suck)

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Good points you made. But one thing needs to be considered: Apple´s Update policy. Since Apple announces that the new OS is already no more available for anything older than some Late 2016 models, it s a question of time since all INTEL Macs won t get the MacOS ...and what this means you can count on one hand. You have to stick with what you have....esp. when it comes to Adobe products, that s a critical point.

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I have the 18c iMac Pro w/128GB RAM, 4TB, Vega 64, etc. and I've thought of selling it, but I go back/forth on it often. The biggest reason has been fear of not selling it before something going wrong with it becomes a bigger possibility, but that's just me being jittery I think. It'll likely be just fine for a long time, I just have to be willing to possibly sell for parts when/if something does fail on it. It's a risk, but is it a huge risk? Not really. For now, it's still a beast.

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I am seriously considering getting the iMac Pro as my first desktop computer. I have been using Mac computers since college and have enjoyed them ever since. I also prefer the x86 architecture over the ARM architecture, just because I run Windows 10 on my Mac. So I just like how I’m getting the best of both worlds in a single machine.

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I can only see this as a viable option if you desperately need to replace your old mac (perhaps it's broken) but you use one of the few program that still don't play well on apple silicon.
Of course this wouldn't be a long term investmebt but it could save you in a pinch.

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Just snagged a 8 core, 1 TB, 64gb, and Vega 64 for under $1500. I am happy to have this as my last intel mac.

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I did buy a 2020 imac from refurbished store in 2022, last month actually and it is a beast, super fast, any game works perfect, the display is just bananas, best overall package for 2k. Specs are i7 8 core with 32GB of ram (88 quid off amazon) 1TB apple ssd and xt5700 with 16GB of memory. I Do believe that I will need nothing more for at least next 4 years

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just picked one up for $940!!! very capable and fast machine also with a beautiful 27in 5k

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I think the 2019 27" i9 iMac was an insane deal. Fastest single-core performance at the time. Eight cores. Vega 48 8GB, 64GB Ram, etc. and can be had for $1200. Not too shabby.

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Just bought the base model for 1200$, amazing deal!

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If Apple doesn't phase it out very quickly in terms of software, then it'll surely be my next upgrade!

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The big problem I have with folks like Luke recommending machines like this, is the fact that Apple is dropping support for Intel based hardware for upgrades to MacOS. This will shut people out of a lot of the Apple software (final cut pro, for example) and features of MacOS that only run on Apple silicon.

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I upgraded my 2019 i5 based 27inch iMac (non-Pro) to a 9900K, 128Gb RAM and a sick NVMe SSD; Windows 10 on another SSD in a TB3 external enclosure; and a Radeon 6800XT as an eGPU. It smashes more or less anything - awesome

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I still love mine, it's the only AIO Apple with 27". and it does anything a Mac can do, and it works well.

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I’m still owning the iMac Pro 2017 and now added the MacBook Pro M1 Pro to the family! The iMac Pro is a monster of a machine to these days!

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I miss the 27" iMacs so much....In the summer I move to my terrace with my iMac and that is really a pain with a Mac Studio and all the additional components. A MacBook or even the 24" iMac is no alternative for me because I need the screen size...

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In 2022, yep. I just did. I bought one last week, new old stock unopened for about $1100. Merry Christmas to me.

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You can get a 2020 Imac with a 10core 64-128gigs and a 5700xt for 1k cheaper and the GPU is better and you get the security features.

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I got the latest iMac 2020 with i9 10-core and radeon 5700 xt 16 gb 2 years ago. Bought it with 1 tb ssd and upgraded the ram to 128 for ultra cheap price by myself.

Actually it is a steal with 5k display and keyboard/mouse. But the best thing with the intel imac is bootcamp for me. I’m not playing game for years. I missed to play so decided to got a gaming pc. I was about to build a gaming pc but gave a try to bootcamp before doing it. I was really shocked, because I got 150 fps with on battlefield 3 at 3k resolution ultra details. Tried metro 2033 redux and got 100+ fps with aa off. Team fortress 2 150+ fps with full details. FPS games damn smooth with my 34 inch 165 hz external monitor.

So I can use it as a gaming pc as well and I’m really happy as a casual gamer. I can play most games that I like with ultra details. Maybe you can do it with m macs by softwares like parallels desktop but I’m not sure it will handle the games like bootcamp.

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Hmm invest that much money for x86 iMac? Unless someone really needs intel chips for some reason, it does not seem very reasonable. Apps will be optimized for Apple silicon and there is no guarantee that the intel mac support will last for a long period of time. If someone desperately needs a good performance all-in-one desktop right now for a span of three years, then maybe. But I would say get m1 max machine (macbook pro or mac studio) and get a third party monitor if needed.

