iMac Pro first review

Very nice! For all that I'm not the biggest fan of Apple's software choices these days, Mac continues to be the only UNIX® workstation worth buying.

The specs on this are actually top of the line, it has sufficient max RAM (128GB!), the AMD Vega card is a great choice. We'd have to wait to see benchmarks between the 10-core, 14-core, and 18-core models for ideal multi-core vs single-core performance.

That said, this isn't the machine I want. Non-expandability is a massive problem for these machines. Wrapping a high-end CPU inside a tight thermal enclosure like the iMac is not great, no matter how much ventilation you put out back; and fans running right behind your screen and speakers is awful, it needs to be on the floor or far end of a desk. When I'm doing anything with audio, I have to use the headphones not just because they're better than speakers, but to isolate the fans.

So I'm still waiting for the Mac Pro next year, and will limp along in my old iMac 5K Amateur, with its ridiculous "little" 3TB fusion drive I can't easily replace, 16GB RAM (which is replaceable, but it hasn't been a priority this year).

The Twelve South HiRise Pro is amusing/insane, it's $150 for a different paint job and reversible door from the $80 HiRise, of which there are plenty of $30 equivalents, and spray paint costs $1. That's, like, half a RAM doubling for an aluminum box. #ZerothWorldProblems.

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