iMac Pro arrives at Apple's retail stores

Customers who can afford its $4,999 pricetag may now be able to find the 8-core base model of the iMac Pro in some U.S. Apple stores, ready for pickup.

Apple had originally told the press that units could be on store shelves as soon as last week. Online orders began arriving Dec. 27.

Shoppers should check Apple's pickup availability before heading out, as some places still don't have the computer in stock. In those cases, outlets are typically quoting Jan. 11 as the next possible pickup date.

The default Pro also comes with 32 gigabytes of RAM, 1 terabyte of SSD storage, and AMD's 8-gigabyte Radeon Pro Vega 56 video card. Many upgrade options are available, such as a 10-core CPU, but 14- and 18-core machines aren't shipping until next month.

Aimed mainly at people doing tasks like 3D rendering, simulations, and video editing, the Pro is easily one of the more expensive products in Apple history. A top-end 18-core configuration will cost as much as $13,199.

Those looking to save on an iMac Pro purchase can also pick up the new desktop with no tax in most states. At press time, Abt Electronics is shipping the standard $4,999 configuration with no tax outside IL, IN, MI and WI, while B&H and Adorama have upgraded models in stock with no tax outside NY and NJ. For a full list of deals, please visit our iMac Pro Price Guide.

30 Comments

mdirvin 51 comments · 10 Years

About 6 years ago

I just received an e-mail from B&H, mine has been shipped for delivery on 1/3/2018. Specked with a 10 core, 2 TB SSD, 64 GIG, and Vega 64/16G video card. So built to order have already arrived.

Mike

lkrupp 10521 comments · 19 Years

AppleInsider said:

Customers who can afford its $4,999 pricetag may now be able to find the 8-core base model of the iMac Pro in some U.S. Apple stores, ready for pickup.

Why do we keep with the narrative that this machine might be purchased by common users? Why do we keep mentioning the price? The real professional who makes a living with a machine like this one will pay the price. And it’s not too expensive when you consider what’s inside the beast. I’m surprised AI or someone else hasn’t priced out a PC with the exact same specs and 5K monitor, if such an animal even exists.

wlym 102 comments · 8 Years

mdirvin said:

I just received an e-mail from B&H, mine has been shipped for delivery on 1/3/2018. Specked with a 10 core, 2 TB SSD, 64 GIG, and Vega 64/16G video card. So built to order have already arrived.

Mike

Rumours are that Apple's releasing a special Rose Gold iMac Pro (with hot pink Magic Mouse) for Valentine's Day so I'm holding off ordering until then. Otherwise yours sounds like an okay machine. ;-)

StrangeDays 12964 comments · 8 Years

lkrupp said:

AppleInsider said:

Customers who can afford its $4,999 pricetag may now be able to find the 8-core base model of the iMac Pro in some U.S. Apple stores, ready for pickup.

Why do we keep with the narrative that this machine might be purchased by common users? Why do we keep mentioning the price? The real professional who makes a living with a machine like this one will pay the price. And it’s not too expensive when you consider what’s inside the beast. I’m surprised AI or someone else hasn’t priced out a PC with the exact same specs and 5K monitor, if such an animal even exists.

Indeed. The Apple Lisa launched in January 1983 for $9,995, which in today's dollars is $25,209. Clearly the iMP is a much better business machine at a fraction of the price.

VRing 108 comments · 7 Years

lkrupp said:

AppleInsider said:

Customers who can afford its $4,999 pricetag may now be able to find the 8-core base model of the iMac Pro in some U.S. Apple stores, ready for pickup.

Why do we keep with the narrative that this machine might be purchased by common users? Why do we keep mentioning the price? The real professional who makes a living with a machine like this one will pay the price. And it’s not too expensive when you consider what’s inside the beast. I’m surprised AI or someone else hasn’t priced out a PC with the exact same specs and 5K monitor, if such an animal even exists.

You can't price out the exact same specs. The CPU and GPU are down clocked versions of their off the shelf counterparts.

For example, the Vega 64 iMac Pro is outputting about the same TFLOPS as the off the shelf Vega 56. So it's not going to be a tit-for-tat comparison.

If you want to price out a DIY desktop, you can easily build a better one for less than the iMac Pro.

Pre-built computers become a bit more complicated, again, because of the availability of parts and the fact the iMac Pro is using weaker components.