iMac Pro to Feature A10 Fusion Coprocessor, Hey Siri Support

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Posted November 19, 2017 at 7:36am by iClarified

Apple's recently released BridgeOS 2.0 software update reveals that the new iMac Pro will have an A10 Fusion coprocessor and feature Hey Siri support.

Jonathan Levin has posted a quick tour of the steps he took to examine the image. Levin determined it's "Definitely a 64-bit kernel. T8010 is Apple's A10, IIRC."

iMac Pro to Feature A10 Fusion Coprocessor, Hey Siri Support

The iMac Pro's (Bridge 2,1) coprocessor appears to be an A10 Fusion chip with 512MB of RAM, notes developer Steve Troughton-Smith. "Looks like the iMac Pro's ARM coprocessor is arm64. Seems to handle the macOS boot & security process, as expected; iMac Pro lets Apple experiment with tighter control without the rest of the userbase freaking out. "

Developer Guilherme Rambo was able to confirm Hey Siri support. "The "Hey Siri" setup on macOS is identical to the one on iOS, but it's implemented with regular AppKit, there's no magical UIKit port or UXKit being used"

Perhaps most interesting, Troughton-Smith discovered that unlike the Touch Bar, the A10 in the iMac Pro might always be running, even when macOS is shut down.

"The x86 is not in shutdown or below. The operation's not permitted." Seems safe to assume this A10 is in charge

It appears as thought the A10 boots up the x86 processor and passes it an EFI firmware to load.

Apple previously announced that the iMac Pro would ship next month; however, its HomePod, which was also scheduled for December, has been delayed until next year. Hopefully, the iMac Pro is on schedule.

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Hugh Massengill - November 19, 2017 at 11:37am

Please Santa, please, have Apple find a way to make a cheaper version of this. I cannot afford $5000. It doesn't have to be sold before Christmas, but maybe announced then. Maybe a $3000 version that isn't quite as powerful, but every bit as gorgeous. An always on Siri, acting like Alexa, letting me turn on my tv and other home devices, play Apple Music, take and return calls... And while you are at it, please let Apple and Xfinity cooperate so that I can use an iMac the way I can use my iPad, watching tv on it in real time. I know this is intended to be a content creation machine, but lots of us use our devices to watch 4K HDR tv, including Youtube and Vimeo and Netflix channel. This could be the Apple Television that some of us have dreamed about. Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon

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ROBERT HANCOCK - November 19, 2017 at 8:01am

It can have all the A10 co-processors in the world but until Apple improves Siri with more hooks into other APIs and a LOT more AI, the service remains almost useless.