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iMac Pro Teardown Highlights Modular RAM, CPU and SSD Along With Redesigned Internals (macrumors.com)
Popular repair site iFixit has acquired an iMac Pro and opened it up to see what's inside. They tore down the base iMac Pro with an 8-core processor, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. Mac Rumors reports the findings: iFixit found that the RAM, CPU, and SSDs in the iMac Pro are modular and can potentially be replaced following purchase, but most of the key components "require a full disassembly to replace." Standard 27-inch iMacs have a small hatch in the back that allows easy access to the RAM for post-purchase upgrades, but that's missing in the iMac Pro. Apple has said that iMac Pro owners will need to get RAM replaced at an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider. iFixit says that compared to the 5K 27-inch iMac, replacing the RAM in the iMac Pro is indeed "a major undertaking."
Apple is using standard 288-pin DDR4 ECC RAM sticks with standard chips, which iFixit was able to upgrade using its own $2,000 RAM upgrade kit. A CPU upgrade is "theoretically possible," but because Apple uses a custom-made Intel chip, it's not clear if an upgrade is actually feasible. The same goes for the SSDs -- they're modular and removable, but custom made by Apple. Unlike the CPU, the GPU is BGA-soldered into place and cannot be removed. The internals of the iMac Pro are "totally different" from other iMacs, which is unsurprising as Apple said it introduced a new thermal design to accommodate the Xeon-W processors and Radeon Pro Vega GPUs built into the machines. The new thermal design includes an "enormous" dual-fan cooler, what iFixit says is a "ginormous heat sink," and a "big rear vent." Overall, iFixit gave the iMac Pro a repairability score of 3/10 since it's difficult to open and tough to get to internal components that might need to be repaired or replaced.
Apple is using standard 288-pin DDR4 ECC RAM sticks with standard chips, which iFixit was able to upgrade using its own $2,000 RAM upgrade kit. A CPU upgrade is "theoretically possible," but because Apple uses a custom-made Intel chip, it's not clear if an upgrade is actually feasible. The same goes for the SSDs -- they're modular and removable, but custom made by Apple. Unlike the CPU, the GPU is BGA-soldered into place and cannot be removed. The internals of the iMac Pro are "totally different" from other iMacs, which is unsurprising as Apple said it introduced a new thermal design to accommodate the Xeon-W processors and Radeon Pro Vega GPUs built into the machines. The new thermal design includes an "enormous" dual-fan cooler, what iFixit says is a "ginormous heat sink," and a "big rear vent." Overall, iFixit gave the iMac Pro a repairability score of 3/10 since it's difficult to open and tough to get to internal components that might need to be repaired or replaced.
Yesterday's hardware at tomorrow's prices, just so you can claim you like the kindergarten-level operating system with all the useful internals obscured. And then, it's a walled garden, and you have few hardware options. Just lubricate your anus before you walk into the Apple store, because you will be sodomized financially and spiritually by this runaway virus of a company.
Alternative Right.
Other than probably costing 50 cents per iMac more, what was wrong with the pre-2013 iMacs, where the screen glass was held on with small magnets and the actually LCD was bolted below it?
Other the mean-spirited customer-hostile design, why glue the LCD on to the case, requiring removal with a pizza roller or knife to fix anything on your own?
If Apple had spent a tiny bit more per machine, repairability would probably be more like 7 or 8 out of 10.
The CPU may be a bit custom, but I believe the socket is standard.
The SSD storage chips are defiantly custom, but third parties have produced storage upgrades in the past, and they probably will for the Mac Pro as well.
Although it doesn't look as easy as opening a door, it didn't seem like opening the iMac itself to switch out RAM looked too difficult - but for now a bunch of RAM is still pretty expensive for the system, no matter how you slice it.
The fan upgrade is really nice, since the current iMacs will spin up the fans quite a bit on load, where from multiple reviews it sounds like the iMac Pro fans almost never go to full (unless CPU and GPU are both maxed at once for a while).
It would be nice to know more about how the GPU fares in comparison to other recent GPU's... A big aspect of the GPU upgrade scene that everyone seems to be overlooking though is that it doesn't matter much if the internal GPU is fixed, because apple is now making an eGPU box for attaching other GPU's to a system externally. That will be really great for those wanting to do any kind of deep learning research.
