Apple enterprise sales channels gearing up, preparing businesses for iMac Pro orders

AppleInsider has learned that enterprise sales staff within Apple have begun asking long-time clients about what "custom configurations" of the iMac Pro that they may seek, and are making preparations to take orders for the device as soon as this week.

According to multiple sources that AppleInsider has been in contact with for over a decade, but who are not authorized to speak on behalf of the company, emails to "reliable, high-volume customers" have been sent regarding purchases of the iMac Pro. The emails ask about specific needs for the customers, including storage, RAM, GPU needs, and peripheral requirements.

In exchange, Apple salespeople are giving "ballpark prices" for the requests, so the hardware purchasers can prepare the funds for the order, or make arrangements for financing before the end of the week. AppleInsider was unable to source information on price ranges for custom configurations beyond the $4,999 base price that Apple has already announced.

The multiple sources also claimed that Apple will be able to ship "early orders" for both default and some custom configurations before the conclusion of the fiscal quarter and calendar year, qualifying for any applicable tax benefits for the 2017 tax year.

It is unclear how similar this is to the Mac Pro redesign, that was announced in October 2013, and only shipped in very small quantities after Dec. 18, 2013 — but still technically qualifying as shipped in that year.

The iMac Pro made a brief appearance at the 2017 WWDC. It will feature a 5K display, Vega 56 or 64 Graphics, up to 18-core Xeon processors, up to 4TB of SSD storage, and will start at $4,999 when it ships. International regulatory filings peg one model of the iMac Pro as "A1862" ahead of its release.

28 Comments

SpamSandwich 32917 comments · 19 Years

About 6 years ago

I’d love to have that much power in an iMac, but I just cannot justify spending that much on a desktop anymore. I used to regularly shell out thousands from my own pocket to get the latest Mac just so I could keep up and advance my career but it’s much less important to me now. Still getting so much use out of my iPad Pro!

karmadave 369 comments · 15 Years

I see the iMac Pro as strictly a stop gap to a redesigned Mac Pro. Most high end users really want a system that they can customize and expand for their particular applications and the iMac's expansion is basically limited to almost entirely external devices. I think the iMac Pro is a good machine, although typically expensive, it's appeal is limited by lack of internal expansion options...

sflocal 6135 comments · 16 Years

karmadave said:

I see the iMac Pro as strictly a stop gap to a redesigned Mac Pro. Most high end users really want a system that they can customize and expand for their particular applications and the iMac's expansion is basically limited to almost entirely external devices. I think the iMac Pro is a good machine, although typically expensive, it's appeal is limited by lack of internal expansion options...

I don't agree. Companies will be purchasing these workstations for use by their employees. They want to put these workstations straight to work to begin generating revenue for them. They have little desire to open up the cases and swap out internals. "High End Users" aren't necessarily those that want to do that, but professionals in their field that want the fastest machines around. When those machines no longer serve their purpose, most will not upgrade components. Their bosses will simply buy them a new, more current machine. That's how corporate works.

I "hope" the new Mac Pro is more upgrade-friendly than the prior model, but even then... outside of the basic SSD/RAM upgrades, I don't think most people using the Mac Pro will be swapping internals either. I'm sure it will be crammed full of Thunderbolt3(x) ports that will let any add-on be simply a matter of plugging it in. It will be interesting to see what Apple does on their re-visit to the Mac Pro.

lkrupp 10521 comments · 19 Years

You certainly don’t need that kind of horsepower for general business use. IMHO I see the iMac Pro being for serious number crunching, graphics and design professionals. While I personally am drooling over this machine and could afford it if I stretched the budget it’s way too much power for my personal home use.

Now if the regular iMac line was offered in space gray or rose gold I would be all over those. My late 2013 27” iMac 14,2 is still going strong and runs High Sierra very well but it will be five years old next year.

bobolicious 1174 comments · 10 Years

...I've submitted feedback to Apple asking for a more affordable entry config (ram and drive, like the current pro) as well as ideally a silver option to match all the other accessories... I guess we'll know soon enough...