iMac Pro 2017 vs. Surface Studio: Battle of Machines for Creative Professionals
The iMac Pro's purpose is undeniably to challenge the Surface Studio. Since both products are aiming to target a distinct market sector — the creative professionals — these computers are worth comparing.
While competing products for a specific target market often have similarities, comprehensively looking into their technical specifications, features and prices will still set them apart.
Processor, Memory and Storage
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Creative professionals naturally need more powerful core specs since their daily work involves dealing with heavy graphics and visual elements.
Since Surface Studio has been available for some months now, it means it was probably manufactured much earlier. This explains why this AIO computer runs with 6th generation Intel processing chips from the Core i5 and i7 lineup.
Its Core i5 chip is enough to handle an 8 GB random access memory, 1 TB storage on a Rapid Hybrid drive. Meanwhile the Core i7 variant can support either a 16 GB or 32 GB RAM and up to 2 TB of space with the same type of drive.
On the other hand, Apple has yet to identify the chips on iMac Pro but it has revealed that there will be variants of 8-, 10- and 18-core processors. Generally, the base RAM offering is 32 GB but buyers can choose a 64 GB or 128 GB configuration.
As for iMac Pro's storage space, Apple went for the solid-state drive offering a base capacity of 1 TB and configurations of 2 TB and 4 TB space.
Graphics Processing Unit and Display Features
The iMac Pro benefits from the newer Radeon Pro Vega cards from AMD. The baseline model of iMac Pro will have the Pro Vega 56 with 8 GB video memory while offering a configuration with Radeon Pro Vega 64 GPU that has 16 GB RAM.
Apple incorporated Retina display technology into the iMac Pro's massive 27-inch display that supports 5K resolution.
As for the Surface Studio, its model running with Skylake Core i5 chip is paired with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M that has 2GB GDDR5 memory. Meanwhile, the Core i7 configuration can be matched with either the GeFore GTX 965M (2 GB GDDR5) or the GeForce GTX 980M (4 GB GDDR5).
The Surface Studio is equipped with Microsoft's PixelSense display technology on its 28-inch screen. While Surface Studio's screen does not support 5K display, it still delivers an ample 4500 x 3000 resolution with 192 pixels per inch.
While the iMac Pro's screen performs better, Surface Studio also offers the unique feature of Zero Gravity Hinges. It gives creative professionals the option to use the AIO computer on Studio Mode or Desktop Mode.
Surface Studio's screen is also built to support several peripherals designed to do well on typical tasks that creative professionals have.
Multimedia
The iMac Pro is built with four microphones while the Surface Studio only has two. However, the latter makes up for it with a set of Stereo 2.1 speakers powered by Dolby Audio Premium while the iMac Pro only uses the typical ones. Both computers have cameras that can support 1080p high-definition video recording.
Connectivity
With an array of four Thunderbolt 3 ports (up to 40 GB per second transfer speed), the iMac Pro deserves a plus point. Added to that, it is designed with a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack, an SDXC slot, and four USB 3 ports.
The Surface Studio has almost the same sets of ports minus the ones for Thunderbolt 3.
Accessories, Input Peripherals
As mentioned, Microsoft spent the time to develop an accessory that can work well with creative professionals' daily work. They produced the Surface Dial that will also work while linked with the Surface Pen. Added to that are the Surface Keyboard and Surface Mouse and they all come in the box with the AIO.
The iMac Pro, on the other hand, is sold with the Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse 2.
Price
The Surface Studio's most powerful configuration — 2 TB storage, 32 GB RAM, GeForce GTX 980M with 4GB GDDR5 memory — is priced at $4,199.
While Apple's website does not mention the price of the iMac Pro, reports have it that its base model — 8-core processing chip, 32 GB RAM, Radeon Pro Vega 56 with 8GB HBM2 memory — will cost $4,999.
