Apple iMac Pro to reportedly have Intel ‘Purley’ Xeons and support for Magic Keyboard with Touch Bar and Touch ID

Early this month, Apple launched the latest batch of its all-in-one (AIO) desktop line. The latest iMac 2017 models are, needless to say, major upgrades from their predecessors. The Californian company also announced the all-new iMac Pro, which is set for a December release, and, according to a new report, will feature currently codenamed top-of-the-line Intel Xeon processors.

The iMac Pro is still half a year away from being launched yet it’s already creating so much buzz. After all, it’s Apple’s first desktop made specifically for professionals. The company says that the all-new space grey workstation-class machine is the most powerful Mac yet.

Apple hasn’t really provided fans all the details about the upcoming desktop, but what the tech titan has disclosed so far makes it very interesting. The December-bound iMac will boast of 1 TB SSD (configurable to 2 TB or 4 TB SSD), up to 18-core Xeon processors (with Turbo Boost of up to 4.5 GHz and up to 42 MB cache), 32 GB of 2,666 MHz DDR4 ECC memory (configurable to 64 GB or 128 GB), up to Radeon Pro Vega 64 graphics processor alongside 16 GB of HBM2 memory, and 22 teraflops of GPU performance.

The Pro desktop will also include a number of connectivity options, with up to four Thunderbolt 3 ports and four USB 3 ports. The new Mac will sport a 27-inch P3 Retina 5K display with a 5,120 x 2,880 resolution, 500 nit brightness and support for billions of colours. Everything seems impressive so far, but exactly what kind of processors are potential users going to get with Apple’s new desktop?

According to Pike’s Universum, the Mac maker is apparently boosting the new Pro model with next gen server-grade Intel Skylake-EX and Skylake-EP chips, which the blog called “Purley” Xeons, alongside a Security Enclave. What’s more, the latest addition to the Apple’s roster will also supposedly utilise a contemporary server-class Intel LGA3647 socket instead of the premium desktop-grade LGA2066.

It doesn’t stop there, however. The all-new device could possibly end up having optional support for a Magic Keyboard with Touch Bar and Touch ID with a future firmware update, although that part still remains to be a mystery according to the blog.

Pike’s Universum made headlines in April when it revealed a number of details about the Apple iMac Pro, a couple of months ahead of the iPhone maker’s official announcement. Certain particulars were off the mark while some specs proved to be true. The new desktop will carry a US$4,999 (AU$6,609) price tag when it launches in December.

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