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Weather you like it or not x86 intel macs are compelling for a lot of people even in the upper midrange to high end, we are still waiting for duel m1 ultra Mac pros apple

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I would be concerned about how long Apple will support it and provide major version OS updates. It’s one of those things that sticks in my head when I shop for even slightly older Macs these days. That’s one thing that would push me towards Apple Silicon. Great content, keep it up.

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Literally just picked my 2017  Imac Pro 18 core vega 64 up  on Ebay for just under 4k, a few days ago and I AM IN LOVE! Of coarse it is unfortunate that this now sits on the cusp of obsolescence with Apple's software update, but this is the reality we live in.  Also currently building my first 5,1 right now! Thank you so much for all the info Luke, your channel is inspiring, your content is King, and I cannot express how happy I am with this upgrade!

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I’d make pretty much the exact same arguments for the last i9 MacBook Pro, I started using one after I returned my 14” MacBook Pro and my 16” M1 Pro MacBook Pro and I always came back to the machine that did everything I needed it to… except battery life. To be fair though I drained an almost brand new 16” M1 Pro MacBook Pro battery in like 2 hours, so it’s only about double the battery life and I don’t think I could give up x86_64 compat and Windows 10 compat for that.

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There was a good window between 2017 and 2020 where the iMac Pro really ruled, not only visually but also in productivity. A good late 27" with a 5700XT was easily better. The worst part about an old iMac is the display - If it was used heavily it will have magenta bleeding on all edges - i haven't seen an old iMac in production environments without it. That alone is a dealbreaker. The cheaper Pros now are mostly with 32Gb RAM - which would be a non-issue on normal iMacs, on the Pro there is no removable cover on the back - have fun cutting it open and getting the expensive old RAM to put in. Even the Vega64 is really outdated now while the power consumption and noise are not on par with the Studio - so while i dig the sentimental value it's time is way gone. Money is NEVER an actual decider - if you used your iMacPro for 5 years it is fiscally written off, same will happen to the Studio. You get the Ultra with 128Gb of that sweet unified memory (which is an absolute killer argument for some graphics areas) with the display and be done with it. Investing in obsolete tech is not a feasible decision when you want to make money of it. Regarding the benchmarks - we need to wait a bit until all the big developers bring native Mx apps that don't need to use the Rosetta crutch. Things are only going to get faster - but not on the iMac anymore ;)

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Got two iMac pros on eBay each less than $1000. These things rock.  Duel boot, and a 5K monitor with plenty of horsepower. It don’t get no better.

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I not only would, but very close to, I did! Not your speced-out 27" model, but I paid £1,000 ($1,299) in October 2021 for a re-furbished iMac Pro:
   iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017)
   Processor 3.6 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
   Memory 16 GB 2400 MHz DDR4
   Graphics Radeon Pro 560 4 GB
For me and my business (publishing) this has been an excellent choice. It does everything I need, including normal HD video work, with ease. Macs last a long time, which is what makes them such good value.
Thanks for another excellent content, Luke.

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Another important thing to consider when buying old tech is how many more OS upgrades are possible. Apple typically provide OS upgrades for 6 to 7 years. So, buying a computer from 2019 should give you OS upgrades up until 2025/26. This means you'll get 3-4 years worth of upgrades before the computer is officially unsupported. Also, since Apple have ended their reliance on Intel, it's just a matter of time before they officially stop supporting it in some macOS in the future. This could mean you might not get 4 years worth of OS upgrades on an Intel platform. I wouldn't consider anything older than 2019, as the older the computer, the less time is left before it's unsupported.

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Thanks for making the prices spike up . They WERE still the same as they were 2 years ago, now they're gonna double up.

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Yes, you are right. But - if you rendering or gaming on your iMac Pro you have a "Jet-Fan-Plane" on the desk.
And if anyone buy a used iMac Pro jet, what is in the next year when the m2 and m3 released.
Next point is energy consumption, what is getting more importent.

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The problem is that no one knows when Apple will partially or completely drop support for X86 machines

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Nice content Luke. Only concern I have is the impending demise of X86 support in future versions of MacOS with no hope of patching. Spending $3500 on a computer that's going to have support dropped by 2025 is a very poor value for someone like a musician who tends to keep computers until they are fully unsupported and then upgrade. Just a thought.

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Maybe in the USA...but elsewhere people still overcharge a lot you might as well buy new M1 or M2...