In general the expandability through Thunderbolt 3 should be really good.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
why lock raid 0 storage to the MB? and only on a pci-e X4 bus for 2 pci-e cards that also has web-cam and co-cpu on that same bus as well? it's not like they are lacking pci-e lanes. Each storage should have it's own cpu X4 link.
Oh yes Apple learned. Selling 20% quality-up 80% more worked well, so far.
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
I wouldn't buy one of these, but if you look at these pictures and are not impressed with the engineering that went in to getting the performance that thing puts out into that package then you're not much of a geek in my estimation. It's like a swiss watch in there. Now a Casio tells time just as well as a precision engineered swiss mechanical for a fraction of the price and yet people still buy them at ridiculous prices because they like a nicely made thing, or they like the style, or they don't want to wear a fugly G-shock with their suit, or they just have money to burn. Whatever.
If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error.
Aren't all iDevices Perfect At Assembly? Upgrading an iMac Pro is like adding more brushstrokes to the Mona Lisa...
/sarc
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
I have a couple of older Macs at home - a MacBook Pro and an iMac. Both of which I was able to upgrade to some degree. But the newer ones seem to have taken vendor lockdown to the extreme. I guess I just like to tinker - be it computers or cars - and buying a locked down machine does not appeal to me.
Proprietary SSD's? Really?
I am absolutely not impressed with the precision. Their laptops are just as precise. Lately, Apple seem to value thinness above all else (even performance).
The processors are basically B-spec versions (i.e. clocked down, probably undervolted) of the Xeon W series they are practically clones of and the Vega GPUs are clocked down versions of their desktop counterparts too.
Most pros I know have performance near the top of their priority list, not thinness. I'd like to run my software as fast as possible, not sit there masturbating to how sexy and thin Apple's machine is.
Maybe the next Mac Pro will give more room to allow less garbage thermals but given Apple's obsession with thinness right now I'm not holding my breath.
Last I checked, Ferrari and co didn't buy stock Hyundai engines, drop them into an escort body mod kit and call it a day after jacking the price up.
I have a couple of older Macs at home - a MacBook Pro and an iMac. Both of which I was able to upgrade to some degree.
Anyone who wants to tinker at this stage of computer use, the iMac Pro does not look bad at all. The pizza-cutter like thing to separate the screen is not that hard and then it's just undoing a few more components and you are in. Then it's just slots and sockets for most of it. It's not like many casual computer users alter those things anymore.
Just like the laptops, eventually someone will offer third party SSD chips. If you want a newer CPU, you can use Apple's eGPU box to attach one.
You can also attach a number of external monitors to the system as well...
Probably though you'll be a lot happier with the next Mac Pro (probably out late this year) which should be directly targeting people who want to alter components more often. The iMac Pro is for people who want a powerful system and don't care about altering it for a while after purchase.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
No headphone jack.
The iMac Pro actually *does* have a standard 3.5" stereo headphone jack. Why would that even matter, I have zero idea.
Already updated to 16gb and SSD
Base iMac Pro ram is 32GB...
You say "SSD" like that means anything. Does YOUR SSD do writes on a fully encrypted partition at 2996MB/sec?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The luxury product comparison sounds like a straw man argument.
Macs are not very expensive when you compare similar hardware. It's just also very difficult to find similar hardware. Remember "it has speakers" isn't the same as what the iMac has. Similarly, "It has a camera, isn't the same as the iMac", "it has a keyboard...", "it has a display", "it's very quiet", "it has technical support"... it goes on and on.
Most people don't need half the features it has, and would rather have upgradability, more storage, blah blah. So it doesn't make sense.
The iMac is great if you need most of what it offers. Otherwise, it's a lot of money for stuff you don't need.
The Samsung 960 Pro real world performance is more like 2000MB/s write - best case
Remember, that 4000MB/sec speed was for WRITES in the iMac.
It's nice you can get close (for reads, though 500-800 MB/sec is still a pretty large difference), but there is no way your SSD is performing at twice the speed of that review for writes... and if you are getting over the rating in speed (especially way over 500MB/sec faster) you have some kind of cache affecting results.
I have a Samsung 850 SSD I use in an external enclosure, but it doesn't show any higher results than ratings or review scores, and is substantially below the iMac Pro in performance rating.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley