Intel's 18-core Xeon CPU might be coming to the iMac Pro

[BlazingBlob]

Intel's 18-core Xeon CPU may be destined for the iMac Pro

 

I think having such a powerfull CPU for a professional grade computer may be what apple needs to have a even bigger edge over other solutions for pofessionals.

however will the cost f it go up

 

what do you guys think?

 

https://www.engadget.com/2017/08/29/intel-18-core-xeon-w-cpu/

 

Quote

After the 18-core model, you're looking at Xeon Ws with 14, 10, 8 and fewer cores. The top-of-the-line chip can be boosted to 4.3 GHz if you've got the cooling, while the lesser models can go up to 4.5 GHz. The new CPUs also support up to 512GB of DDR4-2666 ECC RAM and have 48 PCI Express 3.0 lanes, giving you plenty of storage and port options. All told, performance is 38 percent better than the current Xeon E5 generation, Intel says.

[kelvinhall05]

Cool, I guess. I bet pricing will be double that other prebuilts though.

[Drak3]

Not really news, seeing as we've got a thread on the 2K17 iMac Pro that specifies 'up to 18 core' and ECC support.

[TheCherryKing]

It's odd how Apple is not going to use the 28-Core Xeon Platinum for their top of the line iMac Pro. In related news, some rumors suggest that a new Mac Pro tower will be coming next year and will features two CPU's.

[Dabombinable]

Only 48 PCIe lanes.....

[TheCherryKing]

Just now, Dabombinable said:

Only 48 PCIe lanes.....

What did you expect? 40 Lanes was the standard for server platforms until AMD Epyc came along.

[Princess Luna]

About time? never understood how Apple sells the idea of top of the line without being top of the line.

[TheCherryKing]

Just now, Princess Cadence said:

About time? never understood how Apple sells the idea of top of the line without being top of the line.

It's all about the Apple logo.

[PlayStation 2]

How much reeeeeeeeeeeeing about Apple can we get in a single thread? Let's find out!

 

On topic, cool. A little confused as to why Apple isn't going for Epyc yet, although that might boil down to making it work right with macOS.

[Drak3]

7 minutes ago, Princess Cadence said:

never understood how Apple sells the idea of top of the line without being top of the line.

Highly validated and highly optimized machines.

 

3 minutes ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

A little confused as to why Apple isn't going for Epyc yet, although that might boil down to making it work right with macOS.

Winner winner, chicken dinner. Not to mention, Apple can't use Thunderbolt with AMD hardware yet.

[emosun]

the apple pro line has devolved into "this is what you buy. don't plan on an upgrade for another 5 years"

can't imagine paying pretty much any money for a proprietary machine in a proprietary form factor running proprietary software.

 

just the fact that more people use windows xp than mac os says a lot

[TheCherryKing]

I admit that Apple has great software, but their hardware needs a lot of work.

[Satisfoxy]

The impossibility of ever cleaning the dust out of any modern 'slim' machine makes me cringe.

[Guest]

An 18 core xeon in an IMac Pro, knowing apple products, its going to be expensive! 

[Sauron]

47 minutes ago, Dabombinable said:

Only 48 PCIe lanes.....

Not that you're going to notice even if you had 100 on an AiO.

1 hour ago, BlazingBlob said:

I think having such a powerfull CPU for a professional grade computer may be what apple needs to have a even bigger edge over other solutions for pofessionals.

An edge over what? Professionals can already buy 18 core workstations and more...

43 minutes ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

A little confused as to why Apple isn't going for Epyc yet

Epyc is too new, it's still too early for companies to adopt it in bulk. Besides, Apple has always been a few generations behind with the hardware in their products. Also, the package is massive so maybe it's hard to fit into an AiO.

13 minutes ago, TheBeastPC said:

An 18 core xeon in an IMac Pro, knowing apple products, its going to be expensive! 

My bet is 15k

[TheCherryKing]

Just now, Sauron said:

Not that you're going to notice even if you had 100 on an AiO.

An edge over what? Professionals can already buy 18 core workstations and more...

Epyc is too new, it's still too early for companies to adopt it in bulk. Besides, Apple has always been a few generations behind with the hardware in their products. Also, the package is massive so maybe it's hard to fit into an AiO.

My bet is 15k

The Skylake-SP package is similar to the AMD Epyc package.

[Sauron]

5 minutes ago, TheCherryKing said:

The Skylake-SP package is similar to the AMD Epyc package.

The article doesn't say what socket it's on, I assumed it would be on the LGA2066 socket, but maybe not. I just hope that, whatever socket it's on, they'll be able to cool it properly given their past record with iMacs. If they can barely cool a 95W i7 I wonder what they'll do with a 140W xeon.

[TheCherryKing]

2 minutes ago, Sauron said:

The article doesn't say what socket it's on, I assumed it would be on the LGA2066 socket, but maybe not. I just hope that, whatever socket it's on, they'll be able to cool it properly given their past record with iMacs. If they can barely cool a 95W i7 I wonder what they'll do with a 140W xeon.

It will be on the LGA 3647 socket. There will not be any Xeons that use the LGA 2066 socket. In theory, they could have a 28-Core model but a 205W CPU will be even more difficult to cool.

[Sauron]

2 minutes ago, TheCherryKing said:

In theory, they could have a 28-Core model but a 205W CPU will be even more difficult to cool.

And that is why you shouldn't shove a workstation in an AiO form factor...

[TheCherryKing]

Just now, Sauron said:

And that is why you shouldn't shove a workstation in an AiO form factor...

Supposedly Mac Pro towers with dual CPU's are coming.

[BlazingBlob]

1 minute ago, TheCherryKing said:

Supposedly Mac Pro towers with dual CPU's are coming.

but what they put in it is the question.

i dont trust apple will do well in this area

[TheCherryKing]

1 minute ago, BlazingBlob said:

but what they put in it is the question.

i dont trust apple will do well in this area

I don't trust them now but back in the day they made great workstations.

[BlazingBlob]

Just now, TheCherryKing said:

I don't trust them now but back in the day they made great workstations.

this is true

hopefully they can turn it around and go back to thier roots of having a workstation that can be changed around and better hardware,

unfortunatley i dont think this will happen any time soon because they are having so much sucsess with appealing to the consumer grade instead of enthuseast and professional grade

 

but only time will tell

[Sauron]

Just now, BlazingBlob said:

this is true

hopefully they can turn it around and go back to thier roots of having a workstation that can be changed around and better hardware,

unfortunatley i dont think this will happen any time soon because they are having so much sucsess with appealing to the consumer grade instead of enthuseast and professional grade

 

but only time will tell

Either way Macs are a just a small part of their business, the vast majority of their profit comes from iPhones and iPads.

[BlazingBlob]

2 minutes ago, Sauron said:

Either way Macs are a just a small part of their business, the vast majority of their profit comes from iPhones and iPads.

yes and thats why i dont think they will emphesise or even follow through with this whole dual cpu thing but lets hope if they do it acts as a catalyst for apple to consider looking into the professionaml and enthuseast grade computers at a decent price