Then why release anything now? Who is this for, if pros will wait for the "real" one and consumers already have one? Will the "stopgap" model be around/supported in two years?

It's for people like me. I need something with more power than my current "classic" Mac Pro, preferably with fewer cables and more energy efficient. 2 SSD slots are sufficient for my internal storage needs, especially considering the Nbase-T Ethernet port. Vega-based graphics should be able to properly run the 5K display for the next few years.

I've swapped out a lot of parts in my old Mac Pro, but at this point, I'd rather have something that "just works". And if my needs change, the resale value of this thing will still be good.

But I'm just an iOS developer, doing some multimedia and web stuff as well. Maybe that's not a "pro" by today's definition. :)

The thing I can't wrap my head around though is that that display is a very real amount of the cost of that device and will almost certainly still be a great display in five years or even longer, while the "pro" computer is going to be horribly out of date. The idea of purchasing a monitor attached to a computer seems like throwing money into the trash.

If my iMac purchased in 2012 is anything to go by, it'll still be great in 5 years and only the GPU will really feel its age.

But then if you're a pro user who buys the thing to make money with, it's probably more tax-effective to keep it 3 or so years then buy something new

> Who is this for, if pros will wait for the "real" one and consumers already have one?

It's for people who have a need/desire for "pro" components but also want a thin/portable form factor.

Because they already had this in the pipe and it __was__ the replacement for the Mac Pro. But they realized that it wasn't going to cut it. So now it's the stop gap and not the new Mac Pro replacement.

It's a strange stop gap: something extremely overpriced that you can't upgrade later on. Not everyone can fully max out their machines from the start. If they replicate this release with the upcoming Mac Pro (which is likely), it'll be time for me to begin leaving the Apple ecosystem. Windows is far from ideal but with their unix shell and virtualization, it'll be 'good enough'.

Are you sure there will be an actual Mac Pro later? This iMac Pro seems to be their 'Pro' desktop offering.

"Prediction is difficult, especially about the future".

But this is what Apple said:

"These next-gen Mac Pros and pro displays “will not ship this year”. (I hope that means “next year”, but all Apple said was “not this year”.) In the meantime, Apple is today releasing meager speed-bump updates to the existing Mac Pros. The $2999 model goes from 4 Xeon CPU cores to 6, and from dual AMD G300 GPUs to dual G500 GPUs. The $3999 model goes from 6 CPU cores to 8, and from dual D500 GPUs to dual D800 D700 GPUs. Nothing else is changing, including the ports. No USB-C, no Thunderbolt 3 (and so no support for the LG UltraFine 5K display).

But more good news, too:

Apple has “great” new iMacs in the pipeline, slated for release “this year”, including configurations specifically targeted at large segments of the pro market."

From the article I linked.