Apple iMac Pro in 8-core and 10-core variants will be available to order on December 14, starting at $4,999; 14-core and 18-core models are coming later
Apple's pro-oriented all-in-one desktop, the iMac Pro, is set to launch this Thursday on December 14, 2017.
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple is converting the workstation-class iMac Pro it previewed in June into a shipping product: orders open December 14 for the 8- and 10-core Xeon configurations at $4,999, with the 14- and 18-core tiers to follow. The launch lands on a pro desktop line that had been running on fumes — the most Apple had offered that year was the April Mac Pro refresh, which bumped core counts and GPUs but left the 2013 cylinder design untouched.
First-order effects
- Pro buyers get a same-day-purchasable machine for the first time since the cylinder Mac Pro: $4,999 buys the entry 8-core Vega configuration, while customers needing maximum cores must wait for the later 14- and 18-core builds.
- The staggered rollout lets Apple anchor the price at $4,999 while keeping the halo configurations — up to 18 cores and 16GB of VRAM per the June preview — as a second demand wave.
Second-order effects
- Early hands-on coverage flags the trade-off buyers accept at this price: the 8-core unit's screen and RAW video performance earn praise, but RAM is not user-accessible and upgrades are costly — pushing upgrade revenue back inside Apple rather than third-party shops.
- A $4,999 all-in-one sitting above the refreshed-but-aging Mac Pro sharpens the question of what the tower line is for, setting up the eventual answer: the $5,999 modular Mac Pro and $4,999 Pro Display XDR Apple shipped two years later.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, Apple splits its pro desktop business into two permanent tracks — sealed high-margin all-in-ones for creative workloads and a modular tower for expandability — with the iMac Pro as the bridge product between the neglected cylinder era and the 2019 redesign.
- The no-user-serviceable-parts approach, called out directly in the January review, points toward pro hardware where configuration happens at purchase, not over the machine's life — a structural shift in how workstation buyers budget for upgrades.
The trend: Apple is rebuilding its pro desktop lineup in deliberate tiers, using the iMac Pro to hold professional customers until the modular Mac Pro arrives.