Is this it?
Is this we “Apple simmers”, are looking for or is it something we can’t afford?
Today it was that day! Today I received, just to check and to convince myself, an iMac Pro with a default/basic configuration (8-core Intel Xeon W CPU, AMD Vega Pro 8GB GPU, 32GB RAM and a 1TB SSD). After I had tested 2 iMac Late 2017 models (Intel i7 7700 CPU, the AMD 8GB GPU, 64GB RAM and a 1TB SSD), I wasn’t enthusiastic over these iMac’s. Oh yes, Windows simmers would say … go for a Windows PC, but that’s not my thing. I know, because of that I have to pay a lot more to get a decent X-Plane 11 machine.
I contacted also Austin and Ben from Laminar Research to ask their idea/opinion and Ben was quite straight in his answer; don’t waste your money with an iMac Pro, but go for the regular iMac Late 2017 as described above. Because I did that and wasn’t satisfied, I decided to test an iMac Pro step-in model. Either it doesn’t perform for our X-Plane needs or it does.
Time will learn!
I’ll keep you informed about my findings and most important; is it worth this expensive Apple machine?
Thanks guys for the info above. I am very new to X-Plane and also planning on purchasing an iMac Pro in the near future. Please continue to share your experiences. Thanks!
Hi Brian,
I’m still struggling. I have a test iMac Pro at home (8-core, 32GB DDR4, 8GB Vega 56 GPU and a 1TB SSD) and tested it today with several add-on airports and add-on aircraft. I did those test versus an iMac Late 2013 (Intel i7 3.5Ghz/4.2Ghz, 1§TB SSD, 32GB DDR3 1600 Mhz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M 4 GB). Logically, the iMac Pro performs better then the old iMac Late 2013, but in some cases they perform the same or once and a awhile, thew older iMac did it better. Not surprisingly, clouds reduce the FPS on the old iMac, while the iMac Pro stays stable at high FPS. Complex airports are also a problem for the old iMac, not for the iMac Pro but that doesn’t mean the iMac Pro performs superior above all. I’m asking myself the question, after one day testing, if it is all worth soooooooo much money. The iMac Pro in Space Grey is beautiful, that must be said, but it is “that” worth? To be continued!
Hey, thanks for the prompt and detailed reply. Do you (on anyone else) know about X-Plane 11’s compatibility with Apple’s Metal 2? I read “somewhere online” that x-Plane will be compatabie with Metal 2 “in the future.” By the way, today was my first time to come across this website. Thanks everyone!
As far as my knowledge goes, first Laminar Research will go for the VR support (I believe XP 11.20) and then they will start with Vulkan and Metal support. It could be, after VR support, that they first go for Vulkan (Windows) and then for Metal (MacOS).
I made a test with the X-Plane demo on the latest standard iMac 27″ with 8 Gb.
I flew Seattle Tacoma with the default B737 and put all Graphic Settings to the Max: 12 fps. The reflection was a little bit late and jaggy.
Then I put antialiasing to minium: 58 fps.
I’m sot sure that the iMac Pro is such a no-go as the graphic card in it has, I think, 90/95% of the power of the best PC graphic cards available.
Hi Branislav,
Thanks for taking the time and effort to reply. I’m curious how the iMac Pro will do. I have unpacked the iMac Pro and looking forward to test it and see if it performs better then the iMac Late 2017 I had from Apple. Feedback follows.